The Commons Game: Teaching Students about Social Dilemmas

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Abstract
A simulation/game, the Commons Game, was designed to teach students that resources which are not owned, such as whales, are overexploited and eventually destroyed. The heart of the game is a payoff matrix that gradually improves if the players choose a predominantly cooperative strategy or gradually grows worse if they choose a predominantly exploitive strategy. Student evaluations of the game across several quarters were compared to evaluations of the simulation/game, BaFa BaFa, a very successful cross-cultural exercise. Both simulations were rated highly on most of the sixteen-item survey, with ratings on three items favoring BaFa BaFa and ratings on another three favoring the Commons Game. Student comments revealed that the game provided them with an affective understanding of this social dilemma and motivated them to discuss possible solutions to it.

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