Methods training is typically cordoned off into specific, designated courses and is often consequently isolated from the content of the topics we study. As a result of this separation, methods may appear abstract or technical, particularly to undergraduate students, who usually have no experience or expectation of applying methods during their degrees. This article discusses one experience of incorporating qualitative methods and experiential learning into a mixed undergraduate/graduate seminar on the politics of development. This substantive course was structured around an interview-based assignment which served to introduce students to qualitative methods alongside exposure to the views of development practitioners and scholars. I argue that integrating experiential methods training into substantive courses can prove a useful introduction to interviewing and fieldwork, enhance student engagement with subject-based literature and concepts, and serve as a gateway for further methods education.
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (2005) Millennium development goals and indigenous peoples goal 1 [online]. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Available at: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100014107/1100100014108 (accessed 6 July 2015).
2.
BarrowLHofrenningDParkhurstJ (2005) Track 3: Experiential learning’ in the ‘2005 APSA teaching and learning conference track summaries. PS: Political Science & Politics38(3): 418–419.
3.
BerryMJRobinsonT (2012) An entrance to exit polling: Strategies for using exit polls as experiential learning projects. PS: Political Science & Politics45(3): 501–505.
4.
BrockKLCameronBJ (1999) Enlivening political science courses with Kolb’s learning preference model. PS: Political Science & Politics32(2): 251–256.
5.
BrookfieldS (1984) Adult Learners, Adult Education and the Community. New York: Teachers College Press.
6.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2010) Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. Available at: http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/pdf/eng/tcps2/TCPS_2_FINAL_Web.pdf (accessed 3 July 2015).
7.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (n.d.) Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS) 2 Tutorial Course on Research Ethics [online]. Tri-Council. Available at: http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/pdf/eng/tcps2/TCPS_2_FINAL_Web.pdf (accessed 3 July 2015).
8.
CentellasM (2011) Preaching what we practice: Bringing scope and methods ‘Back In’. PS: Political Science & Politics44(4): 817–822.
9.
De BoefS (2001) Note from the editor. The Political Methodologist10(1): 1–2.
ElmanCKapiszewskiDKirilovaD (2015) Learning through research: Using data to train undergraduates in qualitative methods. PS: Political Science & Politics48(1): 39–43.
12.
GibbsGR (2010) Mathematics and statistics skills in the social sciences. In: MarrCMGroveMJ (eds) Responding to the Mathematics Problem: The Implementation of Institutional Support Mechanisms. Birmingham: Maths, Stats & OR Network, pp.44–50.
13.
HealeyMJenkinsA (2000) Kolb’s experiential learning theory and its application in geography in higher education. Journal of Geography99(5): 185–195.
14.
HerrickSMatthiasWNielsonD (2015) How collaborations with undergraduates improve both learning and research: With examples from international development experiments journal. PS: Political Science & Politics48(1): 48–52.
15.
HillKQ (2002) The lamentable state of science education in political science. PS: Political Science & Politics35(1): 113–116.
16.
KolbD (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
17.
LewisS (2011) Race against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa. Toronto, ON, Canada: House of Anansi Press.
18.
MoonJ (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice. New York: Routledge.
19.
MoyoD (2011) Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
20.
MvududuN (2005) Constructivism in the statistics classroom: From theory to practice. Teaching Statistics27(2): 49–54.
21.
ParkerJ (2010) Undergraduate research-methods training in political science: A comparative perspective. PS: Political Science & Politics43(1): 121–125.
22.
SachsJ (2005) The end of poverty. Time Magazine165(11): 42–54.
23.
ScheelED (2002) Using active learning projects to teach research skills throughout the sociology curriculum. Sociological Practice4(2): 145–170.
24.
SenA (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
25.
SteinbergJ (2008) Sizwe’s Test: A Young Man’s Journey through Africa’s AIDS Epidemic. New York: Simon & Schuster.
26.
ThiesCGHoganRE (2005) The state of undergraduate research methods training in political science. PS: Political Science & Politics38(2): 293–297.
27.
TiessenREpprechtM (2012) Ethics and the learning/volunteering abroad program. Global Citizenship and Equity Education Journal2(1): 1–12.
28.
TiessenRHuishR (eds) (2014) Globetrotting or Global Citizenship? Perils and Potential of International Experiential Learning. Toronto, ON, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
29.
TurnerCCThiesCG (2009) What we mean by scope and methods: A survey of undergraduate scope and methods courses. PS: Political Science & Politics42(2): 367–373.
30.
TurnerD (2010) Qualitative interview design: A practical guide for novice investigators. The Qualitative Report15(3): 754–760.
