In 2004, 40 political scientists gathered in Washington, DC, to
inaugurate the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference (TLC), which
aimed to explore how we teach and how students learn best within the
discipline. A common theme linking the active-based curriculum to
political science over the past eight years has been the theory of
experiential education. Over time, the vibrant conversation within
this track has included community-based learning, service learning,
civic engagement, community-based research, simulations, case
studies, problem-based learning, and internships. The discourse has
also shifted away from asking what civic engagement is and how we
can integrate it into the curriculum toward questions such as: