Political Science educators gathered for a one-day “conference-within-a-conference” to share their pedagogical expertise at the sixth annual Teaching and Learning Conference (TLC) at APSA, held September 2, 2023 in Los Angeles. The day-long program centered on “Political Science Education in an Age of Mis- and Disinformation,” an acknowledgment of the challenges we face as communication and rapidly advancing information technologies continue to shape the higher education environment.
The annual TLC at APSA mini-conference elevates, celebrates, and advocates for teaching effectiveness in the discipline by advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning, and by creating a welcoming networking environment in which practitioners can continue to learn from each other beyond the conference walls. This event embraces newcomers as well as members who have supported the TLC since the first stand-alone conference convened in Washington, DC almost 20 years ago, an event that will take place again in 2025.
This year’s interactive agenda encompassed workshops, a Pedagogy Café, in-person track panel sessions, a virtual panel, a hosted luncheon (co-sponsored by APSA and Cambridge University Press) and plenary speaker, and concluded with a lively reception co-sponsored by APSA and the Political Science Education member section. Because APSA gave registrants the option to attend panels virtually due to a hotel labor dispute taking place in Los Angeles, one TLC panel and a roundtable were converted to an online format.
Following a continental breakfast, presenters in workshops and a Pedagogy Café addressed how to incorporate creative techniques, tools, or approaches in political science courses and across several subject areas. In workshops, attendees discovered how to investigate residential segregation by using US Census data, catalyze direct student engagement with their communities through concrete projects and assignments, use ancient and modern theater (in one workshop) and popular music (in another) to teach political science, promote literacy about the judiciary through active learning about court cases, and launch their civic engagement research agenda. A concurrent virtual roundtable on graduate pipeline programs offered lessons and a discussion of best practices.
TLC at APSA program co-chairs Amy Cabrera Rasmussen (left) and Renée van Vechten (right) speaking at the APSA 2023 Annual Meeting
Pedagogy Café contributors offered informal presentations and one-on-one discussions about their instructional methods or projects. Modeled after the Methods Café created by Dvora Yanow and Peregrine Schwartz-Shea for the APSA annual meeting, presenters were situated at their own tables where they interacted with attendees who circulated through the room. This format encouraged conversations and networking and the sharing of materials on media literacy, community college faculty research practices, using memes to promote civic literacy, and creating inclusive faculty searches.
About 100 guests attended the luncheon, at which Dr. Leah Murray of Weber State University delivered the plenary address entitled, “First They Have to Trust You: Political Science Education in an Age of Mis-and Disinformation.” Murray discussed a set of inclusive practices, including dialogue, signature assignments, media literacy, and co-curricular activities that can help create a productive learning environment. A robust question-and-answer period followed.
In the panel sessions that followed lunch, tracks were reconceptualized to highlight the importance of addressing equity, high-impact practices, skill-building, and civic literacy. Consecutive track sessions were intended to enable deeper inquiry into discrete sets of issues while fostering connections among political science educators. Descriptions of all track panels can be found below.
The TLC at APSA Program Committee exuded a collaborative spirit throughout the planning process and in their facilitation of each track, and we are grateful for their service: J. Cherie Strachan (The University of Akron), LaTasha DeHaan (Elgin Community College), Ramón Galiñanes Jr. (Wofford College), Malliga Och (Denison University), and Petra Hendrickson (Northern Michigan University), who joined us near the end to moderate a track. A special “thank you” goes to Michelle Allendoerfer, APSA Senior Director of Teaching and Learning, who miraculously steered the program through ever-changing circumstances and extraordinary organizational challenges this year.
