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A Quarterly Publication of
The American Sociological Association
ABSTRACTS--Volume 29, Number 2, April 2001
ARTICLES
- When Religion Becomes Deviance: Introducing Religion in Deviance and Social Problems Courses ..... Robin D. Perrin
- Social Science Computer Labs as Sites for Teaching and Learning: Challenges and Solutions in their Design and Maintenance ..... David B. Bills and Anthony Q. Stanley
- Teaching for Mastery: Focus on Social Theory ..... Diane Elizabeth Johnson
- Experiential Learning in Sociology: Service Learning and Other Community-Based Learning Initiatives ..... Linda A. Mooney and Bob Edwards
- Avoiding Moral Dichotomies: Teaching Controversial Topics to Resistant Students ..... Linda Markowitz and Mark Hedley
NOTES
- Teaching Qualitative Coding in Undergraduate Field Method Classes: An Exercise Based on Personal Ads ..... Marybeth C. Stalp and Linda Grant
- BAC and Beer: Operationalizing Drunk Driving Laws in a Research Methods Course Exercise ..... Ralph B. Taylor and Patrick McConnell
- Attaining More and Greater Depths of Discussion in the Undergraduate Classroom: The Seminar and the Seminar Paper ..... James A. Crone
- Small Group Debates: Fostering Critical Thinking in Oral Presentations with Maximal Class Involvement ..... Lauren Dundes
When Religion Becomes Deviance: Introducing Religion in Deviance and Social Problems Courses Fringe religions, often referred to as new religious movements (NRMs), or “cults,” are a fascinating and theoretically insightful form of deviant behavior. For the most part, however, those who have studied deviant religions have identified themselves as sociologists of religion rather than deviance theorists, and their books and articles dealing with deviant religion have primarily been directed toward sociologists of religion. As a result, sociologists tend to teach religion as deviance in sociology of religion courses but not in deviance or social problems courses. The purpose of this paper is to highlight significant literature and important theoretical connections relevant to the teaching of deviant religions in deviance and social problems courses. Deviance conceptions and theory can be easily applied to the study of cults, and the result can be academically and intellectually stimulating to professor and student alike.
(Robin D. Perrin)
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Social Science Computer Labs as Sites for Teaching and Learning: Challenges and Solutions in their Design and Maintenance
(David B. Bills and Anthony Q. Stanley)Electronic information technology is an increasingly important aspect of teaching and learning in the social sciences. While we have constructed a substantial body of scholarship on the use of this technology for direct instructional purposes, we know far less about how to design and maintain infrastructures capable of enabling and supporting good instructional principles and practice. We need to understand not only the pedagogy of teaching and learning with computer technology, but also a host of administrative, technical, training, and managerial issues. We describe our experience with the design, implementation, and operation of a social science computer laboratory at our own institution. There is little codified knowledge about how to go about establishing these labs. Our purpose is to provide advice and recommendations to those who wish to enhance the teaching mission at their institutions by engaging in similar activities.
Teaching for Mastery: Focus on Social Theory This article details my efforts to enhance student outcomes in my annual course in micro theory, social foundations of human behavior, at a midsize state university in the fall of 1998. Literature on the teaching of social theory recommends two teaching strategies: application and collaborative learning. In this paper, I describe the ways in which I (1) adapted these recommendations to course materials, (2) collected data on student response, and (3) used feedback to fine tune the approach. In monitoring student response, I was guided by a model based on work in educational psychology on learning styles and Jerome Bruner’s modes of thought (1996). Monitoring student learning was non-intrusive, relying for the most part on class assignments and regularly scheduled exams.
(Diane Elizabeth Johnson)
Experiential Learning in Sociology: Service Learning and Other Community-Based Learning Initiatives Despite increased popularity and a strong pedagogical tradition, the literature on community-based learning (CBL) initiatives, and service learning, evidences a certain conceptual imprecision. In the hopes of clarifying definitional ambiguities, we critically review the CBL literature identifying six distinct types of CBL options and their characteristics. The result is a hierarchy of community-based learning, which while not proposed as a definitive conceptualization, is likely to be useful in terms of curricular development. Using a hypothetical sociology class, the community-based learning options identified (i.e., out-of-class activities, volunteering, service add-ons, internships, service learning, and service learning advocacy) are discussed in terms of their pedagogical differences and associated curricular benefits.
