Teaching Public Policy by Pautz, Michelle C.; Liu, Li-Yin;

Short description:

This comprehensive book explores the challenges and opportunities when teaching public policy courses. Reflecting on political polarisation and the contemporary environment, the contributors critically engage with course design and structure and offer innovative activities, assignments, and tips for the classroom.

Long description:

This comprehensive book explores the challenges and opportunities when teaching public policy courses. Reflecting on political polarisation and the rapidly evolving contemporary environment, the contributors critically engage with course design and structure and offer innovative activities, assignments, and tips for the classroom.

Michelle C. Pautz and Li-Yin Liu bring together expert specialists from a range of backgrounds to examine teaching techniques from diverse public policy learning environments. They explore ways of incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into policy education and engaging students in the study of policy to support learning. The book presents assignment examples that connect theory to real-world policy practice. It also provides guidance on inclusive teaching strategies and how to build rapport with students to enhance their learning.

Teaching Public Policy is a helpful resource for both novice and experienced educators as well as researchers of public policy, political science and public administration. Its discussions around classroom dynamics and nontraditional assignments will help instructors to conceptualize their courses, tackle key challenges, and think about new approaches to student engagement.

‘The desire of the editors and authors of this engaging book is to support students, many of whom will be future public leaders, to meet complex and challenging public issues. By considering cultural awareness, the importance of pragmatic and applied learning, and the context of public work, the chapters provide invaluable reading for new and seasoned professors alike as they consider how best to teach public policy courses. Highly recommended.’

Table of Contents:

Contents
1 Teaching public policy and the necessity of understanding our
students 1
Michelle C. Pautz and Li-Yin Liu
2 Common ground policy analysis: approaches to address
polarization in the classroom 16
Daniel R. Birdsong and Christopher Brough
3 The dilemma of one course: combining policy analysis and
policy process theory 30
Wesley Wehde
4 Integrating community-based capstone courses into public
policy curricula 43
Dillan F. Bono-Lunn and Anna L. Krome-Lukens
5 Leveraging AI-enabled technologies and tools to support
student learning in public policy 72
Dongfang Gaozhao
6 Harnessing AI for active and visible learning in public policy
education 100
Minzi Su
7 A contest of ideas: understanding and teaching policy through
Supreme Court cases 116
Chad B. Newswander, Grace Agapinan and James Pate
8 Professors as engaged policy actors 132
Jodi Benenson and Rachel Fyall
9 Unveiling the kaleidoscope of inclusivity: innovative
strategies in teaching public policy by foreign-trained faculty
in US universities 144
Ju-Ying Yang
10 Integrating nontraditional assignments to enhance public
policy students’ learning of quantitative methods 157
Jungwon Yeo and Olga Pysmenna
11 Re-thinking policy analysis: new approaches to learning and
teaching cultural awareness 177
Xi Chen and Sara R. Rinfret
12 The use of study questions to connect public policy theory to
practice in the classroom 193
Megan K. Warnement Wrobel
13 Teaching and (un)learning: developing assignments to help
students unlearn old habits and prepare for policy-oriented
careers 205
Joshua D. Ambrosius