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A conference paper about courses for pracademic learning is presented which was prepared for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 1, 2012. The term pracademics is defined as the mixture of academic and practitioner roles. The paper discusses the concept of pracademic learning experiences from the point of view of course design and using a faculty member's praaademic experience to enhance the classroom.

This paper discusses the importance of internationalizing public policy education and offers theoretical and practical suggestions for for broadening the international perspective within undergraduate public policy courses. This paper begins with a discussion of whether an absence of international perspectives within public policy courses is a problem: Is it something we should be concerned about? Section two considers an alternative framework for how one might incorporate a broader international perspective within an introduction to public policy course. A third section discusses potential assignments and pedagogical tools. Section four presents a list of learning outcomes that help to measure the progress in teaching a broader international perspective. I conclude with questions for further research and additional resources on curriculum development. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a process of assessment that produced an unexpectedly rich discussion of teaching and in the process created a "community of practice" out of a collection of individual teaching faculty. By examining our collective enterprise through the lens of an individual student (or rather sixteen individual students), we were able to gain a larger perspective on how each of our individual efforts in the classroom contribute to producing the whole of the major. Although we had adopted a common set of learning goals/outcomes and a relatively structured curriculum designed to provide an integrated course of study based on sequential learning and progressive skill development, our assessment efforts were largely focused on student outcomes-could our students read with comprehension, reason critically, communicate effectively, and undertake independent research? Naturally, when we found that some students excelled while others fell behind, we attributed the reason to the student (they weren't working hard enough, transfer of knowledge from one course to the next is their responsibility, if they only took the courses in the order we recommended, etc.). We assumed that we were collectively delivering the curriculum in a way that offered students the best opportunity to gain the attitudes, knowledge and skills embodied in our statement of goals/outcomes. However, since we largely design and deliver our courses in isolation we really had no idea whether any one student would encounter assignments and course-based experiences that, when taken as a whole, actually resulted in an integrated experience that could reasonably be expected to result in the learning outcomes we had identified. Thus, we undertook a slightly different kind of assessment that put us in the shoes of a student taking our classes and completing our assignments over the course of the entire major. In order to better understand how a single student experienced the major, we undertook a transcript analysis in which we selected eight students from the 2004 graduating class, four with grade point averages of 3.0 or better (most were in the 3.4-3.8 range) and four with grade point averages between 2.0 and 2.9. We created a matrix of skills/competencies associated with the 10 learning goals and then pulled the course syllabus (by specific section) for each political science class a student took over the course of completing the 36-hour major. The transcript provided the path each student took through the major and allowed us to fill in the matrix by semester and by exact course using the syllabus and course assignments for each class in each semester. We were then able to do a basic count of the number of opportunities at each level of the major a student had to develop a particular competency or learning outcome. We were also able to document what type of assignment designed to accomplish a specific goal was given at each level of the major (see Appendix 2 for examples of the matrices). We were not interested in what any one faculty member was assigning to students, nor did we expect that any one faculty member would provide opportunities to work on all ten goals in any single class. Rather, we were more interested in how often an individual student encountered assignments or experiences in support of each goal. The guiding question was, "If a student completes the major in political science, do they have ample opportunities to progressively develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes we set as goals?" The preliminary analysis discussed in this paper is based on a sample of 16 students. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the growing conversation among political scientists about participation in the learning communities movement by discussing the author's experience teaching introductory American government in four different learning communities (LCs). It argues that while participation in LCs may sometimes modestly reduce the traditional topic coverage in introductory political science courses, political science instructors can benefit from the ways that LC collaboration extends the study of politics to other areas of human activity (such as literacy and education) and helps to spread the study of politics across the curriculum. The paper also includes a short final section reviewing some assessment findings that confirm the positive effects of LCs on student academic development. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-based learning allows students to learn disciplinary knowledge while strengthening critical-thinking, problem-solving, and research skills. In this paper, I describe my experience with problem-based learning in an introductory political science course, discussing the nature of the problems presented to students, learning objectives, method of assessment, and student reactions to the projects. This paper also provides strategies for easing the transition of students into more self-directed learning, as well as overcoming resistance to group work. I argue that problem-based learning is particularly suited to the discipline of political science, and encourage political science professors to implement problem-based learning in their courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the range of undergraduate political science coursework, research methods classes are often afforded minimal priority, as many professors opt to devote the bulk of their teaching efforts to more "substantive" areas. This trend is reflected in the comparatively small number of methods courses offered to undergraduates in a considerable portion of the political science programs at colleges and universities nationwide. While earlier works have addressed this pattern and its implications with respect to graduate level coursework, we contend that the short shrift given to the teaching of methodology at the undergraduate level can also have negative and far-reaching effects on the discipline. In this study, we examine the discrepancy between the number of methods courses taught at the undergraduate level and the expectation that students at the graduate level should be familiar with political science research methods (as is often exemplified in admission requirements). A cursory review of political science course offerings and requirements at U.S. colleges and universities suggests that American political science programs are seemingly hypocritical in their stance on the importance of research methodology; they expect that incoming graduate students should be well versed in research methods, yet are simultaneously unwilling to provide sufficient methods courses for their undergraduate students. This paper provides evidence that such a pattern exists and also attempts to draw attention to the potential obstacles this may present to the future of political science. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interdisciplinary approaches can be used to deepen an understanding of disciplinary content in the undergraduate classroom. The introduction of a tragic work like King Lear into a political theory curriculum can enhance an appreciation of classical liberalism's complexity. Drawing upon Aristotle's theory of tragedy, this paper argues that an engagement with a work like King Lear can help students identify movement and voice—similar to what Aristotle termed peripety and discovery—within texts and then apply such skills and accomplish a more complex reading of Hobbes and Locke. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a module design and implementation strategy for use in an undergraduate course on globalization, international political economy, or related topic. Students are first asked to conduct research on their wardrobe and its origins by country, allowing for classroom discussion of research methods and designs. Results are submitted, along with a short response essay. This is evaluated in conjunction with a case study short-reading and shared discussion, followed by a short video/multimedia presentation on free trade and labor issues. I argue that this presents a more cohesive approach for engaging students in the material on a substantive level, while at the same time allowing them to actively appreciate and understand such diverse concepts as commodity chains, free trade zones, fair trade vs. free trade, gendered divisions of labor, consumer responsibility, research methodologies, and macroeconomic shifts in employment across nations. Preliminary data and classroom results are discussed, as are additional strategies for lesson development. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What can de facto segregated, urban schools do to help the overwhelmingly poor and minority students who attend them become civically engaged and politically empowered? To what extent does an effective civic education in these schools need to take into account these students? life experiences, readings of history, and interpretation of current events? If these do turn out to be significant, what does this imply about the construction of American citizenship more generally? These are the questions that motivate this essay. After providing anecdotal motivation from my own eighth grade classroom for the above questions, I give more formal data in section 1 to show why we should be concerned about civic engagement among young people living in de facto segregated, poor, minority, and immigrant communities. I define the characteristics of good citizenship and argue that there is a ?civic achievement gap? between citizens who are poor, minority, and immigrants, on the one hand, and middle-class, white, and native-born citizens on the other. I then demonstrate in section 2 why de facto segregated schools are both necessary and opportune as sites to address and attempt to remediate the civic achievement gap. In section 3, I focus on curricular reform within history and social studies as one means of narrowing the attitudinal civic achievement gap in particular. I argue that de facto segregated schools and communities should help students construct empowering civic narratives that are grounded in and responsive to their own lived experiences. Section 4 gives two examples of such civic narratives?one based in African Americans? struggle for justice and equality, and the other based in younger generations? obligations attendant on their ancestors? history of sacrifice. This means that both civic education in particular, and conceptions of American citizenship more broadly, must become personalized and particularized: a move that contradicts current taste for standardization and uniformity, and a problem that I address briefly in section 5 at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses our department’s new objectives-based curriculum, and the web-based plan of study. Students create their own web-based inventory of objectives to help them assess their progress in each critical area. IThe program is also helpful in helping the department assess its ongoing programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an undergraduate travel course that teaches students about federal welfare, low-income housing and homeless assistance programs. The rationale and format are described, and some practical advice is offered on how to plan and execute the course. The course brings together students and policy experts involved in federal welfare and housing programs through a series of briefings and site visits in Washington, DC, and Chicago. Students have the opportunity to question those who are involved in shaping those policies at the federal level as well as to talk to officials involved in implementing them at the local level. Students also have ample opportunity to experience some of the difficulties faced by those living on welfare and who are either homeless or who live in public housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines multiculturalism in teaching as a form of pedagogy rather than as a subject matter. Thus understood, multiculturalism means developing the capacity to disengage oneself from any given culture and examine it critically by employing other cultural frameworks. Multiculturalism in teaching is therefore not limited to a particular course or program. Rather, multiculturalism is best approached as a way to achieve critical thinking rather than as an alternative to the "Great Works." As such, it is the job of every teacher to adopt a multicultural approach in teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to achieve two objectives. First, I broadly surveyed 193 liberal arts and sciences colleges and universities across ten (10) Midwestern states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin) to see how many political science programs structure their majors in ways similar to the recommendations made by the Wahlke (1991) report. In general it was found that only a small proportion of programs have adopted the structural recommendations of those reports. Further, it was found that the political science programs that were administratively housed in combined departments were less likely to be structured programs than those programs that were housed in single discipline, political science departments. This might suggest that introducing a curriculum structured along the lines of recommended by the Wahlke and AACU reports in combined departments may face special challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes implementation of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA) as a case study in state-level education reform. MERA increased state funding of local school districts and also greatly enlarged the state government's role in education. The enlarged state role includes producing curriculum frameworks in core subjects, testing students' mastery of the curriculum, and holding schools and districts accountable for student performance. Despite a billion-dollar increase in state education spending, the state education authorities lack adequate capacity to put the ambitious MERA reforms in place. State capacity has been limited, and implementation hindered, by changes in the political context within which reform is taking place. Based on the Massachusetts experience, we should question the assumption of "policy coherence" that underlies standards-based education reform. We should also expect that the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act will be more complicated than its advocates anticipate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to show how one Political Science Department at small Midwest university utilized good assessment practices identified by the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) and others in order to effect improvement. We argue that these principles can be followed in a way that is relatively painless for the a department and will produce numerous benefits for the department that go beyond the literal acts of planning and engaging in assessment. We hope that some of our experiences and rationale can be modeled at other institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly every college mission statement expresses the desire to educate students who not only have mastered a body of academic knowledge and skills but will also be responsible and engaged citizens. But it is not clear how well colleges are achieving these traditional civic and democratic goals. This paper shares insights from a three-year Carnegie Foundation study of moral and civic education in American colleges and universities, whose results are discussed in the forthcoming book, Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility (Jossey Bass, February 2003). Our study combined broad-based research on the practices and effects of higher education with in-depth case studies of twelve campuses that demonstrate a strong institutional commitment to civic education, including public and private, religious and secular, and residential and commuter campuses, community colleges and research universities, a tribal college, several women's colleges, a historically black college, and a military academy. These colleges and universities understand that the entire campus can be a site for civic teaching and learning, and that moral and civic education need not limited to a particular course or program focused on traditional "civics" content but should be integrated across curricular and co-curricular programs and many campus experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using two unique data sets, we examine the factors that contribute to civic and political engagement among high school and college students both in and outside of their institutions, focusing on the roles those institutions play in facilitating engagement, and on the connection between these early activities and later engagement among young adults. Our analysis indicates that high schools provide important pathways to early adult participation. Providing opportunities to volunteer, facilitating classroom discussions about politics, reinforcing service work with classroom exchanges, and teaching specific civic skills, all lead to greater levels of engagement both during and after graduation. Involvement with overtly political organizations in high school (not just any organization) also promotes later engagement. Colleges also promote engagement by offering volunteer work, engendering an environment in which students believe they can influence the administration, and, in the curriculum, requiring students to keep up with politics and national affairs. Check author’s web site for an updated version of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand and explain how 15-16 year old students acquire political information. It is well known that citizens vary in how much they know about the political system, [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I outline a judgment curriculum for undergraduate political science departments. I critique current programs and suggest practical means by which students can learn political judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the proposition that the autonomy teachers have in making discretionary decisions over the materials, curriculum, and disciplinary techniques that are most appropriate to their classrooms will lead to a more efficient allocation of resources and reduce out-of-pocket spending by teachers. Using the US Department of Education's Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), we provide an IV regression approach that models teachers' out-of-pocket spending as a function of the relative autonomy they have over resource allocation within their respective classrooms. We find that the less autonomy teachers are given to allocate resources, the more they use their own personal resources toward their organizational role. The findings suggest that agency theory's argument that bureaucrats seek to maximize slack resources is dreadfully inadequate to the context under examination. The substantial economic and policy impact of teachers' out-of-pocket spending must be considered in debates about top-down education policy schemes, school district expenditures, and human capital issues in education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship of civic education to the acquisition of political knowledge. Specifically, this research examines the influence of civic education on knowledge levels generally as well as the effectiveness of particular types of curriculum approaches and activities. Using data from an original national probability survey and a survey of alumni of the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution program, the study finds that civic education is positively related to political knowledge. Lecture and textbook approaches to civic education are associated with higher levels of factual knowledge about political institutions and processes. Innovative curriculum approaches, such as the use of current events, classroom activities, and community activities, can be effective in conveying political knowledge when they are not the dominant basis for the learning experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the rise in modern university and disciplinary institutions in the U.S. It offers information on the rise disciplinary institution focused on operating spatial model of confinement. It states that curricula, timetables, and attendance lists are focused on defining the life of prescribed behavior for the scholar.

