Clare McGovern

Grant program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant (TLDG)

Grant recipient: Clare McGovern, Department of Political Science

Project team: Nicholos Poullos, research assistant

Timeframe: January 2017 to May 2019

Funding: $5,000

Courses addressed:

• POL 121 – Political Engagement
• POL 131 – The Politics of Prosperity and Inequality

Final report: View Clare McGovern's final report (PDF)

Description: I want to test whether taking part in a Political Science course project with a community partner increases undergraduate students’:             

i) awareness of their local community,

ii) sense of political efficacy (i.e. ability to identify their opinions on political issues, to understand how political systems work and to engage with political institutions and politicians to express their opinions)

Questions addressed:

• Does participation in this project increase students’ knowledge of their local community and Canadian Human Rights law?
• Does participation in this project increase students’ sense of political efficacy?
• What are the challenges and benefits associated with engaging students in these community-partnership projects?

Knowledge sharing:

I discussed both the community partnerships at department meetings and in the departmental Undergraduate Program Committee. The first partnership with Elections BC involved my students running an information booth in the AQ. In a subsequent semester I ran a follow-up event with the department’s Political Science Student Union, encouraging students to register to vote. My faculty colleagues were invited to all these events and encouraged their own students to attend. This second event was also posted on the department’s website. Finally, these events were promoted to other faculty in Arts and Social Sciences via the Dean’s office.

• Elections as Teaching Tools: Building Political Efficacy, with Kaija Belfry Munroe, [Quest University Canada], presented at the Canadian Political Science Association's Annual Conference, Toronto, May-June 2017
• Elections as Teaching Tools: Building Political Efficacy, with Nick Poullos [my RA] presented at the BC Political Studies Association’s Annual Conference, New Westminster, May 2017.

These presentations were based on the Spring 2017 community partnership with Elections BC and Samara.

Community Partnerships in the Classroom, presented at the Canadian Political Science Association's Annual Conference, Vancouver, June 2019. This presentation is based on the entire TL Grant project, comparing the Spring 2017 and Spring 2018 partnerships with Elections BC, Samara and the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada.

McGovern, C. (June, 2019). Community partnerships in the classroom. In G. Baier (Chair), Knowledge, power and pedagogical practice. Symposium conducted at the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA) Annual Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

McGovern, C., & Munroe, K. B. (2017, May). Elections as teaching tools: Building political efficacy. Paper presented at the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference (CPSA 2017), Toronto, ON.

McGovern, C., Poullos, N., & Munroe, K. B. (2017, May). Elections as teaching tools: Building political efficacy. In S. Tyakoff (Chair), Elections and political socialization. Panel conducted at the British Columbia Political Science Association (BCPSA) Annual Conference and Articulation Meeting, Douglas College, New Westminster, BC.

McGovern, C., Prontzos, P., & Tyakoff, S. (2017, May). Teaching political science. Workshop conducted at the British Columbia Political Science Association (BCPSA) Annual Conference and Articulation Meeting, Douglas College, New Westminster, BC.

Keywords: Community engagement; Community partnerships; Politics; Voter turnout; Trade negotiations; Simulations