LeCompte, K., Moore, B., & Blevins, B. (2011). The impact of iCivics on students’ core civic knowledge. Research in the Schools. 18 (2), p. 57-73.
In the wake of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement from public life, this review addressed study pertaining to the website she founded, dedicated to civics education — iCivics at www.icivics.org.
This study proposed “to investigate the impact of online gaming on student learning, particularly on students’ content knowledge” (p. 57). The researchers began with a detailed analysis of the role of youth engagement in civics education, both online and offline. After exploring the connection between learning civics related content and the functioning of video game environments, they established a design which utilize a treatment plan of students playing iCivics games at least twice a week for six weeks with both a pretest and posttest of civics knowledge conducted. Participants ranged in grade level from fourth to twelfth grades, with inclusion of both males and females and multiple races and ethnicities. Increases in test performance were demonstrated in each grade, with the exception of twelfth which did not demonstrate any statistical difference. Rates of increase varied greatly. There was no significant difference across genders, races, or ethnicities. Fourth graders yielded the most dramatic improvement, with an increase of 9.53 points on average, approximately twice the standard deviation.
While the results are encouraging for the potential advantages of using iCivics games to encourage civic participation and improve student learning on civics topics, some of the results are undermined by a low sample size, particularly in the 4th and 8th grades, which showed some dramatically high results. With 256 participants overall, Fourth grade represented 7% and eighth grade represented 5% of the sample. With a sample size that small, idiosyncratic results are possible because there are not enough participants to normalize an average. Fifth grade alone comprised 55% of the participants.
As an eighth grade history teacher, this study is of significant interest to me. Having used iCivics in the past, I am encouraged to use it again. The variety of games matches our curriculum in several places, particularly in understanding the Constitution. Among the new resources there are DBQuests, one of which addresses the nation’s founding documents: Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. Participants are expected to read and interpret several key passages, then summarize their meaning. A second one is available on the Louisiana Purchase. While I am encouraged about iCivics, the study did not offer especially robust and generalizable results. While there were improvements, the trends were not discussed especially.
Teacher Takeaways
Game-based learning in civics, with the use of iCivics.org, enhances student learning in grades 4 through 8, but not in high school.
EmpowerED 