Renée Van Vechten, University of Redlands, department of government, has been awarded the 2008 Rowman & Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science.

The Rowman and Littlefield Award recognizes political scientists who have developed effective new approaches to teaching in the discipline. The award seeks to honor a wide range of new directions in teaching, not one particular new direction. The winner was chosen from among a large number of deserving nominees whose teaching techniques have moved our pedagogy forward.

Dr. Van Vechten received the award for her work on collaborative simulations. In particular, Van Vechten created and facilitated three simultaneous and interactive simulations in her Congress course and two introduction to American governments courses. Students in the Congress course represented congressional members, while students in the two American government courses played the part of lobbyists and constituents with direct ties to particular Congresspersons.

Additionally, Dr. Van Vechten was a 2008 Teaching and Learning Conference participant in the Teaching Across the Disciplines Track. She presented a research paper entitled “Collaborative Learning in Course Simulation: Congress and American Politics.”

The 2008 winner was chosen by a committee that was chaired by L. Sandy Maisel of Colby College and that included: Kimi King, University of Northern Texas (2007 Rowman and Littlefield Award Co-recipient with James Meernik); Kimberly A. Mealy, American Political Science Association; Tony Messina, University of Notre Dame; and Charles Prysby, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The deadline for nominations for the 2009 award will be in early April 2009. For more information on the deadline and the eligibility requirements, please visit http://www.apsanet.org or the APSA Teaching and Learning Award site at http://apsanet.org/section_452.cfm.