What Do Pupils Learn from Voting Advice Applications in Civic Education Classes? Effects of a Digital Intervention Using Voting Advice Applications on Students’ Political Dispositions
To what extent does the use of Voting Advice Applications in (digital) civic education classes at school impact students’ political knowledge, attitudes, motivations and behavioral dispositions toward elections? This article provides answers to this question by presenting a sample analysis of the re...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/11/621 |
| _version_ | 1827638716842115072 |
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| author | Thomas Waldvogel Monika Oberle Johanna Leunig |
| author_facet | Thomas Waldvogel Monika Oberle Johanna Leunig |
| author_sort | Thomas Waldvogel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To what extent does the use of Voting Advice Applications in (digital) civic education classes at school impact students’ political knowledge, attitudes, motivations and behavioral dispositions toward elections? This article provides answers to this question by presenting a sample analysis of the responses of 1189 pupils who participated in a digital civic education intervention, with the German Voting Advice Application Wahl-O-Mat at its core, whose usage was embedded in an elaborated didactical concept in civic education classes. Using a quasi-experimental field design with pre- and post-tests, the study shows that the intervention substantially improves students’ knowledge of the investigated state election. Furthermore, we can trace a significant increase in young people’s political efficacy and specific interest in the election campaign. Finally, we observe a substantial increase in intended electoral participation, especially among those adolescents whose intention to participate in elections was low prior to the intervention, which contributes to a reduction in existing participation gaps. In particular, we identify changes in motivational and cognitive political dispositions, but only to a limited extent evaluative and sociodemographic background variables, as key factors driving the intervention-induced change in willingness to participate in the state election. Our paper concludes by discussing the limitations of the study and its implications for empirical research and practice in civic education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:27:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b0fbb416038547658dd0f75c8d24cabd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:27:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-b0fbb416038547658dd0f75c8d24cabd2023-11-24T15:06:27ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602023-11-01121162110.3390/socsci12110621What Do Pupils Learn from Voting Advice Applications in Civic Education Classes? Effects of a Digital Intervention Using Voting Advice Applications on Students’ Political DispositionsThomas Waldvogel0Monika Oberle1Johanna Leunig2Department of Political Science, University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg, GermanyDepartment of Political Science, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, GermanyDepartment of Political Science, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, GermanyTo what extent does the use of Voting Advice Applications in (digital) civic education classes at school impact students’ political knowledge, attitudes, motivations and behavioral dispositions toward elections? This article provides answers to this question by presenting a sample analysis of the responses of 1189 pupils who participated in a digital civic education intervention, with the German Voting Advice Application Wahl-O-Mat at its core, whose usage was embedded in an elaborated didactical concept in civic education classes. Using a quasi-experimental field design with pre- and post-tests, the study shows that the intervention substantially improves students’ knowledge of the investigated state election. Furthermore, we can trace a significant increase in young people’s political efficacy and specific interest in the election campaign. Finally, we observe a substantial increase in intended electoral participation, especially among those adolescents whose intention to participate in elections was low prior to the intervention, which contributes to a reduction in existing participation gaps. In particular, we identify changes in motivational and cognitive political dispositions, but only to a limited extent evaluative and sociodemographic background variables, as key factors driving the intervention-induced change in willingness to participate in the state election. Our paper concludes by discussing the limitations of the study and its implications for empirical research and practice in civic education.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/11/621Voting Advice ApplicationWahl-O-Matstate electionscivic educationintervention study |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Waldvogel Monika Oberle Johanna Leunig What Do Pupils Learn from Voting Advice Applications in Civic Education Classes? Effects of a Digital Intervention Using Voting Advice Applications on Students’ Political Dispositions Social Sciences Voting Advice Application Wahl-O-Mat state elections civic education intervention study |
| title | What Do Pupils Learn from Voting Advice Applications in Civic Education Classes? Effects of a Digital Intervention Using Voting Advice Applications on Students’ Political Dispositions |
| title_full | What Do Pupils Learn from Voting Advice Applications in Civic Education Classes? Effects of a Digital Intervention Using Voting Advice Applications on Students’ Political Dispositions |
| title_fullStr | What Do Pupils Learn from Voting Advice Applications in Civic Education Classes? Effects of a Digital Intervention Using Voting Advice Applications on Students’ Political Dispositions |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Do Pupils Learn from Voting Advice Applications in Civic Education Classes? Effects of a Digital Intervention Using Voting Advice Applications on Students’ Political Dispositions |
| title_short | What Do Pupils Learn from Voting Advice Applications in Civic Education Classes? Effects of a Digital Intervention Using Voting Advice Applications on Students’ Political Dispositions |
| title_sort | what do pupils learn from voting advice applications in civic education classes effects of a digital intervention using voting advice applications on students political dispositions |
| topic | Voting Advice Application Wahl-O-Mat state elections civic education intervention study |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/11/621 |
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