TEACHING METHODS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVISITED

Methodology courses in MPA programs tend to be unpopular with students and professors alike. These same courses, however, prove to be among the most valuable when the student is completing the degree program or when the student becomes a practitioner of public administration. In this article, many of the most widely used learning models for methodology are critiqued. In addition, the authors make a case for the use of inquiry training techniques, arguing that they are most appropriate for both students and professor because of their environmental sensitivity.     

Introducing Students to the Generic Terminology of Social Research

The aim of this article is twofold: first, to present an accessible way of introducing students to the key generic terms of social science research. There is an obvious need for clarifying the generic tools and terminology of the social sciences across the disciplines, as academics argue past each other, using identical terms but attaching different meanings to them. Secondly, this article presents the interrelationship between the core concepts of social science (ontology, epistemology, methodology, methods and sources). This 'directional' and logical relationship needs to be understood, if students – and academics – are to engage in constructive dialogue and criticism of each others' work.     

Citizenship Education and Post-16 Students: A Habermasian Perspective

This article is based on a research project carried out at the Graduate School of Education, Queen's University Belfast. The researchers conducted a study of discussion-based citizenship education for post-16 students in Northern Ireland (UK) over a period of 18 months. One of the researchers designed and delivered a course of citizenship education for students in a case study school (100 of whom were involved). This course was constructed within a theoretical framework that drew heavily upon the work of Jurgen Habermas. The results of the study showed that an overwhelming majority of the students involved gave comprehensive and positive evaluations of a citizenship course that was reliant upon a discussion-based form of education. This article argues that such courses, premised on the need to encourage communicative competence amongst young people, should be offered to all students within the non-compulsory education sector in the UK and beyond.     

Regulation of Space Weapons: Ensuring Stability and Continued Use of Outer Space

The use of outer space continues to grow and is becoming more congested, competitive, and contested. This results in an increased need to ensure its protection. Existing international laws do not adequately regulate debris-causing space weapons and only provide restrictions for weapons of mass destruction. This article argues that there is a valid need to regulate space weapons, given the destabilizing effects of space weapons and the overall threat to the space environment. The article culminates with recommended courses of action for how to regulate space weapons.     

The equity effects of state school finance reforms: A methodological critique and new evidence

Since 1970, over half the states have reformed their school finance systems with improvement in equity of revenue and resource distributions as one of the stated goals. While numerous studies evaluating the equity effects of these often expensive reforms have been undertaken, there remains much disagreement about how to assess the reforms' impacts. In this article, we address the problems of measuring equity effects with an emphasis on the need for multiple definitions and an understanding of the value judgments inherent in all measures of equity. Next, three methodologies that have been used to assess the equity impacts of school finance reform are critiqued. Finally, in an effort to correct shortcomings of each, a fourth methodology is developed and new empirical evidence on the effects of reform based on that methodology are presented. The article concludes with observations about the importance of the choice of a methodology with which to evaluate complex policy changes that involve value judgments about what is fair, just, and equitable.The authors contributed equally to this article, but for reasons of equity, the names are not listed alphabetically. The research was supported by funds from the Ford Foundation. We would like to thank James Knickman, Richard Schramm and two anonymous referees for comments provided on an earlier draft of the article, Chris Hakusa for computer assistance, and Karen Gruhn for research and secretarial assistance.     

Bridge Over the River Qua: Using Simulations to Span the Divide Between Prelaw and Political Science Students

Undergraduate public law courses often attract students with competing expectations. Some students enroll in these courses to prepare for law school, while others enroll in the courses to gain a broader understanding of courts in the American system of government. These differing student constituencies can create a dilemma for instructors. A course designed to cater to students with a general interest in the judiciary may not afford prelaw students with an appreciation for the demands of the legal profession. Conversely, a course narrowly tailored toward prelaw students risks alienating the majority of students for whom this class may be their only look at the judiciary. As a means to promote pedagogical balance and to appeal to varied student constituencies, we profile five public law simulations in this article that engage students in active learning and promote a greater understanding of law and courts.     

Is LEO ‘Orwellian'? Earnings,Willetts, OfS,Creative Arts,and the Cost of Higher Education

The cost of higher education to the taxpayer is determined in part by the choice of subject and institution made by students. The Augar report on higher education noted that there was an oversupply of ‘low value' courses and called on the government to ‘bear down on low value courses' and ‘target courses better aligned with the economy's needs'.¹ Until recently there was no reliable data to identify such courses or the institutions supplying them. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has utilised recently available longitudinal education data on earnings, courses and institutions to rectify this deficiency. Many of the lowest earning courses are in the creative arts. Not everyone is happy with using earnings to measure the value of courses. This paper discusses the IFS estimates of graduate earnings and the public cost of higher education, as well as the criticisms of using earnings data to measure the value of courses and institutions.     

