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This article presents the history, organization and benefits of The Nebraska Undergraduate Sociological Symposium (NUSS). Colleges, faculty and students can gain many advantages from participation in a symposium. However, the biggest gain is to the discipline of sociology. Forums where sociological issues are discussed increase public knowledge about sociology. As the results of events such as the symposium, colleges are likely to take a greater interest in sociology because they see the program as able to interest a large number of students. Sociology faculty are likely to feel energized by the symposium and to go into the classroom with a greater desire to get students involved. Students' interest can be heightened by an event like the symposium. Through it they can come to understand that sociology is a broad enterprise that extends beyond the walls of their own institution. In some cases, participation in the symposium has been a critical experience in solidifying a student's decision to enter sociology professionally.

Instructors of introductory sociology may have difficulty in developing a project for students that is both beneficial and easy to administer and grade. Such a project should be designed to help students develop the functional and transferable skills, which are so important in a workplace. Traditional term papers can help a student to sharpen his or her thinking and writing skills, but these papers may not work in all settings. For instructors with small classes or for graduate teaching assistants, a traditional term paper or other lengthy written assignment is feasible. For instructors with large classes, multiple sections and no assistants, however, grading these written assignments becomes a nightmare. In addition, students may be required to write so many term papers during their college careers that the process becomes mechanical and boring and they may overlook the professor's carefully worded comments of constructive criticism. As a result, students may not develop the very skills that the term paper is intended to develop.

Poetry may be used effectively with other methods of teaching sociology. Poetry offers new insights, stimulates thinking, and contributes to a holistic education when used both in lectures and with paper assignments. Examples are presented of poems used in lectures and of poems integrated into students' papers. The paper examples include both poems written by the students and those selected by the students from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I report on the common themes derived from three small-scale qualitative studies that focused on how sociology majors believe they learn our discipline. These studies include a group interview, analysis of content in learning logs, and individual face-to-face interviews. Based on the results of these studies, five types of connections appear critical to student learning in sociology: to others, those among related ideas or skills, to students' lives, across courses, and to the discipline. In addition, students were at different points on three overlapping pathways of learning: level of success in the major, use of surface-deep approaches, and degree of novice-expert learning. I also offer implications and suggestions for teaching, sociology programs, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major objective of this paper is to outline the goals and the use of speculative (or free) writing and to demonstrate its usefulness in sociology classrooms. This form of writing is compared to other conventional written sociology assignments; the relative benefits are enumerated, particularly in the context of a lecture-discussion course format. On the basis of experiences with free writing in two different universities, some illustrations and suggestions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the author presents a classroom technique for demonstrating the post-factum interpretation problem. In sociology implications of this adage can be found in discussions of pitfalls of post-factum sociological interpretation. The essence of such discussions is that theories always can be molded to fit the patterns we find in the data. My intent in this paper is to present a classroom technique for demonstrating the post-factum interpretation problem. In introductory sociology classes I let the issue rest. In my research courses, however, I use this exercise as one of my starting points to introduce the concept of spuriousness and the problem of establishing causality in nonexperimental studies. That is, I teach advanced students how to test for spuriousness. Post-factum interpretations of those data patterns which maintain themselves after the introduction of control variables will gain in credibility. In addition, post-factum interpretations always will have implications for other relationships in one's data set. If further analysis should realize these relationships, one's post-factum interpretation will gain further credibility. Of course, the end result of such a process can lead sometimes to the reformulation and clarification of our interpretations of social reality and of existing social theories.

