ERIC Number: EJ819969
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-May
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1551-2169
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Learning Tolerance: The Impact of Comparative Politics Courses on Levels of Cultural Sensitivity
Brooks, D. Christopher
Journal of Political Science Education, v1 n2 p221-232 May 2005
In addition to exposing students to basic concepts, theories, and ideas, teachers of comparative politics often claim to foster and promote values of tolerance and cultural sensitivity through exposure to the histories, cultures, and societies of cases from around the world. This claim, however, has been largely speculative and unsupported by any empirical research to date. In order to evaluate this claim, I employ a quasi-experimental design to test for the effects of two separate courses on levels of student intercultural sensitivity. Both courses focused on East-Central European politics, but one was taught in a regular classroom setting and the other in the Czech Republic. My findings support the following arguments: 1) in general, comparative politics courses appear to have a positive and significant impact on the levels of student intercultural sensitivity; 2) the differences in the impact of an on-campus and an off-campus course on levels of cultural sensitivity is negligible; and 3) students who study a region prior to studying in the region demonstrate in the aggregate greater improvements in their level of intercultural sensitivity than students who studied abroad only. (Contains 5 tables and 5 notes.)
Descriptors: Cultural Awareness, Political Science, College Instruction, Quasiexperimental Design, Student Attitudes, Study Abroad, College Students, Attitude Measures, Pretests Posttests, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Czech Republic; Minnesota
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A