Introductory American Government Class Research Articles

Book Review | George Will’s Conservatism and Democracy in Crisis

Americans typically view the United States as a democracy and are rightly proud of that. Of course, as those of a more precise nature, along with smug college students enrolled in introductory American government classes, are quick to point out, the United States is technically a republic. This is a bit too clever by half since James Madison, in The Federalist Papers, defined a republic the way most people think of a democracy—a system of representative government with elections: “[The]… difference between a Democracy and a Republic are, first the delegation of the Government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest.” What the framers thought of as democracy is today referred to as direct democracy, the belief that citizens should have more direct control over governing. The Athenian assembly was what the framers, Madison in particular, saw as the paragon of direct democracy—and as quite dangerous. While direct democracy has its champions, most Americans equate democracy with electing officials to do the business of government.

Collaborative Note-Taking: A Tool for Creating a More Inclusive College Classroom

Collaborative note-taking is a pedagogical technique that asks students to rotate note-taking responsibilities during class meetings in a shared document. Implementing this technique helped me, as an instructor, better leverage my students’ strengths and weaknesses in an introductory American government class—though the benefits should extend to a wide range of disciplinary contexts. In particular, collaborative note-taking helped level the playing field for students entering my classroom with wide-ranging levels of prior preparation. It also provided a consistent access point for evaluating student comprehension and learning and improved the quality of classroom discussion. As a result, implementing this pedagogical approach can help foster a more collaborative, inclusive, and equitable learning environment in university classrooms.

Variations on Ballot Format in Low-Information Elections

A common problem with studying the impact of ballot formats is the inability to test them in real world circumstances, due to the inability to vary election methods within states each year. This study examines the effect of ballot format on low information judicial elections. The pool of subjects consisted of over 550 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory American Government classes. Each subject was given an information sheet to simulate the usually available information about each candidate, and then asked to complete one of three randomly distributed ballots. Each ballot contained a race for President, U.S. Senate, and two hypothetical judicial posts. The three ballot formats given to the subjects included a straight ticket format, partisan format without the straight ticket option, and a non-partisan format. The results help to better identify the impact of alternative ballot formats on voter decision.

MOOCs and Community College Distance Education

MOOCs are Massive Open Online Courses that enroll thousands of students. MOOCs are constructed so that one professor provides course materials to as many students who want to participate, the students listen to the lectures, read the text materials and complete computer graded online assessments and then the students receive a certificate of completion for the course. Whether the course provides any kind of academic credit is an open question, but some colleges are investigating how to use MOOCs for college credit. With the possibility of serving thousands of students in one course, MOOCs appear to be a cost effective way to allow students to fulfill at least some of their general education requirements. But, do MOOCs provide the opportunities to develop critical thinking skills and foster civic engagement that most instructors of introductory American government classes strive to include in their classes? This paper will explore the development of MOOCs and how and if they should be incorporated at the community college level.

Hippies, Feminists, and Neocons: Using The Big Lebowski to Find the Political in the Nonpolitical

AbstractFilms used for political science instruction are typically political or historical and are selected to examine concepts developed by the filmmaker within the context of a curriculum. This approach may not be appropriate for introductory American government classes given students' weak foundation of political knowledge and lack of interest in politics. This article examines an alternative model of film use employing the seemingly nonpolitical filmThe Big Lebowski. Viewed early in the semester, the film highlights the ubiquitous presence of politics in society and government's relevance to everyday life. Clip montages of the movie characters were used to enhance discussion of the First Amendment, voter identification, social capital, and foreign policy throughout the semester.

