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.Despite the ending of the Cold War and the greatly reduced risk of nuclear war, international conflict over economic, environmental, and political issues is likely to threaten our security and well-being for the foreseeable future. In addition to the potential for terrorism and war, international conflict could paralyze efforts to resolve global environmental and economic problems.Requests for reprints should be sent to Linden L. Nelson, Psychology and Human Develop-

Relationships between problem-solving competencies and militaristic attitudes: Implications for peace education.

“…Previous studies using the earlier version of the checklist reported adequate interrater reliability and evidence for construct validity (Nelson et al, 1995). Checklist scores were sensitive to effects of instruction, were higher for students with an academic background in international relations, and were correlated with Cornell Test of Critical Thinking (Ennis, Millman, & Tomko, 1985) scores.…”

“…For the score on generating alternatives, we allowed credit for either communication or negotiation, but not for both, because negotiation implies communication. Higher scores are indicative of better problem solving in accordance with the assumptions that quality of problem solving relates to the number of relevant analytical processes and issues addressed, the number of relevant action alternatives generated, and the number of relevant consequences and criteria considered in the evaluation of action alternatives (Nelson et al, 1995).…”

“…Describe all the criteria and considerations you can think of that might be relevant in choosing the best way of dealing with this conflict We allowed 20 min for students to complete the essay. We scored the essays using a slightly modified version of the Conflict Resolution Strategies Checklist (Nelson et al, 1995). The hypothetical conflict with Iran was utilized because we thought the issue would be realistic and important to students and because a wide variety of conflict resolution strategies seemed applicable.…”

“…Implications for peace education are discussed.People strongly committed to nonviolent conflict resolution may be tempted to believe that militaristic policies are partly the result of poor problem solving, ignorance about alternatives to violence, and even intellectual deficiency. In fact, peace educators have often assumed that citizens' support of militaristic policies relate to cognitive deficiencies (e.g., Nelson, Golding, Drews, & Blazina, 1995). This assumption implies that educators can help mold more peaceful citizens by improving instruction about critical thinking, problem solving, and conciliatory alternatives to violence.…”

Identifying determinants of individual peacefulness: A psychological foundation for peace education.

“…University students in various classes who received instruction in problem solving for international conflict resolution were subsequently able to generate more conciliatory strategies for dealing with hypothetical international conflicts compared with control groups (Nelson, Golding, Drews, & Blazina, 1995). Courses dealing with international conflict issues, but not explicitly providing a prescriptive model for problem solving, did not significantly affect students’ problem-solving abilities.…”