Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-hqlzj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-06T07:52:44.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pura Vida: Using Study Abroad to Engage Undergraduate Students in ComparativePolitics Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2005

Kirk S. Bowman  and
Ashley Jennings
Kirk S. Bowman
Affiliation:
Georgia Institute of Technology
Ashley Jennings
Affiliation:
Georgia Institute of Technology
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Political science undergraduate students often have a difficult time understanding theprocesses and methods of social science research. The foci of courses in comparativepolitics such as Latin American Politics or European Politics are typically descriptiveinformation, concepts and theories, and an overview of the principal debates and researchfindings. This stands in sharp contrast to undergraduate pedagogy in the natural sciences,where laboratory sections supplement classroom activities. For example, biology studentslearn the basics of the discipline in the classroom, and simultaneously use the tools andmethods of scientists in the lab to replicate elementary experiments. This multi-methodapproach not only reinforces the students' understanding of biological concepts, but alsogives them an appreciation for how their professors spend their time and the challenges,pleasures, and limitations of academic research.

Information

Type
The Teacher
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , January 2005 , pp. 77 - 81
Copyright
© 2005 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abramson Paul, and Ronald Inglehart. 1987 “Generational Replacement and the Future of Post-Materialist Values.” Journal of Politics 49: 231– 241.Google Scholar
Arenson Karen W. 2003 “Gains Seen in Short Study-Abroad Trips.” New York Times 17 November, A-17.Google Scholar
Bowman Kirk. 2002 Militarization, Development, and Democracy: The Perils of Praetorianism in Latin America. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Bowman Kirk, Fabrice Lehoucq, and James Mahoney. Forthcoming. “Measuring Political Democracy: Data Adequacy, Measurement Error, and Central America.” Comparative Political Studies.Google Scholar
Brock Kathy L., and Beverly J. Cameron. 1999 “Enlivening Political Science Courses with Kolb's Learning Preference Model.” PS: Political Science and Politics 32 (June): 251– 256.Google Scholar
Engle John. 1995 “Creating More Rigorous and More Appropriate Study-Abroad Programs.” Chronicle of Higher Education 17 March.Google Scholar
Evans Sterling. 1999 The Green Republic: A Conservation History of Costa Rica. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Fredrix Emily. 2003 “Task Force Urges more U.S. Study Abroad,” Newsday.com. 18 November.Google Scholar
Hopkins J. Roy. 1999 “Studying Abroad as a Form of Experiential Education.” Liberal Education 85 (3): 36– 42.Google Scholar
Inglehart Ronald. 2000 “Globalization and Postmodern Values.” Washington Quarterly 23 (1): 215– 228.Google Scholar
Keck Margaret, and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998 Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Steiner Jurg. 1990 “Rational Choice Theories and Politics: A Research Agenda and Moral Question.” PS: Political Science and Politics 29 (March): 46– 50.Google Scholar