The Impact of Course Structure on Students’ Political Efficacy and Confidence-in-Knowledge in Introduction to American Government

Abstract

Introduction to American Government is a foundational general education course meant to promote understanding of democracy and students’ ability to participate in it. But, there is substantial variation in how the course is structured: it can enroll anywhere from a dozen students to hundreds; it can be delivered online, face-to-face, or in hybrid format; it can feature active, interactive, or passive pedagogy. Does course structure (i.e., class size, modality, active/interactive pedagogy) affect students’ learning about democracy? We surveyed students enrolled in American government at a large university both at the beginning and end of the course. We leverage variation in structure at the university to assess its impact on growth in students’ political efficacy and confidence-in-knowledge over the semester. We find that courses that feature more active/interactive learning exhibit greater student growth in both efficacy and knowledge confidence, robust to model specification. We also find that face-to-face and online courses produce greater gains than hybrid courses, but this depends on model specification. We find no support for a direct effect of class size on student learning. The results illuminate how best to structure courses to achieve civic education goals.