Improving and Enhancing Student Learning

A dynamic union of both pedagogy and technology is central to political science teaching and learning. Realizing the effectiveness of such a combination, the program committee of the pilot APSA Conference on Teaching and Learning Political Science included a session that focused on varied aspects of pedagogy and technology. The idea was not only to integrate technology with pedagogy, but also to focus on pedagogy separate from the use of technology.

The 14 Track One participants represented a range of institutions, levels of teaching experience, and areas of substantive expertise. Institutions ranged from universities to four-year liberal arts colleges to community colleges. Participants ranged from beginning teachers to those newly tenured to those newly retired. All of the discipline's major subfields—American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory, Methodology and Public Law—were represented. This diversity gave rise to a workshop dynamic conducive to the sharing of ideas about what worked most successfully in political science teaching and learning.

Each of the 14 presenters described an innovative teaching technique and how to best implement it in the classroom. APSA has created a web site to facilitate the sharing of these ideas across the discipline; for information on implementing these ideas in your classroom, visit www.politicalscience.org. The presentations emphasized eight different themes:

1. Uses of the web with an entire webbased course, with web activities as a supplement to a traditionally taught course, and with an entire simulation online. John Kozlowicz, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, noted his progression from using web-based enhancements to teaching an entire course on the web with emphasis on student discussion forums. Robert Trudeau, Providence College, emphasized that the use of a web-based discussion prior to class helps make the in-class discussion more meaningful with incorporation of higher level critical thinking skills. Kathleen Young, University of Maryland, explained that online simulation promotes writing skills and allows for organized student interaction beyond the classroom.
2. Simulations commercially produced or student-created as a corollary to an entire course, as well as teacher-created simulations with use of email communication between students of two universities. Danny Damron, Brigham Young University, emphasized that use of simulations requires students to apply and interact with political science information and ideas in a reflective way. Donald Jansiewicz, Carroll Community College, discussed the importance of student debriefing as part of the simulation. Paul Dosh, University of California-Berkeley, explained student-created simulation as a process of making learning more lasting and memorable for students. John Forren, Miami University, focused in part on the use of email communication between two universities' students engaged in the same simulation at the same time to promote dialogue and reflection among students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
3. Purposeful use of multiple teaching methods emphasizing different learning styles and multiple intelligences. Amy Gershkoff, Princeton University, highlighted examples of varied teaching methods to promote student success in a political methodology course.
4. Use of learning communities both across the institution and curriculum for all full-time freshmen and on an ad hoc basis between/among individual faculty. Juan Carlos Huerta, Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi, emphasized the enhanced student learning and interaction that takes place when political science provides the context for an institution-wide learning community. Cameron Thies, Louisiana State University, focused on the importance of the appropriate learning community model plus the need for choosing faculty willing to experiment.
5. Instructional framework designed to facilitate review, guided discussion, and open-ended discussion. Gerson Moreno-Riano, Cedarville University, emphasized that this mode of pedagogy is helpful in a political philosophy course.
6. Moot court to teach complexities of controversial issues. Galya Benarich Ruffer, DePaul University, explained moot court as a technique not only to explain case law, but also to discuss nuances in the definition of plagiarism.
7. Internships in which students learn experientially. John Berg, Suffolk University, focused on how a political science internship achieves both political science goals and more generic academic and practical goals of experiential education.
8. Mentoring of students, rather than mere advising, with the goal of strategic thinking and planning by students. Craig Cobane, Culver-Stockton College, emphasized that his mentoring model encourages students to take initiative and responsibility in their decision-making process.

Each of these presentations emphasized the need to reframe pedagogical discussions from thinking in terms of how to improve teaching to thinking in terms of how to enhance student learning. Many of the ideas involved completely rethinking how students learn by suggesting students take a greater role in the teaching process, encouraging students to learn experientially outside the classroom, arranging for some instruction to take place over the Internet, or facilitating interdisciplinary learning. Presenters noted the positive results of such innovations, including greater student retention of the material, increased student motivation and interest in class, and attainment of higher order critical thinking skills.

The discussion at the end of these presentations highlighted that to move away from the traditional lecture format of instruction, it is imperative for faculty to have technical, institutional, and departmental support. In addition to needing technical support to implement such equipment as in-class voting machines, Internet access, or laptop projection, participants noted the need for sufficient faculty training on use of new technology in the classroom. For example, though using PowerPoint may be trendy, without faculty training on how to effectively incorporate the technology into the learning process, the classroom experience could become consumed by the technology, rather than enhanced by it.

Several participants noted the need for broad institutional support to implement interdisciplinary teaching/learning and other types of learning communities. Presenters emphasized the need for a dialogue involving deans and other administrators, staff such as the registrar, and relevant faculty. These challenges are by no means insurmountable, but they do necessitate forethought and advanced planning.

Many participants noted the paramount importance of departmental support for pedagogical innovation. Some departments are quite open to new teaching ideas, while others take a slower and more evolutionary approach. Faculty emphasized the need to keep department culture in mind when deciding to implement new approaches to student learning.

Several presenters noted that pedagogical innovation is risky, especially for untenured faculty. The present structure of the discipline rarely rewards innovation in teaching, especially because teaching is rarely as paramount as research in the tenure process at most institutions. Pedagogical innovations can take time to prepare and implement, often much more time than the traditional lecture format. While no conclusions were reached on how the incentive structure could or should be changed to encourage faculty to take the time and risk to implement pedagogical innovations, all agreed that the current incentive structure can be an obstacle.

Discussion also focused on the lack of teaching preparation that graduate students often receive. This lack of pedagogical training means that assistant professors must learn “on the job,” which can make it difficult to simultaneously pursue the professional research projects that ultimately lead to tenure. Participants suggested that more training in teaching during graduate school might ease the transition from graduate student to assistant professor.

Finally, participants focused on how best to reach out to students while still maintaining social distance. We discussed, for example, the tradeoffs in a policy of requiring students to pursue internships or prestigious fellowships for which they are qualified, as well as whether faculty should be willing to answer questions on a personal level about balancing work and family when questioned by aspiring academics. These issues point to the need to come to an understanding of the role of faculty in an atmosphere of varied institutional norms, discipline specialties, and personal comfort levels.

These discussions raised many questions, but participants came to no set conclusions. However, Track One participants did unanimously conclude that articulating these issues and concerns among political science colleagues was very helpful. The discipline carves out much time for discussing mutual research interests, but rarely affords ample time for discussing mutual pedagogical concerns. Like the 2004 Conference, the expanded 2005 Conference will feature a workshop format in which participants can continue the dialogue begun by Track One.