Topics Covered

Closing class; Using humor; Case teaching; Challenging content; posing thought-provoking reflection questions; using humor to cut tension

• Instructor: Brian Mandell, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Kennedy School
• Course: Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Clip Length: 3 minutes, 29 seconds (2:47:14-2:50:43)

Go to Mandell Clip 7

Topics Covered

Eliciting participation; Case teaching; Questioning, listening and responding; using simulation data as a discussion stimulus; soliciting student participation; distilling broader takeaways as the instructor; broad participation

• Instructor: Brian Mandell, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Kennedy School
• Course: Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Clip Length: 5 minutes, 7 seconds (2:38:26-2:43:33)

Go to Mandell Clip 6

Topics Covered

Questioning, listening and responding; Case teaching; responding to students; distilling broader themes/concepts from their reflections; putting students into dialogue with one another; student creativity; just-in-time teaching

• Instructor: Brian Mandell, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Kennedy School
• Course: Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Clip Length: 2 minutes, 6 seconds (02:31:26-02:33:32)

Go to Mandell Clip 5

Topics Covered

Eliciting participation; Using humor; Questioning, listening and responding; Case teaching; using simulation data as discussion stimulus; soliciting student reflections/participation; leveraging teaching fellows; time management; warm calling, deciding when to intervene; pushing for expanded reasoning; co-teaching

• Instructor: Brian Mandell, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Kennedy School
• Course: Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Clip Length: 5 minutes, 15 seconds (2:17:47-2:23:02)

Go to Mandell Clip 4

Topics Covered

Peer learning; Case teaching; Offering feedback; reflection; debriefing; student-centered learning; simulation; protocol; using disciplinary language

• Instructor: Brian Mandell, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Kennedy School
• Course: Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Clip Length: 4 minutes, 53 seconds (2:17:47-2:22:40)

Go to Mandell Clip 3

Topics Covered

Peer learning; Case teaching; simulation; role playing; application; student-centered learning; time pressure

• Instructor: Brian Mandell, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Kennedy School
• Course: Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Clip Length: 8 minutes, 1 second (1:44:15-1:52:16)

Go to Mandell Clip 2

Topics Covered

Peer learning; Case teaching; simulation; role playing; application; student-centered learning

• Instructor: Brian Mandell, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy
• Student Group: Graduate
• School: Harvard Kennedy School
• Course: Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Clip Length: 4 minutes, 16 seconds (10:38-14:54)

Go to Mandell Clip 1

Though simulations may effectively replicate real-world situations and problems, they are still just that: simulations. Accordingly, finding ways to reinforce the idea that similar situations are being experienced by real practitioners in the field becomes critical. In this video, Mandell and his teaching team discuss how their negotiations course enlists guest speakers to come speak to the class. These speakers contextualize the skills and concepts students learn and enact in class and share their first-hand experiences with similar problems in the field. 

Well-timed, appropriate humor can provide relief in tense classroom environments. Humor can be especially critical in active learning environments, where students’ immersion can heighten anxiety and stress. In this video, Mandell, his teaching assistants, and students discuss the central role that humor plays in whole group sessions following simulations. After the intensity of the learning activity and the constructive criticism of “hot” debriefs, humor becomes a helpful tool to keep students engaged and allow them to reflect on mistakes with some levity.

Failing to debrief after an intense simulation is a missed opportunity, but when simulation debriefs fail to draw on specifics from the activity, this can also short circuit discussion and reflection. Accordingly, providing fresh, relevant data from a recently conducted simulation can deepen debrief conversations and offer students concrete details to drive their reflections. In this video, Mandell and his teaching assistant share both quantitative and qualitative data from the simulation to enliven and enhance the full group debrief. Calling upon specific groups to...

If simulations plunk students right in the middle of the action, what is the role of the instructor? Though instructors in simulation-based classrooms typically play the role of facilitators rather than lecturers, a strategically placed lecture gives the disciplinary expert in the room a chance to distill key conceptual takeaways from student-centered activities. This video shows how Brian Mandell commences full group sessions by delivering a mini-lecture that responds directly to what students just experienced. The analytic lecture aims to, in Mandell’s words, provide students...

Though simulations can be powerful learning experiences on their own, students’ learning is enhanced when instructors give them adequate time to process what they just experienced. Particularly when pressure runs high, fostering a structured space for students to debrief is critical. In Brian Mandell’s class, immediately after simulations conclude, student groups offer each member feedback about their performance in the activity. With the simulation still fresh in students’ minds, “hot” debriefs become candid spaces in which students provide one another specific, constructive support....

The more complex a simulation becomes, the more important a well-organized teaching team is for an instructor. Having multiple teaching assistants allows lead instructors to delegate responsibilities procedurally and purposefully. In this video, Mandell’s teaching team reflects on some of the different roles they play throughout simulations. These roles range from gathering data for the whole class debriefs after simulations to coaching students individually as they negotiate. 

Complex, multi-party simulations require careful preparation. With so many moving parts, students should have some understanding of what to expect and how to appropriately prepare. In this video, Mandell and his teaching team describe the materials and instructions students receive before simulations. While all groups receive general instructions which provide broad details about the case, each group member also receives his or her own confidential instructions outlining individual interests, allies, and adversaries. To prepare, students study both sets of instructions closely,...

Simulations aim to replicate realistic problems from the field in a relatively controlled classroom environment. However, this is difficult since field-based problems are vulnerable to contextual changes, complicated by divergent social interests, and seldom straightforward. In this video, Brian Mandell and his teaching team discuss how they design classroom simulation experiences that mirror the real world and ratchet up pressure for students. This global negotiation simulation in particular features misaligned interests, cultural clashes, and periodic news bulletins that shift the very...