Michael Evans
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About Michael
Evans's research focuses on civic education, political polarization, civil discourse across difference, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence in higher education. Overarching themes in Evans's writings include democratic resilience, the role of higher education in sustaining democratic culture, and evidence-based approaches to civic learning at scale. Evans serves as Principal Lecturer at Georgia State University, where directs the CICERO Project Lab, coordinates one of the nation's largest general education courses, develops AI-powered tools for civic education, and leads grant-supported research on reducing political polarization and strengthening citizen capacities.
Publications
Interactive online digital textbook for Introduction to American Government.
According to influential theories of judicial behavior, Supreme Court opinions are best seen not as genuine reflections of belief about the role of the courts but, rather, as insincere cloaks for decisions based on policy preferences or other political motives. We demonstrate, by contrast, that Justices Scalia and Breyer differ markedly in the interpretive approaches used most often in their opinions and that the differences are consistent with their distinct jurisprudential philosophies.
Reports results from a large study comparing four different approaches to teaching Introduction to American Government: (1) traditional, a paper textbook with 100% face-to-face lecture-style teaching; (2) breakout, a paper textbook with 50% face-to-face lecture-style teaching and 50% face-to-face small-group breakout discussion sections moderated by graduate students; (3) blended, an interactive online textbook with face-to-face full-class meetings taught with a blend of lecture, discussions, and in-class activities; and (4) online only, an interactive online textbook with (almost) no face-to-face class meetings.