Abstract:

Introduction:
The current context and challenges to overcome
International Relations studies need to adapt to today’s university and it is necessary to use teaching innovation techniques in this area. Even more if we take into account the current context, entailing the growing Europeanization of graduate and postgraduate studies, the crystallization of the use of new technologies in the educational context or the implementation of English as a vehicular language.

Objectives:
The main objective of this proposal is to analyze the use by last year students in two universities that offer International Relations studies (Blanquerna and Abat Oliba University) of the most innovative teaching techniques. This communication tries to capture how students have learnt to prepare certain subjects not only based on the combination of lectures, continuous assessment and a final synthesis test, but through the regular use of new teaching techniques.
The analysis of the use of these teaching techniques will be based on several subjects, of different types (compulsory, optional, final grade work, etc.), which will serve to 'evaluate' how students have advanced in skills such as oral presentations in English, the approach to the resolution of specific cases, the use of appropriate language or the monitoring and elaboration of concrete projects or case studies.

Teaching innovation techniques:
In the case of this proposal, the techniques that respond to four generic needs of the students are included: oral presentation, teamwork, comparative analysis and the use of English. The three techniques that will be analyzed are:

Brainstorming prompt:
It is the technique to which more attention will be given, for its many advantages and for being the most used in both universities by the author of this communication. It consists of dividing the students into four groups, randomly, and assigning each group a different role in relation to some aspect treated in class; look for a specific example and argue it, oppose the idea launched by the teacher, etc. ... This technique forces you to work in a team, find a solution in a short space of time and adopt a specific role, and it is highly recommended to encourage the spirit of Overcoming and analytical ability.

Speed dating:
Students should be able to retain a main idea and explain it to different people in a very short time interval, as a "speed-dating" in which the student has less time in each successive round. This technique promotes the student's ability to synthesize and also their safety, since it is about internalizing an idea until it is their own. It is widely used for the definition of topics and research questions in the final degree projects. In the case of the present proposal, this technique (carried out in class and which gave way to a detailed report by each student) was used exclusively in the final degree projects of the students.

Discussion and Conclusions:
This communication will contribute to the debate on teaching innovation techniques in university spaces and in the field of International Relations, especially through the analysis of the cross-cutting application of these techniques and their impact on: the improvement in student learning, as well as the acquisition of skills and abilitie; the detection of students' strengths and abilities, as well as their deficiencies and possibilities for improvement; the mapping of training needs; and the improvement of the quality of teaching.

Keywords:

Gamification, innovation, International Relations, brainstorming prompt, speed-dating.