Search

In this practice-based pedagogical paper, we, the university faculty of Education, Food and Nutrition, Sociology, and History in the U.S., describe how we started a Reflective Practice Teaching Circle at our institution for interdisciplinary dialogue about the effective use of social media (SM) for teaching and learning. Our discussions led to the design of the Social Media Entry Model that educators can use for decision-making. We begin this paper with a brief synthesis of scholarly literature describing students' SM use and how higher education faculty use SM to support 21st-century skills development. Next, we describe the institutional, individual, and pedagogical barriers that prevent faculty from embracing SM as a teaching and learning tool. Based on our shared vision and praxis, we present the Social Media Entry Model and describe how educators can use it when deciding how to integrate SM into the formal or informal curriculum. Through our narratives, we illustrate how we use a variety of SM platforms and different entry points in the model to enhance students' 21st-century skills. We also discuss the legal and ethical issues that educators must consider to ensure that university students use SM in a socially responsible manner.

This research aimed to (1) study the current situation and existing problems of undergraduate students 'understanding of intangible cultural heritage, (2) develop a curriculum of intangible cultural heritage based on experiential learning theory, and (3) compare undergraduate students' understanding of intangible cultural heritage before and after teaching. The sample group was 50 students who were selected to attend the Intangible Cultural Heritage curriculum in the spring semester of 2023. The research tools were (1) Lesson plans (2) a Questionnaire on the current situation and existing problems of undergraduate students 'understanding of intangible cultural heritage, (3) an Interview form on the current situation and existing problems regarding students' understanding of intangible cultural heritage, (4) understanding intangible cultural heritage test, (5) Observation of Students' Behavior form, and (6) Interview form on opinions about teaching. This study was conducted in three steps: (1.) The study on the current situation and existing problems of undergraduate students 'understanding of intangible cultural heritage, (2.) The development of a curriculum of intangible cultural heritage based on experiential learning theory, and (3.) The experimental and improvement of curriculum. The results of the study showed that: 1) The current situation and existing problems of the intangible cultural heritage of college students have three aspects: students, teachers, and the school environment. The most important current situation and existing problems of undergraduate students 'understanding of intangible cultural heritage was the school environment aspects. 2) The Curriculum of intangible cultural heritage based on experiential learning theory includes 6 elements: Principle, Goal Contents, Learning process, Learning resource, and Evaluation. The learning process consisted of 4 steps: (1) Concrete Experience, (2) Reflective Observation, (3) Abstract Conceptualization, (4) Active Experimentation 3) The curriculum based on experiential learning theory can improve undergraduate students' understanding of intangible cultural heritage.

The use of #digitalpowerups is a technique that involves associating keywords with prompts in online discussion forums, which enables students to have more choice and voice. These powerups not only help structure responses but also enrich discussions and develop academic skills necessary for online assignments. The approach leverages the social media interaction space of discussion forums by introducing hashtags that remind students of the prompt being addressed and indicate the level of Bloom's being engaged. By using the powerups, students can engage in mid-levels and higher-order levels of Bloom's, along with the lower levels that they typically engage in based on the design and facilitation of the discussion. Students typically participate in the lower levels of Bloom's taxonomy (#remember, #understand) due to the way the discussion is structured and facilitated. However, the use of #digitalpowerups encourages students to move beyond these levels and engage in mid-levels (#apply, #analyze, #evaluate) and higher-order levels (#create, #connect) during discussions. The powerups also scaffold or frame student responses with habits of mind skills. This article examines how the #digitalpowerups strategy supports learning in a virtual community for Environmental Concerns in the Environmental Sociology Course through content analysis of student discussion postings. The primary data (total of 375 postings) were collected from the Environmental Sociology Class throughout the following academic years: Fall 2020 (96 postings), Fall 2021 (67 postings), Spring 2022 (92 postings) and Spring 2023 (120 postings).

