My Reflection on Political Science 101

As I sat down to write my last blog post, I started brainstorming different ideas of what to write about. Should I talk about Marxism? The Enlightenment? Maybe a little bit of Machiavelli? I wasn't sure, but then I realized, why not discuss the course itself? After all, the grading rubric for blog posts does state that we should engage an Idea from the course. So why not the ideas behind the course?

Before I get started, I want to say that I greatly enjoyed the course. Having said that, I do want to look at the course in an objective manner while still drawing from my personal experience. (Here's a link to the course website if you want to understand the grading system) Let's get started.

My Experience

Rolling into lecture the first day I was immediately intrigued by the grading scheme of this class. Not only did we not have any exams (Hallelujah!), but our grades could not be "punished"- we weren't able to lose points. This added a great sense of security for me as a student who generally is more reserved in class. I began to realize that since I would never be punished for trying something new in the classroom, I might as well go right ahead and take risks! What did it matter if I answered a question wrong? I wouldn't be penalized for it.

When I began to start navigating different assignments for the class as well as investing my Kapital, I felt in control of my own destiny. I was able to only do the assignments that I wanted to do. If I felt stressed out without enough time-no problem! I could just opt out of the assignment for the day without any judgment from my professor because that is how the system worked. You only have to do what gets you enough points.

Not only was it convenient to be able to pick and choose what I wanted to do, I felt that because of this I was better able to absorb the material presented in lecture. For some reason, when I knew that I wasn't going to be tested on content, learning became more enjoyable. I wasn't learning to do well on tests. I was learning this stuff so that I could apply it to my assignments. The way the course was taught made me realize that the endgame was about what you were learning and how you could apply it. I don't know about you guys, but that sounds like something we will have to do in the real world. Maybe Professor LaVaque-Manty is on to something?

Moving further into the class it became apparent that if I wanted to do well, I needed to think through how I was going to aquire enough points. It wasn't enough to simply coast along and hope for the best like most college students seems to do. I had to create my own customized plan of attack, and while Professor LaVaque-Manty could guide us in this, he wasn't going to hold our hands. This was a great lesson learned. Every person in the class had their own plan of attack (kind of like the real world) and so it was impossible for our Professor to keep track of us all. If I wanted to write a blog post or start a group project, it was up to me.

In the end, I guess one could sum up what I've learned through this course into four categories.

1. Autonomy

I was responsible for my own decisions and how I wanted to attack the course. I found that this freedom helped encourage me to take risks and try things I hadn't done before. It was actually kind of fun to be in a class where everyone was doing something different and you could discuss different strategies for attacking the course.

2. Communication

Whether it was with my GSI or group project members, I had to learn to communicate my ideas in order to do well in this course. It was essential.

3. Making Connections

Through this course I began to learn how to apply the ideas I was learning in class to the world around me. I found that especially for the blog posts I needed to be able to make these connections in order to succeed. While making these connections helped me do well on assignments in the class, they were also really fun to make. I enjoyed sitting down and trying to connect Walzer to Batman or Cronon to Squirrels because it was like a fun little game. How creative could I be?

4. The Real World

I would say that this course definitely taught me political theory, but what may have been almost more important was how it portrayed the real world to me. In the real world, there is no one size fits all way of doing things and the class illustrated that perfectly. We were able to be presented with an objective (gain points and learn the material) and then create a plan that worked for us in order to get there. This plan could capitalize on our strengths and interests (it also taught us new skills!).

Final Thoughts

 In the end, what did I think of this grading method?
I guess I thought that it was a unique way of teaching us life skills other than what the course centered on. I learned to value the courses diverse assignments as well as ways of presenting information. This appreciation helped foster an atmosphere of freedom where I felt I could take risks in the classroom and pursue new ideas.

Would I prefer this method over the traditional way?
In some ways yes, but in others no. I felt the course was great for helping us learn and make connections, but it was also somewhat scary knowing your fate was up to you. I guess that's the point really. Life is scary (maybe not in the Hobbsean view...), but you have to learn to deal with it. I think if I began to have more classes with this unorthodox grading method, I would be able to better deal with this fear.

Overall, I applaud Professor LaVaque-Manty for being willing to stand up and test out this method. I feel that with more exposure to the grading method, universities could begin to look at it in a more plausible light.

What has everyone else thought about the course and its grading method?

(Credits: "Political Theory" picture is taken from our course website "Final Thoughts" picture was in public domain)