Civic Engagement Research Research Articles

Online civic engagement through social media: An analysis of twitter big data

The development of social media and internet networks has stimulated new scientific interest in terms of online civic engagement, resulting in a redefinition of deliberative politics and the public sphere. On the other hand, all aspects of human life today have been translated into big data and recorded in their activities on social media. The shift from using humans as the unit of study to using algorithms creates a new problem for academics in social science. This online civic engagement research aims to find out the topic of discourse for digital citizens in the discourse of moving the nation's capital city (IKN) and what the ideology behind the discourse is by utilizing Twitter big data. This study used a mixed method with a sequential explanatory design type. The quantitative method used is topic modeling with the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) technique, while the qualitative method used is the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) method from Norman Fairclough, who sees language as a practice of power. Findings from the topic modeling analysis revealed that there were four themes in the IKN discourse: agreeing to move the state capital, objecting to move the state capital, supporting the discourse on moving the state capital, and the fourth theme, law and eradication of corruption. From the results of critical discourse analysis, it is known that there is a diametrical division in the IKN issue as a result of identity politics that emerged after the 2014 Presidential Election. In every discussion on the IKN discourse, there is a conflict between Islamic populism and Nationalist-Secular populism.

Understanding social media and civic engagement research nexus: A systematic literature review

Understanding social media and civic engagement research nexus: A systematic literature review

From Classroom to Community: An Assessment and Potential Implications of an Undergraduate Civic Engagement Research and Learning Program

Civic education in undergraduate institutions is of vital importance to the civic health of society, but faculty often find it difficult to incorporate civic components into existing courses and lack the resources to incorporate civic outreach into their curriculum. As a result, research has shown that time spend on civic engagement is limited. Additionally, civic engagement is rarely discussed, much less encouraged, outside of political science or other social science classes. In this article, we assess the outcomes of a unique co-curricular civic engagement research and learning program in which undergraduate students are required to work with an external partner, usually a municipal agency or nonprofit, to complete an independent research project. Using quantitative and qualitative student evaluations, we find that students had an overwhelmingly positive experience with the program. They especially appreciated the opportunity to work on “real world” issues in an interdisciplinary setting. They also expressed a desire for a longer program that extended beyond a single semester. We discuss the potential implications of these findings.

Exploring African American Male Youth’s Perceptions of Community Involvement Through 4-H Programs

Civic engagement research suggests that youths’ involvement in their communities results in a number of positive personal and social attributes. However, among urban populations, there is still a dearth of research on their involvement and the impact of civic participation on their development. More importantly within these populations, there is limited understanding of how Black male youth engage within civic participatory spaces. Increasing but limited research on young Black male youth usually focuses on identity, participation in programs, and socioeconomic levels. Further understanding is needed as to the factors which influence and impact Black male youths’ interests and actual participation in community and extracurricular activities. This paper explores data from urban African American high school male youth that include their perceptions and knowledge and attitudes toward being involved in their community through 4-H youth programs. The authors find that opportunities to learn a new skill and building professional portfolios assist these young Black males in their perception of being effective in their communities and making a difference for themselves.

Is Network Structure Important for Protest Mobilization? Findings from Agent-Based Modeling

In recent decades, the focus of civic engagement research has shifted towards studying social environments’ effects on individuals’ decisions on whether to participate in a given activity or not. Online communication has been increasingly influencing the scale of social environments as well as the features of both online and offline interpersonal communications. Surely, then, individuals’ decisions concerning protest mobilization are bound to be affected by network properties. Using a series of ABM models with different network structures, we try to identify the structural factors of networks that can influence individuals who are deciding whether to join a protest. The established research in this field traditionally points to two structural factors: network topology and homophily. To our knowledge, however, the literature has not considered two above-mentioned structural factors in combination. In other words, their joint influence on protest mobilization has not been tested. To fill this research gap, we combine several network topologies with enabled/disabled homophily and examine how the combination influences protest turnout and survival. Numerical experiments show that homophily is positively associated with the survival of the protest, but negatively with its size for any network topology. Since we infer this conclusion from a theory-based computational model, we also propose how empirical testing can be conducted. Acknowledgments: This research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation under grant no. 20-18-00274, HSE University.

