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!

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Mar 5, 2012

The Connection Between Testing and Learning

Posted by Mary Jane
in Soomo Judo, Teaching and Technology, Uncategorized | 0 comments

I want to thank the Active Learning in Political Science blog for their post that highlighted a recently published study about using testing as a method of learning. The article, published in the journal Science, explains that students who read a passage and then responded to test questions asking them to recall what they had read, retained the information better than students who used other study methods. Somehow, the act of retrieving the content actually made it easier for students to recall the information a

Mar 5, 2012

TLC 2012 – It’s A Wrap

Posted by Maureen Yann
in Conferences, Teaching and Technology | 0 comments

TLC 2012 has come and gone. APSA reported that over 300 people attended this year’s meeting in DC. Since it’s pretty much a two-day long event, the conference always seems to be over quickly.  That being said, Soomo had a terrific time.  It’s always terrific reconnecting with professors–catching up on what’s going on during the semester, listening to what they’re teaching, and figuring out what resources they are using. So thanks to everyone who made a point to stop by the table and say hello.

For those who couldn’t attend, APSA once again provided the opportunity to hear recordings of some of the track sessions and workshops that occurred. Click here to see what’s available. One that I heard that was pretty cool was the “Accessible Cyberlearning in Political Science: The Basics and Beyond” workshop. Be sure to check it out!

Finally, the various track summaries of the conference will be available in the July 2012 edition of PS: Political Science and Politics, so check your mailboxes then.

Feb 29, 2012

User Tip: Bringing Soomo into the Classroom

Posted by Maureen Yann
in Soomo Judo, Teaching and Technology | 0 comments

Do your students ask why they have to do Soomo assignments? A few professors have shared that their students are better able to connect the dots between course concepts and homework assignments when their responses are brought into the classroom. As a bonus, the quality of their work might improve as well.

Here are some quick steps for creating a PowerPoint slide that can bring student homework into your classroom:

Feb 29, 2012

Data Data Data…The American Way!

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

At TLC I attended a great presentation from the founders of Stateminder.  The data visualization project, chaired by Mark Carl Rom from Georgetown University, was inspired by the global data visualization standard, Gapminder, and uses data sets from the United States to look at trends in American life, policy issues, economics, and even crime rates.  The founders’ goals were, “to promote an understanding of policy outcomes and to make stats more approachable and exciting.”  The site is newly launched and has a partnership in the works with Gapminder.    Let us know how you end up teaching with Stateminder and feel free to contact project developer Andrea Mayer with questions, suggestions, and for more information!