Engaging middle school-aged students in the humanities using non-digital game-based learning

This paper is set within the context of my experience as a Grade 7 teacher in British Columbia and as a student in the Master of Education program. During my career, I have had the opportunity to teach Social Studies and Language Arts to students using non-digital game-based learning through an Ancient Civilization Simulation Game. Through my journey as an educator, I have come to realize that non-digital game-based learning provides a meaningful opportunity for middle school-aged students to learn about the humanities subjects in a way that is fun and collaborative. In this paper, I claim that non-digital game-based learning is the preferred pedagogical approach for teaching the humanities subjects to middle school-aged students because it is engaging, builds student collaboration and self-efficacy, and is accessible to all school communities. Evidence illustrates that game-based learning engages students in curricular material in an exciting format,student participation in non-digital game-based learning can lead to increased collaboration and self-efficacy, and that a non-digital game format can have the same benefits of game-based learning while being flexible to the needs of diverse classrooms and school communities.The claims demonstrating the strength of non-digital game-based learning as a pedagogical practice are further explored in my application, in which I share my experiences facilitating an Ancient Civilization Simulation Game in my Grade 7classroom. I advocate for a non-digital game-based learning approach to be used in the teaching of the humanities with all middle school-aged students.Capstonenon-digital game-based learninggame-based learningmiddle schoolhumanities educationsocial studieslanguage art