This article presents an extensive review of the literature on simulation games for teaching and learning, with a special emphasis on sociology. The key features of simulation gaming are discussed by addressing the following questions: What are simulation games? What are they designed to teach? On what learning theory are they based ? How effective have they been? What are the problems involved in using them? How should they be used properly? What are some popular simulation games relevant to instruction in sociology? This paper is addressed to teachers of sociology who are using simulation games currently, those who wish to return to using them, and those who are interested in using them for the first time. The paper argues that even though simulation games long ago passed their peak of popularity, they are still alive and well and offer instructors of sociology one more tool on the pedagogical shelf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine the training needs of applied demography and suggest how demography courses and programs can better meet the needs of applied demography students. After defining applied demography, I discuss the topics that applied demography courses might cover, how to structure a program in applied demography, and available and needed teaching resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching about intersecting, fluid and historically contingent identities has been taken up extensively within the sociology of race, class and gender and women's studies. Oddly, the case of Jewish women has been virtually left out of this robust literature. This article explores the challenges raised through teaching the course "Jewish Women in Contemporary America," and links these challenges to the pedagogy of race, class and gender more broadly. Using the classroom as a research site, the authors conducted post-course interviews with students and kept detailed field notes on class sessions. The authors use Judith Butler's theorization of performativity to analyze classroom dynamics. After redesigning and teaching the course a second time, the authors conclude that the relationship between "experience" and "theory" must be constantly interrogated by both instructor and students; that personal narratives merit space within the classroom, but must be problematized; and a critical Jewish Women's Studies, based on illuminating the socially constructed and hybrid character of contemporary Jewish American women's identities, can help to expose the tendency to methodological essentialism still prevalent in much of the feminist race, class, and gender literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A neglected part of the history of teaching sociology is the history of teaching high school sociology. The American Sociological Association's centennial in 2005 affords sociologists an opportunity to reflect on the teaching of sociology-anywhere and everywhere that it happens. In the spirit of contributing to the history of teaching sociology in the United States, this paper outlines the roughly 95-year history of the teaching of high school sociology. I rely upon published course descriptions written by high school sociology teachers and empirical studies conducted by academic sociologists. They demonstrate that past high school sociology courses have focused primarily on examining social problems and current events, and on promoting citizenship education. This remains the case today. I offer several reasons why the courses have looked as they have over the past 95 years, and conclude with four predictions about the future of teaching high school sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simulation called Star Power provides an invaluable means to help students understand structural social inequality. This paper explains how Star Power achieves this goal and provides suggestions on how to inculcate the following points that are both central to sociology and difficult to adequately convey to students: 1) Students see how those in power maintain their position by structuring the system to theft advantage; 2) they learn how the structure of this system makes advancement for others difficult 31 privileged students begin to recognize the impact of their own family's social position that they tend to overlook in favor of theft personal effort and merit. By becoming more aware of structural inequalities, students realize that for the lower classes to join the most powerful in society, they must triumph over a system in which those in power make rules that protect theft own interests, usually at some- one else's expense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a case study in which one large, private university tried to improve the moss lecture course in introductory sociology. Academic change, it was found, is impeded by deeply held prestige factors which seem to mitigate against new methods of instruction. In introductory courses, the lecture system is accepted as normal, while innovations tend to be branded nonstandard and therefore expendable. Students were of little help in developing a new course since their opinions did not correlate with grade earned or opinion change during the course. It is concluded that academic innovation will prove difficult in the future unless it is legitimized in the academic prestige system. Several other examples of academic innovation failing to survive the original instructor are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines three different models for the introductory course currently used in the natural sciences: the vocational model, the inquiry model, and the humanistic model. The models are labeled negative and positive based on their possible contributions to the design of sociology courses. The paper argues that the first course in sociology is patterned largely after a negative