In the field of higher education, there are two dominant strands of interpretation of criticality, either as a decontextualized skill of logical reasoning, or a sense of action within larger contexts more than mere cognition. This research offers a reclaiming and reimagining of criticality in universities as an affective process, highlighting the entanglement of social, discursive and material perspectives. This research takes a comparative lens to investigate undergraduate students' perceptions of criticality and institutional cultivation of it in a Sociology undergraduate degree in China and the UK, adopting a qualitative interview method. Differences were found between cultures regarding the level of engagement with a range of criticality-embedded practices, including field work, critical inquiry in class, group work, etc. Through the development of criticality in various activities, students' feelings towards it shifted with contexts. While placed within physical and discursive universities that convey a sense of professionalism, students in the study acknowledged the importance of criticality and proactively demonstrated it. However, the feeling towards showcasing criticality outside campus was two-fold. Whereas criticality can be associated with negativity in social interactions, its value is appreciated as it enabled students to reconstruct their identities into a more rational, tolerant and caring one.

This article uses fieldnotes along with student and practitioner feedback to recount the challenges, benefits, and broader learnings of engaging master's students in a participatory research seminar. The students developed research proposals about a real-world socioeconomic challenge with and for local practitioners. Proposals were consistent with the principles and practices of participatory action research (PAR). The planning, implementation, and assessment of this course was informed by feminist scientific philosophies of collaboration, situatedness, partiality, accountability, and a sensitivity to power dynamics. In line with both PAR and SoTL principles, there was an explicit emphasis on partnership, reflexivity, and broad forms of learning in both the classroom and practitioner meetings. The students were challenged by the unfamiliarity of the research approach, the need to navigate a new way of working directly with stakeholders, as well as the responsibility to the community that participatory approaches espouse. Despite the challenges, the students were eager to soak up local knowledges, reflect on their role as researchers, and contribute constructively if they could.

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning in sociology by examining a set of course redesign improvements made in a Social Problems course at the undergraduate level. These improvements center on increasing students' critical thinking skills by integrating research-based, innovation-driven learning and student-centered strategies into a four-part course assessment redesign. Using a primarily case study approach, we examine quantitative data in the form of an interdisciplinary pre- and post- Critical thinking Assessment Test (CAT) from students enrolled in one iteration of the redesign for this particular course. Results from this analysis highlight the potential of these pedagogical improvements to foster the development of critical thinking skills and as an example of how assessment data can be used to guide further iterations of a course.

No previous study has explored why the translators selected children's literature while translating Japanese literature into Bangla. This study aims to identify the tendency of selecting Japanese texts for translation into Bangla, which have educationally valued contents. It employed descriptive translation studies approach to prepare a periodized catalog of translated Japanese children's literature in the quantitative section to develop a history. The qualitative part is conducted based on two recent concepts of the sociology of translations: sociology of translation process in functioning and interpreting and sociology of translation as a cultural product. This study reveals that the translators primarily select tales with moral values a child or an adult learns from the societal sectors other than the educational institutions. They intend to circulate those moral values in the target society because the contents are socially apposite and deemed socioculturally necessary in the target region. "Totto-chan" is analyzed as a cultural product to explore why and to what extent it is circulated. The interpreted texts are used to enhance reading literacy in reading programs. This study establishes a fundamental basis for translation, society and education altogether in the target society focusing on Japanese literature translations. In future, this study could be used as a foundational work in the field of translation studies in Bangladesh.

Research reviewed here reinforces earlier findings about the importance to higher education students of having supportive faculty. A 2022 faculty survey at a public Midwestern university demonstrates faculty awareness of student struggles during the pandemic coupled with a changing, more flexible and caring pedagogy to address student needs. Qualitative interviews in 2023 with students in the "pandemic cohort" suggest a desire for classrooms and student-faculty relationships that are at odds with the bureaucratic model of impersonality, rules and regulations, specialization, and a hierarchy of authority. What may be emerging from the pandemic is a kind of antidote to neoliberalism with an other-regarding rather than individualistic focus and a desire for connection rather than competition. Recommendations, implied by these data, for building these classrooms and supportive relationships and a discussion of the downsides of the "new normal" are presented.

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.

