Technology and Political Science Education

Recognizing the central role that technology now plays in political science education, organizers dedicated Track Eight of the 2005 Teaching and Learning Conference to an in-depth exploration of how technology impacts pedagogy and learning. During the three-day workshop, 30 track participants from throughout the discipline shared a wide range of experiences and ideas about how instructional technologies might help improve student learning and engagement. Track discussions ranged widely, covering the use of technology in diverse settings ranging from small seminars and discussion groups to large introductory lectures and distance learning courses. Along the way, presenters highlighted a number of normative concerns raised by technology use in teaching as well as a range of practical challenges often faced by faculty using technology in the field.

Summary of Presentations

The core of the track's work consisted of 14 presentations by political scientists representing a broad cross-section of the discipline. While varying widely in specific content, these presentations generally fell within five technology-related topical areas. One group explored technology use within the traditional classroom, either as a means of facilitating student interactions within large classes or as a way to expand the scope of conventional classroom exercises. Stephen Shellman of the College of William & Mary, for instance, explained how he incorporates web-based videos and electronic databases into an international relations simulation to enhance active learning and encourage independent research. Robert Webking, University of Texas at El Paso, described how he uses hand-held audience participation devices to foster critical thinking and student-faculty interaction in large political philosophy classes. Adrian Petrescu, University of Texas at Brownsville, emphasized in his talk the utility of video clips, textbook companion web sites, and online quizzes in sparking interest and enthusiasm among non-majors enrolled in political science survey courses. John Riley of Kutztown University, in turn, presented data evaluating the effectiveness of PowerPoint as a tool for stimulating and maintaining student interest in classroom presentations.

Others focused on technology as a tool of class organization and management. For instance, Deborah Ward of Seton Hall University described how her institution's extensive technology infrastructure has enabled her to implement more student-centered teaching approaches in the classroom. By structuring courses to include Blackboard and other resources as integral components, Ward reported, instructors can produce both high levels of student interaction and extensive documentary records useful in standardizing teaching practices. Track moderator Robert Trudeau also shared his experiences in managing Providence College's Course Management Software, ANGEL. Though he briefly recounted experiences using online Discussion Forums, the key point is that Course Management Software provides a simple, technology-based infrastructure that supports many innovative teaching techniques as well as vastly improved communications among students and between students and faculty.

A third group of presentations highlighted technology use as a means of enhancing civic engagement and student interest in politics. Eli Lesser, University of Pennsylvania, described two Annenberg-sponsored projects—Student Voices and Justice Learning—which aim to promote political discussion and active civil engagement by providing online audio archives, primary source materials, historical timelines, and pre-packaged curricula for use by social science faculty at both the high school and collegiate levels. In turn, Alexander Theodoridis of the University of Virginia discussed a project aimed at getting students “hooked on politics” in another way—by presenting a realistic simulation of a U.S. Senate campaign in the form of a highly interactive video game.

A fourth group examined technology as a tool for generating new knowledge or for bridging the gap between the classroom and the world. Jocelyn Evans, University of West Florida, described her use of Internet video and audio capabilities to infuse American government courses with original first-person campaign accounts, timely interviews with high-ranking party officials, and other forms of information generally not available in textbooks. William Stover of Santa Clara University, meanwhile, discussed a class-linked project that engaged Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders in the Middle East in a threaded online discussion over a two-week period in early 2004. Only by virtue of the Internet, Stover emphasized, were his students able to witness a frank exchange of views as it developed among participants located thousands of miles from campus. What's more, he reported, some students experienced a measurable change in their political and ethical views as a result of the exercise.

Similarly, in a project that could well have been categorized in the fifth group, to follow below, Colette Mazzucelli reported on her use of Internet-based, trans-Atlantic telephone technology to create real-time dialogue between students at Arcadia University and others in Europe. As with all the presentations in this Track, the project used technology to advance deeper learning goals. In this case, Mazzucelli and her colleagues sought to improve the quality of civic dialogue, as part of a Peace and Conflict Studies program, using technology to enhance dialogue between students from the United States and their counterparts in Kosovo, Munich, and Paris.

Finally, a fifth group of presenters examined technology as the basis for distance learning/Web-based instruction. Rosa Gomez Dierks, Northern Arizona University, emphasized that online instructors must provide clear guideposts regarding learning objectives, assignments, and assessment criteria in order to ensure active learning and student engagement. Donald Calista of Marist College, after reviewing several unique challenges faced by online instructors, contended that distance learning, at least in political science, is best understood as a discrete form of teaching rather than a mere variant of traditional methods. Stephen Sussman, Troy University, then provided an overview of findings from the emerging academic literature on distance learning and discussed the utility of Blackboard, Troy's Course Management Software, in facilitating student engagement in an online course.