The Effect of Teaching Parliamentary Studies on Students' Knowledge and Attitudes: A Pilot Study

The Westminster Parliament has recently invested considerable resource in developing a series of ‘Parliamentary Studies’ modules throughout British universities. But what difference does the teaching of Parliament make to students' understanding of the institution? In this pilot study, the results of a series of questions about the institution (both factual and attitudinal) which are asked at the beginning of the module are compared with the results of the same questions asked towards the end of teaching. Increases in levels of both knowledge and support are discovered.

[1]  M. Stuart,et al.  Whipping Them in: Role-Playing Party Cohesion with a Chief Whip , 2015 .

[2]  P. Cowley Why not ask the audience? Understanding the public's representational priorities , 2013 .

[3]  Keith Boeckelman,et al.  Simulating 2008: A Mock Presidential Election's Impact on Civic Engagement , 2012, PS.

[4]  A. Mycock,et al.  Does Citizenship Education Make Young People Better-Engaged Citizens? , 2012 .

[5]  M. Flinders,et al.  Mind the Gap: Political Analysis, Public Expectations and the Parliamentary Decline Thesis , 2011 .

[6]  D. McDermott Americans, Congress, and Democratic Responsiveness , 2010 .

[7]  David R. Jones,et al.  Americans, Congress, and Democratic Responsiveness: Public Evaluations of Congress and Electoral Consequences , 2009 .

[8]  Sue E. S. Crawford Will We Ruin Them for (Civic) Life? Analyzing the Impact of Teaching Rational Choice in Introductory Courses , 2007, PS: Political Science & Politics.

[9]  J. C. Lay,et al.  Simulating a Senate Office: The Impact on Student Knowledge and Attitudes , 2006 .

[10]  Deborah S. Meizlish,et al.  Becoming Congress: A Longitudinal Study of the Civic Engagement Implications of a Classroom Simulation , 2003 .

[11]  Sarah Childs,et al.  Revolts and Rebellions: parliamentary voting under Blair , 2002 .

[12]  André Blais,et al.  Why do people vote? An experiment in rationality , 1999 .

[13]  P. Johnson We Do Too Have Morals: On Rational Choice in the Classroom , 1990, PS: Political Science & Politics.

[14]  J. Steiner Rational Choice Theories and Politics: A Research Agenda and a Moral Question , 1990, PS: Political Science & Politics.

[15]  Filip Palda,et al.  Why Do People Vote , 1990 .

[16]  Gregory G. Brunk The impact of rational participation models on voting attitudes , 1980 .