EU Simulations and Engagement: Motivating Greater Interest in European Union Politics

While the effects of simulation-based courses on the knowledge of participating students may be marginal in relation to standard lecture and discussion-based courses, this article argues that the greatest leverage is gained by increasing participating students’ level of interest in the subject of study and in politics more broadly. Participants tend to become increasingly absorbed in their roles and in the politics of the institutions at the center of the simulation. To better consider this possibility, we conducted a survey of students participating in the 2015 Mid-Atlantic European Union Simulation and of appropriate control populations. The survey results indeed suggest that, much more than simply acquiring knowledge about the EU, the simulation experience serves to generate more robust interest in the subject of study.     

理工科大学生人文素质教育的思考与探究

大学生人文素质的高低不仅关系到其自身的发展,也关系着国家民族的未来。尝试对一所理工科院校的学生进行了人文素质调查,共发放问卷2000份,回收有效问卷1 602份,调查数据具有真实、可靠性。通过问卷调查,发现该校学生存在忽视人文课程,未能积极参加社会实践等现象,最后从可行性的角度提出人文课程合理化、社会实践具体化等相关的建议。     

Public policy economics: A survey of current pedagogical practice

This article reports on a survey of economics courses in our graduate program, identifies some of their weaknesses, and presents a number of suggestions for their improvement. The major theme that underlies my suggestions is to increase the active problem-solving roles for students in these courses, not leave the task exclusively to other courses. This can be facilitated by readings that emphasize the different processes of resource allocation, by limited use of case materials, and by development of interactive computer simulation models.     

Transforming Bloom’s Taxonomy into Classroom Practice: A Practical Yet Comprehensive Approach to Promote Critical Reading and Student Participation

This article presents the Critical Reading Topics approach, a pedagogical method employed to promote deep thinking in a variety of politics courses. Derived from principles articulated in active learning, critical thinking, backward design, and flipped classroom literature, this method utilizes Bloom’s Taxonomy as the scaffolding for students to create and evaluate pointed and relevant discussion topics written by themselves and their peers. By utilizing this method, faculty can increase students’ contemplation of the course texts, enhance students’ classroom contributions and quickly gauge the extent to which students understand the readings’ main ideas. This approach also enables students to gain authorship of the material, and it gives them additional in-class time to process the complex information they encounter. Evidence collected from six different political science courses is provided to document the approach’s effectiveness. Key findings include an improvement in the quality of relevant and focused discussion topics, a high percentage of students completing reading assignments with corresponding high quiz grades, and significant participation and recognition for all students, even those who are traditionally quiet in class.     

Explaining race,poverty, and gender disparities in advanced course‐taking

We use panel data on Florida high school students to examine race, poverty, and gender disparities in advanced course‐taking. While white students are more likely to take advanced courses than black and Hispanic students, these disparities are eliminated when we condition on observable pre–high school characteristics. In fact, black and Hispanic students are more likely than observably similar white students to take advanced courses. Controlling for students' pre–high school characteristics substantially reduces poverty gaps, modestly reduces Asian–white gaps, and makes little dent in female–male gaps. Black and Hispanic students attend high schools that increase their likelihood of taking advanced courses relative to observably similar white students; this advantage is largely driven by minorities disproportionately attending magnet schools. Finally, recent federal and state efforts aimed at increasing access to advanced courses to poor and minority students appear to have succeeded in raising the share of students who take advanced courses from 2003 to 2006. However, secular trends (or spillovers of the policies to non‐poor, non‐minority students) have spurred faster growth for other students, contributing to widening demographic gaps in these years. © 2009 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Using Game of Thrones to Teach International Relations

Despite the known benefits of long-term, game-based simulations they remain underutilized in Political Science classrooms. Simulations used are typically designed to reinforce a concept and are short-lived, lasting one or two class sessions; rarely are entire courses designed around a single simulation. Creating real-world conditions in which students operate often requires the development of distinct cultures and shared experiences that only long-term interactions can generate. These long-term interactions create a community where the past interactions of players matter when making decisions about future action. Long-term role-playing also gives students a forum to fully immerse themselves in the material resulting in deeper content comprehension. This article presents a framework for using a long-term, game-based simulation based on the popular television show Game of Thrones. The simulation uses an active learning approach to help students understand a variety of topics related to International Relations and related fields. The article concludes with a discussion on how the simulation can be modified to fit a variety of non-Political Science courses as well as provides the framework for an experimental design to test the effectiveness of the simulation.     

