Students in my upper year comparative politics course “Law and Courts in Europe” created this blog, as part of a group writing assignment, and a way to share what they were learning about a particular European country they had chosen to study. Most writing assignments in political science are geared towards academic writing, but students don’t get a lot of opportunity to practice. At the same time, information is shared in many ways today that go far beyond the academic journal. I wanted to give my students the opportunity to write multiple short pieces, share them publicly on a blog, comment on each others writing, and learn different ways of communicating their knowledge to a wide audience.
Students formed groups of three or four. Each group chose a country in Europe to study, and they were tasked with writing three blog posts about the court structure, the separation of powers, the country’s relationship with the EU, and a short political history. They also had to write one blog post that was written in the style of an op-ed, in which they had to take a normative stance on an issue of importance to their country.
After the completion of the course, many students commented how useful and inspiring they found this exercise, as it forced them to write short, concise pieces and to present their writing publicly. They were excited to see that people began following the blog and commenting on what they had written.
If you’re interested in how I designed this assessment, or in thoughts I have about improving it for future use, please be in touch: cassandra.steer@mcgill.ca
Law and Courts in Europe 