This authentic assessment is designed to replicate and therefore prepare students for professional contexts. In POLS7225 this is applied to foreign diplomacy but is widely transferable to courses within and beyond the HaSS faculty that seek to provide practical understandings of professional experiences. In the case of POLS7225, a 'diplomatic incident' in the Middle East occurs and groups come together within the United Nations to discuss an international response. Students must respond appropriately to information or 'diplomatic events' as they occur and are assessed on both in-class effort and understanding of the position of the actor assigned. The case study upon which the simulation is based - outlining the nature of the incident - is made available through Blackboard in the beginning of semester. In addition to being assessed on their performance during the simulation, students must show evidence of and contribution to preparatory work including reading news articles, performing literature reviews, writing annotated bibliographies, and researching relevant political contexts – including the political actors involved and their position on existing foreign policies. The simulation component works best in the Advanced Concepts Learning Spaces (St. Lucia Campus) which allows for effective group work where staff can easily project content to students.
Details
- CLASS SIZE
- 40-60
- CLASS LEVEL
- Post-graduate
- ASSESSMENT SECURITY
- Medium security
- TIME REQUIREMENTS
- Medium time
- GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES
- Effective communication skills, Independence and creativity, Critical judgement
- CONDITIONS
- Work-related, Group, Sequence
- FEATURES
- Authentic, Problem based
- TAGS
- group work, active learning, collaborative learning, simulation/role play
Advantages
Simulation activities that replicate professional vocational experience provide students an opportunity to more readily see the application of theoretical concepts beyond the scope of the classroom. Fosters collaboration, communication, and negotiation skills which have directly enhances student employability in the context of foreign diplomacy, but also have wider transferability to numerous vocational contexts. Simulation exercises are typically engaging, dynamic, and promote active and collaborative learning, all of which are valued (are readily transferable to other disciplines).
Challenges
This is a time intensive technique to prepare, execute and mark. However, this is balanced somewhat by the highly positive learning outcomes for students which this assessment helps promote. May not support students who struggle with group participation and/or public speaking –this is mitigated by the fact that the simulation is only worth 10 of the total 25 of marks.
Tips for implementation
Coordinators should encourage a diversity of skills in the membership of each group (to help ensure engagement in all aspects of the exercise – written, managerial/collaborative, and performative). This might require some executive decision-making when forming groups at the beginning of the task.
How it supports academic integrity
Basing the simulation on a relevant contemporary case study (or developing a similarly salient hypothetical situation that aligns with key themes, theories or conceptual approaches covered in the course content) reduces potential for academic misconduct. Students must verify contributions to preparatory work by interacting with both staff and group members, as well as uploading preparatory work to blackboard.
Associate Professor Matt McDonald
matt.mcdonald@uq.edu.au
Matt McDonald joined the School of Political Science and International Studies in January 2010, and is the current Director of Teaching and Learning in the School. After completing his PhD at UQ in 2003, Matt held lectureship posts in international relations at the University of New South Wales and the University of Birmingham (UK), and was Associate Professor in International Security at the University of Warwick (UK). His research focuses on critical theoretical approaches to security and their application to issues such as environmental change, Australian foreign and security policy, climate politics and Asia-Pacific security dynamics. He has published on these themes in journals such as European Journal of International Relations, Political Geography, Review of International Studies, International Theory, Security Dialogue, International Political Sociology and Australian Journal of Political Science. He is the author of Ecological Security: Climate Change and the Construction of Security (Cambridge UP, 2021), Security, the Environment and Emancipation (Routledge 2012) and (with Anthony Burke and Katrina Lee-Koo) Ethics and Global Security (Routledge 2014). He was formerly co-editor of Australian Journal of Politics and History. He is currently completing an ARC-funded project on comparative national approaches to the climate change- security relationship. Find out more