SPYRIDON KOTSOVILIS, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MISSISSAUGA
PETRA HENDRICKSON, TRACK MODERATOR, NORTHERN MACHIGAN UNIVERSITY
“Active Learning and High-Impact Practices Track”
The first session of this track, “Active Learning Through Simulations and Games,” was moderated by Petra Hendrickson (Northern Michigan University), and explored ways in which games, simulations and related activities can stimulate student interest, engage them, and enhance their education through active learning. It began with Victor Asal and Joseph W. Robert’s “Who Is the Insurgent?”—a presentation of three games that the authors use in their classes. Asal (University at Albany, SUNY) introduced “Would you Protest if Violence?” and “Dictators and Democratic Leaders” through inviting the audience to participate in short demonstrations. The first game generated discussion on the participation thresholds of potential protesters against a violent, oppressive regime. The second explained the fundamental differences between authoritarian and democratic regimes by way of the differential accountability each leader faces. Roberts (Roger Williams University) illustrated “Who is the Insurgent?”, also by having the audience actively take part in a short version of it. In this game, participants must discover the identity of pre-game instructor-designated “insurgents” by asking each other questions and then taking a collective vote. The game’s twist is that there is no “insurgent” designated at all, and “innocent” participants are singled out and readily “punished” by the rest of the group in a demonstration of the effects of low trust, high misinformation, and stereotyping. All three games were entertaining and edifying, successfully engaging the audience to think about their actions and motives and then link them to theoretical concepts.
The next presentation was “Teaching Electoral Institutions Using In-Class Simulations” by Brian Brew (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). His objective was to demonstrate to his class of 45 students how institutions shape outcomes in US politics via a “hands-on example” of a simulated 2020 Democratic Iowa caucus. Students were given a character with a backstory and political preferences and then asked to select their favorite caucus candidates based on their character’s profile in a two-ballot procedure. Both the process and the outcome of this simulation were reported to have generated productive and enjoyable conversation in the classroom, with the discussion focusing not only on the caucus itself, its results, and its non-representativeness, but also on the political process via which candidates emerge. Ultimately, Brew concluded, students were able to absorb the material better, as indicated by the results of exams that tested the material.
Then, it was Petra Hendrickson’s turn to speak about “Strategies & Challenges of Development: Dice Catan and Political Economy.” By using a board game that bears some similarities to real life, Hendrickson explained how she seeks to explore ways in which “war and other board games can be leveraged for educational development.” The task is to build and grow a fictional island using resources allocated randomly by dice rolling, and she uses it in her Comparative Political Economy classes to illustrate how development depends less on leaders and more on the availability of resources. The results from 27 student pre- and post survey responses indicate that, while participants already had a nuanced comprehension of development, the game succeeded in giving them a clearer understanding of processes and outcomes.
John Ishiyama from the University of North Texas at the APSA 2023 Annual Meeting
The final paper by Dave Bridge (Baylor University) and Jordan T. Cash (Michigan State University) questioned simulations, and turned the tables on them. “Flipping the Role-Playing Simulation” argued that, while helpful, simulations have limits in their educational utility. For example, according to Bridge, who presented on behalf of the two authors, it is unrealistic to expect students to successfully conclude a peace negotiation over a protracted conflict in 30 minutes, when in real life it has evaded resolution for decades. This prompted the authors to reverse the process, and conduct a simulation where the only participants were the two instructors with the class observing. They did so for a hybrid class of 570 students by enacting the parts of counsel and justices in the Obergefell v. Hodges case on the Fourteenth Amendment and same-sex marriages. Close to half of the class attended the live role-play simulation, while a portion watched it live-streamed on the course’s website. Testing its effects through a marked quiz demonstrated that those who experienced the live event outperformed those who watched the video as well as those who simply attended a conventional lecture. While role-play still has a place in the classroom, given its limitations, Bridge concluded that educators should ask themselves what other tools or types of lesson plans could be further developed to enhance student learning outcomes.
The track’s second session, “Creating an Active Learning Environment through Assignments and Class Design,” turned its attention to the role of assignments and course design to foster an active learning environment. The first of three presentations was on “Teaching Political Science: The Impact of Narrative through Photovoice” by Fiona MacDonald (University of Northern British Columbia). She began by explaining the Photovoice methodology as a structured use of photographs to identify and analyze salient issues, which, according to the literature “facilitates education for critical consciousness.” This approach works through integrating concepts, inviting new reflections, and then sharing them collectively with the class and the community. MacDonald described and illustrated with examples how she used it alongside feminist pedagogy to enhance experiential knowledge and emphasize the value of particularity and self-engagement.
