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© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

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.

Details

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
Author
Waldvogel, Thomas 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Oberle, Monika 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Leunig, Johanna 2 

 Department of Political Science, University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg, Germany 
 Department of Political Science, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany 
First page
621
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20760760
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2893325717
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.