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Why use simulation teaching?

Bringing Peace to Yorkania: Using Simulation Teaching for International Relations Dr. Audra Mitchell Lecturer in International Relations University of York audra.mitchell@york.ac.uk http://www.york.ac.uk/politics/our-staff/audra-mitchell/. Why use simulation teaching? . Employability

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Why use simulation teaching?

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  1. Bringing Peace to Yorkania: Using Simulation Teaching for International Relations Dr. Audra MitchellLecturer in International RelationsUniversity of Yorkaudra.mitchell@york.ac.ukhttp://www.york.ac.uk/politics/our-staff/audra-mitchell/

  2. Why use simulation teaching? Employability Student aspirations for employment: • Major int’l organizations (EU, UN) • Government departments (DFID, MOD, FCO) • Major int’l ‘NGOs’ (Amnesty International, Save the Children, Human rights watch) • Increasing competition • The need for specialized practical skills/experience Ethics • Demand for fieldwork (to meet employer expectations) BUT: • Difficulty of ensuring ethical practice • ‘war tourism’ • My research (Mitchell, 2012) can be mutually traumatizing • Fieldwork provides a good skillset in research and adaptation, but not specifically: • Conflict analysis • Crisis management and response • Team-working • Negotiation Simulations can be designed to develop these skills

  3. ‘Violence and International Intervention’: The concept • A term-long, multi-actor simulation • Many simulations are only for a few days • Tend to focus on one set of actors (e.g. UN)  VII takes students from the moment a conflict breaks out to the negotiations over its resolution • Multiple groups • Government • guerrillas • Paramilitaries • NGOs/donors • international diplomats • Capstone negotiation session  Run for 2 years at York (2010-11/2011-12)

  4. Teaching Approach and Materials Teaching techniques • Lecture/seminar (1 hour); simulation (1 hour) • Removing lecture to focus on interactive seminar/more simulation time • Tutor participation (‘advising’ groups, but also throwing spanners in the works…)  Providing feedback in-class Materials: • Country profile • Group profiles • Y1: entirely student guided • Y1: problem-based learning scenarios (Sydney’s talk) • VLE: weekly group reports to support simulation narrative

  5. Group profiles • Size • Location • Demographic composition • Resources • Reasons for fighting • Points system (to insert realism into negotiations) • Goals attached to points • students must gain a certain number of points in final negotiation Providing enough information to get students started/give the simulation structure  Expectation of independent research/study on groups of this kind (with more or less success depending on group/year…)

  6. Country profile • Drawn from a selection of ‘real life’ countries, but not a single country • Decreases creative/analytical thinking • tendency to find out ‘what happened’ rather than think about ‘what might happen’ • Basic stats from real sources (e.g. UN, World bank) • Population • GDP • Infant mortality • Gender index Etc… Students encouraged to become an ‘expert’in their own ‘real life’ scenario  Formative assessment

  7. Assessment Formative: • Weekly group blog • Peer assessment (limited success) • Tutor feedback in class • Simulation itself (tutor involvement/feedback) • Y1: country profiles • Low rate of participation/uptake of feedback • Y2: formative essay – ‘country briefing’ • Capstone negotiation: peace proposals + negotiation session Summative • Standard essay, but reflection on the simulation required (Y2)  Incentivizes critical reflection on learning

  8. Evaluation Challenges: • Fitting within a 2-hour teaching slot • Low rate of reading/participation in seminar • VLE use variable • Y1: very active/creative, but unfairly distributed • Y2: consistent, but not particularly engaged • Adapting to larger/multiple groups Strengths: • Strong participation in non-traditional/diverse ways • Opportunity to assess comprehension/critical thinking in action • Use of simulation in essays effective • Opportunities for robust tutor involvement (e.g. ‘advising’ groups) Opportunities: • More rigourous ‘PBL approach’ (e.g. research-based) • VLE training and ‘top tips’ for creative use • Mandate peer assessment/reading of other group blogs • Devote more in-class time to simulation (recorded lectures, etc)

  9. Bringing Peace to Yorkania: Using Simulation Teaching for International Relations Dr. Audra MitchellLecturer in International RelationsUniversity of Yorkaudra.mitchell@york.ac.ukhttp://www.york.ac.uk/politics/our-staff/audra-mitchell/

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