There is a lack of objective evaluative standards for academic work. While this has been recognized in studies of how gatekeepers pass judgment on the works of others, little is known about how scholars deal with the uncertainty about how their work will be evaluated by gatekeepers. Building upon 35 interviews with early career academics in…

This article emerges from a stream of scholarship demonstrating the inadequacy of broad arguments favouring 'neutrality' as an alternative to 'directive normative instruction' in the early childhood classroom. We advance a moral educational framing of the tension between neutrality and normativity in education: specifically, we argue that…

The article narrates a personal journey of learning and unlearning the images in school textbooks, its uses potentials and challenges as experienced by the author. It reflects upon the experiences of the process of selection of these images within the context of political science as a discipline. These experiences have been formed over a decade…

It is often said that the number of current world leaders who chose to be educated in another country can serve as a useful, though rough and incomplete, indicator of "soft power." So, since 2015, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has been publishing desk research on the tertiary education of serving heads of state and heads…

This paper pilots a method of testing the learning effects of a role-playing simulation of negotiations over the Nile basin. Players negotiate how to apply general principles from international law, such as sharing water equitably and avoiding significant harm, to specific circumstances of the river basin. Students are presented with a set of…

This paper introduces a new pedagogic approach to the teaching of political science. In engineering education, the Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) pedagogy provides an active, experiential learning experience, structuring learning around four key phases in product development. Applied to the undergraduate Politics and International…

This paper posits that the foundations of the teaching of political theory at Makerere University College obtain from British and American hegemony. The hegemonic tendencies are exemplified by the content of what was taught as political theory, the nature of the teaching staff in the Department of Political Science -- the country of origin, the…

This study explores the role of education in a democracy in order to create informed people, advance democratic values, and enable active participation in the political process. It provides a comprehensive overview of the Indian political landscape, highlighting the political framework, important parties, hot button issues, and challenges to…

The use of active learning pedagogies gives students a more applied experience and aids in the retention of material, improvement of critical thinking, and overall student satisfaction. Among these pedagogies, long-form (complex, extended) simulations provide an excellent vehicle for teaching students about the legislative process. However, these…

The study of educational simulations at the secondary level has typically centered on programs that are competitive, shorter in duration, and characterized by their low fidelity, or a lack of realism. The resources required to hold longer, more immersive, and nuanced programs are often prohibitive for teachers of political science programs. As…

This paper examines the current situation of learning ESP in a non-English Department at the University of Saida, Algeria. Data were collected from the targeted population which was an ESP teacher and a group of 46 first-year License-Master-Doctorate political sciences students. Three methods of data collection were used to investigate the…

Simulations offer opportunities for students to receive instruction in political strategies and practice developing political skills without the real-world consequences faced by policymakers. Budget simulations introduce students to collective action problems prevalent at all levels of American government and can be used in a variety of courses.…

This paper reports findings from two studies of student writing performance carried out in undergraduate political science courses to test whether low-cost interventions could lead to improvements in writing outcomes. Students enrolled in an introductory comparative politics course (N = 180) and a sophomore-level survey course (N = 101) were…

Challenges to the value of active civic engagement are an increasingly common phenomenon in introductory American government courses as there is a rise in populist sentiment and a lethargic democratic public. Traditional methods of civic participation and ideal citizenship are difficult to model and teach against this backdrop. Here, we offer…

The social sciences increasingly utilize film as a teaching tool. This is reflected by a growing amount of publications on the topic, which are predominantly reporting positive results. Incorporating the medium seems to allow for more adaptive and engaging ways of teaching. Judging from the existing literature, however, its application in the…