Using Prediction Markets as a Tool for Classroom and Civic Engagement

Keeping students actively engaged in their courses and seeking ways to help them understand how to apply course content to real-world scenarios remains a central focus of political science education. In an effort to address this enduring challenge, we implement a prediction market focused on the 2022 congressional midterm elections in our introductory and upper-level political science courses. Using original survey data, obtained through the administration of pre and post surveys, we find statistically significant increases in feelings of pride, hope, trust, and efficacy among market participants. More broadly, we discuss the ways in which this semester-long project, using both the prediction market and classroom assignments, fosters increases in the desire for civic participation and the possibility of sustained civic engagement that extends beyond the classroom. Throughout the paper we seek to provide a useful guide for anyone seeking alternative methods of classroom and civic engagement and different ways by which to achieve it in a variety of courses.