The Final Data Collection: The Political Process and Elections

This blog was obviously interrupted by the Coronavirus Pandemic and the move to virtual learning. The data I am about to discuss was gathered during the month of February and up until March 13, which was our last day of live school. These two linked units on the political process and elections were always intended to be my final data collection points as they dealt with my main purpose of this research to encourage civic engagement of my students. We began these two units concurrently with the start of the caucus and primary season.

To review, my research question states: How can I maximize the civic engagement of my 12th-grade government students upon their graduation in time to vote in the 2020 election? In addition, here is a summary of the findings of my research on engaging activities for government classrooms:

• Project-based learning
• Engagement First
• Active learning techniques -
• Role plays
• Political simulations
• Debates about political issues
• Mock elections
• Peer-to-peer discussions
• Choice — student involvement in the curricular decision making process to increase student autonomy
• Open classroom climate — discussion of current events and political issues in a safe environment

After analyzing the surveys and the conference data, I was pleased to find that my research correlated with student ideas:

• Projects, especially group projects
• Debates
• Role plays
• Current events discussions
• Solving real-world conflicts (political simulations)

Furthermore, students made additional valuable suggestions that I incorporated into my lesson plans:

• Art/drawing projects
• Video projects
• Mock trial

The political process and election units contained several interactive activities that are outlined and reported on below.

Web Site on Presidential Candidates and Issues

Throughout these two units for six weeks, students collaborated on a Google Site I designed to follow the issues that students deemed most important through a survey. The six issues were: education, health care, economy, energy & environment, gun control, and immigration. The survey provided them with ownership over the project and student participation was at 100% throughout the project. Each week involved a different issue and research on a different candidate, reporting out on Fridays. Students reported that they understood the positions of the presidential candidates on the issues better through the election issues project. The web site provided an interesting and engaging format for them to include their research, and they added pictures to their pages.

Media Construction

Students analyzed the media construction of presidential campaigns over three past campaigns (1960, 1984, and 2008) with interactive instruction which included visuals and analysis discussion. Students reported high ratings of interest along with a better understanding of the media’s effects on presidential elections.

Campaign Simulations

Students participated in two class simulations regarding campaigns designed as group activities to help understand how campaigns work and simulate the decision making necessary for campaign success. Students reported high rates of engagement in the process and significant increases in the understanding of how campaigns work. Additionally, they enjoyed the group collaboration and debate portion in the simulations. In the final simulation, students individually played the Win the White House game by iCivics. Students reported high engagement levels along with increased understanding of the election process through the simulation, which had them make real-world decisions during the election process.

Creating a Campaign Advertisement

The final project for this unit was for students to create a video campaign advertisement for a real presidential candidate of their choice. Their reports were high on increased self-understanding of what is entailed in creating a campaign message. During the post-project survey, they rated elements that they enjoyed the most. The top selections were: making a video, applying what they learned about elections, and being creative.

Overall Feedback on the Two Units

My last questions on the feedback form were general questions on the two units. Students reported that the most interesting portions of the units were election campaigns, the election process, and political parties. Furthermore, they shared that they understood more about how the electoral process works due to these two units. Finally, it was gratifying to know that they felt they were more likely to vote after learning about the election process.

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