Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
CASE STUDY POLI 110 – Investigating Politics: An Introduction to Scientific Political Analysis
Course Outline & ObjectivesOutline Introduces students to research concerns across the empirical subfields of the discipline.
Prepare students to undertake their own research and research-based writing, while also making them more astute readers of the political science literature.
ObjectivesAt the end of the course, successful students will be able to ask their own political questions and design research to answer them. They will be able to understand and critically evaluate empirical research designs in political science, enabling them to engage with the material taught in many upper-level political science courses and to proceed to the department’s required upper-year course in statistical methods for political science (POLI380).
Rationale
Teaches the basic language, principles and methods of empirical political science research
Adopts inquiry-based learning using 3 major topics of political science investigation i.e., public policy, international politics and comparative politics.
Development Approach
Pilot course o�er at 300 level (Fall 2011)
Follow-up departmental discussion, experiential data and reflections (Fall 2011)
First o�er as a first year course scheduled for Winter 2012
Curriculum foundations for a research-oriented undergraduate programIntegrating inquiry into 1st and 2nd year experience in Political Science Curriculum foundations for a research-oriented undergraduate programIntegrating inquiry into 1st and 2nd year experience in Political Science
SummaryAt most institutions in Canada substantive e�orts to integrate research experience through inquiry based learning for first and second year students come from the departmental level or institutional priorities. In this poster, we present a case study in changing the first year curriculum in political science to provide a research oriented (Healy 2005; 2009) learning experience through an undergraduate program that must balance social scientific and legal-normative modes of inquiry. In particular, we focus on
– Disciplinary drivers for change in Political Science and its subfields; – Knowledge, skills & attitudes for ‘thinking like a social scientist’ – Beliefs and processes that we espoused – Reflections and way forward
ContextInstitutional Driver: • Curriculum incorporates undergraduate research experience (Place & Promise: The UBC Plan (2010-11) http://strategicplan.ubc.ca/)Departmental Drivers: • Gradual replacement of faculty led to substantial change in topics and learning experiences in major program’s 3rd and 4th-year courses• Lower level undergraduate curriculum must meet three main objectives (1) Pre-figuring the content of the major in Political Science; 2) Prepare Majors for Upper-Level Courses; 3) Educating Citizens (Internal discussion paper, Dept. Of Political Science 2010)• Lower level courses did not comprehensively achieve 1) or 2), resulting in slower progress through upper-level courses in the major. Major omission was introduction to social scientific side of the discipline.Our Core Beliefs:• Instructors’ identities are linked to their subject matter and academic freedom. (Becher & Trowler 2001)• In the teaching of disciplines, one size does not fit all. (Pratt 2005)• Scholarship in discipline-specific curriculum outcomes is as important as SOTL in persuading colleagues to think di�erently.Our Processes: • Initial discussion in a protected blog space • Follow up discussions by representative department undergraduate committee• Inclusion of student representatives in discussions • Collaborative leadership & facilitation to support bottom-up model of change
ReferencesBecher, T and Trowler, P. (2001). Academic Tribes and Territories, Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education & the Open University Press.
Healy, Mick (2005). Linking research and teaching: exploring disciplinary spaces and the role of inquiry-based learning in Barnett, R (ed.) Reshaping the University: New Relationships between Research, Scholarship and Teaching. McGraw Hill / Open University Press, pp.67-78.
Healey, M and Jenkins, A (2009). Developing undergraduate research and inquiry. York: HE Academy pp. 77 -79.
Ishiyama, J.. Breuning, M. Lopez, L (2006). A Century of Continuity and (Little) Change in the Undergraduate Political Science Curriculum, American Political Science Review, Vol.100, No 4, 659-665.
Pratt, D. D. (2005). Good teaching: one size fits all? An Up-date on Teaching Theory, Jovita Ross-Gordon (Ed.), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fred Cutler1 ([email protected]) and Ranga Venkatachary2 ([email protected])1 Associate Professor & Undergraduate Program Director, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, UBC, Canada2 Senior Manager, Curriculum Strategy, ISIT, Faculty of Arts, UBC, Canada (corresponding author)
Way Forward & Reflections• Review second year (200-level) courses that provide in-depth introductions to the four core discipline subfields • Explicit statement of course outcomes, student learning experience and assessment models • Vertical integration of 200-level courses to lower and upper level curriculum (including major and honors); horizontal integration of 200-level courses to provide varied learning experiences, skills, and content with appropriate overlap to demonstrate unity of discipline• Ensure alignment to institutional priorities for enriched student learning experience (e.g., multidisciplinary thinking, international field work, community service learning)
International Perspectives on Engaging Undergraduate Students in Research and Inquiry: First Year through Graduation, Pre-ISSOTL Seminar, Milwaukee WI. October 19, 2011.
