Pub Date : 2024-03-04DOI: 10.1177/0092055x241233883
Esa Syeed, Blanca Valenzuela
Given pandemic restrictions on learning and research, autoethnography has recently garnered renewed attention as a potential alternative. Drawing on our experiences as instructor and student, we make the case that autoethnography is not only relevant to pandemic-era teaching but could also offer an effective pedagogical tool to critically engage the lived experiences of an increasingly diverse student population in higher education that includes first-generation students and those of other minoritized backgrounds. We specifically outline the kinds of implications autoethnography can have on students at a personal level, in their understanding of research, and in terms of their overall well-being. Additionally, we discuss challenges with the method, provide examples of autoethnographic excerpts, and incorporate examples of learning exercises.
{"title":"When Filling the Research Gap Is Personal: Autoethnography and New Majority Students","authors":"Esa Syeed, Blanca Valenzuela","doi":"10.1177/0092055x241233883","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x241233883","url":null,"abstract":"Given pandemic restrictions on learning and research, autoethnography has recently garnered renewed attention as a potential alternative. Drawing on our experiences as instructor and student, we make the case that autoethnography is not only relevant to pandemic-era teaching but could also offer an effective pedagogical tool to critically engage the lived experiences of an increasingly diverse student population in higher education that includes first-generation students and those of other minoritized backgrounds. We specifically outline the kinds of implications autoethnography can have on students at a personal level, in their understanding of research, and in terms of their overall well-being. Additionally, we discuss challenges with the method, provide examples of autoethnographic excerpts, and incorporate examples of learning exercises.","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140053665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-22DOI: 10.1177/0092055x241230549
Eric R. Wright, Day Wong, Waqar Ahmad, Rafia Javaid Mallick
Virtual exchange programs represent a relatively novel approach designed to foster a more global perspective and promote discipline-specific learning; however, this approach has not been widely adopted in sociology. This article reports findings on student experiences and learning in a virtual exchange program involving two large introductory sociology classes in Hong Kong and Atlanta. A postsurvey invited students to reflect qualitatively on their experiences, and six major themes emerged from the data: (1) global application of sociological knowledge, (2) social and cultural relativism, (3) breaking the shell and gaining intellectual and social flexibility, (4) social networking opportunities, (5) challenges and adjustments, and (6) keeping contact beyond school. Based on our experience and the students’ feedback, we conclude that virtual exchange is an effective pedagogical approach for internationalizing sociology curricula, enhancing intercultural competency, and deepening students’ understanding of core sociological concepts.
{"title":"Doing Sociology across Borders: Student Experiences and Learning with Virtual Exchange in Large Introductory Sociology Classes","authors":"Eric R. Wright, Day Wong, Waqar Ahmad, Rafia Javaid Mallick","doi":"10.1177/0092055x241230549","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x241230549","url":null,"abstract":"Virtual exchange programs represent a relatively novel approach designed to foster a more global perspective and promote discipline-specific learning; however, this approach has not been widely adopted in sociology. This article reports findings on student experiences and learning in a virtual exchange program involving two large introductory sociology classes in Hong Kong and Atlanta. A postsurvey invited students to reflect qualitatively on their experiences, and six major themes emerged from the data: (1) global application of sociological knowledge, (2) social and cultural relativism, (3) breaking the shell and gaining intellectual and social flexibility, (4) social networking opportunities, (5) challenges and adjustments, and (6) keeping contact beyond school. Based on our experience and the students’ feedback, we conclude that virtual exchange is an effective pedagogical approach for internationalizing sociology curricula, enhancing intercultural competency, and deepening students’ understanding of core sociological concepts.","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140438084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-21DOI: 10.1177/0092055x241230538
Julio Ángel Alicea
This article contributes to the reclamation of W.E.B. Du Bois’s many contributions to social science practice. In particular, it offers an original quadripartite pedagogical framework grounded in the practices and ideas of Du Bois and more contemporary Du Boisian scholars. In doing so, it utilizes a combination of archival materials, Du Bois’s publications, and secondary literature. This article then intervenes by (1) offering a concise review of the trajectory and main developments of Du Bois’s educational thought, (2) analyzing and synthesizing the secondary educational literature on Du Bois’s philosophy and sociology of education, and (3) outlining an original framework for pedagogical practice grounded in Du Boisian principles. It argues that a Du Boisian framework for pedagogy will be crucial in the Du Bois-inspired efforts to decolonize the sociological imagination.
