Civic Education and Citizen Engagement: Mobilizing Voters as a Required Field Experiment

Learning to Think Politically: Toward More Complete Disciplinary Knowledge in Civics and Government Courses

“…Although the lack of empirical evidence from K-12 civics classrooms precludes a definitive answer to that question, the literature on undergraduate political science instruction offers anecdotal evidence to support a greater disciplinary focus in K-12 civics courses. Multiple studies on the use of polling data, experiential learning, and simulated electoral decision making in survey political science courses suggest that disciplinary approaches can lead to greater civic understanding, engagement, and self-efficacy among students (e.g., Bennion, 2006;Bernstein, 2008;Coffey, Miller, & Feuerstein, 2011;Cole, 2003;Williamson & Gregory, 2010). 5 If these types of disciplinary approaches appear to enhance students' civic education, then it is reasonable to ask why they have not been adopted by K-12 civics teachers.…”

Institutionalizing Political and Civic Engagement on Campus

“…Increased knowledge and understanding of politics is vital if we wish to have students and future leaders who are able follow public discussion of issues (Popkin and Dimock 1999) as well as to discern their political interests and to connect those interests to effective political participation (Delli Karpini and Keeter 1996). Bennion (2006) has found that such knowledge may even overcome growing cynicism (Bennett 1999;Rahn and Transue 1998) and "diminished civic attachment" (Galston 2001, p. 219) in young people.…”

“…As such, we have done a number of things in the PCS program to address these concerns and to ensure that our goals of politically engaged students remain at the forefront. As some have noted, when it comes specifically to direct political engagement, students need to be exposed to such things as voter mobilization, electoral mobilization (Bennion 2006) as well as peer-to-peer voter registration programs (Shea and Harris 2006).…”

Fact Checks, Voter Guides, and GOTV: Civic Learning Projects in American Politics Courses

“…Studies of experiential civic learning in the context of politics and elections, while not as common as service-learning studies, are becoming more prevalent (for example , Bennion 2006;Elder, Seligsohn, and Hofrenning 2007). Recent research shows that engaging students in experiential projects tied to campaigns and elections can produce some of the same positive outcomes for undergraduates as traditional service-learning.…”