Next, Emily Matthews Luxon (University of Michigan-Dearborn) presented on “Experiences with Ungrading in Political Science” that explored the potential benefits for students and instructors from decoupling learning from grading. Ungrading courses can help students turn their attention to learning without the stress of grades; freed from worrying about evaluation, they can engage in a process that allows them to acquire knowledge, build skills, and understand more about the world and themselves in layers of work, practice, and feedback. As an example, she discussed her popular Environmental Politics course where she gives eight to ten assignments per week online, which class members must complete, and declare they have done so, to receive full credit. The work ranges from readings, to reflections, to scaffolded and “micro-assignments,” to writing practice. This benefits students through more exercise, more consistent engagement with the material, more usable feedback by the instructor, more opportunities, and greater agency to learn with without worry over grades. Such benefits can outweigh potential drawbacks for students, which may include the negative impacts of viewing a high volume of assignments on the course’s website and the need to adjust to this mode; instructor negatives may include retaining less control and having little discretion over grades.
The closing paper, by Kathrin Reed (University of Delaware) and Xinhui Jiang (Nanjing University), argued for “Bringing Nuances Back: Teaching Fieldwork as an Immersive Experience.” Reed, who presented on their behalf, highlighted how fieldwork is limited in Political Science and cited evidence that only six out of ten top graduate programs teach this and other qualitative methods. Based on the authors’ own experiences conducting research in Cambodia and China, they propose a novel approach to teaching “Fieldwork as an Immersive Experience.” Its advantages both before, during, and following one’s field research rest with providing a more detailed understanding of the site, situating the fieldwork in the context, and valuing social interactions beyond the formal data collection process. In turn, as Reed and Jiang concluded, these yield a more detailed, comprehensive map of the field, foster trust and long-term relationships between researchers and participants, and ultimately aid in the production of knowledge.
Both sessions wrapped up with lively question-and-answer segments. Overall, this track provided a wide range of innovative techniques, approaches, and practices about how to cultivate an environment where active learning can flourish. In the process, it captivated, informed, and entertained the audience who took away valuable recommendations on how to further encourage, engage and inspire their own students to learn.
ERICA FUGGER, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY-NEWARK
J. CHERIE STRACHAN, TRACK MODERATOR, THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
“Civic Literacy and Engagement in Contested Times Track”
This track offered innovative pedagogical approaches to developing experiential learning projects centered around community engagement, as well as methods for assessing political perspectives and civic literacy. The first panel of presentations focused on cultivating civic skills, while the second panel was framed around the topic of polarization.
In “Teaching Students to Conduct Oral Histories in the Community Engaged Classroom,” Jyl Josephson and Erica Fugger (Rutgers University-Newark) presented their novel approach to co-teaching Josephson’s undergraduate course on community organizing and democratic citizenship. Through an interdisciplinary collaboration with teaching assistant Fugger, an oral history interview unit was embedded in the existing class. This assignment encouraged students to forge intergenerational connections with local community leaders and deepened their understanding of campaigns mobilized by the partnering organization, New Jersey Together. The presenters argued that while oral histories do not frequently appear in political science scholarship, this approach provides an accessible method for engaging both undergraduates and civic organizations, generating data that can be utilized by educators, qualitative researchers, and their community partners alike.
Alison Rios Millett McCartney’s (Towson University) presentation on “Does ‘Engagement’ in Civic Engagement Education Last?” offered compelling perspectives from her development of a Model United Nations program for public school students in Baltimore County, Maryland. The presenter emphasized how global-local learning opportunities help widen high school students’ exposure to college, study abroad, and career opportunities, but that programs like the Model UN can often be exclusionary to underfunded and minority-serving school systems. Therefore, by developing a free conference facilitated by her undergraduate students at Towson University, McCartney was able to create equitable and inclusive experiential learning opportunities for both her own students and the participants from local high schools. To assess the impact of these programs on her undergraduate students, she developed post-conference surveys and hosted alumni focus groups to evaluate political engagement longitudinally.
In the second set of presentations, Scott Liebertz of the University of South Alabama led off with a study assessing public perceptions towards professors’ political ideologies. While higher education is often vilified by some commentators as being liberally indoctrinating, the presenter argued that students generally tend to enjoy professors who address controversial issues. In collaboration with Jason Giersch of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Liebertz created a survey that invited respondents across the political spectrum to engage with mock Rate My Professor profiles and choose whether they would recommend taking a class taught by the imagined faculty member. Their findings, presented in “Citizen Attitudes Towards Political Professors,” yielded intriguing insight into partisan biases, including how participants’ perceptions of educators differed across social and economic issues.
