Fostering Durable Civic Skills in Undergraduates

Session Submission Type: Featured Paper Panel: 30-minute Paper Presentations

Session Description

McGovern draws on the conference theme by designing an introductory American government and politics course built on Kenneth Janda’s Idealog survey and George Packer’s Atlantic article about “Four Americas.” Jansa, Ringsmuth, and Smith address the fact that some undergraduates have greater baseline political knowledge because of their socialization than do others; their study focuses on the ability of a required introduction to American government and politics course to close civic education gaps. Dym explores whether policy choices made by professors to create relatively more democratic classroom environments impact the civic skills students build during their coursework.

Sub Unit

• Division 10: Political Science Education

Individual Presentations

• Citizen, Know Thyself: Intro American Government and Misinformation - Patrick McGovern, Buffalo State University

• Closing Gaps in Underrepresented Students’ Political Knowledge and Efficacy - Joshua Jansa, Oklahoma State University; Alex P. Smith, University of Iowa; Eve M. Ringsmuth, Oklahoma State University

• Teachers as Street Level Bureaucrats for Youth Political Knowledge - Abigail Dym, Providence College

Chair

• Peter R. Yacobucci Buffalo State University

Discussants

• Delaney Kaufman DePaul University

• Ben Epstein DePaul University