natural science model, the vocational model, while the two models which might be more appropriate for sociology, the inquiry and the humanistic models, have yet to make an impact on course planning in sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The university-employed sociologist faces a dilemma in which his self-perception as a social scientist leaves him poorly prepared for his role as educator or teacher. Thus, sociology usually is abstracted from the "real social world" and taught deductively beginning with concepts and principles. The backlash to this approach has been to teach sociology inductively in which relevance replaces theory. In an attempt to straddle both of these approaches, this paper presents an alternative format in classroom debates to increase both relevance and theoretical involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a written version of the 1993 Hans O. Mauksch Award Presentation delivered during the 1995 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. The paper contains four sections dealing with evolving forces that will influence sociology and undergraduate education across the next decade. These sections include: 1) forces on teaching and learning, 2) changes in sociology as a discipline ("where it's headed"), 3) a glimpse of introductory sociology as it transforms in the next 10 years, and 4) some suggestions to improve teaching in sociology. The authors claim no special insight; they simply speculate on the synthesis borne of interacting forces which are shaping teaching and learning, generally, and sociology, specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I argue that any serious attempt to move sociology toward a viable multiculturalism will require an interrogation of the fundamental and historical forces at work in Western epistemological traditions. I focus on two such major historical forces: the Platonic subject/object separation and Judaeo-Christian theology. I argue that postmodern criticism is of great utility in furthering this interrogation, and I criticize some of the simplistic caricatures of postmodernism promoted by its opponents. The second half of the paper is a detailed description of pedagogical strategies that are designed to make these issues available to undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relevance of "cultural literacy" for teaching sociology at the undergraduate level. Past research demonstrates that women and racial minorities have limited access to certain types of cultural knowledge. Thus, they may be particularly vulnerable to poor academic performance. Given the potential relationship between background knowledge and sociological comprehension, we empirically examine the importance of "cultural literacy "for students' mastery of introductory sociology. Using a cultural literacy test based on our assumptions about what students should know before entering an introductory-level sociology class, we surveyed 709 undergraduates at a major state university. Our data show that female and black students store lower than non-black males on our indicators of cultural literacy. Despite this initial disadvantage, women, but not blacks, exhibit higher overall academic performance. We conclude that cultural literacy pretests can be a tool for improving the teaching and learning climate of introductory sociology courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication is an important social fact that is critical to the existence and maintenance of social life and to the individual's development and self-concept as well as a critically important skill for the everyday functioning of individual members of society. It is maintained in this paper that colleges and each college instructor are responsible for helping students to develop their communication skills. This development in turn will help them to improve their critical thinking skills because the two skills are linked. The classroom is viewed as the natural setting for such activity. To facilitate development of communication skills (writing, speaking, listening), a unique pedagogy is described that includes a small-group exploratory discussion, a summary of the discussion written in a memorandum format, and small-group comparison of memoranda for accuracy and completeness of recall. Data on the experimental testing of the pedagogy across disciplines are presented. Implementation of the pedagogy in an introductory sociology course is described. Results suggest that this pedagogy is more effective than conventional pedagogies in facilitating development of communication skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most sociology doctoral programs lack a formal course on the profession. Graduates of these programs are left to learn the norms of teaching, research, publication, and consulting from observation, by trial and error, or from the occasional counsel of mentors. The result of this hit-or-miss socialization process is not surprising, although most graduates are well schooled in sociological theory, statistics, research methods, and substantive content areas, many are relatively unprepared for survival and success in their chosen profession. The article presents the author's course on the sociology profession at Colorado State University. He is teaching it once every two years for three hours of graduate credit, all master's and Ph.D. level students are urged strongly to enroll. Class discussions center on the relevant procedures, problems, and issues for each topic. The author present this course organization with the acknowledgment that there is no single right way to organize such a course. His hope is that these suggestions for topics, resources, and student projects may inspire many other faculty members to develop similar courses on the profession to meet their students' practical needs.