Erica Fugger (left) and Jyl J. Josephson (right) from Rutgers University-Newark speaking at the APSA 2023 Annual Meeting
Finally, “A Local Approach to Building Civic Literacy and Engagement,” by Helen Chang of Hostos Community College, focused on the development of a community mapping project in a general education course on American government. Chang emphasized that in her classroom environment in the South Bronx, building civic engagement most effectively began not on the national level, but rather on the local level where her students were already invested. By using Google Maps, the class was asked to designate vital resources in their New York City neighborhoods and follow up with recommendations for addressing issues that affected their communities, such as missing public service locations. To measure the impacts of these localized assignments, Chang administered pre- and post-surveys to assess students’ civic engagement.
Each of these presentations provoked generative conversations about the role of civic education at a time of great political and social division in the United States. One common theme was the value of engaging students in their surrounding communities, which included the development of innovative assignments, equitable collaborations, and inclusive pedagogies. Furthermore, the panelists demonstrated the importance of developing effective methods for analyzing the long-term outcomes of civic projects and studying the political polarization surrounding higher education. These findings can then subsequently be brought back into the political science classroom, and help inform how scholars engage both students and the public.
LATASHA CHAFFIN DEHAAN, ELGIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ASHLEY NICKELS, KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
LATASHA CHAFFIN DEHAAN, TRACK MODERATOR, ELGIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
“EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion)-Based Pedagogical Interventions Track”
The panelists in this track assessed ways to develop innovative pedagogies within our discipline through equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI) and social justice lenses. The panelists utilized meta-analyses to examine the effectiveness of teaching methods, explored course design/redesign efforts, and examined civic engagement opportunities that operate at the nexus between theory and practice.
The first EDI panel, “EDI-Based Pedagogical Interventions across Multiple Political Science Course Contents,” covered several multi-faceted and inclusive interventions, such as the project led by Lisa Pace Vetter of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In her paper, “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Introduction to Political Thought,” Vetter explained how she challenged the traditional canon by diversifying the course content and deliberately including alternative voices that invited critique. A focus of this research was reducing structural, institutional and instructional barriers to learning. Vetter also focused on the generation and measurement of desired student outcomes by using the Quality Matters standards to ensure the connectedness of both the course objectives and learning objectives and between the class assignments and activities on the one hand, and assessments on the other.
In congruence with the broader TLC at APSA theme, Scott Spitzer of California State University, Fullerton and his colleague Lori M. Weber of California State University, Chico discussed opportunities for students to be educated about local government and to discover ways they could affect change during contentious times through the political process. In “The Hispanic/Non-Hispanic Gap in Higher Education Civic Engagement Programs,” Spitzer described a town hall meeting project in his American Government class. For the class town hall, students at a Hispanic Serving Institution work in diverse teams to analyze critical policy in areas such as the environment and climate change, constitutional rights under fire, and homelessness. In this applied civic engagement project, student teams wrote a policy brief and prepared a presentation, which local community and political leaders were invited to attend.
Analysis of student survey responses from 2017–2023 demonstrated that the town hall meeting project tended to improve overall political efficacy for all students progressively during the semester. Students recognized the impact of exercising their social capital. However, when disaggregated by race and other demographic variables, Caucasian students and first-generation students reported a greater degree of political efficacy than Hispanic and Asian students. Spitzer emphasized that pedagogical experimentation and research do not occur in a vacuum, and contemplated whether and how the contentious US political environment in 2017 may have been a factor. Even so, over time (2017–2023), these students reported a greater interest in politics and policy evaluation.
Lastly, Bojan Savić of the University of Kent, Brussels School of International Studies introduced how to administer anti-colonial peer assessment in a graduate class in his paper, “Negotiating Power While Debating Development through Asynchronous Peer Review.” Savić teaches an International Development class in Belgium, Brussels with a transnational student population, where privilege and elitism varies based on a number of contexts.