Textbooks offer instructors an opportunity to promote data visualization and statistical literacy throughout the sociology curriculum. In this study, we examined 463 data visualizations from 27 textbooks for Introduction to Sociology, Social Problems, and intermediate elective courses to illuminate the range of data visualizations and their use of statistical data and numerical variables. We find that textbooks rely on a narrow range of data visualizations (e.g., bar/column charts and tables), statistical data (e.g., percentages), and numerical variables (e.g., age). Introduction to Sociology textbooks used more data visualizations, and Social Problems textbooks incorporated more types of statistics. In contrast, intermediate-level textbooks presented more measures of central tendency. Overall, our results suggest textbooks could better integrate a broader range of figures, statistical data, and numerical variables. We conclude with resources for integrating data visualization in instruction.

Many instructors use a syllabus quiz to ensure that students learn and understand the content of the syllabus. In this project, I move beyond this exercise's primary function and examine students' syllabus quiz scores to see if they can predict how well students perform in the course overall. Using data from 495 students enrolled in 18 sections of an Introduction to Sociology course, I find that students who do not earn a maximum score on the syllabus quiz are more likely to receive a lower final course grade and are less likely to pass the course than their top-scoring counterparts. These findings allow instructors to identify struggling students as early as the first week of the semester and design interventions that will match up with students' particular needs and strengths. Furthermore, this project demonstrates the pedagogical usefulness of the syllabus quiz beyond its initial purpose of testing students' knowledge of course policies and procedures.

The increasing ubiquity of gamification in everyday life normalizes it as a motivational tool. While much scholarship supports gamification, labor sociologists have long problematized the phenomenon. In this mixed-methods action research study, we explore the results of gamifying a lesson on gamification in a sociology of work course. We designed two gamified activities with varying degrees of consent that followed a lesson on gamification and consent. Students rated how problematic a series of gamified work scenarios were before and after the intervention. Our quantitative data did not show a significant increase in students' ability to identify consent after the intervention, but we did discover that students took either an employee or employer's perspective in their rating justifications. Furthermore, these findings were gendered. This article highlights the need for a more critical take on gamification in the classroom. We conclude by suggesting ways practitioners can teach about gamification in other contexts.

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.

A structural/cross-sectional micro-analytic perspective prevails in the Socio-constructivist research of peer knowledge construction. This paper proposes an alternative micro-sequential approach that focuses on the transitions between events during the activity. From this micro-sequential perspective, the study aimed to (a) explore the socio-cognitive interaction of symmetrical dyads of sixth and seventh graders solving a table comprehension task; (b) compare this interaction between symmetrical dyads of basic and advanced levels of competence. Participants were 148 sixth and seventh graders (74 dyads) from public schools in Rosario and nearby areas (Argentina). The dyads were symmetrical because their integrants had similar specific levels of competence (comprehension of a frequencies table) but differed in basic and advanced compositions. The interaction was coded using a system of mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories. An analysis of transition probabilities was performed among all codes, to identify activated/inhibited and inter-subjective/intra-subjective sequences. Transitions between statements aimed at solving the task formed the core of interactivity, as they comprise the codes that play a greater role in the elaboration of the task (shared by both symmetrical conditions). However, only the basic symmetry dyads showed an activating effect of the social feedback units. Transitions between cognitive questions and statements were also registered. Opinion questions were the most activated (inter-subjective) compared to demonstration and evaluation questions. Although these transitions were inter-subjective, they also differed according to the condition of symmetry. The work allows drawing conclusions about the relevance of a micro-sequential approach to interaction, since these results could not have been constructed from a classical structural perspective.

This paper advocates for the integration of the 'sociological imagination', as proposed by the sociologist C. Wright Mills, into pedagogical practices to foster inclusive and democratic classrooms. Departing from narrow evidence-based approaches, it explores how the sociological imagination connects personal experiences with broader societal structures, enhancing critical thinking and social awareness among students. Practical strategies for implementation across diverse subjects are discussed, emphasising its potential to empower school-age students as agents of social change amidst contemporary challenges.

