Operation Vanguard: Equipping Students to Thrive Amid Uncertainty and Collaboration

FACET Innovate Awards 2025
Category: Skills Across the Curriculum

Andy Tuholski, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Indiana University Kokomo

Activity Description

Operation Vanguard is a three-day activity that unfolds as a high-stakes international crisis, evolving from mysterious events to a shocking revelation. Students begin by taking on roles representing nations or organizations, such as the African Union or NATO, with distinct goals and resources. The activity’s initial stages present somewhat ambiguous events—energy spikes in remote regions, unexplained wildlife migrations, and massive power outages—forcing students to analyze incomplete data and propose actionable solutions. Each day, new developments escalate the urgency, requiring participants to adapt strategies while balancing competing interests. We utilize Discord for communication and news updates, which includes quotes from world leaders, updates on each mysterious but impactful event, and recorded video messages.

The heart of Operation Vanguard lies in its team-based structure. Students collaborate in assigned roles to draft resolutions, negotiate alliances, and present their strategies. Real-time challenges, including surprise updates, test their ability to remain composed under pressure while making decisive, ethical choices.

By the final stage, students must confront the revelation of an alien presence at the center of the mystery and respond to its implications for humanity. They decode an audio message from the aliens and are forced into action. This dramatic twist pushes them to reevaluate priorities, reconsider alliances, and craft unified global strategies amid uncertainty.

Dealing with these crises and subsequent updates requires them to integrate knowledge across disciplines—political science, ethics, environmental studies, law, communication, and others—while developing transferable skills like teamwork, problem-solving, and leadership.

By the end of day three, students have experienced the complexities of global decision-making firsthand. You know the old science fiction first-contact line of “take me to your leader”? In this activity, they get to role-play as those leaders and their choices directly impact how it all ends.

Rationale

Operation Vanguard challenges students to apply their knowledge---and conduct research and negotiations---in a high stakes, evolving scenario. It offers an experience that is designed to grab their attention. By introducing ambiguous problems and unexpected developments, the activity mirrors the uncertainty of some real-world problems, where decisions must be made with incomplete information.

It prioritizes active engagement, requiring students to think on their feet, challenge assumptions, and respond creatively to unforeseen developments. As events escalate, participants sometimes must adjust on the fly.

What sets it apart---other than the surprise twists and voice modulation effect used for the aliens, which the students thankfully loved---is that it emphasizes perspective-taking, as students engage with diverse global interests and balance competing values, such as security, equity, diplomacy, and environmental destruction. It is designed to help students practice transferable skills across disciplines and careers.