5 Communicating Ideas and Perspectives in A Political Science Class (2025)

I’m always looking for ways to make discussion forums more engaging for students. One strategy that has worked well is emphasizing a standard from the sample “Guidelines” page: “exploration and understanding of terms, concepts, and systems.” The key, I’ve found, isn’t just asking students to reply to a peer or offer a substantive response—it’s inviting them to explore the forum as a whole.

Interestingly, students in my asynchronous courses enjoy this approach.

Take, for example, a discussion forum on the often-contentious topic of political ideology. Instead of simply expressing their views, students are asked to analyze how ideas are communicated. They review all class responses to questions about liberal and conservative ideologies, then evaluate patterns in tone, framing, and word choice. One prompt, for instance, asks students to compare how classmates define “conservative” and “liberal,” and assess which ideology was portrayed more positively or negatively. This not only fosters synthesis across multiple perspectives but it also pushes students to reflect on how language, assumptions, and identity shape political understanding.