In Goffman's terms, qualitative interviews are social encounters with their own realities. Hence, the 'situational critique' holds that interviews cannot produce knowledge about the world beyond these encounters, and that other methods, ethnography in particular, render lived life more accurately. The situational critique cannot be dismissed; yet interviewing remains an indispensable sociological tool. This paper demonstrates the "value" that situationalism holds for interviewing. We examine seemingly contradictory findings from interview studies of middle-class identity (cultural hierarchies and/or egalitarianism?). We then render these contradictions comprehensible by interpreting data excerpts through 'methodological situationalism': Goffman's theories of interaction order, ritual, and frontstage/backstage. In 'situationalist interviewing,' we suggest that sociologists be attentive to the 'imagined audiences' and 'imagined communities'. These are key to identifying the situations, interaction orders, and cultural repertoires that lie beyond the interview encounter, but to which it refers. In sum, we argue for greater situational awareness among sociologists who must rely on interviews. We also discuss techniques and measures that can facilitate situational awareness. A promise of situational interviewing is that it helps us make sense of contradictions, ambiguities, and disagreements within and between interviews.

The number of international schools hit the 6,000-mark in 2012, and the 13,000-mark in 2022. In spite of continuous growth and diversity of provision, paradoxically some literature continues to paint a largely negative sociological imagination, associating the arena with micro-politics, high turnover, and increasing precarity. At the same time, the social reality of working in the arena remains under-reported and under-theorised. The largest number of international schools are now in China, where two-thirds are of the 'non-traditional' type. Our paper focuses on the experiences of two expatriate teachers in that relatively new field. In order to address the questions of 'how do teachers cope?', and 'what strategies do they adopt?', our paper delves into the under-reported social reality of 'cliques'. By adopting a 'positive sociology' lens of inquiry, we begin to address the role that cliques-formation might have in dealing with precarity and insecurity, especially that of 'friendship precarity' caused by constant transitions and short-term contracts. It can be seen that cliques offer a natural, quick, and practical solution to addressing precarity, helping over time to create resilience, and should not be viewed solely within a negative sociological imagination.

This study aims to describe a learning model of sociology education based on case studies of banking crimes for university students. Sociology learning is considered one of the most important studies for students at the Faculty of Social Sciences. That is why this study can examine the interactions and cases that occur from the perspective of the perpetrator and the victim. Thus, this study can be considered an interesting study to present learning as a form of case study in sociology lectures. Contextual learning is one of the correct learning models used as steps in learning. The study used a qualitative method employing a case study. Researchers used interviews, observations, and document analysis in the data collection process. The number of respondents of this study was 20, consisting of five lecturers and 15 students from the sociology department. The findings of the study revealed that contextual learning models can be an alternative in teaching sociology because this learning model can be used by presenting problems in daily life and problems related to banking crimes. In the end, the lecturers can conduct an evaluation, and the result is that the students can obtain and improve their abilities about banking crimes. Contextual learning can also foster student engagement where students actively give their opinions in class, and gain knowledge and curiosity when learning it.

The DepEd Order No. 41, s. 2017 catapulted the implementation of the Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) Program. However, since its inception, there is a dearth of professional literature on a coherent sociological understanding of Muslim education in the Philippines. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the implementation challenges of the ALIVE program employing sociological perspectives. The study utilized a qualitative research method anchored on Case Study Research Model. Five ALIVE implementers in Metro Manila were part of the research participants. A thematic analysis was initiated and triangulation of data was employed from relevant data sources. The analysis results showed several challenges faced by the select ALIVE schools: The intended curriculum lacks appreciation of the approaches and evaluation of student learning. The scarcity of learning spaces was evident. In teaching, most of the "Asatidz" or Madrasah teachers require enhancement of their pedagogical competence. The cultural variance among Muslims is still evident, especially in non-Muslim communities. The findings indicate that there is a need to create deliberate plans to achieve the intended learning outcomes of the ALIVE Program. Given the various gaps and challenges identified in this study, there is a necessity to evaluate the program at the grassroots. In conclusion, maximizing and strengthening the participation of the various stakeholders and different sectors in society is imperative in the development and sustainability of Muslim education programs in the Philippines.