The article presents information on sociology. In a recent essay, "Notes of a Barnard Dropout," the black poet and writer June Jordan evocatively recalls her undergraduate education in sociology. She remembers professor Samuel Barber telling his class that if you really assimilated the perspectives and assumptions of sociology, you could never be bored. Sociology, Jordan says, gave her a new way to think about everything. Her essay reveals the promise of sociological thinking but also discloses the perils of an educational curriculum in which the voices of women and especially women of color, are silenced. It is imperative to make the sociology curriculum more inclusive of women of color, because (as Jordan says) unless we do so we will not alter the racism and sexism that permeate our lives. This paper stems from feminist scholarship on transformation of the curriculum through women's studies. This literature documents the marginality of women across the disciplines and suggests revisions in the content of teaching, based on the new scholarship on women.

Experiential education causes students to apply knowledge gained vicariously in the classroom and to develop action-oriented skills (Duley and Permaul 1984, p. 19). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I discuss the value of a capstone course in applied sociology as the culmination of the undergraduate sociology curriculum. I point out the advantages of joint faculty/student projects as the content for this type of course. Drawing on the experiences gained in four years of teaching such a course, I present the relative merits of two different formats: solo versus team projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many sociology departments express concern about teaching and a desire to improve services to their undergraduate students, most find that the constraints of traditional reward systems stand in the way of maximizing such efforts. The Department of Sociology at the University of Kentucky has committed a full time, tenure track position to teaching and related duties. This paper describes this position, its responsibilities, and some of the benefits which have come from creating the position. By creating this position, the likelihood that the teaching program will work with the research program, rather than against it, is enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expectations that students bring to a class are an important element in understanding how they perceive and react to the learning process. Nonetheless, student expectations have been largely ignored in the educational literature. Theoretically two different effects are possible: expectations could shape perception, or they could operate as a conscious baseline from which students react to course activity. This paper examines the expectations that students (N = 340) bring to the "introduction to sociology" course and analyzes how those expectations, as well as their violation, affect general evaluation items. The results show that expectations (as measured on the first day) are above average; that the introductory experience generally results in a positive violation; that students' sex, year in school, and grade point average are associated with different levels of expectancy and expectancy violation; and that both factors affect general evaluation items, depending upon the area of expectancy and the evaluation item being considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I describe a course on international demography in this paper. The course enables students to use demographic concepts to understand the demographics of various countries and regions. The course involves an introduction, examination of specific geographic regions, and a concluding overview. I also describe several student projects and review available course materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes several techniques and exercises useful in teaching demography as an analytic discipline. Demographic literacy and data interpretation and evaluation skills are stressed. An introduction to the John Gaunt orientation helps sensitize students to the need for solid demographic data. Having students determine who qualifies as a Mexican-American and having them determine how many illegal aliens exist help build data scrutiny skills. Exercises employing different rates and life tables help to introduce demographic techniques. The County Demographic Profile and the Policy Simulation help integrate knowledge and skills gained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on creating a successful international distance-learning classroom. Technological and pedagogical developments in distance education make it possible to create international classrooms that bring together college students and professors from different societies for learning and educational dialogue. The paper reports lessons from researchers' experience to guide those who wish to pursue similar endeavors and offers evidence that international distance-learning course can advance the goals of enhancing students' cross-cultural knowledge and understanding. According to the findings of the study, students gained cross-national knowledge from their course. A large number of students responded about their home country for their classmates. It was found that creating an international classroom, however, adds the complexities of negotiating long-distance co-teaching that must be grounded in secure relationships and careful planning. In short, cross-national knowledge and understanding can be enhanced in online distance-learning environment.

This paper discusses learning communities as pedagogy for introductory sociology courses, which are often plagued by student apathy. Most importantly, it examines the potential for learning communities to incorporate active and collaborative learning techniques as a vehicle to subvert dominant views of diversity, to see diversity as intersecting social inequalities that can be rear- ranged in favor of greater social equality. The effectiveness of a learning community with the theme of diversity for meeting these goals is assessed using qualitative and quantitative data. It is concluded that the pedagogic framework of the learning community did indeed push students to problematize their student role. Finally, a review of results from a pre/post-test question- flake suggests that students entered the community as a fairly homogenous group in their views of diversity and left as a more heterogeneous group, indicating some shift in consciousness, however slight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual imagery is a major communicative medium in modern society, and instructors in sociology courses frequently find students who wish to integrate visual images into their class projects. In this article the advantages and disadvantages of various camera formats, the various presentational formats, and the relationships between the two are discussed. General recommendations and examples are offered to aid the instructor in working with students on such projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many sociologists seek to develop students' "sociological imaginations," especially in their introductory classes. This paper has two different but related purposes, one pedagogical and the other empirical First, we try to create some unity about what sociologists mean by "the sociological imagination," and how they implement this concept. We argue that sociologists, like academics in other disciplines, try to speak in a certain "voice" which provides a unique analytical framework but is distinct from the jargon of the discipline. Our second, empirical goal is to assess why students do or do not learn the "voice" of sociology. We found that certain background characteristics Of students hinder or help the development of this voice. In addition, contradictory, confusing, and competing pedagogies--both within sociology and across disciplines--impede the development of the sociological imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of its cosmopolitan origins, American sociology is widely regarded as parochial in its outlook and concerns. In this paper I outline factors contributing to the intellectual isolationism of American sociological research and pedagogy. Then I review recent social and intellectual trends toward internationalization. Finally, I offer concrete suggestions for sociologists interested in internationalizing their curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes an innovative approach to teaching the sociology of AIDS combining coursework with weekly volunteer work in an AIDS agency. Students were required to volunteer one half-day a week every week during the semester. The two HIV/AIDS agencies that cooperated with the course represent the spectrum of HIV/AIDS cases in the city. One of the agencies was founded initially to provide health-related services to the gay and lesbian community. The second agency is part of a larger minority community-based organization and serves primarily communities of color. Enormous benefits can be gained from regular weekly volunteer service in conjunction with a formal course. Unlike the situation in an internship, the students were academically prepared and could regularly share their experiences with other students. Another benefit of their volunteer experience was that the students learned to test hypotheses and to critique theories with insight. In addition, the agencies provided valuable resources to the faculty member in regard to literature and recent developments in prevention and care. Cautions and concerns about this type of learning are also in order. For the academic component, the professor involved must be very familiar with the agencies and preferably must volunteer himself or herself. Another caution is that this model of experiential service-based learning is extremely time-consuming for the professor. Legal liability is another area of caution. Experiential service-based learning also involves cautions for the agencies. The agency must be willing to commit the time to organize appropriate tasks and projects, to provide a coordinator who supervises students and mediates potential conflicts within the agency and to be familiar with the objectives of the course. The agency also should provide a staff member to process the students' emotional reactions.

The reflexive dimension is defined, and arguments for its relevance in the teaching of a humanist sociology are reviewed. Some attention is devoted to considering the relative neglect of this dimension in the pedagogical literature and to the tension between sociology's structural and subjective aspects. A number of specific strategies for bringing the reflexive dimension into the teaching of sociology are described. Some evidence that students respond favorably to subjective and autobiographical material is provided. The conclusion is that both strategic factors and considerations of integrity call for the incorporation of a reflexive dimension into sociological pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationships between sociological education and internships are analyzed using the experience of the first five years of the Wayne State University Program in Applied Sociology and Urban Policy Studies. I examine several major issues in addressing the subjects of internship program development, management, and problems. First, the multiple goals that an internship program is expected to achieve are discussed. I suggest that product and market research is necessary to maximize the achievement of program goals and to minimize conflict among them. In a related discussion, program policies concerning intern compensation and the degree of responsibility expected of interns by their sponsors are analyzed. Second, I discuss intern preparation, supervision, and evaluation. Third, two structural problems likely to be encountered by intern programs are analyzed, namely the high start-up costs of some internships and the tendency of student interns to rapidly gain full-time employment and to delay the completion of their degrees. Fourth, I present a brief reflection on the new role of internship director and its relationship to the department and the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task of communicating basic sociological perspectives to today's introductory students can be greatly facilitated by integrating experiential methods with the traditional lecture and discussion format. Toward this end, we can use simple learning games which anticipate and/or reinforce themes and concepts discussed in texts and lectures. Instructors are urged to develop their own teaching games, which can be structured or improvisational, utilize either a role-playing or small groups approach. Instructions, design considerations and evaluation of student responses to four games devised and piloted by the author for use within the one-hour class period are presented as examples: the Humor Game, the Gender Change Game, the Stratification Game and the World System Game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews research on teaching sociology, the majority of which falls into two categories: (1) presentations of innovative teaching strategies and evaluations of the effectiveness of the innovations, and (2) presentations of specific techniques to teach ideas or concepts. Second, methods of conducting research on teaching are discussed by considering constraints on research on teaching and the dependent variables used in research on teaching sociology. While considerable work has been done to improve teaching sociology, most endeavors still fail to apply sociological theory to the teaching of sociology. Research methodologies used to evaluate new techniques and innovations are limited by design problems and by an over dependence on "gains in information content" and `teaching evaluations' as dependent variables. Additional theoretical development and improved methodological approaches are needed to further improve the quality of research on teaching sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative health care systems program is described in which students combine classroom seminars with site visits and participant observation in clinical settings. The combination of traditional classroom and experiential education is designed 10 encourage the linking of concrete experiences to higher levels of abstraction through a sociological perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the innovative instructional techniques to convey to undergraduate students a sense of the meaning, and importance, of structured inequality. It describes the use of a simple survey with a discussion in an online sociology course to create a setting in which undergraduate students may learn about inequality from the study of everyday life. The method used in the study relies on a common experience of a gendered household division of labor and on the use of Hochschild's recognition.

