“It wasn’t just fun - I felt that kids really learned history.” - Seventh Grade World History Teacher

The reviews are in and teachers and students are “excited” to play Civics! An American Musical. Working with FableVision and Maryland Public Television, educational researcher William Tally, Ph.D. conducted a research study in three middle school classrooms - and the results are music to our ears.

Civics! An American Musical is an online game that introduces middle-school students to significant civic events from U.S. history. The free, interactive program developed by FableVision Studios with the Library of Congress and Maryland Public Television, incorporates music and provides students with the opportunity to take part in designing a virtual musical. Each musical experience is centered around a different civic struggle such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, desegregation in schools, and conservation acts from the 20th century. The aim is to help students investigate historic struggles for equality and social change, make connections with current-day civics issues, and inspire students to take action that positively impacts their community. .

During the Spring 2021 semester, educational researcher William Tally, Ph.D. examined different aspects of Civics! An American Musical in a classroom study. He sought to ascertain how the game influenced students in terms of learning and appeal, as well as feasibility for teachers. The study spanned one to two weeks with teachers utilizing the game over three class periods and in different settings - a world history class and a study hall. After a week, the students were surveyed on their gained knowledge and attitudes. The study included students in 6th through 8th grade (middle-school aged children) from a variety of backgrounds. 

The study focused on four areas, content knowledge, using primary resources, changes in attitude, and appeal of the game for students. 

Content Knowledge Learning Gains 

The results of the study indicate that students experienced an increase in knowledge from playing Civics! An American Musical. Students consistently performed better on the post-tests rather than the pre-tests regarding content knowledge. Before the game, only 61% of participants were able to correctly identify the Chinese Exclusion Act. Afterwards, this number increased to 87%. The number of students able to correctly identify why the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law went from 48% to 65%. For example, students went through the Chinese Exclusion Act lesson and were more likely to be able to identify what the Chinese Exclusion Act was, what caused it, and how it was resisted. 

Using Primary Sources

Participants strengthened their inferencing skills significantly. The dramatic improvement could possibly be attributed to the students learning to engage in historical thinking through primary source analysis. During the study, students established historical significance by reading the source captions and making evidence-based conclusions from their observations, reflections, and questions. Students’ post-game multiple-choice responses demonstrated a growth of 48% in picking a statement that supports a picture, from 22% to 70%. 

Changes in Civic Awareness and Attitudes 

Significantly, the students experienced a 14% increase in their belief that ordinary citizens aided in the fight against child labor. This suggests a more positive attitude towards civic engagement. Before the game, the students tended to focus on how the government helped, writing statements such as “The government passed a law so kids don’t have to work.” After playing the game, the students’ focus shifted to the impact that ordinary citizens can make, as demonstrated by a student reflection regarding child labor -  “Protesting, people can use their voices together to strike for change. The kids can also go on strike and refuse to work until conditions change.”

What Students Say 

The reaction from students to Civics! An American Musical has been overwhelmingly positive. Along with learning from the game, students also reported enjoying it. When they were surveyed, 73% of students said that they either ‘liked’ the game or ‘liked it a lot’. Some students have even gone as far as to play the game outside of school hours, with about a quarter of students diving into the other unassigned history lessons. Specifically, students enjoyed musical aspects of the game that are interactive and invite students to be involved in the process. This helped make history, and civics education, more accessible and fun. One student reported that “[they] liked it because [they were] learning in a way that made [them]want to pay attention”.

Civics! An American Musical provides teachers with the opportunity to incorporate fun learning into social studies lessons. The game is engaging and makes tracking student’s progress easy with its progress reporting feature. The supplementary nature of the game gives teachers the freedom to implement the game however and whenever they think it will be most effective in their lesson. Overall, Civics! An American Musical fills the need for an easily implemented, educational game that broches civic activity throughout history. 

Civics! An American Musical is free to play. Click here to create your account and play today! 

Download the full research study here.