Premium
Engagement or Regurgitation? Teaching American Government without a Textbook
Author(s) -
Weiden David L.,
Phippen Earl
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.259
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 1555-5623
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.2005.tb00214.x
Subject(s) - assertion , government (linguistics) , test (biology) , mathematics education , politics , course (navigation) , psychology , political science , computer science , law , engineering , paleontology , philosophy , linguistics , biology , programming language , aerospace engineering
A great deal of debate exists regarding the pedagogical utility of using a standard textbook in the introductory American government course. We used a quasi‐experimental research design to test empirically the assertion that teaching American politics without using a textbook will foster superior learning by students and greater satisfaction with the course. Two sections of the course were taught using a standard textbook, and two sections were taught using a series of short, critical books on American politics. Student performance was evaluated through the use of a pretest and posttest, midterm and final examinations, and a questionnaire. Contrary to our expectations, we found evidence that students learn more and perform better on exams when a standard textbook is used Based on these findings, we suggest that instructors carefully consider the decision toforego using a textbook in the introductory American government course.