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Four Conversations We Need To Have About Teaching and Learning in Canadian Political Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2017

Heather Smith  and
Tracy Summerville
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Abstract

Over the last 20 years of our careers, we have witnessed a significant decline in the respect for the liberal arts and social sciences. This decline forces us to regularly respond to questions about the relevance, value and future of our discipline. We know that political science provides fundamental skills for our students to succeed in the 21st century. Yet we also believe that as teachers and scholars we can do a better job of connecting to the realities of our students, articulating the skills and attitudes that our students will develop, and adapting our teaching methods to include high impact practices (Kuh, 2008) that focus on student learning. Here we argue that there are four important conversations that we need to have that can strengthen the appeal and interest in our discipline: the articulation of learning outcomes, the inclusion of high impact practices, attention to information literacy that recognizes the significant change in the delivery and access of research materials and a deep integration of indigenous ways of knowing in our teaching.

Résumé

Au cours des vingt dernières années de nos carrières, nous avons assisté à un important recul en ce qui a trait au respect des arts libéraux et des sciences humaines. Ce déclin nous force à répondre régulièrement à des questions sur la pertinence, la valeur et l’avenir de notre discipline. Nous savons que la science politique procure à nos étudiants les compétences fondamentales pour réussir au XXIe siècle. Mais nous pensons également qu’à titre d’enseignants et de chercheurs, nous pouvons mieux faire pour être en phase avec les réalités de nos étudiants, articuler les compétences et les attitudes que ces derniers développeront et adapter nos méthodes d’enseignement afin d’inclure des à forte incidence (Kuh, 2008) axées sur l’apprentissage. Nous soutenons ici qu’il y a lieu d’engager quatre conversations importantes susceptibles de renforcer l’attrait de notre discipline et d’en raviver l’intérêt, à savoir : l’articulation des résultats d’apprentissage, l’inclusion des pratiques à impact élevé, l’attention portée à la maîtrise de l’information qui reconnaît le changement important intervenu dans l’accès aux documents de recherche et leur offre et une intégration approfondie des modes autochtones d’acquisition du savoir à notre enseignement.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , March 2017 , pp. 263 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2017 

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