Title III Mini Grant Initial Progress Report

Spring/Fall 2006

Dec. 12, 2006

Thomas C. Ellington

Department of History, Politics and Sociocultural Studies

(478) 757-3797

Proposal submitted spring 2006

No stipend requested

Courses impacted

A variety of courses including but not limited to POL 201: Issues in American National Government, POL 332S: Research Methodology and POL 316: Political Parties and Interest Groups.

Background

In spring 2006, I requested funding for a new laptop computer to replace a badly out-of-date desktop machine. I proposed to make use of the new machine’s portability and up-to-date technological capability to share new digital media in class and to run classroom simulations. I was granted up to $1,800 and received a Dell Latitude D810 laptop.

Summary

Upon receiving the laptop computer, my ability to do class preparation immediately improved, and I have used the machine consistently throughout the spring and fall 2006 semesters. Noteworthy uses in class with students include but are not limited to the following:

• April 10, 2006: Brought computer to POL 324: Southern Politics to show video of “Daisy Girl” commercial from the 1964 presidential campaign. My previous computer would have been unable to download or play the video.
• April 2006: Worked with Lindsay Rosenquist on analysis of data for her Findlay Fellowship paper, explaining the operation of SPSS.
• April 27, 2006: Took computer to POL 332S: Research Methodology to demonstrate OLS regression using SPSS.
• Sept. 6, 2006: Used SPSS to analyze class survey data, discussed results with POL 201: Issues in American National Government sections 01 and 40.
• September-October 2006: Used computer to run in-class Senate committee simulations through Project ICONS for both sections of POL 201: Issues in American National Government. A full class session was dedicated to demonstrating the various on-line tools available on the Project ICONS Web site.
• September-November 2006: Using a Washington Post video archive, constructed an assignment for POL 316: Political Parties and Interest Groups, requiring student to view and analyze campaign commercials from the 2006 election cycle.
• September-November 2006: Brought computer to POL 316: Political Parties and Interest Groups to share campaign commercials from the 2006 election cycle. Almost all were from media markets outside Georgia and would not have been viewable except with a computer of recent vintage.

Assessment

Student comments on the Project ICONS simulation were positive. Class discussions following the sharing of digital media content have been positive and lively.

As noted above, classroom demonstrations and the sharing of digital content that had clear pedagogical value would have been impossible with the computer I previously used. My ability to present previously inaccessible material has enhanced my teaching effectiveness.

Current status

I continue to use the laptop in preparing for classes.

Outlook

I intend to continue to integrate the use of technology in the classroom. In particular, I do expect to begin to use WebCT once it is shown to be more reliable.

Other information

I had intended to begin implementing WebCT in my classes already, and students have indicated that they would react positively. However, I have been reluctant to rely on it until it has shown itself to be dependable. We were warned at the January 2006 faculty workshop that it was not yet ready, and there have been intermittent problems with it this semester, including issues with classes being locked out before the end of the semester.

I have also experienced problems with expired SPSS licenses. The problem seems to be solved now, but it did significantly limit my ability to help Lindsay Rosenquist with her Findlay paper when SPSS became inaccessible shortly before she after she completed her data collection.