Values in Political Science Students’ Contextualizations of Nationalism

Abstract

Recent research on conceptual change has argued that it is insufficient to assume that prior knowledge is the only aspect relevant in order to explain the conceptual change process. In addition, “warm constructs” such as emotions, epistemological beliefs, and values have been proposed to play a determinative role. In this study, we aim to further the understanding of the qualitative aspects of such constructs. By investigating how 20 science students interpret Michael Billig’s critical theory of nationalism in written exam papers, we explore how values are involved in university students’ meaning making of nationalism. The results indicate that students in different ways bring alternative values, such as togetherness, pride, and personal identity, in their reasoning, and these become a significant aspect of their meaning making in political science. This suggests that the students enter the classroom with their own ideas and principles of what is “good” or “right” when “practicing political science.” The study thus provides an example of how conceptual change involves accepting prescriptions of a certain intellectual activity.