The study of political theory is particularly well suited to pedagogical practices that involve music. Several canonical figures were themselves composers and instrumentalists who cared deeply about their musical commitments. For a notable few, including Plato, Aristotle, and Rousseau, music arguably constitutes an indispensable feature of their…

This paper explores how PurpleState, a political simulation designed to foster skills and knowledge for informed civic participation, develops students' abilities to counter or resist the effects of political polarization and partisanship. Throughout the simulation, which has been implemented in Virginia and Wisconsin, students are asked to…

Existing literature on using humor in teaching identifies several social and pedagogical benefits, ranging from making students feel more comfortable and interested in the subject matter to facilitating a critical pedagogy approach. However, there are several risks associated with humor attempts that are detrimental to learning and to student…

Scholars of teaching and learning frequently examine whether simulations promote content knowledge and engagement with course material. But many educators use simulations to promote additional goals. This article suggests that designers of political simulations often pursue four ends: "knowledge, engagement, skills, and empathy (KESE)."…

The intervention of modern teaching media in classroom teaching activities has greatly extended the time and space of teaching practice, and new teaching methods, teaching models, and teaching designs have emerged one after another. Improving pertinence and effectiveness and cultivating high-quality talents with solid theoretical foundations…

This study discusses the value of applying the practical strategy of top-level design of artificial intelligence (AI) in the ideological and political theory courses (IPC) in China universities, aiming at improving the ideological and political literacy (PA) of college students. The research first implements IPC through AI network media, then…

Despite a reasonably long history in university teaching, the discussion board is relatively underreported on in Political Science courses. As instructors contemplate which online tools should be carried forward after the pandemic, the discussion board bears closer scrutiny. Commenting is a skill that improves through practice and discussion…

Although research methodology is a staple and essential requirement of many undergraduate political science programmes worldwide, there are still many intense and ongoing debates among teachers and students on the series of effective learning and teaching approaches and strategies for this subject matter that involve theoretical understanding,…

Structured in-class debates are a valuable addition to courses that seek to foster students' development as citizens. In this study, we examine how different debate formats can impact their effectiveness as a pedagogical tool for advancing students' civic learning outcomes. We consider "moderated dualistic" debates that ask students to…

A series of studies have found gender bias in student evaluations of teaching. Evidence from several observational studies show that women are evaluated lower than men. These findings are supported by experimental studies aimed at isolating the effect of a possible gender bias from other differences between male and female teachers. In this paper,…

This qualitative case study examined 11 teaching assistants' (TAs) awareness of the need to infuse culturally responsive pedagogy into undergraduate level courses. The TAs represented the fields of political science, history, English, psychology, world languages, and kinesiology at one public university. One-on-one interviews were conducted,…

Moral education is a core component of ideological and political courses in primary and secondary schools and universities in China, and also an important part of contemporary Chinese Marxist educational theory and practice. In Chinese senior high schools, the main curriculum and platform for moral education is ideological and political courses.…

Because the research methods course is critical in helping students to better understand political outcomes, one would expect the subject to be of great interest to political science majors. Evidence suggests, however, that undergraduates often approach the methods class with substantial fear and generally avoid or postpone taking the class. Using…

An emerging body of literature seeks to design, implement, and analyze best practices in service-learning at undergraduate universities. What scholars have not examined as well as service-learning as applied to students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI's). Given that students at such universities are in unique learning environments, there is…

This paper pilots a method of testing the learning effects of a role-playing simulation of negotiations over the Nile basin. Players negotiate how to apply general principles from international law, such as sharing water equitably and avoiding significant harm, to specific circumstances of the river basin. Students are presented with a set of…