Civic education in undergraduate institutions is of vital importance to the civic health of society, but faculty often find it difficult to incorporate civic components into existing courses and lack the resources to incorporate civic outreach into their curriculum. As a result, research has shown that time spend on civic engagement is limited.…

Decades of scholarship on teaching and learning affirm the benefits of public service internships on student learning outcomes. Studies emphasize how hands-on fieldwork can increase students' substantive knowledge, political efficacy, trust in government, and civic participation, among other factors. However, most articles treat internships…

The scholarship supports the effectiveness of high-impact practices (HIPs) to advance undergraduates' political knowledge and engagement. A line of inquiry asks which type of HIPs is the most effective, especially for core (required) courses with students from a variety of degree programs. In 2022, many students are from Generation Z, born between…

While voter turnout is often seen as one definitive aspect of civic engagement, this paper argues that there are more nuanced ways to reflect on the impact of service-learning experiences on students' environmental awareness and environmentally responsible behavior changes. Using course evaluation qualitative comments in environmental…

This article builds on the political science literature on the pedagogy of civic engagement by discussing a recent pedagogical experiment that treats community partners as leaders and full participants in the design and implementation of community-engaged learning. The courses discussed here combine democratic theory, community organizing and…

Scholars have suggested that civic engagement in the United States is declining and some have argued that institutions of higher education are responsible for the fostering of civic engagement through efforts such as service learning. These opportunities may be created either through a top-down approach with student assignment to specific groups…

The "Journal of Political Science Education (JPSE)" provides over a decade of research on political science pedagogy, featuring empirical research documenting best practices in the field. This article provides an overview of "JPSE"-published research on the topics of civic education and engagement. It summarizes the number and…

This article provides an overview of a classroom project, titled the Priorities Project, which is designed to promote responsible and informed civic engagement on the part of students in upper level political science courses at Drake University. It provides an overview of the Priorities Project, a brief summary highlighting the process and results…

The use of service-learning pedagogies in general education courses is often limited to increasing volunteerism or civic literacy with problem-based or research-based projects reserved for upper level courses. This article examines the implementation of an "actionable data" service-learning project in an introductory, general studies…

This article discusses the use of community partnerships to produce civic engagement. In two undergraduate courses during the Fall 2016 semester, students created products that met the stated needs of local nonprofit organizations. Students indicated a positive reaction to their experiences in qualitative assessment instruments, and the community…

We study one aspect of the relationship between theory and politics, in order to begin to address this issue of political science education--specifically focusing on whether participation in the election process as voting monitors, combined with political science education, can help students better understand politics as democratic engagement. In…

This article aims to explore practitioner-focused degrees in politics. It begins by defining the term and outlining the key features in comparison to other politics degrees. The underlying pedagogical principles that inform the design of teaching, learning, and assessment are then explored, before the article moves on to discuss the development of…

This article considers the impact of service-learning in diverse communities on student civic development. A key debate in the literature is whether service-learning in diverse communities fosters student moral/cognitive development or reinforces preexisting stereotypes. This debate has significant implications for student's future civic…

We examine the political and personal effects of disaster volunteerism with participants of the New Orleans Rebirth Movement (NORM) using four waves of pre- and postsurveys and qualitative analysis of participant journals. Significant increases are found in internal political efficacy, desire to be active in politics, and value placed on social…

To make a difference in their communities, students need to develop the "knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference" (Ehrlich 2000, p. vi). Taking advantage of Iowa's role in the 2008 presidential nominations, I designed three "civic learning" projects: a collaborative fact-checking weblog, a nonpartisan…