In this article the authors discuss how informationalism has affected issues in the U.S. higher education system which existed prior to information technology (IT). It states that problems in the education system of the country are related to funding, curriculum and control. It mentions that informationalism has led to innovative curriculum and focuses on how IT has changed opportunities in education.

This article examines political participation exercises as a means to teach civic and networking skills in the U.S. It argues that civic education has a crucial role in higher education political science curricula. It looks at the individual benefits of civic education. It then turns the attention to the civic education of both majors and non-majors.

The article presents a model capstone exercise designed to internationalize the political science curriculum by incorporating a global perspective into core General Education American Government courses through examinations of immigration policy. This exercise has been tested in both classroom and online offerings, and a marked increase was measured in the theoretical understanding of geopolitical, nationalistic and sociological forces, as well as an increased appreciation of the causes of waves of immigration and of domestic nativist responses.

The article presents an analysis of the costs and benefits of short-term international experiences, particularly their role in enhancing the study of comparative politics. The mechanics of organizing short-term study abroad experiences as part of regular course offerings are discussed, based on two different experiences offered through the Political Science Department at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

The article offers information on the international non-governmental organizations (INGOS) program implemented at the Rhode Island College (RIC) in Providence. It explores the perspectives of faculty members on the INGOS classroom experience, along with the promotional efforts for INGOS outside the classroom. The international internships and the challenges associated with the INGOS program are also discussed.

The article explores the challenges and opportunities offered by performance-based learning standards in the U.S. Higher education institutions in the country are being urged to adopt outcomes-based learning standards for developing curriculum. It is noted that the successful adoption of such standards calls for the active involvement of faculty. The author argued that the faculty can establish a workable approach to curriculum development while preserving the academic integrity and uniqueness of their classrooms.

