Civic Engagement in the Online Classroom: Increasing Youth Political Engagement in an Online American Government Course

This article discusses the development and implementation of a civics project in an online American government course and explores the challenges and opportunities around managing civic engagement projects in an online format. Data analyzed for this article included 11 semesters of responses to anonymous pre- and post-project surveys, university end-of-course evaluations, Center for Civic Engagement surveys of Citizen Scholar courses, student reflection papers, and discussion board posts. Findings revealed that participation in the civics project increased students’ civic knowledge and helped them develop the skills needed to become active citizens. Students indicated that they intended to continue following current events and that they would stay involved in the political process. Lessons learned are applicable to courses in fields seeking to incorporate service-learning, community-based research, or civic engagement in an online context