Students in Professor Shamira Gelbman's Election Polls & Public Opinion class shared information with the Crawfordsville community on political polling. Avery Epstein '25 talks about target populatons.
Professor of Political Science Shamira Gelbman engages with attendees prior to the presentations.
Alexandra Thomas, Crawfordsville League of Women Voters board member, opens the lunchtime program. She said to those in attendance, "This research is extremely valuable to me, the community, and to the League of Women Voters in order to know what's going on."
Gelbman introduces the first presenters.
James Langmaid '25 introduces the attendes to modes of polling.
Bryce Kinnaman ’27 listens intently to his classmates' presentation.
Olivier Tuyishime '25 presented with Langmaid.
Nick Green '27 (left) and Colin Baker '25 presented on sampling and how to overcome the mathematical chance of error.
As Baker mentions, be wary of polls with a margin of error greater than four percent.
Baker leads a discussion of the intracicies of margin of error.
Isaac Morrison '26 and his research partner discussed populations in polling.
Audience members peppered the students with questions over lunch.
Derek McDonald '27 answers a question from an audience member.
Morgan Govekar '26 (center left) gives a thoughtful answer to a question.
Morrison goes into more detail during the question-and-answer session.
Class members listen to an audience member's response.
There was plenty of thoughtful back-and-forth between the students and community members.
Langmaid delivers a thoughtful response.
The political science students were active listeners as well.
Community members asked plenty of energetic questions.
Gelbman has taught this class at Wabash during each presidential election since 2012. She says multiple factors contribute to make it a different experience every time.
Audeince members shared personal experiences with polling and also asked for best practices for participating.
Wabash students were able to give deatiled answers to questions posed and enjoyed the opportunity to share what they've learned with community members.
Green makes a point near the end of the session.
The 15 students in Professor Shamira Gelbman’s PSC 211 class, Election Polls & Public Opinion, are strengthening their political literacy by studying polling through its history, methodology, and media influence.
Understanding political polls and how they are used is fast becoming a necessary skill during election season.
“There’s more polling than ever before, it’s become more complex, and there’s wide variation in how well different media outlets cover poll results,” said Gelbman, professor of political science. “Polling and media literacy is the most important thing for students to learn from this course in its current iteration.”
On Oct. 3, the students presented information and facilitated a discussion with community members at a “Lunch with the League” event at Fusion 54. It was an opportunity to serve as experts and share ideas with others in an event sponsored by the Montgomery County League of Women Voters and the Community-Engaged Alliance.
“I really enjoyed it,” said Isaac Morrison ‘26. “It’s easy to think of what I’m learning in the classroom as confined to the classroom. When you can take that idea and go out and see people nodding, smiling, and learning something from you, it feels useful to apply in real life and help others in the process.”
The impact of political polls is not lost on these students.
“This class has shown me just how influential polls can be during election seasons,” said Olivier Tuyishime ’25, a political science major who resides in Indianapolis. “One simple poll about a particular political topic or candidate can swing the results of an election.”
Class discussions have shown the ways in which polling can impact voting, including bandwagon effects (polls show a candidate is likely to win), driving down voter turnout (election outcome seems a foregone conclusion based on reported poll results), or driving up voter turnout (polls show very close races, voters feel like their vote can actually make a difference).
“Polarization has bled into public discourse about polling and the legitimacy of polls, so it’s pushed me to refocus 
the course on polling and media literacy in this latest iteration,” Gelbman said. “This was also the motivation for applying for the Community-Engaged Alliance grant in order to bring the students’ polling literacy learning to the broader campus and local communities.”
Morrison has enjoyed learning about the history of polling and how it continues to evolve along with improvements in technology. He cited the fact that even though smartphones are commonplace now, it is harder to reliably reach people than it was back in the 1950s and ’60s when landlines were in practically every household.
“You’d think that with everyone having phones now in their pockets, polling would be easier,” said the PPE major from Wylie, Texas, “but there are so many challenges that come with it.”
It’s those challenges—sampling errors, demographics, quality of questions asked, and polarization—that interest the group and offer a unique perspective for Gelbman, who has taught this class in each presidential election year since 2012. While each offering is different, the level of interest is strong.
“I’ve been pleased with how engaged students are this year,” she said. “They’ve taken in the material well, asked good questions about it, and showed they can share that learning with voters in the local community.”
The PSC 211 students will be participating in another “Lunch with the League” on Oct. 31 to discuss exit polls.