Facilitating Impactful Civic Engagement with Metacognitive Questions

• In Event: Multiple Methods for Civic Engagement

Abstract

How can educators facilitate student’s greater understanding of civic engagement activities? Civic engagement for college students is emphasized and desired by educators. However, assessing the impact of civic education activities on students can be a challenging endeavor. In an introductory political science course on American Politics, I utilize weekly civic engagement activities where students are encouraged to complete a civic engagement activity (registering to vote, attending a rally, monitoring a town meeting, contacting a representative, etc.). After completing the activity, students were randomly assigned an “activity wrapper.” Half of the activity wrappers asked the students metacognitive questions about their experience, while the other half provided a more traditional assessment of their knowledge. I find that students who completed the metacognitive question activity wrapper were more likely to report higher political efficacy and think more critically about civic engagement. Results suggest that civic activities that incorporate metacognitive questions encourage a deeper understanding of civic engagement for students.

Author

• Shannon McQueen, West Chester University of Pennsylvania