Best practices in the American undergraduate political science curriculum

Abstract

This chapter describes various models for organizing the undergraduate political science major. 1 Though debate and discussion of the proper goals and structure of the political science curriculum go back to the founding of the discipline (Ishiyama, Breuning and Lopez 2006), the present review focuses on activities in the USA since the 1980s to reform the major. Curriculum reform efforts in political science have taken place in the midst of reform waves in higher education. The circumstances surrounding the last reform effort sponsored by the American Political Science Association (APSA), the 1991 'Wahlke Report' on liberal education and the political science major (Association of American Colleges 1990; Wahlke 1991), are illustrative. After several years of studies criticizing academic majors as loosely organized collections of distribution requirements and faddish electives (Association of American Colleges 1985; Zemsky 1989), the Association of American Colleges (AAC) called on disciplinary associations to formulate recommendations to 'strengthen study-in-depth' (Association of American Colleges 1990). In response, APSA appointed a task force with John Wahlke from the University of Arizona as chair. Sharing AAC's view that depth of understanding cannot be reached 'merely by cumulative exposure to more and more subject matter', the authors of the political science report set out to design a model that featured sequential learning, 'building on blocks of knowledge that lead to more sophisticated understanding. .. leaps of imagination. .. and efforts at synthesis' (Association of American Colleges 1990, p. 131). Following a similar process, three distinct curricular frameworks in the discipline have developed since the Wahlke Report. The drive for greater student civic and political engagement began with the service-learning movement of the late 1980s and 1990s (Battistoni and Hudson 1997). Outcomes-based curricula grew as part of the assessment movement, which evolved from external demands for accountability (National Commission on Excellence in Education 1983; National Governors Association 1986) and increased interest in student learning within the academy (Study Group on Conditions of Excellence in Education 1984; McClellan 2009). More recently, the successor to AAC, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), spearheaded the use of 'high-impact practices' (HIPs) as a means to broaden and deepen student attainment of 'essential learning outcomes' (Kuh 2008). Despite the array of curricular models with high potential for increasing student learning, the political science curriculum at most institutions remains organized by distribution requirements. After describing the four alternatives to the distribution model and their status in the discipline, the final section of this chapter will address the question of why the political science curriculum appears impervious to change.

A Career-Oriented Approach to Structuring the Political Science Major

“…As political scientists develop guidelines for the discipline, they need to assemble a variety of resources to assist programs in rethinking the major. This work pulls together available discipline-specific resources and adds a new model to McClellan's (2015; typology of curriculum structures that political science uses. Although too small a number to be generalizable, UO and ATU both experienced enrollment growth after adopting the "curriculum-as-job-preparation" model.…”

Whither Political Science in a Post-Pandemic World? Challenges, Trends, and Opportunities

“…The demographics of the student population are changing and, more importantly, what they ask of us is also changing. As McClellan (2015) notes, current undergraduate curricular models in political science assume that the typical student is 18- to 24-years-old and attends university full time. However, higher education enrollment is changing dramatically.…”

La escritura académica en la enseñanza de la ciencia política: Una revisión del caso argentino

“…Esta consolidación como área de interés para una proporción de los profesionales de la ciencia política de Occidente se apalancó especialmente en el renombrado trabajo de John Wahlke, catedrático de la Universidad Estatal de Arkansas y miembro de la APSA, quien publicó en 1991 los resultados de un extenso análisis sobre contenidos, métodos y estructuras curriculares de los colleges estadounidenses. Sus propuestas tuvieron tal impacto que fueron retomadas en varias producciones en las que se ponderaron las adecuaciones a los planes de formación, impulsando el florecimiento de numerosas líneas de investigación (Feeley y Van Vechten, 2021;Ishiyama, 2009;Ishiyama, Breuning y Lopez, 2006;McClellan, 2015;Parker, 2010;Turner, 2013;. Entre ellas, una de las que logró mayor notoriedad fue el abordaje de la alfabetización académica.…”