In his class, students work within groups and then participate in asynchronous peer assessment and, upon grading their peers, self-assess their own and others’ contributions to the peer review process. Based on student observations and his education on de-colonization and privilege, Savić educates students as to how privilege operates in the classroom. Examples included students “silencing” student claims of relevance; the colonization of victimhood; man-, rich- and white-splaining; how some students view themselves as entitled to time/space, as well as the potential for students to self-silence and to employ ambiguous vernaculars.
Post-colonial and de-colonial peer assessment theory is predicated on non-hierarchical learning and seeks to empower students in the classroom. Savić shared his awareness of his own position of hierarchical power and authority in the classroom and takes this into consideration as he helps students understand how coercive and constraining the colonial legacies of inequality and inequity can be. Savić has collected nine years of longitudinal metadata on the peer review process which allowed him an opportunity to improve student outcomes and to recognize and value diverse student experiences in the classroom.
A fruitful discussion ensued concerning how mixed methods might be utilized in research designs by asking both quantitative and qualitative questions that allow for efficient measurement as well as a greater incorporation of contextual factors. Participants also discussed how the current political era and its influence on the human psyche should be considered in our analysis. Participants also considered the growth of MOOCs at educational and private sector institutions, where often there are few measurable learning outcomes and a reliance on a hidden curriculum. Is this predictive of the future? And what might this mean for traditional academic educational institutions that are increasingly aligning course and learning objectives with assessment outcomes?
Through their interventions, all of the panelists created space for diverse ideas and experiences in the academic environment. They applied theories, pedagogies and methodologies in a diversity of national, international and transnational contexts through graduate and undergraduate education. By promoting equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice in the classroom through curricular enhancements; facilitating student feedback in a post-colonial environment; and recognizing that diverse student experiences can affect student outcomes, these panelists disrupted systemic patterns of exclusion, colonialism, and inequity in novel ways.
RAMÓN GALIÑANES, JR., WOFFORD COLLEGE
A. OLIVIA MILJANIC, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
RAMÓN GALIÑANES, JR., TRACK MODERATOR, WOFFORD COLLEGE
“Teaching Research, Writing, and Analytical Skills Track”
The “Teaching Research, Writing, and Analytical Skills” track focused on how we teach our students and faculty about consuming information; research, and writing in an age of misinformation and disinformation; and how we equip them with the analytical and critical thinking skills necessary to recognize and address these phenomena.
The first session, “Tools for Teaching against Misinformation and Disinformation,” featured three presentations. These encompassed tools for introducing information literacy modules and assignments into undergraduate courses by faculty, and the training of faculty by librarians in the areas of misrepresentation and misappropriation of research. Together, all three presentations addressed challenges that occur at different levels: one, at the societal level, as the rapid spread of mis- and disinformation has consequences for public health and social cohesion; and two, at the college level, where students often lack strong information literacy skills that would allow them to effectively evaluate information they obtain online and from social media. Each focused strongly on interdisciplinary work and offered techniques for raising awareness, increasing information literacy and combating misinformation, disinformation and mal-information across the different components of academe.
The first presenters, Rachel Vanderhill and Kimberly Hall of Wofford College, presented “How to Inoculate College Students to Disinformation,” which included a short curricular module that could be adapted and integrated into courses across disciplines. The two-week module featured conversation and discussion around information literacy, and included assignments that asked students to develop their own training for first-year students on information literacy, assessments of true and false social media posts, and reflective essays. The goal of this interdisciplinary approach to information literacy was for students to critically evaluate information not just in the context of their coursework, but also in their own time, beyond the classroom. Students were found to respond positively to the module and showed interest in more training. Data from the reflective essays suggested that, while critical engagement with the media increased in the context of the course, the module’s impact on behaviors beyond the class was less significant.
Waymon Burke from Calhoun Community College presenting at the APSA 2023 Annual Meeting
“Beyond Misinformation: The Misrepresentation and Misappropriation of Research” by Winn Wasson from Syracuse University discussed a library workshop for faculty across social science disciplines on misinformation about research. The workshop addressed two types of issues: misunderstanding, misrepresenting, and misappropriating research; and harassment, bullying, and violence towards researchers. The workshop components included the social and political context of misinformation, library resources, and techniques for effectively adapting research presentations for different audiences. Workshop participants gained a higher level of awareness regarding possible interpretations of their research. The tools acquired were successful in helping researchers adapt their research presentations to different audiences and effectively address harassment.
