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Category: Teaching

All posts related to pedagogy.

Public opinion essay prompt 1, vintage 2025

In his famous essay on belief systems, Converse (1964, 8-10) writes about how involvement in a group can cause attitude constraint. He says this process involves learning two separate things: “what goes with what” and “why.” He then speculates that the second form of learning (why) will happen more slowly than the first. Based on what we’ve read so far, as well as personal experience, do you think he is right about the order in which people (a) bundle issue positions and (b) get ready to explain why those positions should be bundled?

Please give your answer in 3-5 pages, double-spaced. Remember that less can be “more” if circumstances call for it. The rubric I will use is here. I can imagine answers in both directions.

A tool for teaching reading skills in social science

How can we make reading complex articles, writing about them, and doing science more approachable for undergraduates? Here are some thoughts in a new essay for Political Science Educator (first paragraph, lightly trimmed):

The Article Hunt (AH) is a tool for teaching students how to read academic articles quickly and research their own interests. It also can be used to cultivate scientific thinking, scaffold literature reviews, reinforce course concepts, show students how writing quality affects its usability, and provide other opportunities for active learning, including about methods. I have used it to these ends since Fall 2018. This essay describes the AH, how it evolved, the classroom teaching that supports it, some common challenges, and some potential uses. A template/worksheet is available on my website.

To see if the assignment might be doing what I’d hoped, I asked the following question on survey last semester: “To what extent do you agree with the following statement? The article hunt helped me focus on what is important in a reading.” 21 of 23 students agreed, and one left a suggestion that it be assigned before papers in future courses.

Have a look, and let me know what you think.

Draft final essay prompt

Feel free to comment!

Schattschneider (1942: 191) expresses deep skepticism about the ability of “public opinion” to hold government accountable. He goes on to argue for more internally disciplined political parties. Please evaluate this diagnosis and prescription in view of what you have learned this semester. Success does not mean citing everything. Rather, you should cite the readings that are relevant to your argument. Please confine your answer to 750-1,500 words. The usual guidelines apply.