Video Games and Traditional Modes of Historical Inquiry

Running head: Video games and traditional modes of historical inquiry
VIDEO GAMES AND TRADITIONAL MODES OF HISTORICAL
INQUIRY

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Video games and traditional modes of historical inquiry
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Historical inquiry.............................................................................................................................2
Modes of historical inquiry..............................................................................................................3
Role of video games in historical inquiry........................................................................................5
Video games as new historical inquiry mode..................................................................................7
Video games as a challenge to traditional modes of historical inquiry...........................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference list.................................................................................................................................10

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Video games and traditional modes of historical inquiry
Introduction
The process of historical inquiry is very much important for learning
history by delving deeper into it. History can be understood by analyzing various perspectives on
a same historical event. Thus, it is obvious that there can be various sources of information that
can help the learners understanding history better. Historical researches have its own traditional
modes or methods of inquiry that have been proven to be fruitful in understanding history better.
However, new and experimental methods or modes of historical inquiry have been emerging in
the digital era. Video games are one of those new emerging methods that can be used as
historical inquiry modes. So, this study has focused on how video games can challenge the
traditional modes of historical inquiry. For that reason, various aspects of historical inquiry have
been presented here. In addition, some traditional modes of historical inquiry have been
mentioned and explained in this study. Furthermore, some examples of historical video games
have been identified in order to see their value in historical study. Various possible roles of video
games in the process of historical inquiry have been illuminated further in the study. Moreover,
the strength and weakness of using video games as a mode of historical inquiry have been
discussed here.
Historical inquiry
Historical inquiry is related to historical research. These kinds of researches are generally
the forte of historians or history educators. As a result, we find that the history books are full of
historical data and facts regarding various historical events. Thus, when learners try to study
these books they hardly get any chances to involve themselves in the learning process other than
memorizing what have been written over the their history text books. So, historical inquiry has
come as a new way of learning history that increases the involvement of the students in the
learning process where they use their imagination, inquiry skills and interpretation abilities
(Baron, 2013). In addition, learners add their own personal meanings and significances in the
process of investigating history. For that reason, the learners follow a process where they ask
questions about historical events collect information about the events and then finally analyze the
collected sources so that they can create their personal interpretations of history. So, it can be

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Video games and traditional modes of historical inquiry
said that historical inquiry has turned history into a subjective phenomenon where both the
teachers and learners pose their experiences in order to judge the significances of particular
historical facts and information.
In other words, historical inquiry is a process where the learners indulge themselves in
the position of historians in order to learn history. However, other subjects like sociology,
science, mathematics and more can also be learnt through this historical inquiry method. This is
so because this learning method helps the learners in understanding the context and relevance of
the content of study. The process of historical inquiry allows the learners to come up with their
own questions and queries at the beginning of the learning process. According to Singh et al.
(2014), the theory of scaffolding drives the process of historical inquiry and helps the learners to
do their individual and independent historical researches. The process of this inquiry based
learning can be done through many stages such as framing questions, doing research
accordingly, forming judgments, communicating with others and more (Saye et al. 2017). These
approaches can replace many invalid sources of historical data. For example, many secondary
and primary sources of historical data can be based on propaganda, biases, and insufficient data
and so on. So, it is important to analyze each and every source before taking them as reliable
source of historical facts.
Modes of historical inquiry
Historical inquiry can be processed through various modes and methods. Traditionally,
teachers used to utilize certain methods to facilitate historical inquiry capabilities of the learners.
These traditional methods include line graphs, living timelines, debates, making comparisons,
discussions; teach one method and so on. In the line graph method, teachers use to instruct
learners to investigate the continuities and shifts over a specific time period in the context of
chosen criteria. For example, students can record success and failures of some social movement
and record their time periods accordingly (Voet & Wever, 2017). On the other hand, living
timelines is a learner based activity where the learners are instructed to put chronological
historical events in a timeline format that shows the growth in any particular movement or an
overall historical update of a particular place.