Civics Across Campus: Designing Effective Extracurricular Programming

Abstract

This study focuses on examining the role that isolated extracurricular events can play in furthering students’ civic education; these one-time events require fewer resources to implement than courses and therefore provide valuable opportunities for faculty to engage new audiences on their campuses in the work of civic learning. In order to develop more effective civic learning in these isolated extracurricular activities, we follow a two-pronged approach. First, we use survey data to determine the audiences reached by extracurricular civic education events, as well as to assess event attendees’ levels of political knowledge, civic skills, democratic values, and feelings of efficacy. Second, we use insights drawn from this data to suggest strategies to design more effective programming, including identifying key audiences and targeting specific learning outcomes, and share the successful results we have had in implementing these strategies on our campus. In so doing, our work not only adds to the growing literature on civic learning, but also provides a model for how to practically organize successful, and manageable, one-time extracurricular civic education programs.

Keywords:

• Civic education
• extracurricular programs
• political skills
• civic engagement
• assessment

Notes

1 These presentations, held on a weekly basis throughout the semester, considered a wide range of issues relevant to the 2016 election—including foreign policy, women in politics, media coverage of politics, congressional elections, and the Electoral College.

2 Early voting opportunities are fairly limited in New Jersey, with mail-in ballots being the only option to vote early or away from a voter’s precinct polling place. The student body, while largely comprised of New Jersey residents, hails from all parts of the state, making mail-in ballots the only option for many students wishing to vote without missing a day of class.

3 At the debate parties, students participated in debate bingo, which helped them to track the issues addressed by the candidates while they watched the debates. At the Election Day party, students watched the results come in, made their final Electoral College projections, and played a round of “Who Said What?” with quotes and policy positions from the presidential candidates. While refreshments were not provided at the lectures in the Election 2016 series, light refreshments were available at each debate watch, and pizza and cake were served at the Election Day party.

4 Find a complete list of lectures and parties included as part of the Political Engagement Project’s Election 2016 Series in Appendix A.

5 Outside of these scheduled events, the Political Engagement Project also maintained an Electoral College tracker which was updated on a weekly basis to reflect the latest polling in battleground states, and a Democracy Wall where students would respond to a new question each week. These weekly open-ended questions were tied to the events occurring that week, directing students’ attention to topics that they could learn more about at a lecture that week. For example, in the week that featured our lecture on foreign policy, the question posed on the Democracy Wall was “What foreign policy issues are the most important to you during this election?” In this way, the Democracy Wall served as an additional way to promote the events in the Election 2016 series.

6 The Election 2016 series, like most PEP events, was funded from PEP’s general operating budget which is allocated annually from the Office of the Provost.

7 Only one event required attendance from some of the students present. A lecture on women in politics in the 2016 election, delivered by a guest speaker, was held during a class meeting time, and several faculty brought their classes to the event.

8 As we lack a clear way to assess how many faculty provided extra credit to their students in the current project, we identify the role of extra credit in incentivizing student attendance at extracurricular events as an area for future research; see Conclusion for further discussion.

9 This lecture presented candidates’ statements and positions as well as information about the state of public opinion on a range of foreign policy issues (trade, the Iranian nuclear agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and broader views about the role of the U.S. internationally).

10 We estimate that the survey administered at the guest lecture and at the final debate watching party had a response rate of about 50%, while survey at the foreign policy lecture had a response rate nearing 100% of the smaller audience that was present at that lecture.

11 This survey instrument largely draws from previous instruments focused on civic and political education; questions come from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), the American National Election Study, and the American Democracy Project’s Educating for Democracy project, among others. See the survey instrument used at these three events in Appendix B. Where relevant, the existing survey instruments where the questions were drawn from are noted.

12 As part of our university’s graduation requirements, students majoring in any field in the social sciences (criminal justice, economics, psychology, political science, sociology/anthropology, and social work) are required to take several courses in other social science disciplines, accounting for the high proportion of social science majors enrolled in both courses.

13 There are two commonly recognized dimensions of political efficacy: internal political efficacy which captures the degree of confidence that individuals have in their own abilities to understand and participate in politics and external political efficacy which speaks to individuals’ beliefs that government is responsive to citizens’ needs and demands. We discuss survey responses that tap into both dimensions.

14 The constitutional amendment would require funds won by the state in environmental damage lawsuits be allocated primarily to restoring or protecting natural resources in the state.

15 During the Election 2016 series, we followed a similar approach with the lecture on women in politics that featured a guest speaker. This event was hosted during a class meeting time; invitations were extended to faculty teaching courses on related topics during that time to bring their classes. Though we did not conduct our event survey at this event and, as a result, cannot speak to the demographics of the audience, this was one of our most well-attended lectures of the Election 2016 series, further suggesting the value of securing event attendance by inviting classes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Claire Abernathy

Claire Abernathy is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stockton University. She earned her PhD from Vanderbilt University. At Stockton, she teaches courses on American political institutions, political parties, and campaigns and elections. Her research focuses on members of Congress and how they develop their understanding of their constituents’ policy preferences.

Jennifer Forestal

Jennifer Forestal is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stockton University. She specializes in political theory; her research investigates the political consequences of digital technologies, software design, and physical architecture. At Stockton, she teaches courses on political theory, including American political thought and feminist theory.