Development in Practice

International Development Studies

Dalhousie University
Winter 2016
Course No: INTD 3002.03
Instructor: Dr. Matthew Schnurr
Email:
matthew.schnurr@dal.ca
Office: #102, 1376 Le Marchant St.
Office Hours:
Mon 12-1:30pm, Tues 1-2:30pm
Regular Class Hours: Mon 1:35pm-3:35pm
Class Location: Rowe 1020

COURSE DESCRIPTION
While techniques and methods alone to not add up to a coherent
approach, beliefs about development are worth little without the skills
to put them into practice, and the wisdom and humanity to learn from
experience
Deborah Eade (2003)
How, then, do we do development?
Development practice has undergone significant evolution and change
in recent years. INTD 3002 provides an opportunity to consider the
trends and tensions within this changing environment. While building
upon the theoretical questions and conceptual foundations discussed in
INTD 2001/2002, the course will focus on the practice of international
development, or the means by which we strive to achieve development
goals.
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the basic methods and
practical skills used in development work and to critically analyze those
methods. INTD 3002 is designed to help students develop some of the
practical skills needed to work in the development field, including
teamwork, group facilitation, project proposal writing, and project
evaluation.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course students should be able to:
Gain a general awareness of the workings of the international
development industry
Articulate a basic understanding of development organizations,
structures, and planning
Compare the merits and application of various development
methodologies
Explore the ethics of development practice and the tensions
inherent in development policy and practice
Develop a solid understanding of project proposals, design and
evaluation
Hone skills of teamwork, communication and mediation

COURSE POLICIES
Missed classes: Most of the information related to the logistical and
administrative components of this course will be communicated during
class time. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to make contact
with a fellow student and catch up on what you missed, regardless of
whether the absence was justified or not.
IDS departmental late policy: Deadlines are an unpleasant fact of life and a
reality in development work. The challenge is to do the best you can in the
time available. Late assignments will be accepted without penalty only for
medical reasons and with appropriate documentation.
We cannot offer accommodation for late submissions on Bblearn due to
technical problems. Please ensure that you submit your work well ahead of
the deadline in order to avoid technical problems. If you foresee
extenuating circumstances you must contact your instructor as soon as
possible before the deadline. Marks will be deducted on late assignments
on the following scale:

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Day 1 through 7: 2% per day

Day 8 through 14: assignment will be graded out of 50%
After 14 days assignments will not be accepted and a grade of 0
will be given.

Please note: If you do encounter a personal or medical emergency it

is your responsibility to notify the Instructor within 24 hours to ensure
that the case can be dealt with in a proactive manner.
Formatting requirements for assignment: All the assignments for this
course operate within the same formatting requirements: one inch
margins, double-spaced, double-sided, 12+ font, Times New Roman.
Please respect these requirements. To ensure fairness and consistency
to all students, any assignment that does not respect formatting
requirements or exceeds length maximums by more than 5% will
incur a 5% penalty (any excess material beyond this limit will be not
be considered).
Reference style: All assignments for INTD 3002 will use APA citation
style
(6th
Edition).
A
style
guide
is
available
here:
http://www.library.dal.ca/Files/How_do_I/pdf/apa_style6.pdf
Online submission of all assignments: All assignments are to be
submitted online via the course BBLearn website. Please familiarize
yourself with this section of the website if you have not used it before.
COURSE MATERIALS
1. Readings
There is no required textbook for INTD 3002. Readings for this course
will be available via the course BBlearn site. To access the electronic
links you will need to be logged in to Dalhousies internal server. You
can accomplish this by either logging into any computer located on
campus or using Dals Virtual Private Network for off-campus access.
For information see: http://its.dal.ca/services/internet/vpn/
Students are expected to come to each class having carefully read and
analyzed the readings for the week, and prepared to discuss them
critically and to apply ideas from them to practical exercises in the
tutorials.
EVALUATION

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The grading scheme is as follows:

Assignment

% of grade

Due

Date
Individual (45%)
Participation
Ongoing
Policy Brief
Jan 25
Project Proposal Ranking
Apr 4
Group (55%)
Team Project
a) Preliminary proposal
Feb 8
b) Project funding proposal
Mar 14
c) Presentation
TBD
e) Peer-review exercise

10
20
15

5
30
15
5

Apr 4
Formatting: All class assignments should conform to standard
formatting requirements (double-spaced and double-sided, 12 point
Times New Roman font, one inch margins). All assignments are due at
the beginning of class (e.g. 1:30pm on the due date).

