ERIC Number: ED046831
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1970-Sep-12
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Impact of an Experimental Course, "American Political Behavior" on the Knowledge of Secondary School Students.
Patrick, John J.
A 55-item test, "The Political Knowledge Test," was developed to measure student performance in terms of knowledge objectives of the American Political Behavior (APB) course. The test was administered in May 1970 to secondary school students in experimental (E) and control (C) groups in nine communities in various parts of the country. Students in E groups performed significantly better than C groups on the test; there was a small difference among the mean scores of the nine E groups, and a great difference between the mean scores of E and C groups in each community. Evidence in this study indicates that the course is likely to have an impact on the "political knowledge" of students. For example, students in the E groups, unlike those in C groups, are aware of: 1) the relationships between socioeconomic status and political behavior; 2) the conflict and compromise inherent in the political process; and 3) fundamental legalistic aspects of the political process. Limitations of the study were that: 1) there was only a rough random quality to the assignment of students to groups; 2) experimental group teachers volunteered to teach the APB course; and 3) test performance of E group students, though impressive, reveals that several students did not achieve many of the basic knowledge objectives of the course. (JLB)
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: American Political Science Association, Washington, DC.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting, American Political Science Association, Los Angeles, California, September 8-12, 1970