September 2009 — Volume 3, Issue 5

A lesson in war gaming

As if 17 Academy Awards weren’t enough, the Lord of the Rings film trilogy can now lay claim to an ALTC Citation.

Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud was so inspired by his teenage son’s Lord of the Rings tabletop war game, he used it to create a successful learning tool for his history classes at Avondale College.

“In history, there is always a struggle to get certain concepts across and as I became involved in my son’s new hobby, I saw its potential as a medium to teach and engage my students,” Associate Professor Reynaud said.

Utilising the World War II war game ‘Flames of War’, Associate Professor Reynaud spent his own time and resources creating the terrain and painting models to replicate great wars for his ‘Conflict in the Twentieth Century’ class.

“It was an experiment at first so I offered it as a voluntary experience out of class time but the response was so phenomenal it’s now a basic teaching tool in my classes,” Associate Professor Reynaud said.

According to the Associate Professor, war gaming helps students understand history in an intricate way that textbooks cannot offer.

“In World War I for example, the normal story that’s told is of the stupid generals who waste hundreds of thousands of lives simply sending young men over the top.

“In my class I set up a typical WWI scenario where I play the Germans and the students work collectively as the English and they fail miserably the first time, so I ask them, what materials, what technologies do you need to succeed?

“We’ll go through that over and over again until they figure out the tools and the tactics they need to succeed
and eventually they come to understand that maybe the generals weren’t stupid, they had to do exactly the same sort of thing as the students.”

As one student commented, “This method of experiential learning gives us a chance to genuinely experience the frustrations, defeats and success of the great military leaders and through it, arrive at a far more comprehensive understanding of the realities of 20th century conflict.”

Associate Professor Reynaud’s teaching time is divided between two hours of war gaming and two hours to
unpackage what has been learnt through more formal means like lecturing and tutorials.

“I’ve found that other than developing their teamwork and negotiation skills, from an academic perspective having the events unfold in front of them, and playing a part in making decisions gives the student a sense of enthusiasm and attentiveness when they tackle the readings and lectures,” Associate Professor Reynaud said.

“In essence, the game helps them understand history in a way that textbooks can’t.”

Associate Professor Reynaud introduced the highly innovative teaching technique in 2004 with the strong and
enthusiastic support of his colleagues, but said that some sceptics remained.

“In my circle of friends outside of the academic arena, people would ask me if I was serious, but the ALTC
Citation has definitely helped to silence them,” he laughed.