This article describes an exercise that develops students' capacity to identify ethical dilemmas, apply ethical frameworks, and consider ethical issues from multiple perspectives. The exercise consists of five interrelated activities that take place over the course of several weeks, with the central activity being a panel discussion featuring…

In recent years, 'the field of higher education ha[s] become increasingly interested in assessing traditional instruction practices (e.g., lectures) and modifying them towards more student-centred and active instructional approaches' (Kozanitis and Nenciovici 2023: 1377). Innovations in practice, such as talking pairs, are being embraced by…

As social work instructors, we have observed students increasingly wanting to engage in critical conversations about mandated reporting. Few resources are available to support instructors in facilitating these conversations. This teaching note offers content and lesson plans for exploring mandated reporting as a moral duty, a harm, an ethical…

Courses: Public Speaking, Survey of Communication Studies, Interpersonal Communication, Intercultural Communication. Objectives: This activity focuses on helping students (1) become aware of their implicit biases, (2) understand the relationship between implicit biases and the quality of arguments (i.e. unfounded ad hominem arguments), and (3)…

A key concept and problem in international relations, the security dilemma obtains when one state's attempts to increase its security decreases the security of other states. The security dilemma's consequences are said to include unnecessary armament and conflict spirals. Described herein is an in-class exercise that challenges students to…

The authors present two classroom experiments on technology licensing. The first classroom experiment introduces the concept of royalty stacking. Students learn that noncooperative pricing of royalties for complementary intellectual property rights leads to a double-marginalization effect. Cooperation solves the problem and is welfare-improving.…

Teaching the social contract tradition to students can be frustrating. Works by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau may seem arcane, abstract, or irrelevant to students. Yet, it is important for students to think about what processes or mechanisms would make consent and dissent legitimate. To address this problem, this paper explains how to use a short…

This article explores how soccer can be used as a lens to teach about German history, culture, and society. I outline three sample modules for an advanced German course at the high school or college level: The first module focuses on soccer in German history, the second on sexism and LGBTQ-related topics in soccer, and the third on soccer and…

Courses: Communication Research Methods Survey; Qualitative Communication Research Methods. Objectives: It is appropriate to conduct this activity throughout a unit focused on methods of analyzing qualitative data. Implemented during two separate class periods, this activity will help students to differentiate, practice, and reflect on two types…

A challenge for Principles of Marketing instructors is introducing new topics to majors and non-majors alike in a way that piques interest and increases student engagement across the breadth of topics. To help instructors overcome this challenge, we provide marketing "hooks," or short in-class exercises, that can be implemented to…

Traffic congestion and road tolls are familiar economic concepts for most undergraduates; however, students often have difficulty explaining exactly how theoretical principles like externalities and social welfare are related to their real-world experiences, such as driving. The authors present a classroom exercise to demonstrate how congestion…

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are simple concepts that our students seem to quickly understand, yet few of our students grasp the complexity of sustaining intrinsic motivation. This exercise aims to help students better understand that complexity. Students are given a two-part scenario. In Part 1, the individual motives to innovate are…

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs use an incentive-based approach to pursue environmental goals. While they are common policy tools, key concepts determining their efficacy are nuanced and hard to grasp. This article presents a new interactive game that explores the functioning and implications of PES programs. Participants play the…

Courses: Undergraduate or graduate organizational communication courses. Objectives: The goals for this single-class activity are for students to identify and analyze differing viewpoints on globalization, and to apply organizational communication concepts to an international case study of policy responses to globalization.

As educators and business people consider what children need to be successful in this rapidly changing society, creative and critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and persistence are recognized as the most important skills for success in education and the workforce. Among these, creative thinking is referred to most…