|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Home > AP Comparative Government and Politics Teaching Tips
|
AP Comparative Government and Politics Teaching Tips
|
|
| | Suggestions from the Teachers' Guide
More Tips
Suggestions from the Teachers' Guide
These suggestions are taken from the Teacher's Guide -- AP Comparative Government and Politics.
A teacher at Unionville High School in Chester County, Pennsylvania contributed these activities:
Country Group Presentations. Each class member will be on a country team and will help to prepare a class presentation that includes visuals and handouts. Each presentation will include the following components:
- a three- to four-day panel discussion/question-and-answer session/presentation in which students cover the main idea in the unit
- a word-processed outline of the unit, in complete sentence or paragraph form, with all vocabulary words highlighted or italicized and defined
- a wall poster outlining the structure of the government, plus persons in charge and their parties, with handouts of the same for each class member
- political party charts, with parties and leaders, for each student
- handouts or oral presentation of materials to update your text (use of the Internet is encouraged)
- at least one creative review activity, such as "Jeopardy" or a crossword puzzle
- discussion of questions on list prepared by the teacher
All students in the class will be assigned to lead and participate in these discussions; as a leader, you also will play the role of class expert on assigned questions and will have prepared notes on your questions.
Required Summer Assignment. Collect at least 20 current event articles pertaining to the governments and politics of the countries that we will be studying next year. You should have at least two articles on each country and at least two on the European Union. Put these articles, arranged by country, in a binder. Summarize the articles in writing (typed or word processed) by country; you will need about a page for each country. Give complete bibliographic information for each article. You will turn in the binder on the first day of class and report your findings in short, informal oral presentations to the class during the first week of school.
These ideas come from a professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia:
Four questions that are asked about each of the countries being studied -- individually and together:
- Why does there always seem to be tension between governments and their citizens?
- How do historical and international forces shape that relationship between state and society?
- Why have some -- but only some -- states developed stable democratic regimes?
- How do countries with different types of governments and levels of resources deal with economic, ethnic, and other issues?
Four Short Papers. This assignment is designed to help you master the material and show me what you've learned:
- What is political about Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart? No more than two single-spaced pages.
- The communist or Marxist-Leninist regime collapsed in the Soviet Union, the country of its origin, but not in China. In three single-spaced pages or less, account for that difference and address its significance for politics in those countries today.
- Why haven't the less-developed countries been able to break out of the poverty most of them have experienced since independence and before? What difference has/will the growing interdependence of social, political, and economic life had/have on all that?
A professor at Indiana University requires students to keep a journal and make entries weekly:
Keep a journal. You are expected to read The Economist daily and to write a short entry in your journal notebook weekly. Each entry should discuss one particular political/social issue about a country other than the United States that you have read about that week. Note the articles' title, and give a short political analysis of the piece: you can either compare it to the political systems we are learning about in class, or discuss the political implications for that particular country. You will turn in your journal four times during the semester. This means that you will have two to five entries every time you turn in your journal. Do not wait until the due date to read your articles and write up your analysis. Reading The Economist will help you immeasurably to understand the material in class and to do well on the essays and quizzes.
More Tips
In order for students to acquire a thorough and systematic comprehension of U.S. and comparative government and politics, they need to learn facts and concepts and to understand typical political processes. Students should also learn to use specific information critically to evaluate general propositions about government and politics, and in sustained written arguments to present basic data relevant to government and politics.
AP classes require extra time for preparation, personal consultation with students, and the reading of many more written assignments than are given to students in regular classes. The AP Development Committee in Government and Politics strongly urges that any teacher offering such a class or classes have some reduction in assigned teaching hours.
The committee also suggests that schools augment the resource materials available to teachers and students in classrooms and libraries.
The committee recognizes that many states require the teaching of state and local government within, or in addition to, U.S. government and politics. Material about a specific state or locality will not be covered on the examination, but general patterns of intergovernmental relations will be.
Although many schools are able to set up special college-level courses, AP study in some schools may consist of tutorial work associated with a regular course or a program of independent study. Examples of the organization and content of AP United States and Comparative Government and Politics courses or equivalent college courses, as well as extensive suggestions for appropriate resource materials, can be found in the Teacher's Guide AP United States Government and Politics and the Teacher's Guide AP Comparative Government and Politics available in the College Board Online store, in the AP Aisle under Government and Politics.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Course Home Pages