Undergraduates often have difficulty conceptualizing phenomena for
which they have little experience, such as life in an Islamic state
or the pressures of foreign policy decision making. The participants
of the S&RP Track I explored multiple ways political science
might address this challenge. While the exercises employed by
participants differed, the desire to help students experientially
learn key concepts and materials provided the central motivation.
S&RP are a valuable complement to traditional teacher-centered
methods of content delivery, such as lectures that tend to focus on
acquisition of knowledge without reflection. One clear advantage of
S&RP is the ability to encourage synthesis and evaluation of
information by literally taking students out of their chairs and
having them “learn by doing.” Such strategies help students shift
their roles from being passive receivers of information to active
participants in the learning process. The participants of this track
felt strongly that S&RP can play a vital role for students,
faculty, and their institutions by enhancing faculty ability to
impart key skills, analytical tools, and varied perspectives to
students who in turn become empowered as a part of their own
education. As institutions compete for students and students demand
applicable courses, novel teaching methods that make clear
connections between political instruction and the lived realities of
those taught benefit everyone.