In Spring 2024, I was co-instructor, alongside Frances Lee, for the Princeton University course Congressional Politics (POL 324). The course was part of the Princeton Graduate School’s Collaborative Teaching Initiative. We developed a five-week simulation of the US Senate for the course.* Each student took on the role of US senator and was randomly assigned a particular state and political party. No directives were given beyond these constraints as students elected their own leaders and pursued legislative initiatives of their own choosing. At the end of the course, students had to make an argument for why they should be reelected and provide evidence based on their actions during the simulation.
Teaching the course demonstrated, to me, the pedagogical value of multi-week, open-ended simulations where the students can engage as relative equals. If you are interested in reading more about the course, I have posted the syllabus and a one document version of the simulation guide on this page. Please email me if you have any questions about these materials. Additionally, Lee and I are working with several co-authors on a pedagogy paper that outlines our argument in favor of simulation-based learning. We expect that a draft will be completed by late 2024.
*Our simulaton benefitted immensely from Josh Meyer-Gutbrod’s guidance. He conducts a similar simulation for his Congress course at the University of South Carolina.