Cadets Use Game-Based Learning

Cadets in select sections Regional Studies in World History – Russia, played a matrix game designed to simulate the Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus in the 13th century. Cadets played as one of five factions (Kiev, Moscow, Novgorod, the Orthodox Church, and the Mongol ("Golden Horde") interacting with one another. Each faction was required to propose an action and the historical basis for its potential success; the other factions then critiqued the proposed move for historical accuracy and logic. The success of the action was adjudicated by a dice roll, adjusted up or down by the cadet arguments. Matrix games are used extensively in senior-level professional military education. The incorporation of a matrix game is part of the History Department's larger emphasis on game-based pedagogies.