Supplemental Online Resources Improve Political Methods Education

Abstract

Mastery of knowledge and skills taught in introductory research methods courses is increasingly important for undergraduate political science majors, yet many students struggle in these courses. Online Supplemental Instruction (OSI) may offer a time- and cost-efficient means of supporting these students. However, we know little about the efficacy of these resources in general, or specifically in political methods education. This paper introduces an original OSI resource, “Foundations of Quantitative Research in Political Science,” which includes content on key concepts and application of statistical methods to political problems. Utilizing a pre-registered within-subject experimental design, we find that access to this resource significantly improves student learning. To our knowledge, this study is the first to estimate the causal effects of OSI in political science, and specifically in a political methods course. Moreover, the research design is easily replicated, fair, controls for student-specific characteristics, and generates a large number of observations.