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             Elizabeth A. Bennion, Indiana University South Bend
             S.Suzan J. Harkness, The Washington Center
             Timothy S. Meinke, Lynchburg College

The 22 political scientists who participated in Civic Engagement I Track at the APSA’s sixth annual Teaching and Learning Conference agreed that promoting civic engagement among students should be a goal of undergraduate political science programs.They also agreed that all civic engagement assignments, classes, and programs should help students recognize and act on connections between the lessons and skills learned in the classroom and specific needs in their communities. However, the agreement ended, and stimulating conversation began, when the group began to discuss the skills that students needed to develop to become engaged members of their political communities. These discussions revealed a divide in the group that was basically ideological at its core. The more liberal members argued that students should be developing the skills needed to become social activists, while their conservative colleagues suggested that engagement could also involve preserving the positive aspects of their communities, which could require a different set of skills. While never resolving which worldview was correct, the conversations did produce important points of agreement in three main areas.

The Relationship between Civic Engagement and Political Science
Track members discussed the relationship between civic engagement and political science. They agreed that civic engagement is both ameans and an ends. On the one hand, civic engagement (in the form of service learning, community-based research, internships, and other experiential learning activities) is an ideal pedagogical tool to develop and deepen students’ understanding of core concepts in the political science curriculum. On the other hand, many political science departments and college campuses include civic engagement as part of their mission statements. The political science classroom is a place where students gain the knowledge, skills, and motivation required to become engaged citizens.

Assessment of Civic Engagement
Track members also agreed that it is important to assess the impact of our efforts to foster civic education and engagement among our students. It is not enough to assume that students will master the learning objectives listed on our syllabus simply because they complete a course. Furthermore,we cannot assume that all service learning or community-based research projects improve students’ understanding of core course concepts or strengthen their commitment to a life of engaged citizenship. It is important for the discipline to think more about the specific types of knowledge, skills, and motivation required to participate fully in social and political life. Once these learning objectives are clearly defined, they must be operationalized so that we can determine whether or not these objectives have been met.

Finally, it is important to apply the same best practices we use in our disciplinary research to our study of civic engagement and student-learning outcomes. One cannot make claims about students’ “demonstrated growth” without a pre-test that provides a point of comparison. Furthermore, we should not expect a student’s knowledge base, attitudes, and political worldview to undergo a fundamental shift based on a single assignment or course. Rather, we must design studies that test the effectiveness not only of specific assignments and courses, but also of programs (i.e., a structured major or a set of general-education requirements). In addition, we must do follow-up studies that help us to  determine the long-term effects of our work on student knowledge and  attitudes. More importantly, we should ask students about their level of engagement since graduation. This research can be linked to national surveys including the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), allowing researchers and campuses to compare their students to national trends and benchmarks.

Skill Development and the Developmental Model
Similar to the APSA TLC track discussions on civic engagement over the last five years, 2009 track participants identified skill development as a natural learning outcome in the political science classroom. There was robust discussion among track members about skill development aligned to civic-engagement activities. Participants agreed that the political science classroom provided opportunities for students to gain the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and motivations to act responsibly as engaged citizens. Moreover, track participants thought carefully about what specific types of knowledge, skills, and motivation are required by citizens in the American democratic system to enable them to fully participate in social and political life.

Each of the papers presented different approaches to skill development models and as a track,we identified important areas for further consideration: the development of political literacy, awareness and motivation to engage, stages of skill development, critical thinking, and the connections between local and global actions.

While there are numerous opportunities and resources to guide and incorporate civic-engagement activities into courses, an added benefit in introductory classes such as American government is that non-majors can be introduced to civic engagement. Moreover, interdisciplinary collaborations across the curriculum could prove fertile ground to deepen skill development through the matriculation process. Any activity that promotes civic behaviors and a sense of responsibility plants seeds for future advocacy and efficacy.