Reading and class participation

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For the unit IR431 International and Regional Security, I thank those who took their time to reflect on my teaching and learning strategy. You gave some important feedback that will help me improve the quality of my strategy. 

Apart from our conversations, you have the DWU unit evaluation by the Quality Assurance Division administered at the end of every semester. I will also be glad if you can constructively offer comments on how I can improve my strategy.

Please bear in mind that DWU does not have a structured or set curriculum for the units that we teach. There is no prescribed or specifically written textbooks with tutorial activities for us to follow on a weekly basis. We work hard every semester to compile information and plan class activities.

There are two main issues that I identified in my conversation with you about Assessment task two (Attendance and Participation). The issues are:
  • Limited time to participate in the 6 hours contact period in the two weeks.
  • Students’ reluctance to repeat points expressed by others.
Personally, I have no problem with you all repeating some points made by your peers in the APEC discussion. You are all different and you have your own way of organizing and presenting information. I also like repetition because it is one way of storing information in our long-term memory instead of our short-term memory.

After critical reflection, the main problem I identified was that not many of you are reading the required readings I assigned. It took me a good period to go through the various required readings or eBooks in our reading folder in order to align them to the various weekly topics.

If you had, then for example, you would have said different things about APEC to contribute to the discussion in the 6 contact hours over the 2 weeks. I led by example by reading the two different cases from the APEC reading I shared. Not many of you referred to the readings to support your argument on whether the government of PNG should continue to spend more money on building infrastructure for the APEC Leaders meeting in November.

I suggest you all reflect on the effort you put into reading the required readings before judging my teaching and learning strategies and commenting that the 6 hours class is limited. If you read the required readings then you will be able to comment about terrorism or the English School Theory this week and next week based on your understanding of a particular passage in one of the required readings.  

You can even quote a passage and share your analysis of the passage like what I did in our APEC debate. Apart from the readings, you have the audiovisual files. Many of you included the information about APEC from the two audiovisual files I shared.  

The required readings for week 9 and 10 are not websites like Wikipedia or my PowerPoint slides. They are academic eBooks from reputable scholars in international relations like Bellamy, Williams, Buzan, Dunne and Linklater. These people have been studying international relations for the last 2 decades. 


The point is; instead of blaming the limited 6 hours of class time in the two weeks, and accusing me of not structuring the discussion well to avoid repetition. Please read the required readings so you have something to say in class that is different from your peers. That is the main reason why I gave you the required readings and assigned marks for participation is to help you develop your ability to read. 

Your learning is your business. I am here to facilitate and mentor you but you must help yourself by prioritizing your time and determining what is in your best interest. 

I am not asking you to read everything. I would like you to identify what you think is relevant and share in class for us all to consider or ponder. Similar to what I did when I read the passages on Women Micro Enterprises and the SME Network from the APEC reading.  

Finally, I will stick to the axiom of: 'Read more to know more'. Before you complain about class participation, ask yourselves these questions:
  • Did you read the required readings in order to contribute in class?
  • What passages or paragraphs in the required readings are relevant to the current class discussion?
  • Why did Mr. Yegiora include these pages, chapters or eBooks as part of our required readings for this unit?
I made the effort in finding and identifying these reading materials to help build your knowledge about the unit and the sub-field of international relations. Thus, the expectation is for you to read and come to class. 

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