Lecture-capture software allows instructors to record their class presentations for students to review as necessary. Although this technology has long been considered too expensive for large-scale use, it is quickly becoming ubiquitous and deployable using ordinary computers and consumer-grade software. Using survey and final-grade data from a three-semester trial in a large introductory-level political science course, the authors demonstrate students almost universally approve of the technology and support its use in future classes. Students are most likely to use recordings when they study for exams and catch up on material after being absent from class. Additionally, certain subgroups—primarily international students and those who are performing poorly in the class—are more likely to watch archived recordings. However, these data demonstrate that positive evaluations and increased usage may not translate into better grades; viewing lectures does not appear to substantially improve individual performance.

In 2001, Richard Niemi and Julia Smith published an article in PS: Political Science and Politics on enrollments in high school civics and government courses. They framed their study on the premise that political scientists were ignoring an important aspect of American civic and political life, and they concluded by issuing a call for political scientists to become more involved in K-12 civics education. This article provides an update on the state of K-12 civics education and renews Niemi and Smith’s call for political science engagement in K-12 education.

Since the fall semester of 2008, I have used music to teach political theory to undergraduate students. I use song lyrics to make analogies to concepts used by political theorists, and I use the music to create associations that improve students’ memory of those concepts. Unlike other teachers who incorporate music into their classes by linking lyrics to concepts, I choose songs that reflect important ideas of specific theorists through multiple allusions to their ideas. The songs I choose serve four objectives: introducing concepts that may be difficult for students to appreciate, illustrating the application of those concepts, reinforcing students’ memory through issue-spotting songs, and presenting biographical information about the theorist that they are reading. I illustrate how I achieve these objectives through songs drawn from artists including Billy Joel, Ace of Base, and Supertramp, and musicals including West Side Story and Camelot.

At first glance, the political-theory classroom can seem like a “philosophy class in disguise.” How can we make our text-based classes more “political”? This article considers how three teaching formats—debate, fishbowl, and forum theater—enact different types of power in the classroom and how those enactments necessitate political judgments. In addition to creating the need for political analysis, each of these formats embodies a particular rhetorical strategy often used by political theorists. By physicalizing the argumentative, introspective, and descriptive devices that writers of political theory use, students become better readers of these often old and usually dense texts.

Although many university educators and administrators seek to promote student research, opportunities to do so often are rare or costly. This case study of the undergraduate academic journal Clocks&Clouds provides a clear model for reaping the rewards of this high-impact educational experience based on peer learning.

The goal of this article is to institutionalize knowledge by reviewing Clocks&Clouds, American University's undergraduate research journal in political science, international relations, and public policy. Input from three successive teams of student leaders, as well as interviews with administrators and faculty members at American University, suggests a method for creating a journal and "lessons learned" that can be applied at other institutions. The article builds on the research of Mariani et al. (2013), which considered various organizational strategies that political science departments use to structure undergraduate student publications. It highlights three facets of a model undergraduate journal in political science: organizational structures, peer-review process, and funding and resources. The purpose of this study was to encourage other undergraduate programs in political science to create student research publications and expand the reach of this high-impact educational practice.