Universities across Canada and elsewhere have a longstanding focus on improving students' writing skills, including for the purpose of fostering better learning. In this paper, we present findings from two sources of data--a discursive analysis and student survey--exploring the impact of writing instruction and support in the context of a required social science research methods course. The course is situated in an institutional context whereby specific courses are targeted for writing support through the provision of additional funds. The results indicate that the structure of the course-- featuring components like tutorials and scaffolded assignment design--facilitates gains in student writing. The discursive analysis shows improvements across the three assignments submitted throughout the term and a positive impact of tutorial attendance. The survey indicates that students have an overall positive impression of the supports designed specifically with the learning of writing and research skills in mind.

Purpose: This article presents the place and the role of Sociology teaching in the current Brazilian context, marked by the rise of extreme right ideologies and practices, more specifically by its ultraliberal economic bias and moral conservatism. Design/methodology/approach: Organized in three parts, it outlines, respectively, the macro political and curricular scenario, and some of its unfolding in school practices. The main effort is to reflect on the ways in which school Sociology has been--ambiguously--understood and instrumentalized in the Brazilian context. The reflections are based, besides the literature review, on the analysis of the conjuncture and political-institutional directions, on curriculum documents and on reports of teaching experiences collected during the year 2022. Findings: We verified that the extreme right advance in the public space is due to the articulation of two factors: 1) scenario of political and economic crisis; 2) structural aspects that guarantee, in the moral field, the predominance of conservatism and, in the economic field, the prevalence of ultraliberalism. With regard to education, the extreme right has had an impact in the definition of legislation that regulates the education system and on boosting surveillance and persecution in relation to teachers who distance themselves from their political ideology. Research limitations/implications: We believe that, despite having brought some data that allow us to glimpse a certain ambiguity with regard to the teaching of sociology, which can occur either in the sense of criticizing the status quo, or in the sense of reaffirming it, we believe that a more systematic research on this is still needed.

Providing students with opportunities to wrestle with and engage with messy, real-world problems can be challenging in traditional, higher education courses. However, for students in helping and applied professions, engaging with challenging problems in a supportive environment is critical to developing their skills and confidence. This paper presents an innovative pedagogical pilot project that utilizes design thinking in the context of a community-engaged applied learning experience to guide students as they worked on a real problem for real organizations. Undergraduate sociology and master's level social work students engaged in the experience during their regular course work. Their instructors coached them through the process. At the conclusion of the project, they reflected on the process and what they learned. These student reflection papers were analyzed using both a deductive and inductive approach. We found three themes present in these reflection papers: skill development, deeper understanding, and meaningful experience. We conclude our paper by describing how instructors can incorporate aspects of this project into their own classrooms.

Research on student-centred learning lacks analyses of sociohistorical developments. This article contributes to this niche by developing a sociologically designed draft of its major upheavals. Drawing on Foucault's genesis of governmental rationalities, it links the emergence of educational subjectivations to processes of structural change. Within this scope, the transition from feudal to liberal and neoliberal principles led to problematisations and idealisations of heterogenous grouping in schools. As part of the differentiation of selective and integrative requirements, the school system became the central authority for the realisation of the objectives of different educational requirements. As flexibilisation paradigms gained widespread attention, personalised methods started to function as harmonisation mechanisms of competing demands. Tracing these paths provides important historical insights into the embeddedness of student-centred learning in structural power relations. In addition, these findings can clarify complex dimensions of current potentials of and challenges in individual education.

The ubiquitous nature and diffusion of songs sung in English has meant that a great number of EFL and ESP students are listening to English and acquiring some notions about the language almost subconsciously. Such songs have also been incorporated into English as an L2 practice for, probably, almost as long as English has been taught as a foreign language. However, sometimes they are used as filler exercises or only as an exercise to keep the students happy. Slowly, songs have been gaining more acceptance as a valid didactic tool to be used in various moments of the general English L2 lesson and for various functions (Tegg 2018). This article reports on a project to use songs in English for Specific purposes lessons at an Italian university with students of two Master degree courses (Social Work and Social Policy; Sociology and Social Research). During the English modules, songs from various artists were specifically chosen and language-learning exercises devised around them to be used in almost every lesson for different learning objectives: these included introducing a new subject, presenting and revising grammar, learning individual words or short phrases including idiomatic expressions, as lead-ins to discussions. At the end of the course, the students completed a questionnaire aimed at eliciting their opinions about the use of songs in ESP lessons. The results indicate that the use of popular songs is an effective tool in an ESP lesson and that their inclusion can help motivate students as well as help them learn.

