The Teaching Research Methods track at the 2011 APSA Teaching and
Learning Conference built upon many of the themes from past years
and brought to fruition some of the recommendations made at previous
meetings. The group touched on numerous topics, but there were a few
main themes that informed each conversation. First, the papers and
commentary focused on determining the best way to give our students,
especially our majors, a solid research methods background. Because
faculty from many types of colleges and universities were present
and offered varying accounts of the particular needs and career
goals of their school's students, the group did not reach a
consensus as to a uniform course of study that would be appropriate
for every institution. Although participants had different ideas
about how to implement a methods course of study, many presentations
highlighted the necessity to forefront methods training and further
integrate it into the political science curriculum.