Online Asynchronous Debates: Developing Essential Skills in Public Policy Programmes through Interactive Digital Technologies

In policy studies, academics have long valued essays and reports as types of summative assessments to develop and measure essential skills, particularly critical thinking, creative thinking and communication skills. A quick overview of public policy programs across countries reveals that these are still dominant assessment types. Essays are also familiar assessments for students entering undergraduate programmes. I argue that such skills may be more effectively developed based on interactive, team-based assessments, mediated by digital technologies. The paper reflects on the design and implementation of such an assessment, referred to as Online Asynchronous Debate (OAD). The theoretical grounding for OAD is presented, next to illustrations of debate Moots and supportive materials. OAD is still in its early stages, with most applications being documented in North America. The paper focuses on its use at under-graduate level, in 2018, in an environmental policy course. The assessment was delivered by means of Campus Pack Blog software, for teams of three students on each side of the argument. It involved three rounds of interaction over six weeks, including the joint final statement for which a team score was awarded. In terms of student performance, scores were highest for the second round of debates, the rebuttals. Students reported to have felt most challenged by this phase, as they are not normally expected to engage in this type of thinking/writing. Overall, most students received higher grades compared to the other two assessment forms: an online blog of similar length and an exam. The paper explains the support systems and preparation opportunities put in place for this assessment, some ‘unknown unknowns’, how they were dealt with, and student feedback on how they experienced the assessment. OAD assessments can be highly effective in helping undergraduate students prepare for transitions to post-graduate university studies and the workplace. The paper also offers reflections on the following two broader questions, leading to a suggested agenda for further research: • How can digital technologies be best incorporated as part of blended learning strategies, to maximise their effectiveness in terms of developing critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, communication skills and/or team-building and persuasion skills? • What are the main challenges facing blended learning strategies in terms of efficiency (overall time requirement relative to the learning gains obtained) and how can they be overcome?