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Participation as Assessment: Political Science and Classroom AssessmentTechniques

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2008

Mel Cohen
Mel Cohen
Affiliation:
Miami University Middletown
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Extract

From the beginning of my teaching career I had been drawn to class participation (Cohen 1991; 1993). I enjoyed posing questions and problems to the class, and they seemed toenjoy the interaction. At the same time, intuitively I was drawn to discussion andparticipation as ways to enhance learning. Later I learned that these were part of what wasknown as “active learning,” and they really did have the ability to enhance student learning(Barr and Tagg 1995; Chickering, Gamson, and Barsi 1989; Pascarella and Terenzini 2005, 101–2). My faith bolstered, I continued toexplore ways to actively engage students through developing thought-provoking questions,assigning in-class writing, utilizing small group work, and integrating short presentations.Eventually I began to share my ideas with colleagues at conferences and publish them inrespected journals. I discussed what I was doing in class, the basic principles underlyingmy approach, the challenges it provided, and the hoped-for results when it came to studentlearning.

Type
The Teacher
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , July 2008 , pp. 609 - 612
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 2008

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References

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