Video Killed the Textbook Star?: Use of Multimedia Supplements to Enhance Student Learning

Multimedia use in the collegiate political science classroom has had a negative image since Janda's (1992) early work on CD-ROM-based video presentations. In the nearly two decades since, multimedia has matured and best practices have emerged to challenge the “sobering” findings presented by Janda. Many of the best practices point to student interest in interactive materials, but one of the great advantages of multimedia use is the accommodation of multiple learning styles that better engage students in course materials generally. Using a web-based multimedia supplement in addition to a textbook and other traditional classroom pedagogies, this article tests student performance on a fully integrated multimedia supplement with interactive graphics, videos, and vital source documents as an assessed part of student participation in an introductory American Government class among 14 sections over three years. Results of the study suggest that multimedia supplements, when consistent with interactive media best practices, improve student learning outcomes generally and specifically show the greatest improvement in written test components, especially with students who struggle early in a course.

Collaboration and Problem-Based Learning: Integrating Information Literacy into a Political Science Course

This paper details the collaborative efforts of a reference librarian and a political science professor to seamlessly meld the study of politics with the acquisition of information literacy skills using a problem-based learning approach. Students in an introductory American Government class were engaged in a group project in which they acted as media consultants for the political candidate of their choice. Two information literacy sessions were embedded into the project. ACRL Information Literacy Standards were used to generate and assess performance outcomes. Student feedback, as well as pre-test and post-test results, indicate that a problem-based approach to enhancing information literacy in political science courses effectively engages students interest and improves students’ information literacy skills.

Video Killed the Textbook Star? Use of Multimedia Supplements to Enhance Student Learning

Multimedia use in the collegiate political science classroom has had a negative image since Janda’ (1992) early work on CD-ROM based video presentations. In the nearly two decades since, multimedia has matured and best practices have emerged to challenge the ‘sobering’ findings presented by Janda. Many of the best practices point to student interest in interactive materials, but one of the great advantages of multimedia use is the accommodation of multiple learning styles that better engage students in course materials generally. Using a web-based multimedia supplement in addition to a textbook and other traditional classroom pedagogies, this paper tests student performance on a fully integrated multimedia supplement with interactive graphics, videos, and vital source documents as an assessed part of student participation in an introductory American Government class among fourteen sections over three years. Results of the study suggest that multimedia supplements, when consistent with interactive media best practices, improve student learning outcomes generally and specifically show the greatest improvement in written test components.

Cultivating Civic Competence: Simulations and Skill-Building in an Introductory Government Class

I examine the impact of simulations on student learning and on the growth of civic competence in an introductory American government class. By civic competence, I refer to an individual's skill and ability to make sense of vast amounts of political information; to work with others (and in civil opposition to other people's ideas) where appropriate; and to develop effective strategies for political action. The simulations I describe here are successful in building political skills for students, albeit with some limitations seen across sex and racial lines. Students emerge from the class more confident in how well they can handle the tasks that effective civic participation requires. What is more, I show that their feelings of confidence are driven largely by the skills they have attained and not by the objective political knowledge they have gained. These results provide strong evidence that we ought to reconsider how we teach students in the introductory American government class.

Single Session Simulations: The Effectiveness of Short Congressional Simulations in Introductory American Government Classes

ABSTRACT Simulations are widely viewed to be effective pedagogical tools; however, evidence concerning their effects on student learning has been largely anecdotal or unsystematic in nature. In addition, most of the literature focuses on fairly complex simulations that require more class time and demand more of students than may be possible in many circumstances, particularly in introductory level classes. In the fall of 2004, I conducted a quasi experiment in order to better understand the potential effectiveness of short and simple legislative simulations in introductory level classes. The conditions under which students in both classes were taught were very similar, with the exception of the simulation, which was only used in one of the classes. Results of a pretest indicated that the classes were not significantly different in either their knowledge of legislative processes or a variety of other potentially relevant characteristics. Analysis of a posttest given to both of the classes after the simulation indicated that there was a difference in knowledge of legislative processes, with the class participating in the simulation performing significantly better than the nonsimulation class. In addition, the simulation class scored significantly higher than the nonsimulation class on the exam following the simulation. These results are important for two primary reasons. First, they provide empirical support for claims regarding the effectiveness of simulations. Second, they indicate that even brief simulations can increase student knowledge.

