Weekly Reflections on Teaching Political Science

Below are weekly, short reflections of teaching an Introduction to Political Science course a few years ago.

Week One: Syllabi & Assessment

The first week of teaching is finished for my PS 118 (Introduction to Politics) course. It was relatively easy, as on the first day I reviewed the syllabus and handed out the assessment assignment; and on the second day, collected the assessment essays and had the students take the multiple-choice exam on the assessment. The assessment is three pages of reading where students have to write a 400-word response to it and then take a multiple-choice examination. It is mandated by the administration, so I do not have a choice in the matter.

Initially I was not happy that assessment cut into the course time, but now I’m reconciled to it and have incorporated the assessment in the course. Assessment counts 3% of the student’s overall grade; and I curve the grading favorably to the students. This forces the student to take the assessment seriously. Although it is only 3% of their overall grade, it is the first thing they have to take in the semester and most want to make a good impression on the professor, so the students tend to put a good effort into it.

It’s too early to get a feel of the students, but, as the semester progresses, I’m sure I’ll get a better sense of them.

 Week Two: Mill

The second week concluded with a look at Mill’s defense of freedom of expression as a way for society to reach an understanding of truth. The students seem to grasp the fundamentals of the argument, but it is not clear whether they know how to analyze it in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, and underlying assumptions. My hope is that they will reach that point mid-semester. For the time being, I just want them to get use to reading primary texts and understand what the author is saying. Although this may seem more appropriate for high school, I have found it is not only necessary with the caliber of freshmen we receive but also a useful step for them to engage in analytical thinking and writing later in the semester.

Week Three: Tocqueville

The readings over Tocqueville went well this week. I used Tocqueville’s comments on majority tyranny to illustrate how equality and liberty can come into conflict with each other. The students seem to grasp the concepts; however, they had difficulty applying it to actual public policy, e.g., affirmative action, the Affordable Health Care Act. Nevertheless, it is nice to know that we are making progress on the theoretical front of things, if we are lagging a bit on how to apply these concepts to the actual world.

Week Four: Smith & Marx

This week we went over selected writings of Smith’s and Marx’s in order to highlight the differences between capitalism and communism. The students seem more receptive to Smith’s idea than Marx’s because Smith paints a portrait that is more practical and realistic to them when compared to Marx. That is, although they are sympathetic to Marx’s goals, the students do not think they can be achieved practically. Economic equality is an admirable goal, but how do you actually achieve it was the reoccurring question for the students when we looked at Marx. Rather than false consciousness, I would attribute this attitude to the practical nature of Americans as well as to their common sense.

Week Five: Review Drafts

This week I meet with the students individually to review the drafts of their essays in lieu of meeting together as a class. Although it is time consuming and probably more work, I find this method more effective in ultimately producing better essays: students are forced to write a draft of their essays and then revise it after I critique them. My suspicion is that students haven’t developed the habits of revising their essays with the end result a mediocre essay. Hopefully by forcing students to meet with me with their drafts, they will start to realize that the “first cut” is often a poor essay.

Week Six: Aristotle

This week we went over selected excerpts of Aristotle’s Politics and Ethics. I was surprised how well the students took to Aristotle’s idea, especially the central role that virtue plays in his ethical and political thought. Although they complained that Aristotle doesn’t “get to the point” in his writings, they were receptive to his ideas of human nature and politics. In this sense, students seem to have an instinctive reflex for traditional morality in spite of the popular culture. I found it both refreshing and reassuring.

Week Seven: Rawls

This week we went over Rawls, which the students found difficult to understand but ultimately agreed with his argument probably because the end result is so familiar to them. The students have reached a point in the semester where they are familiar with each other and their political perspectives, so there is a nice exchange of ideas transpiring in the classroom. Interestingly, I find most of the students to be libertarian in their politics, although they may not know it themselves. I have noticed this trend recently, and I haven’t been able to figure out why this has been the case.