Courses: This unit activity applies critical theories from the fields of communication, sociology, and gender studies and therefore can be used in any course that discusses gender studies, qualitative research, content analysis, media effects, film analysis, or LGBTQ studies. This can be modified as an activity for graduate or undergraduate courses. Objectives: The activity utilizes clips from five popular horror films that feature common transphobic tropes and teaches students to apply each tenet of critical media effects (CME) theory into their analysis of the films. This encourages both students and instructors to adopt a trans-inclusive approach to communication theory. By the end of this activity, students will be able to describe CME theory and its tenets, apply components of CME to film analysis, and utilize queer theory as a lens for analyzing media.

The research project assignment can create meaningful opportunities for students to apply sociological concepts. For grading these projects, assessment rubrics are useful pedagogical tools to evaluate students' abilities in achieving course learning objectives. In this study, I analyzed final research papers collected over multiple semesters in my undergraduate Methods of Social Research course. My goals are to (1) evaluate the grading rubric's effectiveness in enabling students to meet course objectives and (2) identify improvements in students' outcomes from revisions to the rubric over time. Findings indicate that rubrics can provide students the information needed to apply course concepts to their work and that rubric revisions are necessary to ensure validity, reliability, and equity across grading. In conclusion, I provide suggestions for implementing a semester-long research project assignment and initiating iterative revisions to rubric criteria.

Despite being intensely sociable, ethnographic research is also deeply isolating. Although fieldworkers may feel lonely, we contend that they are not (or should not be) alone. At the 10th anniversary of Urban Ethnography Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, we reflect on the ethnographic training cultivated there. We detail objectives, experiences, and lessons learned while also considering challenges for pedagogical projects of ethnographic collectivity--as well as techniques to address them. We contend that learning and teaching sociology through the ethnographic craft is not limited to the classroom but combines reading, writing, fieldwork, and dialogue with other ethnographers. These four dimensions are cultivated through various, simultaneous, classroom-based and research-development activities. We examine activities conducive to the creation of what we call, borrowing from Norbert Elias, an "ethnographer aperti." Finally, we discuss the replicability of this model, suggesting how universities can expand pedagogical support by pursuing ethnography as more than work in isolation.

The introductory course to sociology serves the multiple roles of providing students with the foundations of the field while also being its "public face" and possibly improving its image. The outcomes of introductory courses have been investigated mostly in quantitative ways in the past. The article presents a qualitative, longitudinal study of the "mental image" that 397 students of an introductory course at a Hungarian university formed about sociology. Participants were asked to draw mind maps around the central concept of "sociology" right before, right after, and years after taking the course. Results from the content analysis of mind maps indicate that while students are able to situate sociology as a science of the human world, their mental image of the field is often vague beyond that. Mind maps drawn years after taking the course bear the closest resemblance to the ones drawn even before studying it.

There is general agreement among sociologists that teaching social structure is a core component of a sociological curriculum. Despite this agreement, there are few guides for instructors on how to teach this key concept. Using the sociological literacy framework, this research examines the most popular undergraduate Introduction to Sociology textbooks and their supplemental resources. Most texts offer a basic definition, but beyond that, there were few additional resources for helping to clarify the concept. With this in mind, additional resources for supplementing the textbooks are offered.

Graduate students face obstacles when attempting to pursue public sociology in general, but specifically when they desire to utilize public sociology as both a research and teaching orientation that fully incorporates undergraduate students. Drawing on a two-year public sociology project on student financial security challenges, the author advocates for graduate students interested in public sociology to engage in campus collaborations, where connections between undergraduate students and campus partners are forged based on relevant campus resources easily accessible to graduate students. Based on the specifics of the author's campus collaboration, six tips emerge for graduate students interested in replicating this approach to public sociology early in their careers. Gaining familiarity with conducting public sociology that fully incorporates undergraduate students in graduate school, a model that has been shown to benefit students, community partners, and sociology as a discipline, will prepare graduate student instructors to implement the model when they become faculty.

