scholarly journals Data-Based Teaching: An Introduction and Call for Collaboration

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 743-748
Author(s):  
Eric Loepp
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
American Government ◽  
Science Classrooms ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Basic Framework ◽  
Science Instructors

ABSTRACTPolitical science instructors increasingly use interactive pedagogies that emphasize active learning over traditional lecture formats. I contribute to this effort by developing a data-based teaching method that relies on student-generated data to illustrate course concepts and to serve as a foundation for a variety of activities in political science classrooms. This article summarizes the technique based on my experience in an introductory course in American government. However, given that this method is not intrinsically limited to any topic or area, I also provide examples of how the basic framework may be applied to other subfields in political science. I conclude by calling for the creation of a network of teacher–scholars interested in developing, sharing, and refining best practices related to data-based teaching.

Rhetoric as the Foundation for Political Education

1983 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
Peter Augustine Lawler
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Political Education ◽  
College Level ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
General Requirement ◽  
American Government ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Technical Discipline ◽  
Almost All

The serious study of the best examples of American political rhetoric can be used as the foundation for the introductory course in American government. The laws of most of our states understand the purpose of political education to be the creation of good citizens. Even at the college level, it makes sense to justify political education in terms of citizenship rather than with the benefits associated with a diffuse introduction to the technical discipline of political science.Citizenship, after all, is a quality shared by almost all human beings in our democratic regime, while only a very few of us ever will specialize in political science. The most cogent way of justifying the general requirement of study of a subject is by showing its universal utility, especially in a democracy, where utility is often the measure of worth.

Engaging the Unengaged: Using Visual Images to Enhance Students' “Poli Sci 101” Experience

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (02) ◽  
pp. 385-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy Ulbig
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
American Government ◽  
Lecture Material ◽  
Science Instructors ◽  
General Education Courses ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Education Courses

As the nation witnesses a distinct decline in civic engagement among young adults, political science instructors across the nation face the formidable task of engaging students in lower-level, general education courses outside students' primary domain of interest. The research presented here seeks to understand if visually enhanced lecture material can effectively engage such students better than more traditional methods of classroom delivery. The project utilizes an experimental design involving two different sections of the same introductory American government course. By exposing the sections to different visual presentations, and controlling for a variety of potentially confounding factors, the impact that simple visual images have on student engagement both inside and outside the classroom are isolated. Findings suggest that the use of simple visual images can enhance students' impressions of the discipline of political science and boost their interest in and knowledge of politics and public affairs more generally.

American Government

1987 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 4-6
Author(s):  
David Blomquist
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Full Time ◽  
American Government ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Bath Water ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Introductory Class

Most instructors burdened with the sometimes thankless task of teaching an introductory survey course in American government wince at the suggestion that their class is somehow a primer in current affairs. No wonder, for most of us who teach that introductory course expend a great deal of effort to ensure that our readings, our lectures, and our class discussion carefully delineate the difference between political science and political speculation.Yet I fear many of us are so cautious that we wind up throwing the baby out with the bath water. The vast majority of students in our survey courses will not go on to graduate school in political science; indeed, at many institutions, the majority of enrollees in the introductory class may not even be political science majors. Most will become bankers, lawyers, scientists, engineers — in short, “ordinary” citizens rather than full-time, professional observers of politics. In strikes me that the greatest legacy the survey course can provide these students is an inclination to think twice about politics —an appreciation that politics and political choices are rarely as simple or straightforward as they seem in headlines.

Active Learning in the Undergraduate Classroom:

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsi L. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Learning Technique ◽  
Written Questions

Students in the natural sciences should be prepared as undergraduates to read and apply concepts from the scientific literature. I describe a strategy that enforced the necessity to deliver high volumes of content while incorporating an active-learning technique. Students were assigned to read and discuss articles from the scientific literature that complemented content being delivered via traditional lecture. Students were encouraged to participate by coming to class prepared with written questions, and discussion was directed by instructor-prepared prompts. Students were assessed via low-stakes assignments based primarily on participation. This teaching method has proved effective, as verbally reported by past students who are currently enrolled in graduate programs. These students report feeling more prepared than their peers to discuss and learn from the scientific literature.

