Tag: Project Based Learning

Project based learning is an essential component of good civics education for a number of reasons.

First, projects are a great way for students to actually practice being good citizens. They can develop policy solutions, research problems, and interview public officials. They can research candidates and make informed decisions. These are opportunities to learn by doing and become prepared to be engaged citizens after graduation.

Second, project based learning helps make learning more authentic. After students learn about the nuts and bolts of politics, these opportunities to put them into practice show them why things matter. Understanding the legislative process is one thing, but watching a resolution wind its way through the city council makes it come to life.

Finally, tackling problems in this way helps build up a student’s political efficacy – their feeling that they can actually have an impact on their community. It doesn’t matter what students learn about the government if they don’t think that their actions or their vote matters, so it’s important to build up that sense of efficacy.

Weekly News Roundup

This Week in Civics: An NEA Spotlight, New Laws in Colorado and Illinois

The word "Teach" spelled out in blocks. Read about three teachers teaching civics.

Every week, I like to take a moment to highlight stories about civics education from around the country (and sometimes the world). So here’s a quick round up from the first week in September. There’s a great article from the National Education Association in their magazine, NEA Today, highlighting the efforts of three civics educators. […]

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Resources

5 Project Citizen Ideas for School Level Topics and Problems

Lightbulb on a chalkboard with a drawing of a thought bubble.

So you’re thinking of assigning Project Citizen to your students – or maybe your teacher has assigned it to you – but you want some topic ideas to start with? Well here’s a list of five Project Citizen topic ideas to kick off your brainstorming session. Don’t know what Project Citizen is? That’s ok. Check […]

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Popular Resources

Examples of Project Citizen Winners and Project Based Learning

A sleepy stressed out student and a drone, with a title saying, "Examples of Project Citizen"

Project Citizen is a textbook and curriculum designed to help you teach civics through project based learning. You can make it the centerpiece of your civics class or incorporate it as an extended project into a history class. If you’re not familiar with the program, you can read more about Project Citizen here. But today […]

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Weekly News Roundup

This Week in Civics: Road to Autocracy, Generation Citizen, and Columbus

The Oklahoma Statehouse with the title, "Generation Citizen, Columbus, and Autocracy"

Every week, I take a moment to look back over the week’s news and op-eds related to civics education to see what’s going on around the country (and sometimes the world). This week was a slow news week, so it’s going to be a quick recap. Let’s dive in and see what’s going on. Another […]

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Weekly News Roundup

This Week in Civics: Civics in Action, Youth Voting, and the Russians

Picture of the Jefferson Memorial at night from across the Potomac.

Here’s a quick round-up of news articles and columns from around the country this week related to civics education. One article focuses on civics in action through project based learning in Florida. Another focuses on a push to lower the voting age in New York. And a third suggests that our failure to focus on […]

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General

How to Use Solutions Civics to Teach Municipal Government

Picture of a building with the words "City Hall"

Good civics education gives students an opportunity to apply what they learn and practice being engaged citizens. This often involves some form of project based learning. Solutions Civics is another option that you can use to help structure and facilitate this process. It’s a series of lessons and resources developed by the Citizens Campaign. The […]

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Professional Development

Free Workshop on Solutions Civics Curriculum at the NJEA Convention

Teachers learning together at a session during the NJEA Convention

On Friday, November 10, I’ll be facilitating a professional development workshop on C-SPAN’s Classroom Deliberations at the NJEA Convention. But that won’t be the only presentation in Atlantic City that should appeal to civic educators. The Citizen’s Campaign is a non profit in New Jersey whose mission is to empower citizens to take a greater […]

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General

How Illinois Revised Its Civics Ed Requirements

Throughout the country, legislators are struggling to figure out how to improve civics education. Many people agree on the goal. They just don’t agree on the methods. In some cases, legislators have pursued misguided attempts to implement the citizenship test as a graduation requirement. This won’t do much, other than adding another barrier to graduation […]

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Resources

What Is Project Citizen and How Does It Relate to Civics?

Picture of the cover of the Project Citizen brochure

Project Citizen is a project-based learning program created by the Center for Civic Education. It teaches students about public policy. It does so by leading them through the process of researching a problem and developing a proposal for the government to address that problem. The program is based on a textbook developed by the Center for […]

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