The Challenge of Using TikTok in a Political Science Classroom

• In Event: Applied and in the Field Active Learning

Abstract

This paper presents the findings from a fall 2022 pilot project that incorporated TikToks among three undergraduate courses at a Jesuit liberal-arts university in the Northeast. Students were asked to create their own TikToks in response to current political issues and as a creative outlet to demonstrate knowledge of course-related topics. However, despite the app’s massive popularity, not all students were enthused about its use as a graded component. The unexpected resistance in the lower-division course to the assignment allows us to speculate when and if TikTok should be used by educators in K-12 and college, specifically not as a teaching tool but to gauge student understanding. One theory for the desultory response is that many users prefer to consume or scroll content, but not create it themselves. Another is that TikTok is not appropriate in courses where the depth and breadth of knowledge is too vast; but the app’s usage could be encouraged in specialized seminars. We also contend with a possible lockdown-related tech fatigue among college students.

Author

• Shyam K. Sriram, Canisius University