Facilitating Deep Learning and Professional Skills Attainment in the Classroom: The Value of a Model United Nations Course

Abstract

What is the role of Model United Nations (MUN) in facilitating deep learning and professional skills attainment in the classroom? Using a 15-week MUN course, I gather data on student progress in four levels of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. I use pre- and post-activity surveys as well as the instructor’s own assessments designed to capture respondents’ initial knowledge/skill levels and measure the improvement they achieve throughout the semester. Additionally, I conduct debriefing sessions with each respondent to gather additional data on their progress. The findings suggest that the in-class MUN experience as a whole has a substantial positive impact on students' factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge as well as their self-perceived skills of negotiation, decision-making, public speaking, research, and teamwork. A comparison of respondents’ self-evaluations and the instructor’s assessment of student progress offers additional interesting findings: Despite the holistic nature of MUN as an experiential learning activity, course design is still key in targeting the skills to be improved. The course assessed here has strengthened negotiation and public speaking skills most substantially. The analyses also reveal that findings based exclusively on self-assessments must be approached with caution because they significantly overestimate students’ initial knowledge and skill levels.