This article describes the collection of views from political science alumni via a web-based survey as a central part of efforts to review and improve the curriculum and the broader political science program at a public university. Based on the literature and on interviews with faculty members and former students, we iteratively constructed a questionnaire containing five categories of items: program structure, content/knowledge, skills, outcomes, and learning environment. These categories were intended to capture curricular elements and outcomes that include but extend beyond employment and professional-skill attainment. Graduate students contributed in meaningful ways to the effort through a research-methods course. The article discusses how results of the survey fed into the curriculum-revision process specifically and program review and assessment considerations more generally.

To date, more than 650 university presidents across the United States have become signatories of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). A central goal of being a signatory is for a campus to achieve carbon neutrality. This article suggests that bringing the practice of experiential learning to the college classroom is a mechanism to help students understand and become involved in campus carbon-neutrality efforts. More specifically, it discusses the practical realities of using an undergraduate environmental-policy course to create policy proposals for our campus’s 2020 carbon-neutrality goal. The findings support a growing body of literature that demonstrates the value of experiential learning by enabling students to move from theory to practice.

Service learning in political science is driven by a commitment to expanding what is meant by civic education. Following this tradition, this article presents an example of a course informed by critical service learning centered in a grassroots social movement. Partnered with the California Domestic Workers Coalition and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, this course involved students in direct political engagement to explore cultural citizenship, the legislative process, and the possibilities and limitations of grassroots movements for social change. Challenging traditional notions of what counts as service and who counts as an expert, the example of this course speaks to the promise of service learning pedagogy as a strategy to connect students in meaningful ways to critical social issues and as a tool for political education.

In spring 2014, an interdisciplinary media project titled “Troubled Waters: Tracing Waste in the Delaware River” was organized at Haverford College. This project brought together more than 50 students from four courses comprising introductory political science, chemistry, and documentary film students, as well as a community media artist and community partners. The aim was to explore the causes, impacts, and meanings of different types of waste that are polluting the Delaware River. Chemistry students collected samples to determine the presence of chemicals from various waste products, political science students traced the waste to globalized production processes, and documentary students explored diverse ways of representing the theme of waste on screen. This article describes the project and how it might serve as a pedagogical model for multicourse interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement.

Many African politics courses rely heavily on readings authored by North American and European scholars. Scholarly and primary sources written or created by Africans are often underrepresented, and a similar problem persists across regionally focused politics courses. Yet a diversity of sources and perspectives are essential to providing students with a well-rounded understanding of African politics. This article offers a brief argument for the pedagogical benefits of increasing the number of African-authored materials in African politics courses and provides a list of suggested resources for instructors eager to diversify their own courses.

Active and cooperative learning is integral to many social science classes, as it increases student motivation, improves communication skills, and stimulates creative thinking. Many political science departments break large lectures down into smaller, weekly tutorial groups to foster active learning. But do all students participate equally in active, participatory learning? We use an original dataset measuring self-reported participation and a number of important predictors (student gender, race, and language proficiency) collected from 700 undergraduate students in 91 political science tutorials. We find that participation does vary across social groups, even when controlling for psychological and some contextual factors. Female students participate significantly less than males, racial minorities report speaking less frequently than white students, and students with lower English-proficiency (the language of instruction) also participate less. In light of these findings, we offer suggestions for instructors on how to motivate all students to find their voice in the classroom.

This article describes the creation and implementation of a new online assessment program (“PACKS”) for the department of politics at the University of Virginia. It discusses the benefits of online assessments, including the ease of administration, minimal faculty involvement, ability to link assessment data to existing student data (e.g., GPA and courses completed), and ability to track student progress over time. The assessment can be easily adapted for use by other departments in the social sciences and by other colleges and universities. The authors discuss the drawbacks to this type of assessment, including the challenge of obtaining the highest number of respondents. They recommend using a strong incentive to ensure full participation, such as an advising hold that prevents students from registering until they complete the assessment. The authors contend that implementing survey-based assessment tools is an ideal way for departments to meet their accrediting institutions’ assessment requirements.