This research addresses the challenges of rebuilding a political science department from the ground up. By looking at student needs, departmental resources, and assessment of recent graduates and seniors, this research helps faculty by providing tools and information about building and strengthening a department. By describing what is unique to…

I discuss a published paper in political science that made a claim that aroused skepticism. The reanalysis is an example of how we, as consumers as well as producers of science, can engage with published work. This can be viewed as a sort of collaboration performed implicitly between the authors of a published paper and later researchers who want…

This article is a discipline-based exploration of the possibilities and prospects of outcome-based education (OBE) in the teaching-learning process of political science at the under graduate level. Developing knowledge-empowered citizenry with critical political consciousness that enables it public policy debates is the key purposes of teaching…

Students' readiness to learn politics is an important thing to consider nowadays. By encouraging positive emotions and good intrinsic learning motivation, students can prepare themselves well to learn this discipline. This study examines how self-regulated learning, competence, autonomy, relatedness, positive emotion, and intrinsic learning…

There has been a massive shift in teaching quantitative political research since the "Journal of Political Science Education" was launched in 2004. Smartphones were an anomaly, and it was uncommon to have laptops in the classroom. Statistical calculations were sometimes done by "statisticians", i.e., professional staff who did…

Watson earned his B.A. in religious studies from the College of William and Mary in 1995, his M.A. in international peace studies and conflict resolution from the University of Notre Dame in 2001, and his M.A. and doctorate in political science from the University of New Mexico in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Research interests include the…

The large introductory classes at many universities present a particular challenge for instructors wishing to guarantee participation opportunities for their students. Yet, large courses can actually afford advantages for instructors looking to replicate many features of the U.S. Congress. We describe two separate Congressional simulations in an…

A Model United Nations (MUN) conference is one of Political Science's most enduring and iconic formats for active learning and a defining event for many undergraduate students and high school students. Despite its established place in the discipline of Political Science, a MUN conference is an event that defies attempts at perfection, due mainly…

This paper proposes a paradigm shift from the traditionally systematic, rigid structures of thesis writing courses to favor an inclusive, fluid, and flexible approach that both centers on student needs and meets the professional demands of future graduates. An intentional move to amend the thesis writing course would (1) create the conditions for…

Although the benefits of undergraduate research for students are broadly understood, implementation of undergraduate research in the college classroom can be challenging. In this article, I explain how blogging assignments can be used to enable students to successfully complete course-long research projects and achieve many of the content and…

Moral education is a core component of ideological and political courses in primary and secondary schools and universities in China, and also an important part of contemporary Chinese Marxist educational theory and practice. In Chinese senior high schools, the main curriculum and platform for moral education is ideological and political courses.…

This study presents curriculum mapping of noncore course offerings in political science curricula by an early-career librarian. It combines syllabi study and curriculum mapping methods to analyze the language of student learning objectives (SLOs) from course syllabi and to integrate SLOs with threshold concepts from the ACRL Framework for…

Should educators teach diversity courses in online formats? Courses covering sexism, racism, ethnocentrism, or homophobia are increasingly part of the curriculum requirements for college students. This study compares student surveys from six sections of the author's introductory Diversity in Politics course; three of these sections are taught…

The Town Hall Meeting (THM) program at California State University, Fullerton has been annually incorporated into several Introduction to American Politics course sections since 2011, to improve academic performance and promote civic engagement among enrolled students. This article provides a detailed analysis of results from a 2017…

This research examines whether explicit course-level learning objectives (LOs) affect students' perceptions of courses and ability to recall factual knowledge and analyze political problems. The study compares four sections of the author's introductory world politics course -- two that were provided with the explicit learning objectives and two…