Student Engagement and Deep Learning in the First-Year International Relations Classroom: Simulating a UN Security Council Debate on the Syrian Crisis

Abstract

This article evaluates a “real-time” simulation where students role-play a United Nations Security Council negotiation over humanitarian intervention in Syria. This simulation is undertaken in a large introductory International Relations (IR) subject. The article argues that in order to achieve deep learning outcomes across the diverse, contemporary cohort of first-year university students, active learning approaches need to be employed that engage differing learning styles and preferences. Deep learning is assessed across the conceptual and metacognitive knowledge domains with two indicators: (1) students’ understanding of IR concepts by applying them beyond the parameters of the Syria case and (2) students’ critical reflection on their moral reasoning elicited by the task. We evaluate 820 students across six cohorts and 21 iterations of the simulation during 2016 and 2017 with a survey instrument and formal reflection assignment. The article finds that the simulation is highly effective at consistently engaging the majority of students’ interest and motivation, while illustrating the acute and sometimes tragic tension between moral and political reasoning in IR. We found that disrupting student’s cognitive structures regarding human rights and justice stimulated not only deeper conceptual understanding but also emotional reactions that were the catalyst for metacognitive reflection.

Keywords:

• Active learning
• simulation
• International Relations pedagogy
• first-year university teaching

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Malin Karlsson for being an integral part of the teaching team on this course. Thanks also to Vassilis Kappis and other participants at the Panel on New Designs for Political Science Teaching at the 2017 European Consortium for Political Research Conference, Oslo, Norway, and the three anonymous Journal of Political Science Education reviewers for their positive feedback and useful comments on earlier versions of the article. Last, we would like to thank our students for their enthusiasm and commitment in bringing this simulation to life. Any errors remain the responsibility of the authors.

Notes

1 This research was undertaken in accordance with Griffith University ethical guidelines.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lucy West

Lucy West is a Research Associate at the Griffith Asia Institute and sessional academic in the School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Australia. Her research interests include the rule of law and legal reform in Southeast Asia and the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching.

Dan Halvorson

Dan Halvorson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Australia. His current research interests are focused on Cold War history and decolonization, religion and International Relations, and the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching.