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How can we teach students not only know about but to do political science? This is a question
that perplexes many political scientists. At a research university professors spend half their time or more
on creating and disseminating knowledge about politics. But in a large lecture class where students are
anonymous faces, the testing is mostly multiple choice questions, the lectures are rigidly organized, and
the discussions limited to a few questions from the most vocal students, students have little opportunities
to see this other side of political science. Political science rarely has the type of lab requirements found in
the biological and physical sciences. One would ideally have students who not only have a basic
knowledge of the subject matter but also are able to learn what political science is by practicing it. A
student in a lecture class may easily leave the class with a wealth of knowledge about politics but with
little understanding for how that knowledge was gathered or how it should be applied in civic life.
This paper is an assessment of a pilot program designed to bring students in an introductory
course an understanding of how political science is done. The goal was to integrate a research-as-service
project into an introductory course on American politics and government, which had an enrollment of
approximately 110 students. This project, which is discussed in detail below, was designed so that
students would individually volunteer for a local community organization and also work together with
other students researching a question that would aid that group in its community service. At the end of
the course, the students should have a better understanding of both how political knowledge is made and
how it can be applied in civic life.
Was this project a success? At the start of the project I told my TA, “This is either going to be a
tremendous success or a big failure, probably both.” My prediction was largely on target. The parts of
the program that were implemented as designed did well. There were significant problems, however.
Some of the student teams failed to work together. One community organization did not work with
students at all. This variation in implementation resulted in mixed results, though ones that help show us
the way toward future success with research-as-service teams in large lecture courses.
I evaluate the project in two ways. The first is to examine the success of the group projects.
Some groups clearly did better than others. The second is to evaluate student evaluations of the course. I
Convention