Responding to student concerns about the market value of an undergraduate degree in Political Science, many departments offer students the opportunity to earn credits toward their degree by completing relevant internships. This raises two important questions: what sort of internship experiences should qualify as a Political Science internship and…

College faculty often struggle with getting their students to read assigned materials. Even if students do read, they may not read closely or critically. Not only does the lack of effective reading undermine understanding, but it also hampers class discussions and engagement. To promote close and critical reading in a required, upper-division…

This work reports on the implementation of a self-contained data-literacy exercise designed for use in undergraduate classes to help students practice data literacy skills such as interpreting and evaluating evidence and assessing arguments based on data. The exercises use already developed data-visualizations to test and develop students' ability…

Much of the literature on research-oriented teaching relies on the impressions of instructors who have experimented with such practices. Often authors are enthusiastic. This article shifts the focus to assess student satisfaction with such methods. We hypothesize that a student preference for research-based learning in Political Science would grow…

Active learning is an engaging way of teaching and even experienced professors may not know how to start implementing its techniques to make classes more dynamic. Teaching cases can be a very useful active method of instruction, as an opportunity to assign students roles in the case discussion, centering them as the protagonists of their own…

Scholars of teaching and learning frequently examine whether simulations promote content knowledge and engagement with course material. But many educators use simulations to promote additional goals. This article suggests that designers of political simulations often pursue four ends: "knowledge, engagement, skills, and empathy (KESE)."…

This paper pilots a method of testing the learning effects of a role-playing simulation of negotiations over the Nile basin. Players negotiate how to apply general principles from international law, such as sharing water equitably and avoiding significant harm, to specific circumstances of the river basin. Students are presented with a set of…

Decades of research suggest that interactive classrooms enhance student engagement and improve comprehension. Team-Based Learning (TBL) is an educational strategy used first in medical settings and business schools and then expanded to social sciences and humanities that emphasizes small-group, active-learning, where most classroom time is devoted…

Middle East studies, and in particular the study of the politics of the Middle East stands at a crossroads pedagogically a decade after the Arab Spring. This study observed an experimental pre- or partial Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) engagement between Political Science students in New Zealand and the Sultanate of Oman to…

Legislatures have banned CRT across many states in America, altering the country's campus climate. This case study surveys more than 200 students, faculty, and staff on campus to understand their points of view on CRT. The authors find a "pernicious polarization" dividing the university and suggest that university faculty consider a…

An emerging body of literature seeks to design, implement, and analyze best practices in service-learning at undergraduate universities. What scholars have not examined as well as service-learning as applied to students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI's). Given that students at such universities are in unique learning environments, there is…

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…

Analyzing gender inequalities when teaching political science can be an opportunity. Making inequalities visible in the classroom using students' personal experiences can help teachers generate co-responsible practices which are necessary in a context where group work is increasingly important. Moreover, revealing gender inequalities through the…

Reading is critical to success in college. Faculty members often decry students who come to class without reading, and unprepared for the lessons of the day. Yet, relatively little empirical research assesses how to best stimulate collegiate reading and what types of reading assessments provide the best student learning outcomes. This paper…

This reflection focuses on my experiences teaching political science through a black worldview suggested by Dr. Mack H. Jones. In 1971, Dr. Mack H. Jones challenged black political scientists to subvert the efforts of white political scientists by creating an alternative frame of reference that focused on African American and African communities…