Creating Spaces for Political Socialisation by Implementing Collaborative Learning Experiences with Students from Different Academic Levels

This paper presents the results of the second phase of an educational innovation project implemented at the University Loyola Andalucía, in Spain, aimed at creating spaces for political socialization among university students pursuing a communication degree by implementing collaborative learning methods. The collaboration among students is aimed at establishing a collective blog about concepts and current political issues intended for high school students. Collaboration occurs between students in the first-year political science course and students in the second-year journalistic genres course. We analyse both the collaborative learning project itself and effects of the project on the attitudes towards politics among the university students involved. These are measured through a mixed methodology. On the one hand, a survey was administered both before and after the project of educational innovation was implemented. On the other hand, focus groups were also conducted in both referred moments. Our teaching experience informs us about how to design courses that engage students to experience political processes in a context characterized by a low level of interest in politics among young people.