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The 2022 class was taught in a fashion roughly similar to previous years. It consisted of lectures and some seminars.  This year, the lectures fell behind the lecture plan again, despite adjustments made by the lecturer. Extra care was put into discussing one of the primary books and more of the pensum was addressed directly by slides. Slides were cut or simplified. Even so, this needs improvement. Seminars also still need improvement. On the other hand, the lecturer was (or at least attempted to be) very available to students, since seminars were allowed students to ask questions about the lectures or readings and were also used as time to consult with students individually. The lecturer showed a film in addition to scheduled lectures, as well as an evening session on the mid-term elections, which also gave her more contact with students. The readings are changed at least slightly each year, but there is a routine complaint that there is too much reading for the course. This year, that amount was not cut down to any great degree.

This year, others graded the papers and the examinations. That makes it difficult to judge just how much the students profited from imagined improvements in the lectures or assignments. However, it is clear that some students were very much engaged and did get a lot out of the course, while others seemed to struggle somewhat. The seminars gave some time to discuss current political developments and the lecture had the sense that many students were profiting from the class. Even so, there are some recurring issues. The class is run in English and for some, there is a reluctance to engage in discussions in class in that language. In the questionnaire (more on that below) some students suggested that certain terms needed more explanation (this might be a question of language or perhaps a specialized term that should have been explained). The instructor did not have a teaching assistant this year, and this may have meant that some students received less attention than they should have had. The instructor has taken onboard that some students found the final examination (which was similar to that of previous years) to be unfair or somewhat unfair.

There was a reference group for POL2025, but the instructor only called for a single formal meeting. That must be improved next time. However, the instructor did respond to feedback from the group and from individual students as the semester progressed. The instructor also created and made available a questionnaire for the students. Only 14 of nearly 60 students answered this survey. Among the highlights: 1) Fully 50% of the students said there was too much reading, and nearly 60% said it was more than for other similar classes; 2) students liked the lectures by a wide margin, but the lectures fell behind the schedule, and this bothered some students a lot (others said this was not a problem for them - the median response was somewhere i the middle). Other reactions to the lectures were mixed: too much or too little information on the slides, for example. 3) Students generally felt the assignments were fair (examination: 10 said it was very or somewhat fair; 13 said the semester paper was ok or somewhat hard); however a few were very displeased with the fairness of the examination; 4) most students said the instructor was easily available (12 said mostly to very available -- but two were very displeased). In sum, those who answered the survey were generally pleased although there were clearly some issues to address. The instructor will take these comments into account in the next class.   Note: the instructor has written a detailed "paper guidance" that half of the respondents found very helpful (although this is not the universal opinion).

NTNU:TIA:REST

Institutt for sosiologi og statsvitenskap

Department of Sociology and Political Science

Ingen hjelpemidler tillatt.

Engelsk

Mer om vurdering

Vurderingsform: Oppgave og 3 timers skriftlig eksamen. Oppgaven skal være på omtrent 4500 ord og teller 60 prosent av karakteren. Skritlig eksamen teller 40 prosent av karakteren. Ved stryk eller gjentak av eksamen kan den enkelte eller begge delvurderinger tas opp.

Faglig innhold

Emnet drøfter USAs rolle som en stormakt i verden. Det identifiserer viktige faktorer som ligger bak USAs dominerende stilling i verdenssamfunnet og som påvirker USAs relasjoner med andre land. Emnet retter sitt fokus mot nyere og samtidig amerikansk utenrikspolitikk, men fremholder at en historisk bakgrunn og kunnskap over USAs kultur er en nødvendig forutsetning for fullt ut å kunne verdsette USAs utenrikspolitiske adferd.

Kursmateriell

Læringsutbytte

Kunnskapsmål - studenten skal:<ul><li>kjenne til USAs historie og politiske system</li><li>ha kunnskap om drivkreftene bak USAs utenrikspolitikk</li></ul>Ferdighetsmål - studenten skal kunne:<ul><li>anvende teori til å belyse aktuelle problemstillinger innen amerikansk innenriks- og utenrikspolitikk </li><li>utvise selvstendighet i utarbeidelsen av en semesteroppgave som oppfyller kriteriene til vitenskapelig skriving</li></ul>

Læringsformer og aktiviteter

Forelesninger/seminar 4 timer pr uke i hele semesteret.

Deltagelse på obligatorisk del av øvingsopplegget

Amerika i verden

Samfunnsfag

Samfunnsvitenskapelige fag

Statsvitenskap

Statsvitenskap - bachelorstudium

Sosiologi - bachelorstudium

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I had no specific action plan. Every year, I assess the literature used, adding or removing individual readings. In addition I re-consider the arrangement and length of the lecture, and rethink the way the seminar worked.

This year saw two innovations. This first was a new book which I used extensively in the course. The second was having only one grade in the class, a semester paper. There were many smaller changes in the course, as usual. On the whole, the lectures went well, although it is possible that some were more advanced that some students were prepared for. The book I used (Miller) worked fairly well for the purpose for which I intended it, but students may need more guidance in its use. That all lectures were digital is a major drawback and is to be avoided if possible. The seminars did not work that well. In the future, it would be best to divide students into groups and give the groups a particular assignment to work with. On the other hand, I did use the seminars for telling students about sources. This aspect of the seminar should be retained in some form and carried forward to the next semester. One thing preventing breaking the class down into groups this year, was the room we used. The auditorium is a good lecture venue (much appreciated) but we need a different sort of room for group work. The Covid situation made it also less appealing to have students sit closely together and discuss. To summarize, the level of difficult of the readings and lectures should be reassessed, and the seminars should be done differently. Those two points will be the primary focus of the coming year.

Vurderingsform: Oppgave. Oppgaven skal være på omtrent 4500 ord.

Forkunnskapskrav

Emnet drøfter USAs rolle som en stormakt i verden. Det identifiserer viktige faktorer som ligger bak USAs dominerende stilling i verdenssamfunnet og som påvirker USAs relasjoner med andre land.  Emnet retter sitt fokus mot nyere og samtidig amerikansk utenrikspolitikk, men fremholder at en historisk bakgrunn og kunnskap over USAs kultur er en nødvendig forutsetning for fullt ut å kunne verdsette USAs utenrikspolitiske adferd.

Kunnskapsmål - studenten skal:<ul><li>kjenne til USAs historie og politiske system</li><li>ha kunnskap om drivkreftene bak USAs utenrikspolitikk</li></ul>Ferdighetsmål - studenten skal kunne:<ul><li>anvende teori til å belyse aktuelle problemstillinger innen amerikansk innenriks- og utenrikspolitikk </li><li>utvise selvstendighet i utarbeidelsen av en semesteroppgave som oppfyller kriteriene til vitenskapelig skriving</li></ul>

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Amerika i verden - POL2025