The “Briefing Note” as a Pedagogical Tool for Teaching Politics and International Relations

When new graduates begin employment in industries such as government, consultancies, or the nongovernmental sector they are expected to have the skills needed to write politically-informed reports accurately. Teaching how to write briefing notes provides students with an important skill, but also provides an effective instrument for examining integrated comprehension of course content. In this article, we explain why briefing notes are a useful pedagogical device, some guidelines on when to use them and how to structure the assignments, and an indication of where we have found them to be successful instruments for enhancing student learning. We suggest briefing notes are a flexible assessment technique that aligns well with traditional teaching approaches as well as newer techniques such as active and problem-based learning.