Why Americans Hate Politics and Politicians

Do psychiatrists still use word-association techniques with their patients? I sometimes do word association with my students, usually on the first day of my introductory American government classes at Rhodes College. The first word I say is “politics,” and here is what they come back with: corrupt, dirty, games-playing, ego trip, a waste. (The nicest thing I heard the last time I did this was “boring”.) Here is what they say in response to “politician”: selfish, ambitious, mediocre, unprincipled.The teacher in me wants to despair when students associate words like these with politics. I know, as did Aristotle, that politics is a vital and sometimes noble human activity. I know that politics was at the heart of our birth as a nation. (As John Roche [1961] has pointed out, the founding fathers may be described in many ways, but no description is accurate that leaves out the word “politician.”) I know that politics was the vehicle that integrated generations of our immigrant ancestors into the mainstream of American society—the job on the city road crew that my German grandfather got from the Frank Hague machine in Jersey City is the reason that my father and then I were later able to build careers of our own in the private sector. And I know that it is politics that secures the basic freedoms that allow my students to say critical things about politics.

A Model for Teaching Writing in Large Introductory Political Science Classes

For the past two years as part of the Writing Center's writing-across-the-curriculum project at Montana State University, we have been experimenting with writing assignments in an introductory American government class with an enrollment of 130-150 students per quarter. We think we have developed a way to assign and teach persuasive writing in large introductory political science classes that helps students argue effectively but does not create a grading nightmare for the professor.In the Spring 1988 issue of The Political Science Teacher, Richard A. Brumback notes that students are entering graduate school without the ability to write effectively. Brumback calls for instruction in writing, particularly persuasive writing, in public administration curricula. “The science of public administration can only take us as far as systematizing our search for information. Effective evaluation and interpretation of that information rests in the ability to use it persuasively.” Professor Brumback's argument should be extended to undergraduate education in political science. English departments alone cannot do the job of teaching students to write well in all disciplines, especially when they have students for just one or two writing courses. Students need to write often in a variety of disciplines if they are going to write well when they graduate.There are other reasons, besides helping students develop writing skills, for assigning writing in undergraduate courses. Writing about course content makes students think. It gives them a chance to apply the concepts and methods of the discipline and to interpret and evaluate information. It also helps them see themselves more as active learners, less as passive receptors whose job it is to absorb information, memorize it, and repeat it on tests.

Articles of Confederation Simulation: Testing a Learning Technique for Introductory American Politics Students

This note presents a teaching simulation that is designed to stimulate the interest of undergraduate college students enrolled in introductory American government classes. The Articles of Confederation Simulation transforms a class into the Confederal Congress and is designed to increase the students' information retention and bargaining abilities. The simulation is empirically tested utilizing a pre- and posttest quasi-experimental design. The results reveal a significant increase in learning, as measured by information retention across time, within the experimental group. The control group experiences a significant loss of learning. The findings therefore suggest that the Articles of Confederation Simulation is an effective learning resource.

Local Government Observation: A Format for a General Education Political Science Class

Assuming students acquire the habit of democratic citizenship better through a semester-long project than a shorter unit, such a framework has been embedded in the requirements of the introductory American government class when taught at a community college. A local government unit evolved which required students to attend meetings and collect official records and press accounts, while orally tracing local government actions in class. Students completed forms and ultimately wrote reports on the unit of government they selected. Feedback has been good since the format was started in 1965.

Reference Group Theory, Social Comparison Theory, and the Study of Politics

Summary An experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that the federal government is a major determinant of standards by which citizens evaluate public policy. Ss were 80 freshmen students (46 males, 34 females) enrolled in an introductory American Government class at Ohio University. The test instrument consisted of presenting to each of four randomly divided groups one of four different sets of standards purported to be those of the federal government. The results illustrated that effective manipulation of standards may be quite possible, especially for the issue of poverty (F = 8.50, df = 3,75, p < .001). The experiment suggests governments not only react to demands as indicated in much of the traditional theoretical literature, but also may determine the demands by means of changing expectations about government performance.