In this article, I examine the impact of service-learning on both cognitive and affective learning outcomes to determine whether using class time for service hours has a negative impact on course outcomes. I do this by looking at these outcomes in two sections of the same lower level political science class, Education Policy, offered in two consecutive semesters. In one section, service learning was part of the course requirements. For half of the class periods, students went to a local elementary school to tutor second grade students. In the second section, service learning was not part of the course requirements, due to scheduling difficulties. In each section, a survey designed to assess both cognitive and affective learning outcomes was administered at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. The results suggest that despite reduced face time, students in the service-learning system showed more affect toward the education and political systems with no reduction in cognitive learning. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education, as characterized by theorists bell hooks and Paulo Freire, holds emancipatory potential. At its best, education provides students with cognitive tools and self-efficacy to understand and impact the broader structures that shape their life chances. Understood this way, emancipatory education can lead to good citizenship outcomes by providing both encouragement for civil engagement and the mechanism for such engagement. State universities across the country have joined in an effort of a different kind to shape good citizens. Many of these institutions require that students take an "Introduction to American Government" course based on the perceived public good in graduating students who are capable and willing to take up their citizenship obligations in the political sphere. However, political science faculty in these institutions face challenges in translating citizenship goals to the practice of teaching in real undergraduate classrooms. These challenges include the reality that a significant number of students enrolled in regional public universities are the first (or second) generation in their families to attend college, some may have inadequate preparation for college coursework, and many have very little interest, experience, or passion for politics. An additional challenge is that the large classes that are the norm for such introductory classes make political discussion a challenge and reinforce the notion that citizens are at best spectators; not active citizens engaged in dialogue about pressing political matters. Given the large numbers of students taking such courses, and the high expectations for civic potential arising from these courses, the question arises, can these courses be shaped in ways that offer liberatory outcomes? We suggest that an approach based in the political theories of Murray Edelman and Angela Davis offers potential. Edelman and Davis follow different paths to analyze the invisible assumptions that underlie social relationships. Working with students to identify the foundational structures (aesthetic and social) that shape the U.S. political world offers a path to emancipatory education with implications for participatory citizenship that extend beyond the classroom. In this vein, we examine how teachers of political science might create curricula based on complex structural approaches--such as Edelman's analysis of the construction of how we perceive our political world and Davis's approaches to unmasking hierarchies of domination--in ways that are accessible to students from a variety of educational and cultural backgrounds. We undertake this venture with a particular focus on the opportunities and challenges of teaching in institutions such as our own: urban universities with a diverse mix of students from varied racial, ethnic, religious, and class backgrounds. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A brief introduction to SecondLife is provided, including comment on its potential applicabilityfor educational experiences in political science and related fields. This is followed by a detaileddiscussion of using SecondLife in two courses, drawing upon qualitative research conducted bystudents in the courses, personal reflections by the students on their own experiences, and myobservations. The concluding section addresses recent changes in the environment ofSecondLife. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data on four years of courses at ZZZZ University, regression results show that actual grades have a significant, positive effect on SETs, controlling for expected grade and fixed effects for both faculty and courses, and for possible endogeneity. Implications are that the SET is a faulty measure of teaching quality and grades a faulty signal of future job performance. Students, faculty, and provost appear to be engaged in an individually rational but socially destructive game centered on the link between SETs and grades. When performance is hard to measure, pay-for-performance, embodied by the link between SETs and faculty pay, may have unintended adverse consequences; a more open contract and self-enforced norms may be less costly. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses political skills and research concepts of undergraduate students using a pretest/posttest instrument, so as to measure knowledge and learned concepts and content retention across sequential courses over a three semester period. Using a multiple case study method, the article presents five cases that were randomly selected for analysis of knowledge retention. The article reveals that students know more and have achieved higher scores representing an increase in content knowledge of the basic concepts covered in courses completed.

The article describes an instance of instructional challenge in a nontraditional political science classroom and the techniques employed to meet that challenge, focusing on the experience of the University at Albany in New York affiliated Intergovernmental Solutions Program (IGSP). The IGSP prototype courses, Designing and Implementing Programs in the Intergovernmental Zone and Perspectives on Building Communities: Citizens, Organizations, and Intergovernmental Systems, created an interactive, dynamic and motivating learning situation.

The article examines the identities of secondary school students from twelve schools in the towns of Tesanj, Siroki Brijeg, Gornje Vakuf/Uskopje, Jajce, Zepce and Tuzla in the Republika Sepska and the Muslim-Croat Federation (FBiH), with a total population of 2,989 and vary in their curriculum usage and segregation levels. The research utilized data from an original survey administered in May 2004 to the students and history teachers of two secondary schools in each six towns.

The article examines the implications of European-wide educational reform, known as Bologna Process, for curriculum. The Bologna Process seeks to harmonize educational standards to promote student mobility and degree recognition. It will affect the way international admission offices and advisors evaluate course and credit transfers.

Citizenship styles and patterns of political participation are changing for younger generations in industrial democracies. Despite strong evidence that patterns of antagonism toward government and conventional political participation such as voting are deepening, the ways in which civic education programs introduce young people to public life remain largely unchanged. Even where the goals of civic education are being adjusted to reflect new citizen identities, new education practices lag far behind. This analysis outlines a simple contrast between emerging and more conventional citizenship styles and proposes a means of addressing this gap in the civics curriculum, with the dual aims of respecting emerging citizen identities while better connecting young people to government. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizenship education across the curriculum is needed in the university. Citizenship education in the university should start by stressing the political character of the classroom and noting that the classroom is a site of power and citizenship. Teachers should become fully aware of their roles as classroom governors, and students should learn to address the realities of power in their classrooms. We argue that the university should teach good liberal citizenship which involves teaching students to be efficacious and also to meet their civic duties by practicing civic virtues. Civic duties include civic respect, impartiality, non-discrimination, and civic reason, Civic virtues include civic loyalty, civic rationality, civility, tolerance, tact, poise and civic attention. Cultivating good citizenship is not the job of any one discipline. Programs that emphasize reading, writing, speaking and calculating across the curriculum share a common insight that basic skills and dispositions need to be mastered early in the college career and reinforced during the period after a student chooses a major. Citizenship across the curriculum builds on these guiding insights. Disciplines must teach, not only the skills endemic to their studies, but also teach civic virtues and duties. They also need to link the disciplines to the policy concerns of the larger community. In the citizenship across the curriculum program that we propose, students would learn how to approach a variety of objects in a citizenly way. The program would include a core course in which students would learn civic duties, civic virtues and civic efficacy. Role-playing would pervade this learning. The virtues learned in this course would be reinforced throughout the curriculum in advanced courses and supplemented by civic minded application of teaching within the disciplines to public policy issues. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the role of teachers and schools in creating hegemony and consolidating identity in postrevolutionary Mexico and Iran. It presents a comparative study of the role of education in the construction of identities and nation-building in both countries. It expands on the recent revisionist historical work on the Mexican Revolution and takes a look at the literature on the role of education in identity formation.

