32 Int’l Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, 1(2), 32-51, April-June 2009
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abstraCt
In this article, we share a model of game-based learning for use in the context of classroom
learning in school. The model is based on the dialectic interaction between game play and
dialogic engagement with peers and teacher on one hand and a developmental trajectory of
competence-through-performance on the other. It is instantiated in the context of a learning
program related to citizenship education using the computer game Space Station Leonis. We
argue for the importance of values in all learning, based upon a theory of becoming citizens that
is founded on process philosophy. We relate values to dispositions, as articulated manifestations
of values, and describe how the Leonis learning program helps to achieve dispositional shifts
beftting citizenship education in a globalized and multi-cultural world. [Article copies are avail-
able for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]
Keywords: Becoming; Citizenship Education; Dispositions; Game-Based Learning; Identity;
Process Philosophy; Space Station Leonis; Values
introduCtion
Educators face an increasingly diffcult
challenge in nurturing students who will
develop to become civic-minded, ac-
tive, and productive citizens. Effective
citizenship education is particularly vital
today due to the forces of globalization
and multiculturalism that impact the lives
of citizens worldwide (Banks, 2008). As
societies become more cosmopolitan (Ap-
piah, 2007), better understanding between
Becoming Citizens through
Game-based learning:
a V alues-driven, Process approach to
Citizenship education
Yam San Chee, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Swee Kin Loke, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Ek Ming Tan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
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This paper appears in the publication, International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, Volume 1, Issue 2
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