War and Peace in International Relations Theory: A Classroom Simulation (original) (raw)
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Sears (2018) War and Peace in International Relations Theory - A Classroom Simulation
Journal of Political Science Education, 2018
Simulations are increasingly common pedagogical tools in political science and international relations courses. This article develops a classroom simulation that aims to facilitate students’ theoretical understanding of the topic of war and peace in international relations, and accomplishes this by incorporating important theoretical concepts about the causes of war found in international relations theory into the design and implementation of the simulation. In addition to sharing a successful classroom simulation with other international relations instructors, the article makes two important contributions to the pedagogical literature on simulations. First, it shows how simulation design can be usefully based on the theoretical concepts and/or substantive problems that course instructors aim to impart to their students. Second, it demonstrates that it is possible to achieve important learning objectives with low-intensity simulations that do not require a big investment of time, energy, and resources. Citation: Nathan Alexander Sears (2018): War and Peace in International Relations Theory: A Classroom Simulation, Journal of Political Science Education 14(2): 222-239.
To remedy the problems associated with passive learning, a large number of scholars have advocated the incorporation of active learning methods into the traditional university pedagogy methods of reading assignments and lectures. One of the most often used active learning methods in collegiate classrooms is simulations. Today, there is a plethora of international relations related simulations available for the faculty to adopt to meet the specific needs of their classes. One common drawback of most of the simulations available for use in international relations classes, and comparative politics classes for that matter, today is that they only employ a single level of analysis in the simulation. While there is a value in simulating world phenomena focused on a single level of analysis, which allows the students to gain a basic understanding of how theoretical components relate to the observed phenomena, these simulations do not allow for a comprehensive theoretical understanding of how phenomena observed at one level of analysis is intricately related to the phenomena observed at a different level of analysis. This paper describes the design, implementation, and preliminary results of the Treaty of Versailles simulation that was adopted for the introductory level international relations course at our university that combines both the international as well as the domestic aspects of international politics.
International Studies Perspectives 13(4), 437-457
The essay describes new way to evaluate variation among simulations through six distinct categories. The six points involve the content of the simulation, the integration of the simulation with other aspects of the course, the length of a simulation, the strictness of rules, the interaction among students during the simulation, and assessment techniques. The essay assesses the benefits and costs of the simulation and course design through student feedback and instructor evaluation. In addition, the essay uses these six points of variation as a framework to explain a sample simulation integrated with course objectives, goals, lecture material, two short research essays, and other class activities designed to teach game theory applied to current international problems. The simulation uses current world issues to help students incorporate class content, game theoretic modeling, and strategic interaction into an international negotiation conducted in class.
The learning effects of United Nations simulations in political science classrooms
European Political Science, 2020
How do active learning environments-by means of simulations-enhance political science students' learning outcomes regarding different levels of knowledge? This paper examines different UN simulations in political science courses to demonstrate their pedagogical value and provide empirical evidence for their effectiveness regarding three levels of knowledge (factual, procedural and soft skills). Despite comprehensive theoretical claims about the positive effects of active learning environments on learning outcomes, substantial empirical evidence is limited. Here, we focus on simulations to systematically test previous claims and demonstrate their pedagogical value. Model United Nations (MUNs) have been a popular teaching device in political science. To gain comprehensive data about the active learning effects of MUNs, we collect data and evaluate three simulations covering the whole range of simulation characteristics: a short in-class simulation of the UN Security Council, a regional MUN with different committees being simulated, and two delegations to the National Model United Nations, for which the students prepare for 1 year. Comparative results prove that simulations need to address certain characteristics in order to produce extensive learning outcomes. Only comprehensive simulations are able to achieve all envisioned learning outcomes regarding factual and procedural knowledge about the UN and soft skills.