Teachers construe tactical reasoning as a generalizable, transferable skill, using the educational design of wargames to downplay concern with realism¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Teachers argue wargame exercises are designed to train tactics rather than familiarity with specific terrain, fostering an orientation to transferable knowledge. → Sjöblom 2025

Evidence¶

Sjöblom 2025¶

Sjöblom, B., & Lymer, G. (2025). Conceptual socialization in debriefing: tactics as an object of knowledge in wargame interactions. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-025-09717-8

q2 · i? · qualitative · r3

Analysis of a joint end-of-exercise debriefing where teachers explained the fictional geography by saying "it's to train the tactics and not so much the actual terrain" and that all scenarios present the same problem, producing an account of tactics as generalizable and transferable.

"the concept of tactics is invoked as an integral part of an argument that seeks to downplay an overwrought concern with realism, in the interest of fostering an orientation to transferable knowledge."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Students appropriate the concept of tactics in their own post-game reasoning through thematization of general principles and framing performance in terms of creating dilemmas for the opponent
• In post-wargaming debriefings, teachers and students delineate tactics from related areas of military competence such as teamwork, communication, and technology
• Teachers actively highlight specific in-game actions as examples of tactical decision-making, including distinguishing sound tactical reasoning from negative outcomes
• Experimental studies report transfer of training across diverse operations, from sensory discrimination to memorizing — related