Pedagogy and the Textbook in Political Science
By Noele Crossley, University College London
How can textbooks be deployed in a way that boosts active learning and critical thinking? Noele Crossley draws on her experience of writing a textbook and then using it for teaching a political science undergraduate class on humanitarian protection. Crossley develops a theory of effective textbook use and identifies common features of textbooks that work well to promote student engagement and deep learning. Drawing on our understanding of how students learn, Crossley’s three-dimensional theory of effective textbook-assisted teaching in political science explains how and why textbooks can play a crucial role in boosting student learning in political science education.
The Journal of Political Science Education is an intellectually rigorous, path-breaking, agenda-setting journal that publishes the highest quality scholarship on teaching and pedagogical issues in political science. The journal aims to represent the full range of questions, issues and approaches regarding political science education, including teaching-related issues, methods and techniques, learning/teaching activities and devices, educational assessment in political science, graduate education, and curriculum development.