PUBPOL-261SA
CIVIC PARTICIPATION & PUB POL
Not in Fall 2026
Term
Overview
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything. The sample is still thin, so treat this as directional rather than definitive.
DepartmentPPS
Terms offeredSpring
Typical enrollment11–11
Semesters of data1
5
Responses
11
Enrollment
45%
Response Rate
Evaluation Scores
Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.2
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.2
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.4
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
2.6
Feedback Analysis
Feedback Analysislow
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 17 comments across 1 sections
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything. The sample is still thin, so treat this as directional rather than definitive.
Student Reports
How hard is the A?
A is doable but not automatic
The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.
Homework Load
Moderate homework load
Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.
Lecture Load
Lighter lecture burden
Student comments describe this as more discussion-, seminar-, or workshop-driven than lecture-dependent. The lecture burden itself does not sound like the main source of friction.
Strengths
• Readings, films, or outside materials come up repeatedly as a real strength rather than filler.
• Discussion is a clear strength; students repeatedly describe the class conversation as engaging and useful.
Tradeoffs
• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.
Best fit for
Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
Watch out for
• Most of the signal comes from a limited sample, so be careful about over-generalizing.
• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.
Student Responses
Theories of Civic Participation– Resource Theory, Narrative Theory, Organizational Theory, Policy Feedback Theory. Applied to the Freedom Rides as a case study. Examples of Civic Participation– Various movements such as gun violence prevention, government offices like the Election Assistance Commission that encourage civic participation. Theories of Change and how philanthropists plan interventions to effect positive change.
Spring 2024 · Goss, Kristin
We mainly learned about what is good citizenship, the role of good citizenship in the US, what are some barriers towards civic participation, and potential solutions.
Spring 2024 · Goss, Kristin
1) Memo writing 2) Public speaking 3) theoretical analysis
Spring 2024 · Goss, Kristin
1) How to navigate large sums of monetary donations for democracy projects 2) How to analyze historic instances of protest with modern versions 3) How to leverage different forms of civic engagement
Spring 2024 · Goss, Kristin
-theories of political engagement -inequalities of political representation -helps us identify ways to encourage civic engagement through our project proposal
Spring 2024 · Goss, Kristin
Rating History
Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
| Term | Instructor | Overall | Difficulty | Hrs/wk | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2024 | Goss, Kristin 4.3Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.3Difficulty3.7Would retake100%Based on 6 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.2 | 2.6 | — | 11 |
Instructor
Also teaches
PUBPOL-217SA THEORY & PRACTICE4.2