Building Community Group Intervention: Exploring Outcomes on Multicultural and Civic Engagement Skills with Upper Elementary Students

As students living in urban communities face unique challenges, social-emotional programming is needed that fosters multicultural enrichment and civic engagement. We developed and pilot tested Building Community, a small group intervention, to foster multicultural and civic engagement skills. Building Community is a culturally relevant short-term group intervention for upper elementary-aged students that draws upon the multicultural literature and Six Cs positive youth development and civic engagement research as reported by Zarrett and Lerner (Child Trends 11:1–5, 2008). A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to explore outcomes on multicultural development and civic engagement among five ethnically diverse elementary-aged students. Findings suggested an emerging sense of multicultural development and expanding awareness of ways to engage in the community. Although quantitative analyses revealed little change, there was a small increase in the Civic Attitudes subscale that corresponded with qualitative themes from interviews and artifacts. Implications for school psychologists and practitioners working with multiculturally diverse students are described.

In it together: Exploring how belonging to a youth activist group enhances well‐being

AbstractDespite some evidence that being an activist, particularly during adolescence, can positively affect well‐being, activism has been relatively neglected in both psychology and youth civic engagement research. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring how being an activist as a teenager can positively affect personal development and well‐being. Seven focus groups comprising adolescent human rights activists were conducted in classrooms throughout the United Kingdom. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify four dominant themes–A place to go, Power in numbers, Skilling‐up, and In it together—which are discussed in relation to existing literature. Because findings from this study suggest that there are a number of positive psychological benefits to being a youth activist, implications for psychology and youth civic engagement are also considered.

Lincoln Park Survey Instrument

In fall 2013, students in Metropolitan State University of Denver’s advanced research in social science course, under the supervision of Dr. Nicholas Recker, responded to the Campus & Community Civic Health initiative by conducting a survey of businesses in the nearby La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood. Businesses were selected as the study’s focus due to their important community role and their being understudied in civic engagement research.

Sociopolitical Development and Positive Youth Development: Emerging Themes from the 2014 Youth Civic Engagement Preconference from the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence

Over the past decade, civic engagement has been gaining ground as a topic of interest at developmental research meetings such as the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA) and the Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD). The rising visibility of research on youth civic engagement aligns with calls for recognition of civic engagement as a mainstream developmental task on par with other important life domains (Sherrod & Lauckhardt, 2009). In tandem with the rising tide of civic engagement research, five Youth Civic Engagement Preconference meetings have convened from 2008 to 20141, offering a forum for diverse groups of scholars to coalesce and energize around pursuing

Engaging “Others” in Civic Engagement through Ethnography of Communication

This essay explains how ethnography of communication informed a model of public participation designed to engage underserved populations in culturally sensitive deliberative discussions. Community college students successfully served as coresearchers to pilot test and assess the effectiveness of a community-service learning model of civic engagement research.

Civic Engagement in Higher Education: Concepts and Practices (review)

