An i-voting system may promote electoral participation by reducing travel cost and time to polling places, especially among youth who are more accustomed to technological changes. We study the linkage between travel costs on election day and voter turnout by comparing past electoral participation with stated voting behavior in a hypothetical…

In this paper, several research topics are presented that provide productive avenues of exploration for students in an undergraduate cryptography course. The topics are intended for a variety of skill levels and interests. In some cases, a student might be inspired to try to solve the proposed problem or write computer code. Other topics might…

Indian Hills Community College had the numbers behind them upon passing a bond measure in November 2021. More than 12,000 voters in 17 Iowa counties gave their approval for a $28 million referendum designated to fund a brand new campus and additional major improvements. The bond, which needed 60% support to pass, cleared that hurdle with more than…

This study investigated Generation Z's (Gen Z) voting intentions regarding CRISPR-related regulation, utilizing the theory of planned behavior as the framework. Understanding the perceptions of CRISPR technology in this demographic is vital as Gen Z increasingly influences consumer behavior and policy decisions. A survey was conducted with…

This study sought to examine how Latina/o college graduates engage civically. Through a four-step quantitative design, we found that Latina/o college graduates vote, volunteer, advocate, donate money, serve as cultural and political resources, and run for elected office. We also identified five typologies, or classes, of civically engaged Latina/o…

Votes of no confidence have increasingly been used, particularly by internal campus constituents, to indicate severe discontent with and distrust of higher education presidents. No national benchmarking institution or educational agency collects data on votes of no confidence or sets standards for what is considered a normal number of votes of no…

In a pre-service mathematics methods class I taught, in which we mathematized political districting (first horizontally, then vertically), student questions led to engaging mathematics, in particular, the development of a new number sequence.

Over several decades, a greater share of the expense of earning a college degree has shifted to students and their families as appropriations to public institutions of higher education have declined as a percentage of the overall cost to educate a student. Tuition has greatly outpaced inflation during this period, while inflation-adjusted…

Many college students are motivated to vote in presidential elections. Like most Americans, however, they are far less likely to vote in elections for local officeholders. Often this is because they have little to no information about the candidates. Starting in 2020, with university support, the author and a colleague began providing nonpartisan…

The 1971 passage of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution was a significant step in advancing voting rights that offered a new route for young people to participate in public life. While met with enthusiasm in many quarters, the question of where a substantial segment of the youth vote--college students--would cast their ballots was a…

Pundits, politicians, and academics have long worried about potentially low rates of civic participation among STEM-oriented students. Does studying STEM actually decrease the odds that young people will be actively involved in democracy? To answer this question, we created a dataset of over 23 million students in the United States, matched to…

This is a study of 12,372 professors in 116 colleges that are the four top US News-ranked colleges in each of 30 states that collect political registration data. We devised the sample to highlight variation in registration arising from individual, college-level, and state-level characteristics. We find an overall Democratic-to-Republican…

With the world growing in complexity and interconnectedness, the demand for leaders equipped to solve compound problems will only increase. Higher education is called upon to develop leadership in students and needs to engage relevant tools and techniques to prepare students for the tasks ahead. Democratic engagement--from voter education and…

Although voting is a fundamental mechanism through which Americans engage with their democracy, social workers often do not see it as a valid component of practice. Voting is an important source of political power and provides a means to ensure equitable representation. Educating social work students on how they can encourage voter engagement…

The case for the use of simulations in political science seminars to provide illustrative learning of complex political process has been well demonstrated across a variety of sub-disciplines within political science. Their value to the teaching of European Union politics has also been explored and is particularly valuable for the EU's numerous…