1. Participation (10%)
Student contributions to lecture and tutorial discussion are a critical
component of this course.
Participation will be rewarded for quality
rather than quantity. Students should be aware that attendance and
engagement will also be taken into account (i.e. not using facebook
during tutorial).

Assessment will reward comments that reflect:

Engagement and understanding of the assigned readings

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Critical thought on issues addressed in class

Reflections based on past experience

Personal opinion on particular topics

2. Policy Brief (20%)

This assignment asks you to create a policy brief that analyses the
implications of the recent CIDA/DFAIT merger. Your task is to craft a
brief (4 pp. max, including tables/figures/images, but excluding
references) to be presented to the Honourable Minister of International
Development, which presents your own recommendations for how the
Minister should handle this transition. Some key questions that you
might want to consider: What key issues need to be addressed in the
merger between CIDA and DFAIT? What are the major
advantages/disadvantages of this policy decision? What are the critical
issues that need to be addressed moving forward? Examples of
successful policy briefs are available for you to consult on the BBlearn
site.

Grading will be based on the evaluation rubric on p.10 of the syllabus.

3. Group Project (55%)

The class will be broken into groups who will be submitting concept
notes to the International Development and Research Centres Small
Grants for Innovative Research and Knowledge-Sharing Competition.
Each will team will work together to prepare a development project
funding proposal based on the IDRCs real-life requirements. The
budget for this proposal must be under $60 000. Students should read
carefully the IDRC Call for Concept Notes and FAQs, which are posted
on the BBlearn site.
The group project involves three components:
A. Preliminary proposal
The first assignment requires your group to produce a two-page
proposal that summarizes the key elements of your project, including
short synopses of the 1) problem and justification, 2) objectives and 3)

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methods and activities.

B. Project Funding Proposal

The project funding proposal should follow the IDRC guidelines
mentioned above. This section will require a considerable amount of
thought, imagination and working and reworking in order to make it
realistic and feasible. Proposals must accord with IDRCs real-world
requirements posted on the BBlearn site.

Assessment will be based on:

Feasibility of the proposed project

Understanding of the criteria for a successful development project

Ability to meet the expectations laid out by the donor

Solid logic, organization, structure and style

C. Presentation of Funding Proposals

Each team will present their project funding proposal for consideration
by the rest of the class. The audience will play the role of the IDRC
review board and will decide whether or not to fund the project, how
much funding to give, and what, if any, changes need to be made to the
project design to meet IDRC requirements. Time constraints for the
presentation will be determined once class size has been finalized.

D. Peer-review exercise
5% of the total grade for the group project will be allotted to peer
evaluation based on individual contributions.

4. Project Proposal Evaluation (15%)

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All the team funding proposals will be posted on the BBlearn site. Each
student will take on the role of an IDRC proposal adjudicator and, using
the IDRC guidelines for project evaluation (see pp. 6/7 of IDRC Call for
Concept Notes document) and the tools of project evaluation gained
from the course, must prepare an evaluation report of three (3) of the
other groups proposals. The report should identify each proposals
strengths and weaknesses, make recommendations for each proposal,
and rank the proposals in order of priority for funding (with
justifications for the ranking). The project proposal evaluations should
be prepared as a report to the Director of Project Funding at IDRC. The
entire report should be no more than six pages, double-spaced and
double-sided including tables/figures/images, but excluding references)

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
At Dalhousie University, we respect the values of academic integrity:
honesty, trust, fairness, responsibility and respect. As a Dalhousie
student and a member of the academic community, you are expected to
abide by these values and the policies which enforce them.
What is academic integrity?
Academic integrity is ensuring that any work you submit is your own
and that you have given appropriate acknowledgement to any sources
that you consulted. Dalhousie University defines plagiarism as the
submission or presentation of the work of another as if it were one's
own. Plagiarism is considered a serious academic offence which may
lead to the assignment of a failing grade, suspension or expulsion from
the University. (from Undergraduate Calendar section on Intellectual
Honesty).
Some examples of plagiarism are:
failure to attribute authorship when using a broad spectrum of
sources such as written or oral work, computer codes/programs,
artistic or architectural works, scientific projects, performances,
web page designs, graphical representations, diagrams, videos,
and images;
downloading all or part of the work of another from the Internet
and submitting as one's own
the submission of a paper prepared by any person other than the
individual claiming to be the author
submitting work that has been completed through collaboration

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or previously submitted for

permission from your instructor

another

assignment

without

How is plagiarism detected?

