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A Quarterly Publication of
The American Sociological Association
ABSTRACTS
Volume 35, Number 1, January 2007ARTICLES
- A Pedagogical Boomerang: From Hans Mauksch to Medicine to the Teaching and Learning of Sociology ..... Gregory L. Weiss
- A Comparative Analysis of Existing Standards for High School Sociology Curricula ..... Angie L. Andriot
- The Sociology Major at Institutions of Higher Education in the United States ..... Edward L. Kain
- The Campus Survey: Integrating Pedagogy, Scholarship, and Evaluation ..... Royce A. Singleton
- A Comparative Analysis of Existing Standards for High School Sociology Curricula ..... Angie L. Andriot
- Learning by Exams: The Impact of Two-Stage Cooperative Tests ..... John F. Zipp
NOTES
- Profile of An Engaged Sociology Major ..... Kathleen McKinney and Laura Reed
- If Ida Known: The Speaker Versus the Speech in Judging Black Dialect ..... Lauren Dundes and Bill Spence
2006 Hans O. Mauksch Award Address
A Pedagogical Boomerang: From Hans Mauksch to Medicine to the Teaching and Learning of SociologyEven in its formative stages the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is drawing the attention and interest of scholars across academic disciplines and across types of educational institutions. Many sociologists are reflecting on how to shape scholarly efforts on teaching and learning within our discipline. This paper recounts the guidance that Hans Mauksch, a legendary figure in the teaching movement in sociology, extended to medical sociology as that area of specialization was developing, and seeks to apply his ideas to the development of SoTL in sociology today. I make three specific recommendations: (1) maintaining the independence of SoTL as a separate area of interest and scholarship while enthusiastically working with and drawing upon the work of others within and outside sociology, (2) broadening the content of SoTL investigations to address teaching and learning from additional perspectives, and (3) utilizing an increasingly diverse set of research methods to assist in exploring the many dimensions of teaching and learning.
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A Comparative Analysis of Existing Standards for High School Sociology Curricula
Academic sociologists have recently increased their focus on improving high school sociology. Reform efforts include networking between teachers and universities, improving curriculum, and enhancing teacher training. I propose that this list be expanded to include setting curricular standards. Current trends in educational reform center on standards-based education, and although many social science disciplines have adapted to this trend, sociology's focus on standards is limited to undergraduate education. I analyze the existing state sociology standards by measuring them against the American Sociological Association's (ASA) Advanced Placement Sociology course, the National Council for Social Studies standards, and the sample learning goals from Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major Updated (McKinney et al. 2005). The results indicate that there are some substantial differences in the learning goals set forth by the ASA and those set forth by the states. I suggest that since the academic sociological community is in an ideal position to address high school social studies content in a variety of disciplines, we should expand our efforts in this area.
The Sociology Major at Institutions of Higher Education in the United States
In this article I examine how the sociology major is structured at institutions of higher education in the United States. I use content analysis of college catalogs from 100 institutions to examine the sociology major at top institutions among regional and national universities and liberal arts colleges. I first examine the basic structure of sociology programs and then evaluate implementation of the recommendations from Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major (Eberts et al. 1990). In 1990 the Council of the American Sociological Association voted to "encourage departments to consider and implement the recommendations" for the undergraduate curriculum found in Liberal Learning. These recommendations suggest a cumulative curriculum, including a four-level sequence and a capstone course. I assess the extent to which these recommendations had been adopted a decade after the report (by the year 2000), and conclude with suggestions for expanding the implementation of recommendations for study in depth in sociology.
The Campus Survey: Integrating Pedagogy, Scholarship, and Evaluation
This paper describes a campus survey designed to enhance student learning while generating high-quality data for research and evaluation. Students enrolled in a research methods course pretest a draft interview schedule and interview randomly selected students; then, drawing on their interview experience, they write a paper that addresses methodological issues pertinent to the survey. The instructor selects the topic, drafts the interview schedule, trains students to interview, codes and enters the data, and generates tables to test students' hypotheses. Through direct involvement in a meaningful survey, students deepen their understanding of methods and realize the hard work and care necessary to do sound social research. Beyond the course, the survey data promote student research and provide a rich source of social indicators on the student body. While promising, the survey's unique features present challenges in terms of student input and instructor workload that must be addressed to facilitate its use at other colleges and universities.
Learning by Exams: The Impact of Two-Stage Cooperative Tests
Decades of research have documented the positive impacts of cooperative learning on student success: increased learning, retention through graduation, improved critical thinking, and intrinsic motivation. One cooperative teaching technique, however, has received relatively little attention. In the two-stage cooperative, group, or "pyramid" exam students first take an exam individually-as in traditional testing-and then take the same exam together with their learning group, with the exam grade being a weighted combination of their individual and group scores. This approach uses the exam itself not only for evaluation, but also as a learning tool. Although some researchers have studied group exams, they have not isolated the impact of group tests from individual achievement-an important omission. Using data from a mass lecture introductory sociology course, I found that holding individual achievement constant the group exam process significantly increased learning both for students who knew the material initially and for those who did not. This suggests that cooperative exams not only enhance learning but also allow for the process and form of testing to become more closely linked to the process and form of teaching and learning.
Profile of an Engaged Sociology Major
The purpose of this research note is to report the results of an exploratory study of factors associated with student engagement in the discipline of sociology. The population for this study was all graduating senior sociology majors for two years at one medium-sized, midwestern, public university (N=114). The students completed a self-administered questionnaire while in their required senior thesis class. The profile of a more engaged senior sociology major at this institution is that of a younger, Caucasian student with higher levels of motivation in sociology courses compared to less engaged students. In addition, the more engaged student reports a higher frequency of participating, actively, in class.
If Ida Known: The Speaker Versus the Speech in Judging Black Dialect
While a single standard for speech may be functional, dialects that differ from those used by the people in power have come to reflect inferiority, regardless of their actual merit. This teaching note shows how the devaluation of black dialect is based on the power structure and not on the inherent value of a dialect, revealing how our social norms unfairly disadvantage an entire segment of the population. This note provides a concrete example of how to teach students that who makes the judgment and about whom can affect the perceived worth of a particular practice. Students learn that in the case of dialect, even if one form is as objectively sound as another, once it is labeled as substandard it becomes difficult to see the disparate dialect as anything other than inherently inferior because it has different, but not deficient, rules.
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