The Use of a Middle East Crisis Simulation in an International Relations Course

Abstract

In November 2006, undergraduate students in a Model United Nations Club (MUN) conducted an exercise intended to simulate a series of crises in the Middle East. In the exercise, a total of 66 undergraduate students role-played cabinet-level officials in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and were required to make foreign policy decisions based on knowledge acquired in the classroom and on information delivered as the exercise unfolded.

Using Blackboard to Increase Student Learning and Assessment Outcomes in a Congressional Simulation

“…Others note that students are better able to apply new knowledge beyond the classroom following involvement in a simulation (Nardone and Lee 2011). Finally, several researchers have noted that students obtain higher levels of social and political currency in international and national events during and after their Using Blackboard in a Congressional Simulation 169 involvement in simulations (e.g., Coffey, Miller, and Feuerstein 2011;Dougherty 2003;Jefferson 1999;Raymond and Sorensen 2008). The political science scholarship on teaching and learning suggests that simulations and games are particularly popular (and perhaps most pedagogically effective) as a way of heightening student interest in politics (Mariani 2007), providing ''real world'' experiences in order to unmask multifaceted political phenomena (Coffey, Miller, and Feuerstein 2011), engaging students in the complexities of decision making, increasing the quality and quantity of student and faculty interactions, and promoting collaborative learning.…”

You Sunk My Constitution: Using a Popular Off-the-Shelf Board Game to Simulate Political Concepts

“…a common way to measure a simulation's effectiveness (Andonova and MendozaCastro 2008;Austin, McDowell, and Sacko 2006;Chasek 2005;Dougherty 2003;Endersby and Webber 1995;Enterline and Jepsen 2009;Lantis 1998Lantis , 2004Lowry 1999;Raymond and Sorensen 2008;Sabo 2006;Shaw 2004;Shellman and Turan 2006;Stover 2005). The questions on the survey asked students to give their answers on a scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree).…”

Teaching Diplomacy by Other Means: Using an Outside-of-Class Simulation to Teach International Relations Theory

“…For example, numerous scholars have devised games that model the European Union (Van Dyke, DeClair, and Loedel ; Zeff ; Switky ; Galatas ; Korosteleva ). Another popular set of negotiation‐style simulations involves Middle East politics (Dougherty ; Stover ; Ambrosio ; Austin, McDowell, and Sacko ; Raymond and Sorensen ; Sasley ; Butcher ). Backdrops can range from the Americas (Parmentier ) to the Balkans (Jefferson ; Ambrosio ; Belloni ) to Africa (Hobbs and Moreno ; Youde ).…”