Teaching the Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma With a Computerized Tournament

Abstract

The authors present a constructivist approach for teaching game theory, on the basis, in part, of Axelrod's research approach. Using the Axelrod tournament multi-user system (ATMUS) software, students create strategies for a repeated prisoner's dilemma (RPD). Later, these strategies are matched with those of their classmates' in a classroom tournament while the instructor interactively and graphically demonstrates the behavior of the strategies. A two- to three-week instructional implementation strategy is provided to highlight effective use of the ATMUS software, according to constructivist learning principles, to ensure that students are engaged in critical thinking regarding RPD.

Keywords:

• computer-assisted instruction (CAI)
• constructivism
• game theory
• repeated prisoners' dilemma