The third presentation, “Analyzing News Sources: A Practical Skill in an Age of Mis- and Disinformation” by Andra Olivia Miljanic from University of Houston, contributed to the pedagogical toolkit for promoting information literacy with a news post assignment requiring students to follow news coverage about a country of their choice throughout the semester, report on the coverage, and analyze the news source. Survey results indicated that the assignment positively impacted the frequency with which students followed the news and the likelihood that they would engage in critical analysis of the news sources.
The discussion that followed these presentations highlighted the importance of bringing in experts and using real-life examples of researchers who were affected by mis-, dis-, and mal-information. Other comments referred to combining training and applied assignments when teaching about information literacy and differentiating “lazy” journalism from “malevolent” journalism. The discussion acknowledged that one can more easily recognize when others are misinformed than when one is misinformed. Social psychology insights were also highlighted as facilitators of understanding the process of information production and consumption.
The second session, “Assessing and Implementing Information Literacy, Portfolios, and Research Labs,” featured two presentations. The first, “Generative Large Language Models and Political Science Education” by Nicole Wu from University of Toronto and Patrick Wu from New York University, utilized surveys administered to APSA members from April 2023 to August 2023 to analyze perspectives on the rise of generative large language models, especially ChatGPT, and its impact on teaching, learning, and assessment in political science courses. According to the survey responses (n=1615), most APSA members are “somewhat familiar” with generative large language models and, while the overall perspective on AI’s impact on political science education is “slightly negative,” copyediting and other uses of AI are viewed more favorably among respondents.
The second paper, “The Learning-Record: Portfolio-Style Assessment in Political Science Courses” by Sally Lawton from West Chester University and Alison Kenner from Drexel University, was on the topic of portfolio-style assessment and incorporated data from and teaching experiences in several political science courses at Drexel University between 2019 and 2023. Their work drew on student artifacts from portfolios and other course assignments as well as the many benefits of using The Learning Record as an assessment tool that engages students of different backgrounds in an asset-based approach to teaching and learning.
Several overarching themes and questions emerged in the discussion that followed the paper presentations. These include how expectations about the impacts of generative AI have are rapidly evolving, and the possibility that generative AI will increasingly be viewed as needed for compliance for students with accommodations and as a tool to help neurodivergent students. Other issues were raised, including the prioritization of skill development versus content delivery in political science courses, and how a model of un-grading, such as portfolio-style assessment, speaks to the importance of skill development. Some of the challenges discussed related to individualized assessment tools for political science education, such as the fact that they are labor-intensive.
All the panelists in this track engaged in the timely and important topic of the evolving tools needed to teach research, writing, and analytical skills in political science education during an age of mis- and disinformation.
MALLIGA OCH, DENISON UNIVERSITY
MALLIGA OCH, TRACK MODERATOR, DENISON UNIVERSITY
A Virtual TLC at APSA Panel
Due to the unique context of the 2023 APSA annual meeting, some whose papers were accepted to the TLC at APSA were unable to attend in person. Drawn from the four different main track themes, the five papers that were ultimately presented in our virtual panel cohered in unexpected ways as our participants shared their individual and collective experiences and scholarship concerning extracurricular programs and initiatives.
In her paper, “Youth Participatory Action Research for a New Political Competence,” Abigail Dym (University of Pennsylvania) interrogated the ways in which civic education can be a response to democratic backsliding, focusing on the questions of who is teaching, what is being taught, and how the content is being delivered. She found that active classrooms generally did best, and students felt that they learned more when they were in charge of their own learning.
Leocadia Diaz Romero (Universidad De Murcia) presented “Audio Tools for Effective Learning: Podcast Experiences and Practices.” In her presentation, she discussed her experience on how integrating podcasts into her curriculum promotes learning.
Leah Murray from Weber State University presenting at the APSA 2023 Annual Meeting
Heather Katz (Southwestern Oklahoma State University) highlighted the need to acknowledge that students might be digital natives but often still lacked digital depth. Her question in her paper, “Implementing Information Literacy Across the Curriculum,” was simple yet important: how can we improve digital skills among our students and what role can college libraries play in tandem with instructors? Or alternatively, can digital information literacy become embedded in a college-wide program of micro-credits?