The article reports on the pedagogical challenge for sociology instructors. It is indicated that sociology instructors are tasked to assist students create a constructive idea on sociology and how to adapt them in their own developments. In order to provide students with such perspectives, alternative ways are introduced which involves personal explorations of the mechanisms of society aside from extracting learning from textbooks and classes. One of the most effective ways to inquire sociological ideas is through the ethnomethodological approach in a breaching experiment.

While the scholarship of teaching has risen in prominence in the past few decades, little is presently known about the structure of knowledge creation and dissemination in that area of scholarship. Such basic facts as the characteristics of programs that perform and publish the research (e.g., B.A., M.A., or Ph.D. ), or the identities of specific schools that are leaders in teaching scholarship remain undocumented. This article explores the topic through counts of articles and notes published in a major outlet in the scholarship of teaching, Teaching Sociology, during the decade of the 1990s. We address the following: (1) Does publication of teaching scholarship vary by the type of degree program (e.g., B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.) or by other characteristics? (2) Are some institutions centers of teaching scholarship? (3) How wide is the scope of teaching scholarship across the nation's departments? Overall, we find that a variety of sociology departments have established records of teaching publishing. Yet, some departments are leaders and appear to create a climate favorable to teaching scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on learning theory in sociology. For students, theory is often one of the most daunting aspects of sociology--it seems abstract, removed from the concrete events of their everyday lives, and therefore intimidating. Because they are unable to immediately see the relevance of theory to their own individual life experiences, they avoid reading it, working with it, or learning about it. Students resist grappling with theory and often post- pone taking theory courses until they become unavoidable. In an attempt to break down student resistance to theory, instructors are increasingly turning to active learning approaches. According to social scientists, active learning is the process of talking about, writing about, and applying what is being learned to students' daily lives. Promoting active learning involves student-faculty and student-student contact, immediate feedback about how classroom material is relevant to students' understandings about the world, and experiences that keep students on task and communicate high expectations while also allowing them to be engaged with class material in a variety of ways.

The article focuses on involvement theory, which suggests that students learn by becoming involved. Thus, to promote greater student learning, instructors should focus on what students are actually doing, that is the amount of time and energy students devote to the learning process. A report from the National Survey of Student Engagement suggests that students are not living up to faculty expectations, spending only about half as much time preparing for class as their instructors believe is appropriate. Likewise, 22 percent of all students reported they frequently come to class unprepared. Both assessment of learning and instructional technology have been discussed in the pages of Teaching Sociology. However, relatively few attempts have been made to assess the impact of student behaviors--including study time, reading of assignments, and use of learning technologies-on learning in sociology courses.