Professors and TAs are highly skilled at recognizing discrepancies
between writing styles, inappropriate citations, and obvious word-forword copying. In addition, the Senate has affirmed the right of any
instructor to require that student papers be submitted in both written
and digital format, and to submit any paper to an originality check such
as that performed by Turnitin.com. Copies of student papers checked
by this process will be retained by Turnitin.com.
What happens if I am accused of plagiarism?
Instructors are required to forward any suspected cases of plagiarism
to the Academic Integrity Officer (AIO) for the Faculty. You will be
informed of the allegation by the AIO and a meeting will be convened.
You may contact the Dalhousie Student Advocacy Service who will be
able to assist you in preparing a defence. Until the case is resolved,
your final grade will be an "INC". If you are judged to have committed
an offence, penalties may include a loss of credit, F in a course,
suspension or expulsion from the University, or even the revocation of a
degree (for more information see Academic Integrity website listed
below).
How can I avoid plagiarism?

Give appropriate credit to the sources used in your assignment

o Use RefWorks to keep track of your research and edit and
format bibliographies in the citation style required by the
instructor - http://www.library.dal.ca/How/RefWorks
If you are ever unsure about ANYTHING, contact your instructor
or TA
Prepare your paper completely independently
Make sure you understand Dalhousies policies on academic
integrity

Where can I turn for help?

Academic Integrity website - http://academicintegrity.dal.ca

o Links to policies, definitions, online tutorials, tips on citing
and paraphrasing
Writing Center - http://writingcentre.dal.ca/
o Proofreading, writing styles, citations
Dalhousie Libraries - http://www.library.dal.ca/How/

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TOPICS

AND

READING SCHEDULE

Week 1 January 4
Introduction

Week 2 January 11
A History of Doing Development in Canada
1. Aid Watch Canada (2013) Budget 2013: Implications for Canadian
overseas development assistance
http://www.ccic.ca/_files/en/what_we_do/2013_03_27_Analysis_Budget_2
013.pdf
2. Stein, J.G. (2013) Ending CIDAs Independence can only make our
foreign policy more coherent. Globe and Mail. March 22, 2013.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/ending-cidasindependence-can-only-make-our-foreign-policy-morecoherent/article10160796/
3. Axworthy, L. (2013) Ending CIDA is a bold and admirable move.
Globe
and
Mail.
March
22,
2013.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/lloyd-axworthy-endingcida-is-a-bold-and-admirable-move/article10163344/
TUTORIAL: What makes an effective policy brief?
Week 3 January 18
The Architecture of Aid
1. Brown, S. and B. Morton (2008) Reforming aid and development
cooperation: Accra, Doha and beyond. Policy Note: The North-South
Institute. http://www.nsi-ins.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2008Reforming-Aid-and-Development-Cooperation-Accra-Doha-andBeyond.pdf

INTD 3002.02 Development in Practice

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10

2. Power, G., M. Maury and S. Maury (2002) Operationalizing bottom-up

learning in international NGOs: barriers and alternatives. Development
in Practice 12 (3&4): 272-284.
http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?
url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0961450220149663
3. Kaplan, A. (2000) Capacity building: Shifting the paradigms of
practice. Development in Practice 10 (3&4): 517-526
http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?
url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/402957
TUTORIAL: Analyzing Canadas aid contributions

Week 4 January 25
The Great Aid Debate I: Aid versus Trade
1. Cohen, M., M Figueroa, and P. Khanna (2009) The New Colonialists.
Foreign
Policy,
October
7
2009.
Available
from:
http://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/07/the-new-colonialists/
2. Planet Money Episode 494: What Happens when you just give money
to
poor
people,
March
4,
2015
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/11/08/243967328/episode-494what-happens-when-you-just-give-money-to-poor-people
TUTORIAL: The Great Aid Debate II: In-cash vs. in-kind
Week 5 February 1
Doing Development: Proposing and Implementing a
development project
1. Turner, M., and D. Hulme (1997) Planning for development: the
solution or the problem? In: Mark Turner and David Hulme, eds.
Governance, Administration, and Development: Making the State Work.
West Hartford, CN: Kumarian Press, pp. 132-150. [PDF in Readings
Folder]
TUTORIAL: Introducing the group project
Week 6 February 8
Doing Development: Methods/Results/Budgets
No readings for this week

