Much of the research on the use of simulations in the political science classroom focuses on how simulations model different events in the real world, including political campaigns, international diplomacy, and legislative bargaining. In the case of American Politics, many simulations focus on the behavior of Congress and the legislative process,…

This paper explores the situated nature of the epistemological values of a social science discipline as it finds expression in a particular department. Although it explores Becher and Trowler's anthropological conception of disciplinary "territories" and tribes ([1989]/2001) it finds deeper resonances in Trowler's more recent notion of "teaching…

Student response systems, or "clickers," have been presented as a way of solving student engagement problems, particularly in large-enrollment classes. These devices provide real-time feedback to instructors, allowing them to understand what students are thinking and how well they comprehend material. As clickers become more common, it…

What if Stephen Douglas instead of Abraham Lincoln had won the U.S. presidential election of 1860? What if John F. Kennedy had not carried some of the eight states he won by 2 percentage points or fewer in 1960? What if six hundred more people in Florida had voted for Al Gore in 2000? And what if, in that same year, the U.S. House of…

For those times when political science is again confronted with questions about its usefulness, we suggest that the classroom is a central arena for our discipline to reassert its relevance to the society in which we live. In particular, given the existence of our open and accessible political system, we argue that the introductory course taught…

This study investigates which factors cause college student to express an interest in participating in what we classify as nontraditional community service opportunities. The particular form of community service that we examine--participation in a volunteer computing project--differs from traditional forms of college student volunteerism in that…

This symposium consists of three papers written after a small mentoring conference, "New Research on Gender in Political Psychology," which was held in New Brunswick, New Jersey, March 4-5, 2011. As junior scholars, we received a grant from the National Science Foundation (#SES-1014854) to organize a conference for the purposes of mentoring…

This article describes some of the highlights of the author's work with Harold Guetzkow while he was a doctoral student in political science at Northwestern University in the mid-1960s. Harold was a model of professionalism and the author had the great opportunity to learn about the profession during their publication of the "Inter-Nation…

One of the difficulties in teaching global sustainability in the introductory political science classes is the different emphases placed on this concept and the absence of the consensus on where the overall balance between environmental protection, economic development, and social justice should reside. Like many fuzzy concepts with which students…

This article examines how students' common-sense conceptualizations of "nation," specifically the Swedish nation, operate in teaching situations in which a critical constructivist theory of "nation" is part of the curriculum. Taking its point of departure from discussions of conceptual change, this article examines how students…

This article reflects critically on simulations. Building on the authors' experience simulating the Palestinian-Israeli-American Camp David negotiations of 2000, they argue that simulations are useful pedagogical tools that encourage creative--but not critical--thinking and constructivist learning. However, they can also have the deleterious…

"Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Constitution" is an engaged-learning activity that has been conducted in 26 classes over the past four years. The activity teaches multiple themes commonly included in a variety of courses on American politics such as federalism, congressional powers, the role of the federal courts, and the relevance of the commerce…

A common complaint from political scientists involved in the study of religion is that religious issues have been largely overlooked by political science. Through a content analysis of leading political science and sociology journals from 2000 to 2010, this article considers the extent of this claim. The results show that political science…

Prior research in political science and other disciplines demonstrates the pedagogical and practical benefits of active learning. Less is known, however, about the extent to which active learning is used in political science classrooms. This study assesses the prioritization of active learning in "gateway" political science courses, paying…

This article synthesises some findings of an international research project called "Know&Pol" to question the effects of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) on the public debate in three European countries (France, Portugal and Scotland). Using a political science approach, it shows that Pisa did not…