Increasing interest in social studies: Social perspective taking and self-efficacy in stimulating simulations

Abstract

This study examined the potential of simulations to bolster interest in middle school social studies classrooms. Using a pre-post design, we examined 305 middle school students (49% female) who participated in the web-based GlobalEd simulation. Unlike the motivation declines middle school students usually experience, participants in this simulation became more interested in social studies. We investigated four hypotheses as to why these increases may have occurred. We found no support for the possibility that, (a) students’ interest in a particular issue area or (b) their increased valuing of the subject matter, were related to their increased interest. However, results suggested that, (c) the challenging nature of the activity may have bolstered their interest in social studies and (d) students’ increased propensity to engage in social perspective taking. The discussion explores future research directions and whether implications for classroom teachers are warranted given the correlational nature of the research.