Sarah Wilson Sokhey (University of Colorado, Boulder) reported on her experience running a political science research lab for undergraduates in “Strategies for Starting & Expanding an Undergrad Research Lab”. Some of her insights were that students must be recruited as early as sophomore year and that recruiting students who are particularly enthusiastic, rather than just focusing on prior experience, can lead to improved learning outcomes. Finally, Shelly R. Arsneault (California State University, Fullerton, “Incorporating Social Justice & Equity in High-Impact Practices”) presented on behalf of a team of researchers at her institution which also included Pamela Fiber-Ostrow and Sarah A. Hill. She argued that social justice teaching must start with the acknowledgement that social injustice exists and the role that institutions play in perpetuating and solving it.
Despite the broad range of topics, three themes emerged that all authors grapple with inside and outside the classroom. First, how can we make sure that all our efforts reflect and adhere to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) ideals? This is particularly important because all authors shared various ways in which they experienced resistance to purposefully integrating DEI principles across programs. Interestingly, this initial resistance was not confined to institutions but also expressed by students challenging the notion that younger generations are particularly attuned to social justice. Additionally, the group discussed how DEI initiatives are often started and carried on the backs of women, faculty of color, and often women faculty of color.
The second common theme focused on the totality of work that goes into creating and maintaining innovative pedagogy. Of course, this discussion led to the age-old question of how institutions should recognize and reward this type of work – often categorized as service, especially if it occurs outside the classroom – in promotion and tenure. Beyond recognizing and counting this type of work on an equal footing with teaching and research, our panelists agreed that this type of work should be remunerated, not only because payment confers value to any activity but also because faculty’s time and labor should never be exploited. So how can faculty be compensated when institutions are reluctant to do so based on institutional priorities or financial stress? This question becomes particularly urgent considering that, as noted above, these pedagogical initiatives are often led by already thinly stretched and under-supported, underrepresented faculty. One solution that panelists contemplated is supporting initiatives through external funding sources. At the same time, there was concern that it is difficult to identify appropriate funding and to ensure that this funding is consistent and adequate.
Another solution that the panel discussed at length was working closely with hiring committees. For example, offer packages could include the necessary financial and nonfinancial benefits that support incoming faculty who do extracurricular programming and pedagogical research from the start—and for the long-term. Including support for pedagogical research and initiatives in a faculty contract can serve as an important signal that this type of work and the faculty’s time are recognized and valued over the course of their career. In addition, this would serve as a signal to all faculty that extra-curricular initiatives are worth their time and effort prior to achieving tenure, as all panelists bemoaned the predominant current practice of not considering pedagogical research a legitimate contribution to tenure-dependent requirements.
TLC at APSA program co-chairs Renée van Vechten (left) and Amy Cabrera Rasmussen (right) at the APSA 2023 Annual Meeting
The final theme that emerged centered on recognizing the risk of burnout often inherent in time- and work-intensive pedagogical initiatives such as running undergraduate labs, civic education programs, moot courts, and so forth. Faculty undertake this work in addition to their already heavy workload—despite the lack of recognition that this work often receives—because they are passionate about the subject and believe in the greater educational good that such initiatives provide. Panelists were clear that faculty, regardless of the inherent importance of and personal passion invested in any program, must avoid burnout by keeping these principles in mind: (1) be intentional in programming, (2) be realistic of what can be accomplished, and (3) do not be so hard on yourself.
CONCLUSION
The success of 2023 TLC at APSA could be measured by multiple empty coffee urns, thunderous applause for the luncheon speaker, and overall attendance (over 150). It could also be measured by the 83.3% of post-conference APSA survey respondents who strongly agreed or agreed that “the TLC met or exceeded their expectations,” and the same percentage who expressed they were “very” or “somewhat likely to incorporate material from the TLC into their courses this year.” In our collective effort to create a more literate polity and counteract the effects of dis- and misinformation, platforming evidence-based pedagogical techniques, approaches, and interventions has assumed heightened urgency. TLC at APSA remains a space where we can inspire each other to learn and improve perpetually. We conclude by thanking all who helped realize the sixth annual TLC at APSA conference, including new and repeat attendees, the presenters, the program committee, APSA staff, and dedicated members of the Political Science Education member section.
