Replication Data for: Crossing a Virtual Divide: Wargaming as a Remote Teaching Tool

In fall 2020, political science instructors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) partnered to conduct a virtual learning wargame centered on Taiwan. This article presents its design and execution along with the results from pre- and post-game surveys and interviews with the participants conducted to measure the achievement of its learning objectives. The game conduct and empirical results demonstrate two main findings. First, wargames are effective tools of active learning which aid in classroom instruction and grab the attention of students–even over Zoom–in a way that traditional methods of instruction do not. Second, wargames can bridge gaps between different fields. The MIT-NPS wargame tackled the civil-military divide by bringing together military officers at NPS and academics from MIT. These results show that wargaming holds promise as a bridge-building tool of instruction that can engage students, scholars, and practitioners to achieve positive learning outcomes.2020年秋季，麻省理工学院（Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT）与美国海军研究生院（Naval Postgraduate School, NPS）的政治学教师合作开展了一场以台湾为核心议题的虚拟学习兵棋推演。本文详细阐述了该兵棋推演的设计思路与实施流程，同时呈现了为评估其学习目标达成情况而开展的赛前、赛后问卷调研及参与者访谈的结果。本次推演的实施过程与实证结果得出两项核心结论：其一，兵棋推演是高效的主动学习工具，可有效辅助课堂教学，且能以传统教学方式难以企及的方式吸引学生注意力——即便依托Zoom线上平台开展教学亦是如此。其二，兵棋推演能够弥合不同领域间的认知隔阂。本次MIT-NPS联合兵棋推演通过召集美国海军研究生院的军官与麻省理工学院的学者，破解了军民隔阂难题。上述研究结果表明，兵棋推演作为一种兼具桥梁纽带作用的教学工具，拥有可观的应用前景，能够吸引学生、学者与从业者共同参与，助力达成积极的学习成效。