Argues that preparing future citizens for participation in a deliberative democracy should be the primary aim of pre-collegiate formal education. Reasons behind the inclusion of one or another trait in a deliberatively democratic character; Characteristics of a deliberative democracy; Implications of those characteristics for the content of a deliberatively democratic character.

Abstract This study was prompted by the growing recognition that educators and policymakers should do more to support the development of students’ civic commitments and capacities. We evaluated the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s CityWorks U.S. government curriculum to assess it’s potential as a means of fostering civic commitments. Our study employed pre and post surveys of both intervention and control classrooms. The CityWorks curriculum - a curriculum with the potential for large-scale implementation - was found to have a positive impact on students’ civic commitments. We were also able to identify features of the curriculum that appear responsible for these desired outcomes. Most government policies and foundation supported reform efforts that emphasize civic and democratic goals do not focus attention on the potential contribution of high school government courses. Our evaluation indicates that these courses have the potential to meaningfully further the democratic purposes of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiculturist approaches in undergraduate programs have been highly controversial since then introduction of multicultural education in the wake of the civil rights movement. Since the creation of "diversity requirements" and the "international perspective" in undergraduate curricula, many have taken up issue with this trend, arguing among other things that it contributed to the "balkanisation" of the college campuses and that it dilutes the effectiveness of a strong, traditional curriculum, upon which both British and American colleges and universities were once based. My research has focused on exploring the major arguments involved in this debate regarding multicultural education and producing a survey of studies on diversity on campus and in the curriculum that would present numerical data both for and against the continutation of such multiculturalist diversification efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political Science is an integral part of any liberal arts curriculum. Like that standard liberal arts subject matter, it is not designed to provide narrow set of skills that are the result of intensely focused work - unlike the curricula of an engineering or a business school. However, there is no reason that Political Science, and other parts liberal arts curricula, cannot learn from its narrower brethren. In doing so, liberal arts, broadly, and Political Science, narrowly, may make their teaching and subject matter more valuable, and in the long run, more sustainable. The substantive question that this essay addresses is what can political science learn from the private sector that will make the curricula more up to date without deviating from the larger purpose of a liberal arts education? In addressing this question, this essay will also touch on the relevance of liberal arts in the current day, as well as how jobs are defined and trained for in the private sector. By examining these two streams of thought in parallel, I intend to demonstrate how Political Science can learn from the private sector, as well as address the purpose of enhancing the liberal arts and political science curriculum as a whole [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While conversations across disciplines have always been problematic, increasingly discussions across fields have become more difficult. While bridging this gap can be complicated, many in the academy understand the benefits of promoting classes and discussions between the fields. However, skillfully navigating this tricky pedagogical course can be challenging, as many students do not understand the connection between international relations and American government classes. At the same time, instructors of political science are under increasing demand to incorporate new methods of teaching and discourse into the classroom. Despite protestations to the contrary, often the discipline has been reluctant to embrace new methods and looked upon alternatives to the traditional lecture with skeptical eyes. While recognizing the importance of the method of lecturing, the discipline also needs to embrace methods that help illustrate points made within readings to current political science students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we report the findings of a teaching demonstration project conducted at Dalton State College. The project allowed us to examine the usefulness of computer labs in teaching an American Government course. The general purpose is to assess whether or not the lab-based teaching will have any impact on the learning outcome. We find the use of computer lab have some positive impacts on students¡¦ learning outcome as well as students¡¦ satisfaction level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]