The Hearing / Teaching guide

Teaching guide

A research hearing about political competition, evidence and the claims a source can carry.

The Hearing. Three records on a hearing table connect to civic spaces through a red thread.

Students select a main case and a second case from Russia, Malaysia, Malawi and Serbia. They curate two supporting observations and a complication, connect an action to another actor’s opportunity, answer two source challenges, investigate a rival and make a bounded comparison. Historical outcomes are fixed. The fictional hearing changes the analysis rather than the election.

Full facilitator manual: Open the six-page PDF. It includes case-specific cautions, a neutral calibration example, the research basis and a teacher observation sheet.

Prepare and choose an endpoint

No prior country expertise is required. Introduce an observation versus an inferred connection with the invented library example below. Assign main cases across the room. Use separate browser records for individual assessment; a pair sharing one device creates one joint record. Give each partner a private thinking turn, then swap proposer and skeptic roles.

Class mode blocks pasting and text drops into answer fields. Optional frames, typing, copying out and backup import remain available. Explore mode permits pasting and saving a draft at any point. Full completion keeps both challenges, the complication, rival and comparison in either mode.

A 55-minute planning estimate

Minutes	Research work
0-7	Opening example, case orientation, roles and first idea.
7-16	Read and choose evidence; explain the complication.
16-23	Target, actor/action/option and first paragraph.
23-35	Both hearing questions and decisions; rival, evidence request and revision.
35-55	Second-case comparison, final review, save and discussion.

The pace is unmeasured with actual students. Allow extra time or save after the board/connection and resume in a second session. Preserve the reasoning when adapting the timetable. Oral briefings are optional unless assigned.

What to assess

Two distinct observations support identifiable clauses; repeated numbers are not independent evidence.
A named action or rule affects a particular actor’s option; a broad national outcome is not itself a mechanism.
The complication and source limit narrow the actual claim.
Both hearing decisions give evidence-based reasons, including a justified decision to keep an account.
Two accounts address the same uncertain link, with differing expected observations and a feasible evidence request.
A dated second-case difference tests or bounds the explanation.

Aim for 60-85 words in the main paragraph; 50-120 is accepted for completion. Comparison remains 30-45 words. Use your course’s participation policy and the manual’s human criteria. Structural inclusion, opening a source and a correct practice choice do not establish mastery.

A neutral calibration

Invented library: a board adds evening hours and evening visits rise. Longer hours make a later visit possible, but the visit list does not show why each person came. A special event could also explain attendance. Ordinary-evening use versus event-night concentration could help distinguish the accounts. Both may contribute.

Keep the four windows distinct

Russia, early 2024: reported support and restricted opportunities can coexist. Survey denominators differ; a missing observer mission does not estimate fabricated votes.
Malaysia, 2013/2018: distinguish alliances and local seats from a national vote total. Later reform cannot cause an earlier victory.
Malawi, 2019/2020: separate reopening, implementing and winning a fresh contest. The official-total discrepancy and indirect original-judgment access remain disclosed.
Serbia, late 2023 to February 2024: this was a parliamentary contest. Genuine alternatives can coexist with unequal conditions; monitored content is not measured persuasion.

The files do not impose one national regime classification or isolate the total cause of an election result.

Assign and collect

Copy the Canvas assignment text or use the print alternative. Choose PDF upload or Canvas Text Entry. The summary retains the target, spine, current claim, evidence board, pressure-test decisions, rival, request, comparison and current status. It is available for manual copying even if clipboard permission waits. The .json is a resume backup; exporting is not submission.

Teaching downloads

Reviews are AI role simulations and technical checks. The manual’s teacher sheet is for an actual learner pilot; classroom timing, accessibility and learning effects remain unmeasured.