Dr. Alexandre Couture Gagnon

About Dr. Alexandre Couture Gagnon

Alexandre Couture Gagnon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). She was previously an Assistant Professor at the École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP) in Québec City. Her research focuses on public policy in minority nations and the United States. Her work has been published in academic chapters and journals. She also wrote her first book, Le délire de l'empire américain, with Alexandre Sirois. Since 2023, she has been the President of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS).

Course Redesign Project and Experience

Dr. Couture Gagnon redesigned her POLS 2306 Texas Government and Politics course by utilizing chapters from various books, newspaper articles, reports, and academic articles to ensure students did not need to purchase a textbook for this undergraduate course. Typically each section of this core course enrolls about 60 first-year or second-year students. Since she no longer assigns a textbook, the students are relieved of the burden of purchasing a textbook saving each student anywhere from $45 to $144.

Dr. Couture Gagnon found this redesign experience both challenging and rewarding. She believes it would have been extremely frustrating without the help of the UTRGV librarians. Throughout this process, the librarians recommended resources, found resources from around the state, obtained their usage licenses, and checked on copyright for guidance on the use of each material. All of this support allowed Dr. Couture Gagnon to offer a zero-cost course for her students.

Student Feedback

Overall the students had a positive reaction to her course. The students were pleased to have readings that they found interesting in comparison to the readings assigned from a typical full-length textbook that "[inevitably] include boring chapters." The students also enjoyed being assigned readings that were all up to date. They were also grateful they did not have to worry about paying for a textbook.

Reflections

Upon reflection, Dr. Couture Gagnon was pleased to include zero-cost readings in her course that were all interesting for her students and up to date. She would also encourage other faculty who are thinking about adopting affordable teaching materials in their course to reach out to the UTRGV Librarians about copyright, recommendations, and readings you cannot find. They are very willing to help and support you through this process. 

Dr. Couture Gagnon Contact Information