INTERPRETING THE CONCEPTS OF TECHNOLOGY-SOCIETY TO PUBLIC POLICY: THE POTENTIALS OF SYSTEM DYNAMICS AND COMPUTER GAMES

Abstract

In this paper, we explore how Civilization, and – in a more general approach – computer games can enhance public administration (PA) education for interpreting technology-society concepts (or Science Technology Studies). We pose the research question, how computer games at the early stage of PA studies aligned with  systematic curriculum design make educational experiences and the learning  process more sensitised to system complexity, creativity and understanding the  role of technology. The paper shows an educational experiment where Sid Meier’s  Civilization series is used at the University of Public Service in Budapest. Civilization  is one of the most famous turn-based strategy games, illustrating the complex  causalities of economic development, geographical expansion, technology  innovation, government structure and warfare. The players experience historical  development through the ages of human Civilization – starting to build simple  ancient huts to modern space exploration – and choosing different strategies to  guide their Civilization through the challenges of allocating resources, managing  conflicts, or deploying technological innovations. Civilization has been used in  several classroom experiences for teaching history and complex system analysis.