Creative Conflict: Reacting to the Past Roleplaying Games in the Introductory Statistics Classroom

Abstract:  In this January edition of the JSDSE/CAUSE webinar series, we highlight the recent article "Creative Conflict: Reacting to the Past Roleplaying Games in the Introductory Statistics Classroom". Reacting to the Past is a game-based pedagogy in which students take on roles in a broader historical conflict with elements of game fiction, competition, and collaboration. The article introduces two Reacting to the Past games developed for introductory statistics courses: “The Cigarette Century”: Tobacco and Lung Cancer, 1964-1965 (Cigarette Century) and Cholera! at the Pump: Contagionism, Miasma Theory and Sanitation, London 1854 (Cholera 1854). Both games are used to teach specific statistical content including measures of risk, data visualization, and hypothesis testing while also using historical context and real datasets to emphasize statistical thinking and provide relevance. Reacting to the Past games as high impact practices are strongly in alignment with the 2016 GAISE recommendations including conceptual understanding, use of real data, and active learning.

Article Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26939169.2025.2572340