‘Using Objects to Enhance Learning in Political Science Education’  with William L Allen, University of Southampton

Registration details will be made available shortly - if you have any queries in the meantime, please email info@psa.ac.uk.

Tuesday 13 January, 12:30pm

Most higher education teaching activities rely on texts. By contrast, I argue object-based learning—or using physical materials to convey, capture, and express complex ideas—can also support learning goals. Using examples from my teaching experience in university and museum settings, I argue the judicious use of objects enhances political science education in three ways.

First, object-based activities invite sustained and detailed engagement with what materials are—a task aligned with calls in political science to value description. Second, objects’ necessarily fragmentary and recontextualized natures open discussions about representativeness, missingness, and bias that are central to methodological teaching. Third, eliciting descriptions of unfamiliar objects to create shared understanding is more democratic and inclusive compared to methods that may unintentionally advantage some groups over others.