Engaging the Unengaged: Using Visual Images to Enhance Students' “Poli Sci 101” Experience

Abstract

As the nation witnesses a distinct decline in civic engagement among young adults, political science instructors across the nation face the formidable task of engaging students in lower-level, general education courses outside students' primary domain of interest. The research presented here seeks to understand if visually enhanced lecture material can effectively engage such students better than more traditional methods of classroom delivery. The project utilizes an experimental design involving two different sections of the same introductory American government course. By exposing the sections to different visual presentations, and controlling for a variety of potentially confounding factors, the impact that simple visual images have on student engagement both inside and outside the classroom are isolated. Findings suggest that the use of simple visual images can enhance students' impressions of the discipline of political science and boost their interest in and knowledge of politics and public affairs more generally.