{"title":"Toward a Du Boisian Pedagogy for the Teaching of Sociology","authors":"Julio Ángel Alicea","doi":"10.1177/0092055x241230538","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x241230538","url":null,"abstract":"This article contributes to the reclamation of W.E.B. Du Bois’s many contributions to social science practice. In particular, it offers an original quadripartite pedagogical framework grounded in the practices and ideas of Du Bois and more contemporary Du Boisian scholars. In doing so, it utilizes a combination of archival materials, Du Bois’s publications, and secondary literature. This article then intervenes by (1) offering a concise review of the trajectory and main developments of Du Bois’s educational thought, (2) analyzing and synthesizing the secondary educational literature on Du Bois’s philosophy and sociology of education, and (3) outlining an original framework for pedagogical practice grounded in Du Boisian principles. It argues that a Du Boisian framework for pedagogy will be crucial in the Du Bois-inspired efforts to decolonize the sociological imagination.","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139948269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-31DOI: 10.1177/0092055x231226229
Freeden Blume Oeur
A silence in the resurgence of scholarship on W. E. B. Du Bois has been his work as an instructor. This article uses Du Bois’s early teaching experiences and reflections on the “ugly” progress of schooling to ask: What should guide the pedagogy of sociology instructors when racial progress is so ugly? I sketch here a pedagogy inspired by Du Bois—who was the teacher denied—which is motivated by a positive notion of propaganda. Du Bois was a radical pedagogue whose mixed-methods instructional agenda informed a critical Black Sociology and bridges recent calls by American Sociological Association leadership for a discipline that is more emancipatory and educative. Embracing the right to propaganda gives pedagogical teeth to honest appraisals on racial progress. Triangulating art, science, and agitation in our pedagogy offers a general compass, and my article concludes with one direction that compass might lead: a classroom assignment where my undergraduate students became “print propagandists.”
{"title":"Of the Meaning of Pedagogy: W. E. B. Du Bois, Racial Progress, and Positive Propaganda","authors":"Freeden Blume Oeur","doi":"10.1177/0092055x231226229","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x231226229","url":null,"abstract":"A silence in the resurgence of scholarship on W. E. B. Du Bois has been his work as an instructor. This article uses Du Bois’s early teaching experiences and reflections on the “ugly” progress of schooling to ask: What should guide the pedagogy of sociology instructors when racial progress is so ugly? I sketch here a pedagogy inspired by Du Bois—who was the teacher denied—which is motivated by a positive notion of propaganda. Du Bois was a radical pedagogue whose mixed-methods instructional agenda informed a critical Black Sociology and bridges recent calls by American Sociological Association leadership for a discipline that is more emancipatory and educative. Embracing the right to propaganda gives pedagogical teeth to honest appraisals on racial progress. Triangulating art, science, and agitation in our pedagogy offers a general compass, and my article concludes with one direction that compass might lead: a classroom assignment where my undergraduate students became “print propagandists.”","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139948195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-31DOI: 10.1177/0092055x231224120
Cameron T. Whitley, Erin N. Kidder, Kelley J. Ortiz, Liz Grauerholz
Sociology plays a key role in empathy development, which is central to addressing complex social problems. However, little is known about what types of courses work best to enhance empathy. In parallel, sociological animal studies (SAS) has evolved as a relatively new subfield focused on assessing human and animal relationships. SAS research suggests that our interactions with animals enhance empathy development. Combining these literatures, we assess if SAS compared to non-SAS courses impact affective and cognitive empathy for humans and animals differently. Findings reveal that students who take SAS courses demonstrate greater postcourse human and animal empathy even when controlling for precourse levels of empathy and other factors that drive empathy development. Although SAS remains on the periphery of the discipline, this study suggests that it should be a central component of the sociological curriculum.
