Replication Data for: The Impact of Course Structure on Students’ Political Efficacy and Confidence-in-Knowledge in Introduction to American Government

Introduction to American Government is a foundational general education course meant to promote understanding of democracy and students’ ability to participate in it. But, there is substantial variation in how the course is structured: it can enroll anywhere from a dozen students to hundreds; it can be delivered online, face-to-face, or in hybrid format; it can feature active, interactive, or passive pedagogy. Does course structure (i.e., class size, modality, active/interactive pedagogy) affect students’ learning about democracy? We surveyed students enrolled in American government at a large university both at the beginning and end of the course. We leverage variation in structure at the university to assess its impact on growth in students’ political efficacy and confidence-in-knowledge over the semester. We find that courses that feature more active/interactive learning exhibit greater student growth in both efficacy and knowledge confidence, robust to model specification. We also find that face-to-face and online courses produce greater gains than hybrid courses, but this depends on model specification. We find no support for a direct effect of class size on student learning. The results illuminate how best to structure courses to achieve civic education goals.

《美国政府导论》是一门通识教育基础课程，旨在增进学生对民主的理解及参与民主的能力。但该课程的结构存在显著差异：选课人数可从十几人到数百人不等；授课模式（modality）包括线上、线下或混合形式；教学法（pedagogy）可分为主动式、互动式或被动式。课程结构（即班级规模、授课模式、主动/互动式教学法）是否会影响学生对民主的学习效果？我们对某大型大学修读《美国政府导论》的学生在课程开始和结束时分别进行了调查。我们利用该校课程结构的差异，评估其对学生本学期政治效能感（political efficacy）及知识信心（confidence-in-knowledge）提升的影响。研究发现，采用更多主动/互动式学习的课程，学生在效能感与知识信心两方面的提升更为显著，且该结果在不同模型设定下具有稳健性。我们还发现，线下与线上课程的学习增益高于混合课程，但这一结论受模型设定的影响。我们未发现班级规模对学生学习存在直接影响的证据。研究结果揭示了如何优化课程结构以实现公民教育目标。