In this short warm up activity, students share current events with the class and briefly discuss the issue. The activity promotes student engagement in the classroom and encourages students to be informed on current international affairs.
Goals:
(1) To encourage students to stay informed about current events
(2) To connect topics learned in the classroom to real world events
Introduction/Background: Occasionally, Professor Tingley will start his International Conflict and Cooperation class with a short current event warm up. Students in the class should be regularly perusing news sources such as the New York Times, The Economist, Al Jazeera, etc.
Procedure: Instructor starts the class by calling on students to share news/events that are relevant to the class topic. The class takes approximately five minutes to discuss the issue before moving on to the day’s lesson.
Comments: Professor Tingley notes that the activity not only keeps students updated on the news but also helps them to become engaged with the class material since they become active producers of knowledge.