Making Movies Active: Lessons from Simulations

Abstract

Movies have a long and distinguished history in the political science and international relations classrooms; they provide connections between abstract theories and concepts and concrete everyday practices. However, traditional approaches to teaching movies in the political science and international relations classrooms allow for passive student learning, where students watch the movie and then react. We propose using insights from simulations to help resolve these problems with using movies in the classroom. In this article, we outline the learning methods and approaches of simulations, and then apply them to movies in the international relations classroom.

Movies to the Rescue: Keeping the Cold War Relevant for Twenty-First-Century Students

“…Unfortunately, without active learning factored into the movie-showing exercise, students are apt to become passive consumers of the knowledge. The lessons Sunderland et al (2009) learned in their own simulation supports this notion that it is important to have students actively engage in viewing the movie. Watching passively and then reflecting, at the end, about what they saw is not productive (Sunderland et al 2009).…”

“…The lessons Sunderland et al (2009) learned in their own simulation supports this notion that it is important to have students actively engage in viewing the movie. Watching passively and then reflecting, at the end, about what they saw is not productive (Sunderland et al 2009). If students aren't forced to be active viewers during the movie they may ''fall asleep or daydream'' or, even if awake, may not fully observe what the professor is hoping to teach through film (Sunderland et al 2009, 543).…”

“…Using movies or other forms of active-learning techniques, including simulations, role-plays, and games, is not new to political science as others acknowledge (Boyer 2002;Engert and Spencer 2009;Gregg 1998;Kuzma and Haney 2001;Lindley 2001;Simpson and Kaussler 2009;Sunderland, Rothermel, and Lusk 2009;Webber 2005;Weber 2001Weber , 2009. What is important here, however, is to establish the reason educators find it beneficial to rely on these types of teaching techniques.…”

“…While professors may have used movies to educate, it may not always have been done in a manner that optimized student learning. As Sunderland et al (2009) point out, most instructors may not do much more than show movies followed with an in-class discussion to educate their students. Unfortunately, without active learning factored into the movie-showing exercise, students are apt to become passive consumers of the knowledge.…”

The Promise and Potential Pitfalls of a “Learning-Centered” Approach to Creative Social Inquiry: Lessons Learned from an Undergraduate Seminar on Authoritarianism through Literature and Film

“…Suggestions for incorporating a range of teaching methods-from active, cooperative, and experiential learning (Archer and Miller 2011;Bergren 2011;Huerta 2007;Occhipinti 2003;Wolfe 2012) to community-based and service-learning (Gorham 2005;Harris 2010;van Assendelft 2008), multimedia, blogging, and podcasting (Lawrence and Dion 2010;Rackaway 2012;Roberts 2008), simulations and debate (Glazier 2011;Omelicheva 2007;Omelicheva and Avdeyeva 2008;Oros 2007;Shellman and Turan 2006;Wedig 2010;Werning Rivera and Simons 2008), and popular culture (Beavers 2002;Centellas 2010; Van Belle 2012), such as fiction (Cnaan 1989;Downey 1984;Krukones 1989;Pappas 2007;Rogers 1976;Taylor 1977), film (Bostock 2011;Sunderland, Rothermel, and Lusk 2009;Valeriano 2013), comedy (Beavers 2011;Buss, Redburn, and Cheney 1981;Funderburk 1978;Lieberfeld 2007;Marion 1988;Teten 2010), reality television (Dreyer 2011), and music (Soper 2010)-can be readily applied and adapted to new or existing courses. Collectively, such works not only form a rich repository of innovation and best practices but they also serve an important persuasive function: encouraging teache...…”