Reviewed by: Civic Engagement in Higher Education: Concepts and Practices Jennifer Gilbride-Brown Civic Engagement in Higher Education: Concepts and Practices. Barbara Jacoby and Associates. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass Publishing, 2009, 265 pages, $40.00 (hardcover) Ambiguity abounds when conceptualizing the term, “civic engagement.” Higher education finds itself in a moment where parameters and definitions are needed in order to move its civic initiatives forward. Institutions are asking the question, “What do we mean by civic engagement?” The latest book from Barbara Jacoby and Associates, Civic Engagement in Higher Education: Concepts and Practices, offers a response and provides insight into what educating students for civic engagement might entail. Jacoby (2009) argues: If civic engagement is to gain real traction in today’s higher education, it must be clearly defined, and civic learning outcomes must be established. Opportunities to learn about and practice civic engagement must be embedded throughout the curriculum and the co-curriculum. This book shows how all this can be done, and is being done, at higher education institutions around the country. (p. 2) Drawing from expertise around the country, the contributing authors in this book offer a wide range of perspectives and examples while drawing from the rich base of research upon which civic engagement work can and must rest. The intended audience is broad and ranges from entry and midlevel professionals on the forefront of civic engagement initiatives to assistant/associate deans/directors who supervise them. This book has clear implications for policymakers, foundations, and associations. Fundamentally, this is a book for anyone who is charged with enacting the civic mission of higher education and is an important resource for determining what might be accomplished. This edited book is divided into two sections. The first section provides a structure for conceptualizing civic engagement grounded in its historical context and includes an exploration of the dimensions of civic learning. The second section investigates a wide range of civic engagement initiatives, both curricular and co-curricular, happening across the country in diverse institutional contexts. The book flows like a conversation among the authors with many of the contributors referring to the important conceptual and historical mapping offered in the opening chapters. In the introductory chapter, Barbara Jacoby takes on the challenge at hand, getting one’s mind around what is civic engagement and what do we mean by “educating students for civic engagement.” In many ways, the work of civic engagement has pushed ahead with fragmented and loose understandings of what it is in the first place. She cites a review of research done by Lester and Salle (2006) that listed thirty-three recent studies on service-learning of which only three included any definition of civic engagement. Drawing heavily from the work of CIRCLE (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement) and the Coalition for Civic Engagement and Leadership at the University of Maryland-College Park (2005), Jacoby [End Page 567] defines civic engagement as: acting upon a sense of responsibility to one’s communities. This includes a wide range of activities, including developing civic sensitivity, participating in building civic society, and benefiting the common good . . . Through civic engagement, individuals-as citizens of their communities, their nations, and the world-are empowered as agents of positive social change for a more democratic world. (p. 9) She concludes with a thorough overview of leadership in this area that can easily double as a quick reference guide to the many higher education associations and initiatives working to drive civic engagement today. This opening chapter lays important groundwork and captures the current state of affairs in civic engagement across the country. The first section also contains a chapter reviewing civic engagement research over the last 10 years written by Mark Hugo Lopez and Abby Kiesa, both of whom provide leadership on research through CIRCLE. Caryn McTighe Musil of AAC&U completes this opening section by offering a creative and useful conceptualization of what we mean by “educating students for personal and social responsibility.” The second section builds from these definitions and frameworks by examining current practices that shed light on strategies and pitfalls of integrating civic engagement across an institution. Other movements in higher education such as...

2009 APSA Teaching and Learning Conference Track Summaries

The sixth annual Teaching and Learning Conference (TLC) was held February 6–8, 2009, in Baltimore, Maryland, with nearly 300 registrants. The conference uses the working-group model, permitting in-depth discussion and debate amongst colleagues on research dealing with the scholarship of teaching and learning. In addition to the 11 working groups there were workshops on various topics. Michael Brintnall, APSA executive director, and Kimberly A. Mealy, APSA director of Educational, Professional and Minority Initiatives, offered welcoming remarks. John Jeffries, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, was the opening speaker, and APSA president Peter Katzenstein, Cornell University, spoke at the opening reception. Joseph A. Kahne, the Abbie Valley Professor of Education, dean of the School of Education, and director of the Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College, delivered the keynote address titled “Teaching, Digital Media, and Civic Engagement: Evidence and Strategies.” The closing program featured a short presentation from the chair of the Programming Committee, Russell Mayer. It is our hope that the ideas generated and shared at the TLC will help to foster debate, research, and pedagogical innovations within the discipline.

Politics, media and youth: understanding political socialization via video production in secondary schools

Research on the lack of civic and political engagement on the part of today’s youth has relied on traditional, often quantitative, measures of political knowledge that may miss important elements of the process. Using an ethnographic approach with a group of inner‐city high school students, our study reveals a richer construction of students’ awareness of political issues, or political socialization than previously documented by conventional survey measures. Notably present is a sophisticated awareness of and identification with non‐news television formats which suggests that sources such as TV talk and reality shows may be important sources of political discourse and even civic engagement. Our study also supports the value of hands‐on media production projects for understanding youth political knowledge and awareness, suggesting an additional tool for political communication and civic engagement research.