Teaching and Assessing Problem Solving for International Conflict Resolution

Abstract

Rationale and methodology for teaching a problem-solving approach to international conflict resolution in college courses and for assessing the outcomes of instruction are described in this article. The Conflict Resolution Strategies Checklist was developed to evaluate students' problem solving in essays about international conflict scenarios. Interrater reliability was adequate. Checklist scores correlated positively with Cornell Critical Thinking Test scores and were highest for students majoring in international relations. Students frequently considered use of negotiation and military force in their essays, but they infrequently considered third-party involvement, nonpunitive influence strategies, consequences of actions on future relationships, or ethical issues. In four studies, students exposed to instruction about a prescriptive problem-solving model used more problem-solving strategies for conflict resolution at posttesting than at pretesting. Instruction about international conflict issues alone did not improve checklist scores. Suggestions are offered for further research and for teaching a problem-solving approach that might generalize across levels of conflict from interpersonal to international.