Democratic Teaching and Learning: A Webinar Series Full video available here: https://youtu.be/P31gnl4WIJY Developed by Co-Chairs of the Teaching, Training and Mentoring Committee of Participedia.net, Drs. Joanna Ashworth & Bettina von Lieres: a webinar series to connect Participedia researchers and collaborators with shared interests and to exchange knowledge about challenges and successes in the field of teaching methods, theories and cases that support democratic participation. SESSION 1 (June 6, 2018): Participedia.net Teaching and Learning from Cases What and How Do We Teach Using Participedia.net? Questions, Cases, and Opportunities First in our new webinar series on Democratic Teaching and Learning, this session covers what and how we teach using Participedia.net, including questions, cases, and opportunities. Speakers: Graham Smith (University of Westminster) and Tina Nabatchi (Syracuse University) Moderator: Bettina von Lieres (University of Toronto Scarborough)

2. Welcome
Participedia.net Teaching from Cases
What and how do we teach using Participedia.net?
Moderator: Bettina Von Lieres, University of Toronto
Date: June 6, 2018
Presentations by: Tina Nabatchi, Syracuse University
Graham Smith, University of Westminster

3. Participedia
A global community sharing knowledge
and stories about public participation

5. Research Question
What kinds of participatory democratic
innovations work best for specific purposes
under specific conditions?

6. Project Goals
• Map democratic innovations
• Explain how and why
• Assess their contributions
• Transfer knowledge into practice
• Develop a new model of
collaboration in social science

7. Participedia.net Teaching from Cases
What and how do we teach using Participedia.net?
Tina Nabatchi Graham Smith
Syracuse University University of Westminster

10. Teaching Democratic Innovations
• Taught courses on democratic innovations for 10+ years
• Postgraduate and undergraduate
• Wrestled with a number of issues, including:
How to balance (and order) theory and practice?
How to ensure students understanding importance of design
characteristics?

11. Teaching With Participedia (PP)
• Since 2014, course assignment: New case for Participedia
Course ‘sold’ as opportunity to contribute to global research project
• Shift to practice followed by theoretical reflection…
Part 1: Types of democratic innovation – direct legislation, participatory
budgeting, mini-publics, digital platforms
Part 2: Theory – Athenian democracy, participatory democracy,
deliberative democracy

12. Familiarising Students
With Participedia
• Participedia introduced in the first lecture
• PP used in teaching different types of democratic
innovations (in seminars, students able to search PP to find examples)

13. Familiarising Students
With Participedia
• Structure of PP cases introduced in lecture in Week 4
Narrative case description + data form
• List of cases currently not on PP provided to students
• Students build up elements of case in following weeks –
discussed in seminars

14. • Students submit case summary in week 7
Time for teaching staff to check if suitable case with relevant resources
• Students submit full case in Week 14
• Students invited to upload case to PP in light of feedback
Extra support provided to ensure quality
Familiarising Students
With Participedia

15. Familiarising Students
With Participedia

16. Details of Assignments
• Case summary – 1,000 words (20% final course mark)
Brief description of the case (location, structure, number of
participants, sponsoring organization)
Why an interesting democratic innovation to study
Sources to be used to develop the summary into a PP entry (this may
include interviews with organisers)

17. Details of Assignments
• Full PP case – 3,000 words (70% final course mark)
Case description – as on PP, except ‘analysis and lessons learned’
section at least 500 words, including critical analysis of the case with
reference to practical and theoretical material taught on the module
Data form (Word version provided to students)
• N.B. 10% final course mark based on weekly seminar
tasks

18. • Students who take the module tend to enjoy the different
challenge and perform well
Caveat – students who do not attend do poorly (often worse than on
standard courses)
• Students are positive, but nervous, about potentially
contributing to a global research project
Add to CV – PP intern
• BUT, difficult to attract students who tend to be
conservative about assessments...
Course has not run for two years.
Paradox of Assignment
Innovation...

20. Teaching and Participedia
• Participedia.xyz: a platform for recording, sharing,
exploring, and researching participatory cases, methods,
and organizations from around the world
• Growing number of university courses on public
participation, but few materials to help instructors teach
and to help students learn
• PARCC students are developing a variety of teaching
and learning materials:
1. Publications to inform practitioners
2. Presentations for instructors
3. Teaching cases, activities, and exercises

21. Publications for Practitioners
• Michel, Antonio (March 26, 2018). Participedia: A Platform for Learning
about Public Participation Around the World. https://patimes.org/40313-2/
• Ali, Asna (April 20, 2018). Building Public Spaces for Women in Pakistan.
https://patimes.org/building-public-spaces-for-women-in-pakistan/
• Tojeiro, Carol (May 4, 2018). A Participatory Health Care System: What
Can We Learn from Brazil? https://patimes.org/a-participatory-health-care-
system-what-can-we-learn-from-brazil/
• Michel, Antonio (June 2018). A Bright Hope in the City of Lights.
(forthcoming)

22. Publications for Practitioners
• Nabatchi and Leighninger (2015). Participation Skills:
Ten Key Talents for Engaging Citizens. Available at:
https://bit.ly/2LEDVUH
General presentation about Participedia and the ten key talents
Separate presentations for each talent, using Participedia cases to
illustrate concepts and ideas, and concluding with an exercise

23. Presentations

24. Examples
• The General Presentation
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Gvpj2kgyldSrFWpdP1qJNj7IVaGe
XXZx-F5evIt0ExY/edit#slide=id.g3283fffa34_2_156
• Managing Discussions
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18YbkalfgLSiqR60G_1fbCLDPHKN
Ekskp9gLwzzWEak/edit#slide=id.g38aa967ea0_0_55

25. Some Challenges & Questions
• How do we build capacity for students and PARCC?
• What do instructors need and want and need when it
comes to teaching participation in the classroom?
• Are the presentations useful? What would make them
more useful?