Teaching Materials
The resources below were shared by the contributors on APSA Educate. Licensing information is shared wherever available. Please credit the contributors when utilizing or redistributing.
- Civically Engaged Research in the classroom: “Empowering and Engaging Students through Civically Engaged Research”
Contributors: Margaret Commins, Veronica Reyna, Emily Syndor
Integrating civically engaged research into political science courses promises important benefits, including the potential for developing better democratic citizens. When students conduct research with and for community partners, applying skills in investigation and systematic inquiry to complex community problems, these students not only improve their research skills, they can develop a sense of civic empowerment and efficacy. Included here are resources from the two courses highlighted in the article on CER in the classroom published as part of the 2021 symposium on CER published in PS: Political Science and Politics. License: CC BY NC ND 4.0 license – Allows redistribution but no additions or revisions to content. Forbids commercial use.
Advanced Research Participation – Syllabus
Advanced Research Participation – Community Mapping Assignment
Immigration Attitudes Survey Final
Immigration Attitudes Survey Consent Statement
Empowering and Engaging Students Through Civically Engaged Research – PS: Political Science & Politics
- Civic Engagement/Community-Engaged Learning Tool
Contributor: Betsy Sinclair
A mobile app and web-based tool to support you and your students for community-engaged learning called Magnify. Students (and faculty) pose projects which are moderated and then shared in a private, personalized space. Documenting participation and tracking volunteer hours is easy, too. Leveraging the frontier of social science research, Magnify makes civic engagement fun, easy, and social. Check it out here or look for Magnify Your Voice at the app store. License: CC BY 4.0 license – Allows all uses and revisions, including commercial use with attribution.
- Getting Engaged: Inspiring Civic Bystanders to Action
Contributor: Rachael Cobb
Revolutionary Spaces, GBH News, GBH Forum Network, and Suffolk University are coming together to present an exciting panel discussion on what it takes to motivate young people to vote in contemporary America. Moderated by GBH News Senior Editor Peter Kadzis, this special afternoon program features a subject matter policy expert, Noorya Hayat, Senior Researcher at Tufts CIRCLE, a voting rights advocate, Vanessa Snow,Director of Policy and Organizing at MassVote, a political campaign strategist, John Griffin, advisor to Priorities For Progress and Danielle Allen, and a minority youth activist group representative, Lina Cañon, director of operations for the Chica Project. With audience participation, the panel takes on issues relating to political persuasion, mobilization, and the power of generational change. Among the enduring questions to be addressed are: how is my voice heard; who speaks for me; and what is my recourse if I am silenced or marginalized. The program will thus aim to explore the who, what, where, when, how, and why of voting among young people in America today. License: CC BY NC ND 4.0 license – Allows redistribution but no additions or revisions to content. Forbids commercial use.
Click here to learn more.
- Public Opinion: Fact or Fantasy?
Contributor: Emily Sydnor
Description: When asked in a survey whether the United States should allow speeches against democracy, 62 percent of Americans say no. But only 46 percent say yes when asked if the same speeches should be forbidden. In other words, asking people about the same policy but with different question wording can have a dramatic effect on their response. What does this mean for our ability to make sense of Americans’ stated preferences about political issues? In this course, we explore the factors that shape public opinion, from question wording to socialization to the media and beyond. How do people arrive at their political opinions and how can we be sure that these opinions are grounded in facts and rational understanding of the issues at hand?
Public Opinion: Fact or Fantasy?
Public Opinion Research Project
- Religion and Electoral Politics
Contributor: Rebecca Glazier
This is a syllabus for a community-engaged research practicum course on religion and politics, which took place during the 2016 election. License: CC BY NC SA 4.0 license – Allows revisions and additions but forbids commercial use.