Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. PS: Political Science & Politics
  4. Volume 48
Journal Home
Refine listing

Refine listing

Access:
Publication date:
Topic: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

Volume 48 - September 2015

Contents

Page 7 of 9

The Teacher

  • Turning Introductory Comparative Politics and Elections Courses into Social Science Research Communities Using Wikipedia: Improving Both Teaching and Research

  • Ryan Kennedy, Eric Forbush, Brian Keegan, David Lazer
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 April 2015, pp. 378-384
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • This article advocates a lesson plan for introductory comparative politics and elections courses. The authors argue that Wikipedia (yes, Wikipedia) provides a unique platform for improving learning outcomes and a useful social good from traditional student papers on elections. The proposed lesson plan can achieve this in at least three ways: (1) by providing social incentives for learning and a method for students to contribute to social science knowledge from their earliest courses, the incorporation of Wikipedia editing can improve student learning and retention; (2) incorporating an online information component can help both future students and researchers by improving the quality and quantity of easily accessible and well-referenced information about historical and upcoming elections; and (3) the use of the Wiki format is becoming increasingly common in both business and government. Teaching the basics of editing is an increasingly useful skill for students to learn for future employment.

International

  • 2015 Africa Workshop on Conflict and Political Violence

  • Andrew Stinson
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 October 2015, pp. 674-675
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

Association News

  • Committee Nominates 2015–2016 Officers and Council Members

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 June 2015, pp. 537-542
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

The Profession

  • Major Competition? Exploring Perceptions of International Studies Programs among Political Science Department Chairs

  • H. Gibbs Knotts, Jennifer S. Schiff
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    31 December 2014, pp. 142-148
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • Given the growth of international studies (IS) programs and the reciprocal relationship between political science and IS, this article explores perceptions of IS among political science department chairs. We found that the relationship between political science departments and IS programs is largely positive—that is, a majority of chairs supports the existence of IS at their institution, believes the job prospects for political science and IS majors are about equal, and perceives a low level of financial competition between programs. However, we discovered two points of contention: (1) the perception of lower academic rigor of IS programs, and (2) a high level of competition for majors and the “best students.” Perceptions of IS programs are related to a host of factors, including whether a program is housed within the political science department. Finally, we provide suggestions for improving the relationship between political science and IS.

The Teacher

  • Overcoming Barriers to Heterogeneous-Group Learning in the Political Science Classroom

  • Ryan T. Moore
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    31 December 2014, pp. 149-156
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • Despite positive findings, small-group activities continue to lag behind lectures in political science classrooms. This article argues that one barrier to wider adoption of more innovative activities is uncertainty about how to efficiently and fairly create teams that each are heterogeneous and as a set are balanced across relevant characteristics. We first describe recent findings and strategies for creating teams; we then detail our concrete, general approach for incorporating several student characteristics into team creation. We then describe implementations of this approach using freely available software in two undergraduate political science courses—one in American politics and one in political methodology. In these applications and in a variety of simulated data, we demonstrate that teams created using our method are better balanced than those created by randomly allocating students to teams.

People

  • People

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 April 2015, pp. 385-386
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

Gazette

  • APSA Awards Presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 October 2015, pp. 676-684
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

Association News

  • Continuing Council Officers and Members

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 June 2015, pp. 542-544
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

People

  • Books by Our Readers

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 April 2015, p. 387
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

The Teacher

  • Teaching Theory, Writing Policy: Integrating Lessons from Foggy Bottom into the Classroom

  • Bidisha Biswas, Agnieszka Paczynska
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    31 December 2014, pp. 157-161
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • This article describes guidelines for assignments designed to build and improve policy-oriented writing skills of college students. Based on our experiences as Franklin Fellows at the United States Department of State, we developed strategies for teaching writing skills that are transferable to the workplace. The pedagogical approaches highlighted in this article will equip students with the analytical and writing abilities needed in a variety of employment situations. First, we offer insights into the qualities that we believe are important for success in a policy-oriented work environment. Second, we link those skills to the challenges and gaps that students face. Third, we propose assignments that can address those gaps.

Gazette

  • Censure List from the AAUP

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 October 2015, p. 685
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

Association News

  • 2015–2016 APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute Particpants

  • Kimberly Mealy
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 June 2015, pp. 545-548
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • Perspectives on Politics: A Political Science Public Sphere

  • Jeffrey C. Isaac
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 June 2015, pp. 549-554
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

Annual Meeting

  • Annual Meeting and Exhibition Review

  • Steven Rathgeb Smith
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 October 2015, pp. 687-718
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

The Teacher

  • Where’s the Diplomacy in Diplomacy? Using a Classic Board Game in “Introduction to International Relations”

  • Richard Arnold
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    31 December 2014, pp. 162-166
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • One of the challenges of teaching American undergraduates in an “Introduction to International Relations” course is finding a way to make topics and themes seem relevant to students. This article recounts the author’s experiences using the board game “Diplomacy” in his course. The game places students in the role of decision makers in the international arena and simulates the international politics of pre-World War I Europe. In addition to being a powerful simulation of the difficulties of international relations, the game teaches students about one of the most debated wars in the history of the discipline.

In Memoriam

  • In Memoriam

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 April 2015, pp. 388-392
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

Association News

  • Diversities Reconsidered: Politics, and Political Science, in the 21st Century

  • Heidi Souerwine
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 April 2015, p. 393
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • Briefs

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 June 2015, pp. 555-556
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

Front Cover (OFC, IFC) and matter

  • PSC volume 48 issue 4 Cover and Front matter

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    19 October 2015, pp. f1-f6
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • Export citation

The Teacher

  • The Democratic Syllabus

  • Susan McWilliams
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    31 December 2014, pp. 167-170
    • Article
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • The ideal of the “democratic classroom” has been discussed in educational circles for several years. This article answers the question of whether there are specific advantages to be derived from a democratization of the political science classroom, especially one in which democracy itself is a focus of study. Can giving students more power over course content enhance their understanding of democratic authority and process? The author approached these questions by adding several “democratizing” elements to a seminar course, most notably a “democratic syllabus” in which students determined discussion topics, led class sessions, and submitted work of their own choosing. Student surveys and the author’s reflection suggest that the democratic syllabus was a success in terms of the classroom dynamics that it engendered and the thinking about democratic politics and citizenship that it encouraged. Both students and professor agreed that the democratic syllabus presented challenges that should be considered by anyone thinking about creating or modifying a course on this model. Yet this article argues that many political science courses would benefit from similar endeavors in classroom democratization.

Page 7 of 9