Mar 20, 2012

What People Are Saying about Central Ideas in American Government

Posted by Zara Elizabeth Ricks
in About Us, American Government, Press, Soomo Judo, Teaching and Technology | 0 comments

Since many of you may still be considering which text you want to use this fall for your American Government classes, we want to let you know what professors and students are saying about our webtext, Central Ideas in American Government.

Below are listed just a few peer review and student survey comments from last fall. If you would like more survey data, just drop us a line.

Peer Review Feedback

•  “My students do best when they are engaged.  So this would surely work better for them than a basic book.  They can get desired engagement and feedback as they absorb the chapter’s materials.” - Christopher Whitt, Augustana College

Mar 19, 2012

Cool Budget Infographic

Posted by Mary Jane
in American Government, Infographics, Teaching and Technology | 0 comments

Last week, I discovered this cool rollover infographic from The New York Times that illustrates President Obama’s 2013 budget proposal. The graphic uses bubble size to display the amount of money certain items receive while also organizing by color to indicate whether  allocated funds increase or decrease for those line items. Hovering over a bubble displays additional information such as department and whether the spending is mandatory or discretionary. It’s very helpful for understanding exactly how $3.7 trillion dollars gets spent.

Tell us, what are your favorite budget tools to teach with?

Mar 16, 2012

Americans Governing with Textbook Media E-text

Posted by Zara Elizabeth Ricks
in American Government, Teaching and Technology | 0 comments

Soomo Publishing recently signed a distribution agreement withTextbook Media to distribute the e-text of American Government: Your Voice, Your Future 4e by Matthew Kerbel. The e-text is available with Americans Governing, our collection of online homework assignments. Students can easily access the e-text in the sidebar of each chapter of assignments. Americans Governing with the Kerbel e-text is only $50 for students and print options are available.

Check out the test drive to see how it works. If you’re interested in using this combo, click here to register as a new instructor and set up your free instructor account or email Maureen at the PoliSci desk and she’ll do it for you!

Mar 16, 2012

New Americans Governing Correlation!

Posted by Zara Elizabeth Ricks
in American Government, Soomo Judo, Teaching and Technology | 0 comments

Last year we found out that Flat World Knowledge released its first political science title, American Government and Politics in the Information Age by Paletz, Owen, and Cook. We thought the free e-text would be even better with our Americans Governing assignments, so we created a brand new correlation. Students using it will find an easy link to the Flat World text in the side bar of each chapter.

Check out our test drive to see how it works. Students pay just $25 for both the assignments and the e-text. If they want a PDF or ePub version of the text, it’s an additional $29.95, and a print version is available for $34.95.

If you’re interested in using our new correlation, click here to register as a new instructor and set up your free instructor account or email Maureen at the PoliSci desk for more information!

Mar 6, 2012

Til We Have Suffrage

Posted by Zara Elizabeth Ricks
in American Government, New Assignment, Press, Teaching and Technology, Video | 1 comment

Just in time for Women’s History Month, Soomo is pleased to announce the release of our new parody music video, Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage. The new video features Alice Paul engaging in the “militant” tactics of the latter years of suffrage movement and the dramatic ratification of the 19th Amendment. The video has such rich content that we feature it in two new assignments for our Americans Governing collection:

• The first assignment,“Til We Have Suffrage: The Amendment,” uses the passage of the 19th Amendment as the context for better understanding the constitutional amendment process. My favorite part of this assignment is the link to the digital copy of the actual letter written by Harry Burns’ mother telling him to “vote for suffrage.”
• The second assignment, “TIl We Have Suffrage: The Movement” focuses on the strategies and tactics of the women’s suffrage movement including the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments, the Suffrage Parade of 1913, Silent Sentinels, and more. Links to archival New York Times articles are fascinating and provide a glimpse into the newsmakers of 1917.

The new assignments are automatically included in all new courses. If you’d like to add them to your existing course just contact the Polisci Desk. If you have ideas for additional assignments featuring this video, please leave a comment!

Read More

Mar 6, 2012

Fall Catalog Now Available

Posted by Mary Jane
in About Us, American Government, Comparative Government, International Relations, New Assignment | 0 comments

Tada!  The Fall 2012 Catalog is now available and features more than 30 new assignments. Because all the assignments are organized by title and topic, the catalog provides a nice way to browse through all of the available assignments for our political science titles, Americans Governing, Between Nations, Comparing Governments, and Central Ideas in American Government. When you see assignments you want to add to your course, just use the guide on page 7 to easily make your own updates. Or you can simply email the PoliSci Desk, and we’ll do it for you!