Political Science Educator: volume 27, issue 2
Reflections
By Elizabeth Dorssom (DorssomE@lincolnu.edu)
Active learning is an important component of classrooms as it helps students reinforce information after listening to a professor’s lecture (Lang 2021). The incorporation of active learning in a classroom helps students make connections with the information and remember the information better (Ambrose, et al. 2010). By engaging the students in the classroom with activities aimed at reinforcing the material, students are better able to analyze and process course content. This essay will focus on one activity I used to promote active learning in my classroom: a federalism activity using the classroom’s smart board.
In my American National Government classes, I cover federalism in its entirety. I begin with the founding of the United States and work through the various eras of federalism: dual federalism, cooperative federalism, cooptive federalism. Additionally, I discuss how the federal government and state governments possess power unique to their level of government and those shared between each level. To further reinforce the material, I created a smart board activity to demonstrate the difference between expressed and implied powers (powers delegated only to the federal government), concurrent powers (powers shared between the federal and state governments), and reserved powers (powers delegated only to State Governments).[1] Federalism offers a framework that accommodates diverse perspectives and solutions to complex challenges in American politics. By allowing states to act as independent entities within a broader federal system, federalism can foster innovation, protect individual rights, and promote democratic governance across the political spectrum. When students see how federalism has evolved throughout time, these students can further understand how the relationship between the federal and state governments has varied in response to different policy issues.
To begin the activity, I give the students a “cheat sheet” containing a list of all the federal powers from Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. A sample “cheat sheet” is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Federal Power Cheat Sheet
After giving students the Federal Power “cheat sheet”, I give them a list of government powers. The powers listed on this handout are a mixture of Expressed & Implied Powers, Concurrent Powers, and Reserved Powers. The handout can be seen in Figure 2, and include such powers as print money, conduct elections, and build roads.
Figure 2: Government Powers Handout
After students receive both the “cheat sheet” and the handout, I give the students approximately 10 minutes[2] to look over both sheets before beginning the activity on the smart board with three different categories (Reserved, Concurrent, and Expressed) where students can add the correct response. These categories can be seen in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Categories on SmartBoard
To enter the activity, students can scan a QR code with their Smartphones, or they can navigate to www.hellosmart.com on their laptops and type in the class code. The login options are shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Smart Board Login Options
When the students access the smart board, they can click on a category (reserved, concurrent, or expressed), and then enter the appropriate power under the right category. These options can be seen in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Smart Board Response Options
When the students type in their responses, they appear as post-it notes on the smart board screen. As students complete the activity, I display the screen so that students can see the responses as they are posted in real time. Once every student has had a chance to post, I encourage the students to review the posted responses to check for accuracy. This gives the students a chance to ask questions if they do not understand why a power was listed, for example, as being a reserved power instead of expressed or concurrent. This helps students further their understanding of federalism and how governmental powers can vary among the level of government. A potential problem with using a Smart Board for this activity is that occasionally a student may post an incorrect answer. Since it is a text response, it is unable to be deleted from the Smart Boardithoutut removing all of the other responses as well. Therefore, it is important to inform the students which answer is incorrect so that they do not learn inaccurate information.
This activity takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and is a great addition to any class lecture about federalism. It is a great active learning activity that also incorporates technology. Prior research has demonstrated that students learn and retain information better when engaging in experiential learning or hands-on activities (Kong 2021). Therefore, to ensure that students learn concepts, it is important to include activities in the classroom.
In my class, I try to incorporate various tech-based activities as it helps create a more engaging learning environment for students. Additionally, technology use in the classroom also helps students with different learning styles who may retain information better with a hands-on activity instead of a traditional lecture. Finally, tech-based activities are also important to help engage an age group who is accustomed to using technology in day-to-day tasks. Recent research shows that approximately 96% of individuals between the ages of 18-29 own a smartphone that can access the internet (Pew Research Center 2021). Therefore, by incorporating tech-based activities in the classroom, instructors are delivering more student-centered instruction.
Endnotes
[1] While I use a SmartBoard for this activity, it is not required to have a SmartBoard to do this activity. This activity can be created on the SmartBoard website and projected in the classroom.
[2] Times can be adjusted as necessary.
References
Ambrose, Susan, Michael Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Marsha Lovett, and Marie Norman. 2010. How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kong, Yangtao. 2021. “The Role of Experiential Learning on Students’ Motivation and Classroom Engagement.” Frontiers in Psychology: 12(1) https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.771272.
Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.
Pew Research Center. April 7, 2021. “Mobile fact sheet.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
Dr. Elizabeth Dorssom is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Lincoln University of Missouri.
Published since 2005, The Political Science Educator is the newsletter of the Political Science Education Section of the American Political Science Association. All issues of The Political Science Educator can be viewed on APSA Connects Civic Education page.
Editors: Colin Brown (Northeastern University), Matt Evans (Northwest Arkansas Community College)
Submissions: editor.PSE.newsletter@gmail.com
APSA Educate has republished The Political Science Educator since 2021. Any questions or corrections to how the newsletter appears on Educate should be addressed to educate@apsanet.org
Educate’s Political Science Educator digital collection