社会学在移情能力培养方面发挥着关键作用,而移情能力培养是解决复杂社会问题的核心。然而,人们对哪类课程最能增进同理心却知之甚少。与此同时,社会学动物研究(SAS)作为一个相对较新的子领域,专注于评估人类与动物的关系。动物社会学研究表明,我们与动物的互动能促进移情能力的发展。结合这些文献,我们评估了与非 SAS 课程相比,SAS 课程是否会对人类和动物的情感和认知移情产生不同的影响。研究结果表明,即使控制了课程前的移情水平和其他驱动移情发展的因素,选修 SAS 课程的学生在课程后仍能表现出更高的人类和动物移情能力。虽然 SAS 仍处于学科的边缘,但这项研究表明,它应该成为社会学课程的核心组成部分。
{"title":"Sociological Animal Studies Courses Are More Effective Than Human-Centered Sociology Courses in Enhancing Empathy","authors":"Cameron T. Whitley, Erin N. Kidder, Kelley J. Ortiz, Liz Grauerholz","doi":"10.1177/0092055x231224120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x231224120","url":null,"abstract":"Sociology plays a key role in empathy development, which is central to addressing complex social problems. However, little is known about what types of courses work best to enhance empathy. In parallel, sociological animal studies (SAS) has evolved as a relatively new subfield focused on assessing human and animal relationships. SAS research suggests that our interactions with animals enhance empathy development. Combining these literatures, we assess if SAS compared to non-SAS courses impact affective and cognitive empathy for humans and animals differently. Findings reveal that students who take SAS courses demonstrate greater postcourse human and animal empathy even when controlling for precourse levels of empathy and other factors that drive empathy development. Although SAS remains on the periphery of the discipline, this study suggests that it should be a central component of the sociological curriculum.","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139948197","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-13DOI: 10.1177/0092055x231222276
S. Applin
Students hold foundational assumptions that interact with information they are introduced to in college. By learning to identify, assess, and restructure these foundational ideas, students’ ability to acquire topical knowledge improves. This article presents a format for teaching students how to evaluate their beliefs through four levels of critical thinking: (1) identifying assumptions, (2) assessing the origin and quality of assumptions, (3) seeking out alternative perspectives, and (4) weighing evidence and incorporating new information into thinking. A variety of skills are needed to accomplish each of these levels, such as identifying biases and developing intellectual humility. Self-assessments, assignments, and responses to early and late semester questionnaires suggest students see the value in learning about critical thinking and develop their ability to think critically over the course of the semester. Students become more open-minded, intellectually humble, and self-reflective, priming them to be more receptive to foundational learning.
{"title":"Priming Students for Foundational Learning by Investigating Foundational Assumptions: A Critical Thinking Framework","authors":"S. Applin","doi":"10.1177/0092055x231222276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x231222276","url":null,"abstract":"Students hold foundational assumptions that interact with information they are introduced to in college. By learning to identify, assess, and restructure these foundational ideas, students’ ability to acquire topical knowledge improves. This article presents a format for teaching students how to evaluate their beliefs through four levels of critical thinking: (1) identifying assumptions, (2) assessing the origin and quality of assumptions, (3) seeking out alternative perspectives, and (4) weighing evidence and incorporating new information into thinking. A variety of skills are needed to accomplish each of these levels, such as identifying biases and developing intellectual humility. Self-assessments, assignments, and responses to early and late semester questionnaires suggest students see the value in learning about critical thinking and develop their ability to think critically over the course of the semester. Students become more open-minded, intellectually humble, and self-reflective, priming them to be more receptive to foundational learning.","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139531772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-13DOI: 10.1177/0092055x231222280
Samantha Nousak, Leanne Barry, Susan R. Fisk
Statistical literacy is critical for all sociology students because it facilitates academic and professional success, high-paying jobs, and informed citizenship. Most students, however, lack adequate statistical literacy to engage with sociological research. Within that general deficit, there are gender, racial, and social-class differences, with students from historically marginalized groups starting and staying behind. In this conversation, we argue that to deepen statistical literacy and reduce inequalities, instructors must be willing to sacrifice breadth of content to attend to students’ psychosocial needs throughout sociology curricula, especially in courses where quantitative methodology is not the core focus. We synthesize prior literature into a holistic psychosocial approach for teaching quantitative sociology content at all course levels: build interest and motivation, foster a growth mindset, develop statistical efficacy, encourage belonging, and challenge stereotypes.