(Linda A. Mooney and Bob Edwards)
Avoiding Moral Dichotomies: Teaching Controversial Topics to Resistant Students
(Linda Markowitz and Mark Hedley)
We argue that students’ classroom resistance to the analysis of social inequality and other controversial topics commonly involves their application of norm/other logic to course material. Such logic manifests itself as morally laden dichotomies that identify the “norm” as superior to all “other” alternatives. Further, we argue that norm/other dichotomies exist as social constructs that rely on dualism to foster a moral hegemony justifying social inequality. However, as social constructs, norm/other dichotomies are not immutable. Teachers may overcome students’ resistance by consciously seeking to make students aware of this logic and its inhibiting influence on the development of sociological understanding. We offer specific lecture topics, in-class exercises, and homework assignments to aid teachers in helping students overcome the limitations inherent in norm/other logic.
Teaching Qualitative Coding n Undergraduate Field Method Classes: An Exercise Based on Personal Ads
(Marybeth C. Stalp and Linda Grant)In teaching any type of methods course to undergraduate students, one of the most difficult but critical tasks is conveying the importance of linking evidence and argument and ensuring that the analysis one develops is reflective of the evidence one has obtained. The task is especially difficult in teaching field methods, where students inexperienced with research must learn to generate analyses inductively from evidence. This paper describes an exercise developed in an undergraduate field methods class in sociology to aid in conveying both the logic and the application of qualitative coding. Students worked with personal ads from a metropolitan newspaper first to attempt to replicate an earlier piece of sociological analysis. In the next stage, they develop new questions beyond the scope of the replication and develop original coding strategies to address them. Finally, students at our institution were able to extend the exercise to learn the use of Ethnograph, a computer program for the analysis of qualitative data. With or without the final step, the exercise provides hands-on experience with grounded theory analysis among beginning research students, who then apply what they have learned in original field research projects.
BAC and Beer: Operationalizing Drunk Driving Laws in a Research Methods Course Exercise
(Ralph B. Taylor and Patrick McConnell)An in-class exercise in a research methods class illustrated the process of operationalizing a construct in a policy-relevant context that was familiar to college students. Students read about the drunk driving problem, and were asked to estimate the number of beers needed to push their blood alcohol content (BAC) to .10 percent, the level in most states where a driver is guilty of drunk driving. Results showed wide variation in students' estimates, even after controlling for gender and weight differences. This variation demonstrates how uncertainty may continue to surround operationalization, even when the chosen indicator is intended as a policy improvement. The exercise is potentially applicable to statistics or social problems courses, and those applications are discussed.
Attaining More and Greater Depths of Discussion in the Undergraduate Classroom: The Seminar and the Seminar Paper
(James A. Crone)How can we attain greater depth of discussion in the undergraduate sociology classroom? The author uses a method that has resulted in a significant increase in the quality of discussion in his undergraduate sociology classes. Students prepare an open-ended question and a one- to three-page answer over the day's assigned reading. They ask the question to the entire class, and following a period of discussion, offer their prepared answer, typically as an elaboration or qualification of what has just been discussed. The result of this process is a greater depth of sociological discussion.
Small Group Debates: Fostering Critical Thinking in Oral Presentations with Maximal Class Involvement
(Lauren Dundes)Because many students leave college without a sense of mastery of public speaking, many instructors endeavor to incorporate an opportunity to practice this essential skill into their courses. Frequently, however, student presentations result in practice for the student at the expense of the rest of the class.
To address this commonly occurring problem of audience passivity while increasing the time that a student spends speaking, I have developed a small group debate method which provides students with greatly needed practice in public speaking while engaging the rest of the class who become active participants. When two students debate each other in front of an audience of about four persons-the essence of this technique-the relaxed atmosphere and audience involvement make an otherwise intimidating experience both more enjoyable and more conducive to critical thinking than the conventional public speaking format.
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