ICONS User Manual: Implementation Issues

Facilitation

Country-Team Roles
Team Organization
Decision-Making Procedures
Scenario
Position Papers
Communication
Foreign Language
Umpiring
Grade
Facilitation

Most faculty and students find the three to five week period of the simulation quite demanding in terms of the time and effort it requires. It can be a very exciting time, however, as many of the students become totally absorbed in the experience. Yet it can also be frustrating if proper consideration is not given in advance to the training necessary for a successful and smooth simulation.

All faculty should thoroughly experiment with the ICONSnet system prior to the start of the simulation exercise, so that they are familiar with the technical details. It is also important that students be given advance training on the system. Students should be shown how to sign onto the computer and send and receive test messages. This alleviates the tension that can surface during the first week of the simulation if students are attempting to participate substantively in the exercise, but are unable to get past the technical details of the computer.

If resources are available, a well-trained graduate or undergraduate assistant can be quite helpful during the course of the simulation. Whenever computers are introduced into the learning environment, it is essential that a support system exist for those students who suffer from "computer jitters". Rapid and irreversible alienation can occur if assistance is not available.

Considerable effort should also go into the scheduling of meetings and communications. Typically, all students should be available during the regular time the class is scheduled to meet as a team. We recommend that the students not have access to the computers during scheduled team meetings; they should use class time to meet as a group to discuss policy initiatives and implementation.

In a sense, all of the suggestions provided above shed light on the role of the faculty facilitator. What we have discovered over the years is that it takes a great deal of careful planning for students to experience the spontaneity and excitement of the simulation. That planning, however, should largely remain behind-the-scenes. The faculty facilitator must be a resource for the students -- a coordinator of the action rather than an active participant in it. This, of course, is not always easy. The temptation to step in and rewrite a message or decide a policy issue for the team is often quite strong. But we have found that sometimes non-intervention is the best assistance you can provide, allowing students to "own" their actions and the consequences.

To recap, the facilitator has several responsibilities.

Arrange your country-team assignment with ICONS staff.
Organize the foreign policy curriculum. This entails producing a syllabus, giving or arranging lectures, etc.
Organize your country-team into an effective and efficient working group.
Act as a resource for your country-team as it prepares its position paper.
Monitor the country-team during the exercise to ensure that the team is involved in the simulation on a daily basis, and that its messages are of high quality both in terms of their content and the use of diplomatic language.
Read mail on the faculty community for simulation updates throughout the exercise.
Debrief the country-team at the conclusion of the simulation and assign final papers.

While facilitating your students’ participation in an ICONS simulation can be demanding, the rewards to the instructors who venture into this mode of teaching generally far outweigh the extra effort required of them during the critical period in which the exercise is running.