{"title":"Deepening Learning and Addressing Inequalities: A Psychosocial Approach to Improving Statistical Literacy Throughout Sociology Curricula","authors":"Samantha Nousak, Leanne Barry, Susan R. Fisk","doi":"10.1177/0092055x231222280","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x231222280","url":null,"abstract":"Statistical literacy is critical for all sociology students because it facilitates academic and professional success, high-paying jobs, and informed citizenship. Most students, however, lack adequate statistical literacy to engage with sociological research. Within that general deficit, there are gender, racial, and social-class differences, with students from historically marginalized groups starting and staying behind. In this conversation, we argue that to deepen statistical literacy and reduce inequalities, instructors must be willing to sacrifice breadth of content to attend to students’ psychosocial needs throughout sociology curricula, especially in courses where quantitative methodology is not the core focus. We synthesize prior literature into a holistic psychosocial approach for teaching quantitative sociology content at all course levels: build interest and motivation, foster a growth mindset, develop statistical efficacy, encourage belonging, and challenge stereotypes.","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139531126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-13DOI: 10.1177/0092055x231222275
Stephen Sweet, Susan J. Ferguson
The American Sociological Association identified 12 major recommendations for the undergraduate major, which include 11 learning goals articulated in the sociological literacy framework. In total, these recommendations identified upward of 70 different curricular elements that optimal sociology programs should consider satisfying. This article shows how curriculum mapping combined with an organized set of resources (the Curriculum Mapping Toolkit for Sociology [CMTS]) facilitates productive discussions that identify program goals, program strengths, program weaknesses, and pathways for program improvement. Data rely on the CMTS itself, which tracked department engagement with different elements of program review, and appraisals of department representatives who committed to presenting the opportunity for curriculum review to their colleagues. Although the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many departments’ capacities to work fully with the CMTS, data demonstrate that the CMTS was met with strong interest by department leaders and their department colleagues. Its application positively impacted program quality and collegial relationships. Department leaders evaluated the CMTS as being “useful” or “very useful” and considered the collective work involved as being both manageable and productive.
{"title":"Program Review with the Curriculum Mapping Toolkit for Sociology: Assessment of a Publicly Available Resource for Sociology Departments","authors":"Stephen Sweet, Susan J. Ferguson","doi":"10.1177/0092055x231222275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x231222275","url":null,"abstract":"The American Sociological Association identified 12 major recommendations for the undergraduate major, which include 11 learning goals articulated in the sociological literacy framework. In total, these recommendations identified upward of 70 different curricular elements that optimal sociology programs should consider satisfying. This article shows how curriculum mapping combined with an organized set of resources (the Curriculum Mapping Toolkit for Sociology [CMTS]) facilitates productive discussions that identify program goals, program strengths, program weaknesses, and pathways for program improvement. Data rely on the CMTS itself, which tracked department engagement with different elements of program review, and appraisals of department representatives who committed to presenting the opportunity for curriculum review to their colleagues. Although the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many departments’ capacities to work fully with the CMTS, data demonstrate that the CMTS was met with strong interest by department leaders and their department colleagues. Its application positively impacted program quality and collegial relationships. Department leaders evaluated the CMTS as being “useful” or “very useful” and considered the collective work involved as being both manageable and productive.","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139530871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-22DOI: 10.1177/0092055x231214664
{"title":"New Resources in TRAILS: The Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/0092055x231214664","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x231214664","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139163702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.1177/0092055x231214667
Billy R. Brocato
{"title":"Book Review: Innovations in Digital Research Methods","authors":"Billy R. Brocato","doi":"10.1177/0092055x231214667","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x231214667","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46942,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Sociology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138612411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}