A study presented to Pennsylvania lawmakers on Wednesday announced that the perceived partisanship of professors by students may have an impact on the quality of a classroom.
Matthew Woessner, assistant professor of public policy at Pennsylvania State University, and his wife April Kelly-Woessner, assistant professor of political science at Elizabethtown College, conducted a survey of 1,385 undergraduate politics students from schools in 18 different states.
"We wanted to see how perceptions of professors' partisanship influence the students' assessment of the professors objectivity and overall caring of the students and classroom," Woessner said.
The study found that the stronger the perceived political views of a professor, the less credible the professor seemed, Woessner said.
"On the whole, when a professor is perceived as a strong Republican or strong Democrat, these professors had less credibility and objectivity in the eyes of students," Woessner said.
Woessner added that at times these professors' views can distance students.
"The reason that a strong Republican or Democrat can have a little more trouble in a classroom is that they tend to alienate more factions of the class than those that come across as moderate," Woessner said.
Woessner said they are still deciding how to fully interpret the data.
He added that they wouldn't recommend that faculty fully adapt their teaching to students, but they should offer a balanced ideological approach to curriculum.
"It doesn't benefit their students to come across as highly partisan," Woessner said.
Woessner added that they have formulated some suggestions for professors, such as providing a "balanced assessment of partisan events in the country" and refraining from "endorsing particular policies in the country".
Some University professors agreed with Woessner's advice.
"There's a difference between a study and an opinion, and in the classroom, you want to distinguish between the two when you're lecturing," politics Prof. Larry Sabato said. "If you're simply giving your opinion, that should be noted, and students should have the opportunity to disagree without penalty. And, truthfully, I think that's what happens 99 percent of the time."
Politics Prof. David Waldner said he also adheres to these practices.
"I teach students some social science methods that they can use to both critically interrogate arguments or claims made to them but, also, to critically interrogate their own claims," Waldner said. "Therefore, all claims made in the classroom are equally vulnerable to rigorous and systematicchallenge."
The study's full findings and data will be published in the July issue of PS: Political Science & Politics.
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