Open AccessEncouraging College Student Democratic Engagement Through a Collaborative Voter
Author(s) -
Angela M. McGowan-Kirsch
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of communication pedagogy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2640-4524
pISSN - 2578-2568
DOI - 10.31446/jcp.2021.2.15
Subject(s) - democracy , civic engagement , voting , competence (human resources) , experiential learning , politics , pedagogy , political science , class (philosophy) , collaborative learning , service learning , peer learning , student engagement , community engagement , psychology , public relations , sociology , mathematics education , social psychology , computer science , law , artificial intelligence
Drawing on challenges I experienced when teaching a political communication course, I designed an upper-level undergraduate course with the objective of developing students’ civic competence and democratic engagement. The major class assignment, which is the focal point of this best practices essay, was a four-step collaborative voter mobilization project designed and executed by undergraduate students. I use research, classroom conversations, and student observations to discuss four best practices for encouraging students to participate in electoral politics: (a) fostering political efficacy, (b) peer-to-peer learning, (c) experiential learning, and (d) learning through reflection. This essay breaks a four-step collaborative voting mobilization project down into easily implementable steps for those seeking to inculcate attitudes and behaviors that foster democratic engagement whether that be in schools, universities, or within the broader community.