“Others Were Hearing What I Had to Say”: Student Agency/Voice in Online Simulation Experiences

• In Event: Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Action Research and Vocality: The Power of Personal and Social Transformations for Students and Educators

Abstract

This paper presents an educational action research study examining how one online classroom-based simulation game offers middle school students the opportunity to strengthen their agency and voice. The Jewish Court of All Time (JCAT) is a web-mediated simulation designed for middle school classrooms where students take on roles of various characters throughout the world, history and literature to address an imaginary court case. JCAT is meant to develop students’ skills in writing, critical thinking, perspective-taking, historical empathy, and communication, as well as subject literacy in social, historical and cultural contexts. Findings suggest that students also constructed knowledge of democratic ideals, and were able to exercise their agency and voice specifically, both in the online environment and in accompanying classroom activities.

Authors

• Amy Rector-Aranda, University of Cincinnati

• Miriam B. Raider-Roth, University of Cincinnati