Week Eight: Essay Assignment

This is the week before our spring break where I meet with students to go over their second essay assignment. What I thought I would talk about was how I design my essay assignments. The actual question I assign to students is pretty vague, but in the classroom I spell out specifically what I am looking for in their essays. Essentially what I want to see is whether students have understood the material (summarize the readings with proper citations) and can analyze it with respect to the argument itself and its application to a contemporary political issue. Obviously the second part of the essay depends on the first part. What I find fascinating is how many students have misunderstood the material or missed major points in some thinker’s argument. It may be partially due to my lectures, but I also suspect that students are not used to reading difficult texts; or, if they have to, they are used to teachers telling them what the text means rather than finding out for themselves.

Week Nine: Spring Break

This week is spring break – a tradition in the American university system that I don’t understand. It interrupts the semester for a week to give students an excuse either to work, volunteer, or engage in decadent behavior. Personally I would rather have the semester finish a week earlier than take a break mid-semester, which interrupts the flow of the course. For myself, I use the time to grade paper and get caught up on publication projects that need immediate attention.

Week Ten: Locke

This week we went over Locke’s social contract theory. I always have found students instinctively agree with Locke’s ideas and arguments, which comes to no surprise given his influence on the American character. The challenge I find in teaching Locke to American students is to make them understand how new his ideas were during his times. Students take them for granted – it was always like this and always will be – an attitude that they shouldn’t assume given the difficulty of sustaining self-governance.

Week Eleven: Rousseau

This week we looked at Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origins of Inequality and Social Contract. I present Rousseau as an advocate of the liberal tradition but also a critic of it. What I find most interesting is how students’ response to Rousseau’s critique of liberalism more so than Marx’s. I am not sure what accounts for this, but I’m always surprised by it.

Week Twelve: Reflections on Students

I thought this week that I would pause for a moment and reflect upon the set of students that are enrolled in my Introduction to Political Science course. The students have reached a point in the semester where they are comfortable with each other to speak their own minds in the classroom and pretty much know each other’s political inclinations. The weakest students already have dropped out of the course or have given up and no longer show up in class, so I have a pretty good set of students from the B- to A+ range. I had hope to establish a sense of community in the classroom, and I think I have succeeded in this task. In this sense, it makes the task of teaching and learning more enjoyable (or bearable to the students) because they know they are not alone.

Week Thirteen: Arendt

This week we read excerpts of Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism. What surprises me is how little historical knowledge students possess, which makes it more difficult to discuss Arednt’s work. Not all political philosophy texts require historical knowledge, but Origins of Totalitarianism certainly does. I usually solve this problem by giving a brief historical account of the events, but I am certainly open to suggestions to others if they have better ideas to address this problem.

Week Fourteen: Lenin

This week we looked at Lenin’s Imperialism as the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Students understood the argument and were able to connect it to our earlier readings of Marx and Smith, which was gratifying. Some of the students were sympathetic to Lenin’s diagnosis but were skeptical about his solutions, which is always refreshing. As we approach the end of the semester, my sense is that the students are finally able to make the connections from the earlier readings. This raises the question whether the semester system should be banished entirely and replaced with a nine-month term. This would enable students to understood the material in a more thorough and systematic fashion. I wonder what others think about this proposal.

Week Fifteen: Weber

The reading for this week is Weber, where we discuss the emergence of modern social science with its fact-value distinction. The students were able to grasp the main ideas, but they are ready to conclude the semester, as this is the last week of lecture. Overall, I am pleased with the progress of most of the students. Hopefully they will be able to retain some of the main political concepts and thinkers we discussed this past semester and use them to navigate the upcoming elections (if they pay attention to it at all).

Week Sixteen: Final Examinations

This week is final examinations and concludes the semester. Overall I was satisfied with the Introduction to Political Science course, although there are a couple of things I would have done differently. First, I should have interjected more current events into the classroom. These topics would bring the relevancy of the subjects which we were studying to the forefront. Second, I should have incorporate some time in the syllabus for revisions of essays. Students learned how to read and write, but once they turn their essays in, they forget about it and never revisit it. Setting aside time for revisions would be helpful in teaching them this habit.

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