The Last Laugh: Skill Building through a Liberal Arts Political Science Curriculum

Breuning, Marijke; Parker, Paul; Ishiyama, John

doi:10.1017/s1049096501001056

Cited by 38 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Following Dewey, there are sound ethical (philosophical), political and pedagogical reasons for a more rounded approach (see also Barber 1994;Crick 1999). A more rounded approach-that is rooted in democracy-also has the potential to boost academic achievement (Fitch 2004;Knutson Miller and Yen 2005), to improve transferable skills (Breuning, Parker, and Ishiyama 2001), and to add to the economic value of universities and colleges.…”

Section: Basic Principles Of Democratic Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

John Dewey and the Democratic Role of Higher Education in England

Bacon

Sloam

2010

Journal of Political Science Education

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Education policy in England has been criticized for an overemphasis on narrow performance targets and the adoption of private sector principles. Universities and colleges have increasingly been viewed in terms of their value for the U.K. economy. This article argues that there are sound ethical (philosophical), political, and pedagogical reasons for a more rounded approach. To reassert a broader vision of education we require an ethical base, which we argue is provided by political philosophy in the writings of John Dewey. For Dewey, education must be viewed in the context of its role in democratic society. The article identifies basic principles that relate to Dewey's belief in democratic education and develops general indicators to test these principles. These indicators are then used to evaluate higher education and political science education in England.

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Section: Basic Principles Of Democratic Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

John Dewey and the Democratic Role of Higher Education in England

Bacon

Sloam

2010

Journal of Political Science Education

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“…The Wahlke Report set forth three major curricular standards for bachelor's programs in the fi eld: an introductory course, a sequential program of courses, and a capstone course. Accordingly, Breuning, Parker, and Ishiyama ( 2001 ) emphasized a structured curriculum that emphasizes knowledge and skills. Their suggestion of a structured curriculum would be problematic at community colleges, which typically offer only introductory courses with additional classes reflecting faculty interests.…”

Section: T H E Te a C H E R : E X P L O R I N G C O M M U N I T Y C Omentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most community college students take political science courses to meet general education requirements as part of another program rather than as part of a structured study of political science. Four-year institutions also typically include the development of qualitative and quantitative skills found in research-methods courses (Breuning, Parker, and Ishiyama 2001 ). However, two-year institutions typically do not emphasize developing these skills in their introductory social science courses.…”

Section: T H E Te a C H E R : E X P L O R I N G C O M M U N I T Y C Omentioning

confidence: 99%

The Tie That Binds: Exploring Community College Curriculum Design

Gentry

Lawrence

Richards

2016

APSC

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More students are beginning their college careers at community colleges before completing degrees at four-year institutions. As enrollments swell at these two-year institutions, issues surrounding transfer and articulation agreements are increasingly important, and two-and four-year institutions must work together on the recruitment, retention, and transition of political science majors. Central to this collaboration is the curriculum. Building on conclusions from the 2011 Leadership Collaborative Core Curriculum and General Education track regarding a common curriculum in the discipline, this article examines the political science curriculum using data from 47 two-year colleges with separate political science departments. We examined similarities and differences among these programs and found suffi cient commonality in curriculum to allow students to transfer credits to four-year institutions. The article also offers community colleges an indication of common curricular features and informs the wider profession about community college curriculum design. W hat do we know about our curriculum within the political science discipline? Since the publication of the infl uential Wahlke Report ( 1991 ), political scientists have considered the extent to which four-year political science majors in the United States have met its recommendations. However, similar attention has not been given to the political science discipline at two-year colleges.In our experience as department administrators, we often face situations in which students have taken courses at other institutions and it is difficult to apply the coursework to their political science degree programs. This can lead to students failing to progress at the recommended rate, accumulating excess credit hours, and repeating similar course material. This can result in students being "off track" on their recommended degree plans because they must fulfill prerequisites before moving on to more specialized coursework.Accordingly, this research focuses on the curriculum design at community colleges with three major purposes: (1) provide knowledge about the curriculum off ered at community colleges, (2) evaluate course offerings that may overlap with four-year institutions, and (3) consider how two-1 and four-year institutions can advance the discipline's goals of undergraduate education through deeper collaboration. As a project involving faculty at twoand four-year institutions, we hope this research better informs our audience about how curriculum is shaped and how we can better understand our shared students. APPLYING RESEARCH ON THE CORE TO COMMUNITY COLLEGESCurriculum-design questions are not new to our fi eld. We defi ne "curriculum design" as the set of required courses and electives available to students in a political science program. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) produced a critique of undergraduate curricula in "Liberal Learning and the

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“…Drawing on the work of Fink (2003), Wiggins and McTighe (2005), and others, I argue that the focus on specific tools aimed at enhancing learning risks overlooking a crucial first step: systematic and a priori consideration of the goals and learning outcomes that undergird how we design and teach a course. With a few exceptions, notably Breuning, Parker, and Ishiyama (2001), Kelle (2009), Williams, Goodson, and Howard (2006), and Wedig (2010), this vital stage is missing in many-if not mostdiscussions of teaching undergraduate political science courses. 1 In this article, I suggest a way to shift our thinking away from activity-oriented teaching toward one grounded in articulated learning outcomes, which themselves are concrete expressions of broader course goals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Promise and Potential Pitfalls of a “Learning-Centered” Approach to Creative Social Inquiry: Lessons Learned from an Undergraduate Seminar on Authoritarianism through Literature and Film

Junisbai

2014

Journal of Political Science Education

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Political science faculty have access to a wealth of innovative pedagogies thanks to a comprehensive literature on teaching and learning in the discipline and related fields. Yet, from among the hundreds of documented possibilities, how does one go about deciding which to incorporate into a given course? Few articles have much to say in response to this basic question, as most begin with a particular method, assignment, or assessment in mind and proceed from there. Drawing on the work of Fink (2003) and Wiggins and McTighe (2005), among others, I argue that, instead of taking the choice of activities as the starting point in course design, teachers-and, by extension, students-would be better served by first contemplating the desired results of the course and only thereafter devoting consideration to content and instructional methods. In making this claim, I reflect critically on my experience teaching a writing-intensive first-year seminar on comparative authoritarianism using ''learning-centered'' and ''backward'' course design. My experience speaks to both the potential pitfalls associated with the learning-centered model and the enormous promise that it represents.

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The Last Laugh: Skill Building through a Liberal Arts Political Science Curriculum

Cited by 38 publications

References 4 publications

John Dewey and the Democratic Role of Higher Education in England

John Dewey and the Democratic Role of Higher Education in England

The Tie That Binds: Exploring Community College Curriculum Design

The Promise and Potential Pitfalls of a “Learning-Centered” Approach to Creative Social Inquiry: Lessons Learned from an Undergraduate Seminar on Authoritarianism through Literature and Film

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