An Experimental Approach to the Introductory Political Science Course

1982 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 9-11
Author(s):  
William McClure ◽  
Michael Stohl
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Teacher’S Role ◽  
Teacher's Role ◽  
Receiver Model ◽  
To Receive

The conventional introductory course rests upon the pedagogical assumption that the teacher's function is to transmit information (or knowledge) and that the student's function is to receive it. According to this transmitter-receiver model of the educational process, teaching begins with a “knower” who “transmits” what he knows to a “learner.” In higher education, certain euphemisms are employed to soften and furnish a color of legitimacy to this model: the teacher is a “scholar,” and “authority,” in his field; he possesses an “expert knowledge” which the student has come to school to “learn“; the student is the “learner.” The teacher's role, accordingly, is the active one of transmitting information and the student's role, accordingly, is the passive one of receiving and recording (or memorizing) this information.

Combating Problems in Teaching State and Local Government

1981 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 19-20
Author(s):  
Mary H. Waite
Keyword(s):  
Community Colleges ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
The State ◽  
State And Local Government ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Science Instructors

Because many political science instructors come from another region or state; they feel insufficiently informed in teaching about the state and local government wherein they presently reside. Consequently, instructors generalize about these governments. Yet in many public universities and community colleges, students find the politics in their area pertinent and care less for comparative analysis. In truth, the students probably have a valid point, since the majority will reside in the state where they are attending college.

Public Policy Administration

1985 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Richard A. Brumback
Keyword(s):  
Rhode Island ◽  
General Level ◽  
American Government ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
The Past ◽  
Business Colleges ◽  
Business College ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Subject ◽  
One Year

The teaching of an introductory course in American Government can be a difficult and frustrating endeavor under even the best of circumstances. Given the general level of cynicism and/or lack of interest by large numbers of Americans regarding politics and politicians, the task of generating student enthusiasm, or even mild interest, toward the subject matter can indeed be an arduous one. When the teaching of such a course takes place in a business college, and when the student audience is “captive” to a college requirement that all students must take the course, the task can be rendered considerably more formidable.For the past six years I have been teaching such courses at business colleges — one year at Bryant College in Rhode Island, and the following five years at Bentley College in Massachusetts.

scholarly journals A power-critique of academic rankings: Beyond managers, institutions, and positivism

2021 ◽  
pp. 175774382098617
Author(s):  
John Welsh
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Normative Discourse ◽  
Academic Rankings

The bulk of research on academic rankings is policy-oriented, preoccupied with ‘best practices’, and seems incapable of transcending the normative discourse of ‘governance’. To understand, engage, and properly critique the operation of power in academic rankings, the rankings discourse needs to escape the gravity of ‘police science’ and embrace a properly political science of ranking. More specifically, the article identifies three pillars of the extant research from which a departure would be critically fruitful – positivism, managerialism, institutionalism – and then goes on to outline three aspects of rankings that a critical political analysis should explore, integrate, and develop into future research from the discourses of critical theory – arkhè, dispositif, and dialectik.

A Framework for Engineering Dissection Exercise Creation and Implementation

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Hart ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Charles J. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Reverse Engineering ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Engineering Activity ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Different Levels

Hands-on product dissection and reverse engineering exercises have been shown to have a positive impact on engineering education, and many universities have incorporated such exercises in their curriculum. The CIBER-U project seeks to examine the potential to utilize cyberinfrastructure to enhance these active-learning exercises. We have formulated a framework for product dissection and reverse engineering activity creation to support a more rigorous approach to assessing other exercises for satisfaction of the CIBER-U project goals and adapting the best practices. This framework is driven by the fulfillment of learning outcomes and considers the maturity of students at different levels. Prototype exercises developed with the framework are presented. The approach is sufficiently general that it can be applied to the consideration and adaption of other types of exercises while ensuring satisfaction of the established goals.

E-learning and Language and Style in Lancaster

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mick Short
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
Traditional Teaching ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Web

This article reports on research conducted in the department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University from 2002 to 2005 on first-year undergraduate student performance in, and reaction to, a web-based introductory course in stylistic analysis. The main focus of this report is a comparison of student responses to the varying ways in which the web-based course was used from year to year. The description of student responses is based on an analysis of end-of-course questionnaires and a comparison of exit grades. In 2002–3, students accessed the first two-thirds of the course in web-based form and the last third through more traditional teaching. In 2003–4 the entire course was accessed in web-based form, and in 2004–5 web-based course workshops were used as part of a combined package which also involved weekly lectures and seminars. Some comparison is also made with student performance in, and responses to, the traditional lecture + seminar form of the course, as typified in the 2001–2 version of the course.

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