Political Science Educator: volume 28, issue 2
Reflections
By Elizabeth Dorssom (dorssome@lincolnu.edu)
College classrooms are often awash with screens, revealing a generation of students who grew up immersed in technology. These students are more likely to get their news from social media because prior research has demonstrated that the internet can help young people increase their levels of political knowledge and, therefore, their political engagement (Boulianne 2009; Galston 2001; Katz and Rice 2002; Mitchelstein and Boczkowski 2010). College students can seamlessly integrate social media and digital distractions into their daily lives and in the classroom, but this technology can also be used productively in the classroom, as earlier findings suggest that social media can promote civic engagement among college students (Sweet-Cushman 2019). Social media increases civic engagement for students in a variety of ways, including helping them become more informed and more able to voice their opinions in a public forum (Fletcher 2023). Unfortunately, social media websites use an algorithm resulting in individuals only interacting with posts they agree with, resulting in more polarization. Additionally, prior research on the impact of social media on college students suggests that they might engage more effectively with political information if they had a better understanding of how to navigate the social media landscape (Conroy, Feezell, and Guerrero 2012; Gleason 2016).
Since my teaching philosophy is rooted in meeting students where they are—leveraging the technology they use daily to foster deeper political understanding and engagement—I decided to address student media consumption in several ways in my American National Government classes. First, I encouraged students to pay attention to local and national news sources and help them sort through media bias by introducing them to the All Sides Media Bias chart[1] that makes them aware of the actions of our elected officials and therefore encourage more political engagement like voting. Second, I conducted a current events segment at the beginning of lecture I call “Politician of the Day” where I discussed 1-3 current news stories involving elected politicians. Students learned that politics impacts their everyday lives to motivate them to pay attention to their elected officials. Third, I used X, the microblogging website that used to be known as Twitter, to explain the basic facts of current political stories and introduce them to reputable sources. Even though I used X for my classes, BlueSky or Threads might also be used.
My first step was to integrate X in my classes by creating a class-specific hashtag. Students need X accounts to access the posts and so I encourage them to setup these free accounts (if they don’t have them already). For my hashtags, I use the course numbers and prefixes. My American National Government class is PSC203, so on X I use the hashtag of #PSC203. Whenever I find a news source particularly relevant to this class, I post the news story with the corresponding hashtag of #PSC203. Articles posted with #PSC203 are current events that relate to any topic covered in my American National Government class. Current event articles can help act as a link between theoretical concepts and real-world political developments. Additionally, these current event articles provided students with relevant, up-to-date examples of how the topics covered in class manifest in the world around us. Integrating current events into class via X also helped students deepen their understanding of key concepts like the role of government and political institutions while also being informed about ongoing political events. Through integrating X in my class, I not only bridged the gap between traditional and new media but also introduced students to accurate news sources. It is important for students to understand the importance of ethical practices in journalism, which are important for developing a well-informed society as well as fostering critical thinking in a time of constant connectivity and information overload. X integration also demonstrated to students the importance of media gatekeepers who screen out partisan bias and ensure that the public receives accurate information.
To bring X into the Canvas learning management system, I created a new module labeled “X” with a link to the social media tool that I label “Dr. Dorssom’s #PSC203 X”, as shown in the figure below. When I added the link to Canvas, I ensured the corresponding hashtags are included and links to my X account’s use of the hashtag.[2] This allowed students to access the posts with the hashtag rather than the millions of others. On the first day of class, I showed students the link and told them how I will post current events on X and discuss them in class for approximately 15 minutes. Students can also follow me on X, which a small percentage of students do each semester. By following me, students can see the real-time political developments I shared prior to in-class discussion, which can increase their understanding of course content by seeing how classroom lessons tie-in with current events and political conversations. Furthermore, students may also pick up on the news accounts I follow, helping them understand the diverse range of voices that inform political discourse and develop critical thinking skills. By following the accounts that I follow, students increased their media literacy as they can critically evaluate the sources that they consume not only on X but other social media sites as well. They can compare the sources they traditionally follow to the media outlets I introduced them to and see the difference between fact-based reporting and more partisan reporting. Furthermore, they can recognize bias, assess credibility, and understand the importance of engaging with a variety of perspective necessary to form well-rounded opinions about current events. These skills increased their ability to navigate the complex media environment.
Figure 1: Link to X on Canvas’ Modules
Since I integrated X into my classes in 2022, I have received a great amount of positive feedback from students:
- “The Politician of the Day segments and Twitter current event posts made me actually want to be involved in politics.”
- “I liked how informational this course was and how the Professor used Twitter to keep us updated on current events.”
- “She gave us many ways to understand the content, like with Twitter!”
- “Her discussion of current events gave me a new found [sic] interest in it. I am more open to political participation.”
- “The professor helped build my interest in what’s going on in today’s society and that I should pay attention to what the people in office are doing.”
As you can see, adding social media into my introductory American Government courses connects students with current political events that builds on their normal day-to-day media consumption habits, as a recent survey reported that 75 percent of students use social media as a news source (Tierney 2024). Social media remains the primary news source for students. Using platforms like X allows professors to bridge the gap between classroom learning and political engagement.
Endnotes
[1] https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-chart
[2] Hashtags are still important in this context as they are being used strategically for a specific purpose (Smith 2024).
References
Boulianne, Shelley. 2009. “Does Internet Use Affect Engagement? A MetaAnalysis of Research.” Political Communication 26 (2): 193–211. Available at doi:10.1080/10584600902854363.
Conroy, Meredith, Feezell, Jessica T., and Guerrero, Mario. 2012. “Facebook and Political Engagement: A Study of Online Political Group Membership and Offline Political Engagement.” Computers in Human Behavior 28 (5): 1535–46.
Fletcher, Irelane. 2023. “Increase in Social Media Use Spurring Youth Political Engagement.” Diplomatic Courier, October 3. https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/increase-in-social-media-use-spurring-youth-political-engagement.
Galston, William A. 2001. “Political Knowledge, Political Engagement, and Civic Education.” Annual Review of Political Science 4 (1): 217–34.
Gleason, Benjamin. 2016. “New Literacies Practices of Teenage Twitter Users.” Learning, Media and Technology 41 (1): 31–54.
Katz, James Everett, and Ronald E. Rice. 2002. Social Consequences of Internet Use Access, Involvement, and Interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Mitchelstein, Eugenia, and Pablo J. Boczkowski. 2010. “Online News Consumption Research: An Assessment of Past Work and an Agenda for the Future.” New Media & Society 12 (7): 1085–102. Available at doi:10.1177/146144480935019
Smith, Jillian. 2024. “Are Hashtags Dead? Elon Musk Says ‘Please Stop’ Using Them on X.” FOX 5 DC, December 17. https://www.fox5dc.com/news/hashtags-x-elon-musk-says-please-stop-using-them.
Sweet-Cushman, Jennie. 2019. “Social Media Learning as a Pedagogical Tool: Twitter and Engagement in Civic Dialogue and Public Policy.” PS: A Political Science Journal 52 (4): 763–770.
Tierney, Laura. 2024. “FOSI | Large-Scale Survey Reveals How Students Are Using Social Media in 2024.” Www.fosi.org, January 29. http://www.fosi.org/good-digital-parenting/large-scale-survey-reveals-how-students-are-using-social-media-in-2024.
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Elizabeth Dorssom is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Lincoln University of Missouri, where she regularly teaches American National Government, State and Local Government, and Political Methodology. She has received multiple teaching awards in recognition of her innovative and technology-driven pedagogy.
Published since 2005, The Political Science Educator is the newsletter of the Political Science Education Section of the American Political Science Association. As part of APSA’s mission to support political science education across the discipline, APSA Educate has republished The Political Science Educator since 2021. Please visit APSA Educate’s Political Science Educator digital collection here.
Editors: Colin Brown (Northeastern University), Matt Evans (Northwest Arkansas Community College)
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