Seven key strategies to make abstract concepts more exciting

Teaching international relations to undergraduates can be challenging. The subject requires them to grapple with complex and abstract concepts and it is common for them to lose motivation and disengage from the topic – so employing strategies to keep them interested is vital.

Below are tactics I’ve used successfully when teaching advanced international relations and political science theories including hierarchy and anarchy, domestic politics and power transition.

Get back to basics

Students often underestimate the learning potential that theories can offer in international relations. To understand theoretical models, students must revisit their assumptions, conclusions and implications and then apply them in the analysis of various issues and cases. For example, in my class “China and the World” I explore the three fundamental international relations theories with my students – realism, liberalism and constructivism – by looking into how they influence state and non-state actors’ perceptions and behaviours on an international stage.

Connect theory to practice

To push students’ thinking, invite them to evaluate the explanatory power of a particular theory and comment on its ability to make predictions. That way, students start to consider how robust the theories they are learning are against potential critiques and amid contextual changes in the fast-evolving international relations landscape. For example, while liberalism revolves around mutual benefits and international cooperation, realism dominates in a world where states safeguard their own national interests at all costs. 

Encourage students to look at scenarios when real-life outcomes differ from the theory and then explain why such disparities exist. 

This can help them grapple with variations between different theories. As many students may be new to research, exercises like this can strengthen their ability to frame research questions and justify underlying motivations, building the foundation for long-term impactful study.

Bring quotes to life  

Impactful, easy-to-understand quotes from world leaders can be used as opportunities to facilitate critical thinking and deep discussions. Ask students to interpret the meaning and implication of a quote based on what they have learned, then challenge them to put the quote into context.

Another approach is to ask students to give their own opinions on the quotes and back these up with evidence. Using more accessible quotes means students of all levels can deepen their understanding by discussing the literal meaning initially, then contextualising the comment and finally critiquing it. For example, when I cover China’s aspiration to become a cyber superpower with my students, we look at a 2017 quote by Chen Zhaoxiong, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, who claimed that turning China into a cyber superpower was a long-term, complex and systematic strategic project involving all aspects of the economy and society. In the context of this scenario, my students can discuss the political opportunities and challenges that China may encounter along the way.

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Role play and dialogues that span time and geography

International relations theorists differ greatly by background and perspective so invite students to imagine several theorists gathered to discuss a topic of mutual interest. Students can then think about how these theorists would react to each other. Don’t let them feel limited by time period or geographical context; bringing together theorists from various eras and regions will facilitate a more comparative exploration.

Another way to stimulate critical thinking is through role play. In class, you can give a student the role of a spokesperson in a foreign affairs department responding to critiques coming from different regions on topics such as territorial disputes.

Alternatively, you could hold a speech-writing contest based on a prompt. For example, my students write speeches titled “Telling China’s story well”. Meeting the brief requires them to balance principles, perspectives, tensions and contradictions of equally valid and disparate perspectives.

Explore critical time periods

Once students gain an understanding of changes, continuities and critical historical events in international relations, ask them to identify time periods that they consider significant. Ask them to articulate what events unfolded or are still unfolding and what effects they have had on the development of international relations. This requires students to create timelines and consider how the events connect, paying attention to how the past shapes the present and may inform the future. My students have highlighted years like 1978, when China underwent economic reform and opened up; 2001,when it became a member of the World Trade Organization; and 2008, when it held the Olympics.

Help students connect the dots

Students often miss the bigger picture by placing too much emphasis on specific details. Therefore, it is important to encourage students to take a step back by asking some very general questions like how to define concepts or to discuss the controversies surrounding certain events.

This will help students link together all the fragmented information they have learned into a coherent whole.  For example, when talking about the patriotic education campaign in China, I ask students to think about the underlying goals behind it and the potential challenges it throws up.

Use memes, social media and gaming references

Bring discussions home for students by relating them to familiar references such as a popular meme, an Instagram post or even a global headline. While these may not be directly related to international relations, you can still adapt them to classroom activities.

You could use the SABCDEF tier list and radar chart frameworks (originally used to rank video game characters and in-game elements by specific characteristics) to evaluate a country’s military development, for example.

All these hands-on activities can unleash students’ imagination and creativity, which helps them build a stronger understanding of various topics in international relations.

Adrian Man-Ho Lam is course tutor in the department of politics and public administration at the University of Hong Kong.

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