The “Crossfire Approach”: Attracting Political Science Majors in Large Lecture Sections of Introductory Courses

by Jody C Baumgartner and Jonathan S. Morris 

In this article we chronicle our experience team teaching large-lecture sections of “Introduction to American Government.” A dual-instructor approach has allowed us to handle 250 students, obviating the need for five separate sections (and instructors) of the course. In addition, our  “Crossfire Approach,” where we engage each other in frequent and unstructured political debate, generates student interest in the course and in the major. Students enrolled in this class from 2007 through 2011 were significantly more likely to declare political science as a major than those who took the course from any other instructor or either of us teaching individually. In short, the system conserves departmental resources while simultaneously growing the program, a clear win-win situation.

The “Crossfire Approach”: Attracting Political Science Majors in Large Lecture Sections of Introductory Courses, by Jody C Baumgartner and Jonathan S. Morris, PS: Political Science and Politics / Volume 48 / Issue 04 / October 2015, pp 612-616