Interteach and Student Engagement in Political Science

Abstract

“Interteach” is a method of guided discussion and feedback developed by Thomas Boyce and Philip Hineline in 2002. This method, primarily used in the psychology classroom, encourages greater student engagement and responsibility for learning by requiring extensive student preparation, peer-to-peer instruction, and peer evaluation. How can this method be used and modified for the political science classroom to increase students’ engagement and to improve students’ ability to synthesize complex arguments? In this article, we describe how to use the interteach method in political science and demonstrate its effectiveness in multiple classroom scenarios. The research is based on evidence from five different political science courses, ranging from the introductory-level to seminar-style classes.

Keywords:

• critical thinking
• discussion
• engagement
• interteach

Notes

Note: N = 45.

Notes

See for example, the November 17, 2011 article, “Major Engagement” by Allie Grasgreen in Inside Higher Ed (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/11/17/nsse-2011-measures-student-engagement-major#ixzz1r6JH4e6j).

This is tricky, however, since it is rare for either of us to teach a course the same way twice. Additionally, with the exception of the introductory course, we teach our upper division courses every two years. Because of this, direct comparisons between iterations of our courses are not meaningful.