Understanding student transition into higher education is an important aspect of module design, linking content, delivery, and assessment with a student's prior educational experience and knowledge bases. However, reflections on how modules designed choices are, generally, not widely disseminated. Here, we document the reflections of a junior…

This article describes an undergraduate simulation that formulates Iraqi regimes following the removal of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime. This exercise reinforces student comprehension and awareness for a range of legal and political topics--including group decision making, international law, diplomacy, and human rights--by actively engaging the…

Describes a congressional committee simulation used in an introductory U.S. politics course. Explains the simulation enabled students to discover how Congress operates. Discusses the outcomes of the simulation, student responses, and recommendations for using it in upper-level courses. Includes the personality descriptions for the commerce…

Presents a simulation game given in a freshman-level international relations course on the Indian and Pakistani dispute over Kashmir (India). Explains that the simulation covers three or four class periods where the students take the role of international policymakers and resolve a mock acute crisis in the Kashmir region. (CMK)

Provides background information on simulations and active learning. Discusses the use of simulations in political science courses. Describes a simulation exercise where students performed specific institutional role playing, simulating the workings of a single congressional issue network, based on the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act.…

Explains using the Bosnian war crimes simulation to introduce international law and its political and legal ramifications in the course "Introduction to International Politics." Discusses the characteristics of the simulation, its effectiveness, and the response by students. Offers an evaluation of the exercise. (CMK)

Asserts that law-related education programs, although more prominent at the secondary level than in higher education, have been successful in educating students about the role of law in society. Describes the use of mock trial competition as an instructional strategy in political science courses. (CFR)

Presents simulation materials for teaching the U.S. congressional budget process that was developed for an introductory course in public policy. Follows the class throughout the simulation experience. Includes a summary of the scenario and description of students' experiences with mechanics, schedule, assignments, roles, and rules. (NL)

Presents rationale and procedure for a role playing simulation, used in a first-year political science course. Notes that the game's purpose is to make real the problems urban policymakers face. Sees active student participation as a sign of the game's success. Includes course syllabus. (CH)

Reviews recent literature on urban politics and urban policy. Focuses on issues faced by cities of the 1990s: city planning, growth, politics, problems of housing, homelessness, cost of government, racial, and ethnic conflicts. Suggests that field trips and computer simulations can be used in college courses in urban studies. (CH)