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11

TUTORIAL: Policy Mapping

Week 7 Reading Week
Week 8 February 22
Doing Development: Participatory Development
1. DFID (2003) Participatory methodologies and management (Chapter
7) in Tools for Development: A Handbook for Those Engaged in
Development Activity. http://commdev.org/tools-development-handbookthose-engaged-development-activity
2. Cornwall, A. and K. Brock (2005) What do buzzwords to for
development policy? A critical look at participation. Third World
Quarterly 26(7): 1043-1060.
http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?
url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=tsh&AN=18685135&site=ehost-live
TUTORIAL: Doing participatory research

Week 9 February 29
Doing Development: Monitoring, Evaluation and Timelines
1. Guijt, I. (2010) Rethinking monitoring in a complex messy
partnership in Brazil. Development in Practice 20(8): 277-286.
http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?
url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2010.513729
2. Starling, S. (2010) Monitoring and evaluating advocacy: lessons from
Oxfam GBs Climate Change campaign. Development in Practice 20(2):
277-286 http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?
url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09614520903564215
TUTORIAL: Is participatory monitoring and evaluation possible?

Week 10 March 7
Practical and Ethical Issues in Development Work
GUEST SPEAKERS: Uganda-based Interns

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12

1. Stirrat, R. L. (2008) Mercenaries, missionaries and misfits:

Representations of development personnel. Critiques of Anthropology.
28(4): 263-279.
http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?
url=http://coa.sagepub.com/content/28/4/406
TUTORIAL: The ethics of development work

Week 11 March 14
Working in Development
1. Gilbert, J. (2005) Self-Knowledge is the prerequisite of humanity:
personal development and self-awareness for aid workers.
Development in Practice 15(1): 64-69.
http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?
url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030166
2. Schlesinger, V. (2008) Journey to nowhere. In: Rasna Warah, ed.
Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits: An Anthology, 23-43. [PDF in
Readings Folder]
3. Mendleson, R. (2008) Helping the world. And me. Macleans Sep 29
08: 50-52.
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2008/09/19/helping-the-worldand-me/
4. Crawford, D. M. Mambo, Z. Mdimi, H. Mkilya, A. Mwanbuzi, M.
Matthias, S. Sekasua and D. Robinson (1999) A day in the life of a
development manager. Development in Practice 9(1&2): 170-175.
http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?
url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4029718
TUTORIAL: Work on group project

Week 12 March 21
Proposal Presentations I
Week 13 March 28
Proposal Presentations II

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13

Week 14 April 4
Proposal Presentations III

Evaluation Rubric: Policy Brief Assignment

Criteria

Excellent

Good

Average

Marginal

Poor

Research
(5 points)

Range of sources
consulted exceeds
expectations.
Research is well
integrated in all stages
of the analysis.
Empirical evidence
(stats, examples,
figures, quotes)
effectively mobilized
to support major
points.

A variety of
sources
consulted.
Research could
be better
integrated into
the analysis.
Some statements
need to be
backed up more
effectively with
evidence.

Some evidence of
research
undertaken, but it
needs to be
mobilized more
effectively in
support of major
points.

Limited
variety of
sources
consulted.
Some critical
areas are
underresearched.

Research is
uneven and
undeveloped.

Total

_______

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Analysis
(5 points)

Presentation
(5 points)

14

Wide variety of criteria

used to evaluate policy
effectiveness.
Sophisticated
interpretation and
application of
information. Insightful
evaluation of key
issues.

Good evidence
of critical
analysis. Heavy
on explanation
rather than
analysis. More
specific
evaluation is
needed to attain
desired depth of
analysis.

Some evidence of
analysis but more
depth is needed
here. More nuance
and specifics
needed in analysis.

More thought
and
consideration
of key ideas is
required.
Little direct
engagement
with key
policy
elements.

No evidence
of original
analysis.

Creative and
imaginative approach.
Lucid progression of
ideas building on a
central theme. Layout
is creative, effective
and professional.
Sophisticated and
mature command of
language throughout.

Ideas are
presented in an
accessible
manner.
Presentation is
straightforward,
but not inspired.
Capable use of
language
throughout.

More attention
needed to present
ideas in a clear and
creative manner.
Writing needs to
be more succinct.
Mistakes in
spelling, grammar
or sentence
structure.

Little
evidence of
creativity or
imagination.
Frequent
mistakes in
language.

No evidence
of time or
effort
afforded to
presentation

Total (out of 15): ______

_______

_______