The issues that shape and inform the discourse of sociology are simultaneously the issues with which the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious lens of the theorist, the instructor, the student, and the academic environment are laden. This article utilizes the case study method to review and consider the impact and implications of academic milieu on the myriad issues with which higher education and the discipline of sociology, as well as its agents and their neophytes, are confronted. Each agent and neophyte attempt to analyze the social reality in which it exists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological advances, such as time-sharing and networks, have increased the use of the computer in the educational process. However, with few exceptions, the computer is usually used as an ancillary device and not totally integrated into course work. Described is a research methods course in sociology which utilizes the computer in all facets of instruction: facilitating statistical computation, providing individually paced learning, and assisting the instructor in administrative tasks. Pragmatic considerations in developing such a course are discussed. Student and faculty evaluations indicate that such a course is well liked and successful in its objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

interest in evaluating and strengthening the teaching of sociology has become manifest in a variety of ways, ranging from the creation of a journal devoted to the topic, to efforts by the A SA. Yet professional meetings, which constitute major forums by which sociologists communicate with each other, have not been structured sufficiently to accommodate the widening professional interest in teaching and related matters. An exception to this was the 1977 annual program of the North Carolina Sociological Association. A survey conducted after the meetings indicates that (1) the undergraduate teaching focus had a great deal to do with the record attendance; (2) there is a preference for an emphasis on teaching in future meetings; (3) the presence of ASA representatives was defined as a positive contribution; and (4) the participants perceived positive, professional payoff from the meetings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on project on teaching undergraduate sociology. The new grant funds an 18-month Project that is aimed at disseminating, utilizing, and institutionalizing within the discipline the products, activities, and perspectives of the initial Project. Any effort to improve undergraduate teaching must address readiness to seek improvement among teachers, pervasive attitudes toward the worth of teaching, and institutional conditions which either facilitate or hamper commitment to teaching. A fully operational Teaching Resources Group is now available to provide services to undergraduate and graduate sociology departments concerned with curriculum faculty and departmental development related to teaching. A set of introductory sociology syllabi containing more than 150 pages of outlines, reading lists, sample exercises, assignments, handouts, and tests is now available to members of the discipline through a cooperative effort between the American Sociological Association (ASA) Section on Undergraduate Education and the ASA projects.

The article focuses on teaching survey sampling. Few sociology students have either the necessary background knowledge of probability theory or the opportunity of obtaining it, they are required to become familiar with the idea of sampling and to appreciate the merits of different sampling schemes. Only the best students seem to be capable of resolving these and similar problems through theoretical discussions of sampling. A more practical approach would seem to have educational advantages, especially if related to the theoretical content already taught. SAMP is an interactive program for simulating the results of sampling a large population. The instructor gives the student brief notes on the purpose and arrangement of the program, together with appropriate instructions about connecting to the local interactive computing service. The user begins by choosing one of four sampling procedures and specifies the proportion of the population to be sampled. The program then generates a sample and measures the attitude of the sampled individuals using a Likert scale.

The core features of a group of related instructional strategies, called modularized instruction, are examined. Key among the features is the extent to which modularized instruction makes explicit the dimension of the teaching/learning process. A model (outline) is constructed, using the components identified by examination of modules, to assess the degree of innovation of instructional strategies. Several module packages are examined for the degree to which they are modules. The article concludes wish a discussion of the implications of modular instructions key feature, the removal of ambiguity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Textbooks dominate undergraduate college training. With their numbers increasing each year, trial and error is no longer an adequate selection procedure. This article recommends that in order to select a textbook a faculty member first needs to understand how the text is produced. then needs to apply criteria which allow for relative comparisons between texts using the instructor's own classroom as a reference point. The article introduces an ACIDS Test for textbook selection based upon appeal, coverage, interest, difficulty, and salesmanship. The article concludes with suggestions to motivate students to read the textbook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a "practice" orientation is receiving increasing support among sociologists. As the demand for sociological employment outside the university increases, traditional sociological training must be reevaluated. The following article discusses two such efforts: (1) a graduate program in Community Sociology designed to train sociologists for nonacademic careers; and (2) a projected program of "continuing education" for sociologists already at work in the field. The philosophies, components and interrelationships of these two efforts are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]