Political Science Research on China: Making the Most of Diversity

This article aims at stimulating debate on the future development of political science research in and on China by bringing into clearer view the diversity of social science research in the West. It argues that far from monolithic, political science is itself engaged in a broad controversy on common goals and shared standards. Secondly, addressing international students of Chinese politics the article observes that we are currently witnessing a transformation of the field as we experience a slight shift toward more quantitative work. However, those China scholars working in a qualitative tradition should not see this as a hostile takeover of the field. Rather they should take this as a stimulating opportunity to employ more refined methodologies from within their own tradition as well as engage in multi-method research. The challenge is to make the most of diversity and to engage in fruitful cross-cultural dialogue based on respect for each other’s viewpoints. Three major divides need to be bridged: between qualitative and quantitative approaches, between political science and area studies as well as between Chinese and Western scholars.     

Is Early Start a Better Start? Evaluating California State University's Early Start Remediation Policy

Remediation has long been a costly way to address the misalignment between K-12 and higher education. In 2011, the California State University (CSU), the nation's largest public four-year university system, enacted Early Start, requiring students needing remediation to enroll in such courses in the summer before their freshman year. We estimate the impact of Early Start summer remediation relative to both traditional fall remediation and relative to no remediation at all. Our results suggest Early Start summer remediation has not improved student performance or persistence relative to either alternative. As many states move away from remedial courses altogether, there is continued need for both innovation and for evidence in policy and practice to improve college readiness and success.     

Quantitative methods,economics, and or models

Training in quantitative methods is seen as essential for policy analysts, public administrators, and public managers if they are to make cogent and informed data‐based arguments. If our objective is to help students and future practitioners identify credible evidence, to make sense of that evidence, link it to their substantive knowledge, and thereby develop a defensible case for action, then this paper argues that our current approach to teaching methods is inappropriate. We need to take into consideration the learning styles and needs of our students in designing the delivery and content of our courses. Our current emphasis on teaching techniques needs to be replaced by an emphasis on teaching about the concepts underlying these tools and techniques. © 2008 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

When are Students Ready for Research Methods? A Curriculum Mapping Argument for the Political Science Major

For many political science programs, research methods courses are a fundamental component of the recommended undergraduate curriculum. However, instructors and students often see these courses as the most challenging. This study explores when it is most appropriate for political science majors to enroll and pass a research methods course. The hypothesis posits that the number of prior introductory-level political science courses can be a strong precursor to research methods success, even for those who are upper-class students and majors. This hypothesis is tested by analyzing data from six sections of an undergraduate research course offered at a midsized public university. The results demonstrate that students are most likely to succeed in their research methods course if they are majors with at least five previous political sciences courses completed. Recommendations for course prerequisites and specific curriculum mapping are offered in light of these findings.     

Integrating sociology: Observations on race and gender relations in sociology graduate programs

Issues related to the integration of race within sociology doctoral programs were explored. Two sets of data were analyzed: open-ended interviews with 26 women of color graduate students and 92 questionnaires completed by Ph.D. programs on faculty, graduate courses, and expertise in race. Quantitative data show that faculty of color are likely to be the one member of their race in the department. EuroAmerican faculty are over-represented in the rank of Full Professor and Associate Professor and faculty of color are under-represented in the tenured ranks. Less than a quarter of departments included the study of race in required theory courses. Departments listing race and ethnicity as a specialty in the area did not always offer graduate courses in the field and courses that were offered did not necessarily focus specifically on U.S. race/ethnic/minority relations, but included international studies and broad topics in social organizations and stratification. Comments by a sample of women of color graduate students point out a number of critical issues: curricula that are outdated, ignore race, are monocultural, and look better in the catalog than in the classroom; faculty that are top-heavy with older White males; students discouraged from pursuing what attracted them to the academy in the first place; and students in conflicts with racial overtones over scarce resources and favors. Qualitative results show that women of color graduate students perceive the inclusion of students and faculty of color to include an acceptance of their racial and ethnic experience in the intellectual and social culture of the department. They linked the goal of integration of the student body and the faculty to be inseparable from integration of race into the curriculum in both required and nonrequired courses, and assigned readings.