In this dissertation, I used practitioner research to examine the process of revising a civics course to better emphasize justice. This dissertation relies on the central idea that civics education can be transformed by redefining "good" citizenship and adopting an action-oriented approach to civic education and civic life. This study…

Project-based learning (PBL) is well known for engaging students enthusiastically and for supporting strong experiential learning. Less well known is that rigorous PBL also excels at fostering rich civic engagement--of key importance now, at a time of heightened concern about civics education. In this article, the authors will illuminate how…

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking as it commonly referred, has seen tremendous growth in Ohio over the last 10 years. However, this growth comes at a price which makes fracking a current event which is also a controversial environmental issue. Recent work by young activist like Greta Thunberg and others have highlighted a sincere interest from…

Despite the essential position of introductory courses within most political science departments' curricula, comprehensive comparisons of introductory requirements for majors have been somewhat rare. In this manuscript, I report on the state of introductory requirements through analyses of data from 381 national liberal arts colleges and…

Women are underrepresented among American legislators and political science majors. One explanation is that gender imbalances propagate through space and time. In this paper, we introduce a paired experiment aimed to assess the downstream attitudinal effects of priming the issue of women's representation. At one predominantly male university and…

Watson earned his B.A. in religious studies from the College of William and Mary in 1995, his M.A. in international peace studies and conflict resolution from the University of Notre Dame in 2001, and his M.A. and doctorate in political science from the University of New Mexico in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Research interests include the…

The large introductory classes at many universities present a particular challenge for instructors wishing to guarantee participation opportunities for their students. Yet, large courses can actually afford advantages for instructors looking to replicate many features of the U.S. Congress. We describe two separate Congressional simulations in an…

Modern people work in massive factories or offices for remotely managed corporations and need protection in their capacity as employees. Instead of locally made or distributed products, they buy mass market goods manufactured hundreds or thousands of miles away and need protection in their capacity as consumers. And as industrial production…

Should educators teach diversity courses in online formats? Courses covering sexism, racism, ethnocentrism, or homophobia are increasingly part of the curriculum requirements for college students. This study compares student surveys from six sections of the author's introductory Diversity in Politics course; three of these sections are taught…

The Town Hall Meeting (THM) program at California State University, Fullerton has been annually incorporated into several Introduction to American Politics course sections since 2011, to improve academic performance and promote civic engagement among enrolled students. This article provides a detailed analysis of results from a 2017…

Purpose: The typical Introduction to American Politics course has a plurality (if not majority) of students who take the course to satisfy a general education requirement rather than having a deep interest in the subject. It is also difficult because students lack interest and knowledge about the topic. Yet, many believe they know everything they…

Simulations offer opportunities for students to receive instruction in political strategies and practice developing political skills without the real-world consequences faced by policymakers. Budget simulations introduce students to collective action problems prevalent at all levels of American government and can be used in a variety of courses.…

Challenges to the value of active civic engagement are an increasingly common phenomenon in introductory American government courses as there is a rise in populist sentiment and a lethargic democratic public. Traditional methods of civic participation and ideal citizenship are difficult to model and teach against this backdrop. Here, we offer…

This article examines three examples of inquiry-based curricular loops, each of which focuses on a particular social studies concept. The article begins with a civics teacher (Andrew Danner) who uses a series of structured inquiries highlighting the concept of power as it relates to the three branches of government and the role of citizens in a…

This paper presents a case study in student led syllabus design, geared to support diverse learning styles and to enhance student engagement. In this case, students in an Honors American Government Course participated in designing their own syllabus for the semester. This was done through a written survey in which students were able to select…