Evaluating Programs Designed to Teach International Content and Negotiation Skills

TLDR: The steps for conducting a simple evaluation of the ICONS Computer-Assisted Simulation, designed to teach both international concepts and content and negotiation strategies and skills to university students, are described.

Abstract: The first purpose of this article is to describe the steps for conducting a simple evaluation (usable in a variety of different types of courses and programs). The second purpose is to report results from an evaluation of the ICONS Computer-Assisted Simulation, designed to teach both international concepts and content (declarative knowledge) and negotiation strategies and skills (procedural knowledge) to university students. Several techniques are described, including rating scales, open-ended questions scored for elaboration, concept maps, and computer-assisted data collection. Two groups of students differing in type of participation were identified in the evaluation of the ICONS simulation. The first (and largest group) became highly involved in the program and valued learning from the innovative technology used; the second (and much smaller group) was less involved and preferred learning from traditional methods such as lectures and reading. Notes about tactics and decisions involved in planning and implementing the evaluation are included.