Educators have recently highlighted the importance of social science courses for students entering the medical field. This has led to the inclusion of sociological theories and concepts on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), a requirement for any student seeking formal medical training. Using open-ended survey data responses provided by students who recently completed the MCAT, we explore how students perceive that sociology courses prepare them for the MCAT and their lives more generally. We find that students report that their sociology courses introduced them to key concepts and laid a foundation for material assessed on the exam, but those courses could improve by aligning with the MCAT structure by prioritizing application of concepts and critically analyzing case studies. Students also reported that sociology courses helped them develop empathy and inclusivity and use their sociological imaginations, which will ultimately positively impact their careers in the medical field and lives overall.

This study is the first to analyze data from a national survey to investigate the significance for deaf identity of the different forms of social and technological support that deaf people rely upon. Data were derived from a survey among 839 deaf people and were analyzed with regard to social identification as deaf, hearing, bicultural, and marginal. Findings showed connections between technology and identity, including the use of a range of technology to support being culturally deaf. Findings also showed that the deaf and hearing groups had strong homophilous social networks, while the bicultural group tended toward more mixed but equally strong social connectivity. The marginal group had a much thinner social connectivity and relied more upon institutional social support, findings that are in line with previous research revealing a sub-group struggling with social participation and well-being. Theoretically, the paper builds bridges between the fields of social identity and microsociology and shows how a microsociological perspective brings attention to the significance of reiterated social relations and practice for constructing social identity.

The study explores journal citations from 104 doctoral dissertations in sociology from 2010 to 2021 at the Pennsylvania State University. A citation analysis of 10,395 journal citations explores journal use from three graduate degree programs in sociology. Journal use is based on the top 32 journals for concentration of citations (CitRank), number of dissertations citing the journal (DissRank), and the average (CDRank). Forty journals are identified from 38 dissertations (degree in sociology), 40 journals from 57 dissertations (dual degree for sociology and demography), 34 journals from nine dissertations (dual degree for sociology and criminology), and 41 journals from 104 dissertations. An analysis of variance and correlation is conducted to determine the strength of the relationship of the three measures of use. The study identifies 71 unique journal titles from all degree programs and a core of 13 journals.

The story of the decline of sociology has been unfolding for a few decades, but it becomes a more hair-raising tale every year. The crazed and intellectually empty ideologues completely colonized the field. They have made it their own, and the consequence is that contemporary sociology is now a wasteland for any seeking the complex truths of human life. Much substance on what sociology teaches today, according to the author, can be had by consulting a collection of short videos on the [American Sociological Association] ASA site. Titled "Sociological Insights," the clips, typically about five minutes in length, feature academic sociologists discussing research in which they are engaged.

Sociological research has long been interested in inequalities generated by and within educational institutions. Although relatively rich as a literature, less analytic focus has centered on educational mobility and inequality experiences within graduate training specifically. In this article, we draw on a combination of survey and open-ended qualitative data from approximately 450 graduate students in the discipline of sociology to analyze graduate school pipeline divergences for first-generation and working-class students and the implications for inequalities in tangible resources, advising and support, and a sense of isolation. Our results point to an important connection between private undergraduate institutional enrollment and higher-status graduate program attendance--a pattern that undercuts social-class mobility in graduate training and creates notable precarities in debt, advising, and sense of belonging for first-generation and working-class graduate students. We conclude by discussing the unequal pathways revealed and their implications for merit and mobility, graduate training, and opportunity within our and other disciplines.

Conversations surrounding decolonial humanistic sociology have been guided by a moral imperative--to advance a radical critique of society for the purpose of reducing inequality. Storytelling has been used by marginalized groups to advance decolonization. Exactly how can instructors use the power of storytelling and maps to facilitate the study of migration among students? We argue that narratives, maps, and museum-like exhibitions can be used to teach human migration in a way that moves beyond the dominant approach of push-pull nation-centered demography. This contribution describes how decolonial humanistic sociology informed the development of the Global Migrations Exhibit Assignment: a hands-on learning experience focused on translating students' learning into action. We outline learning outcomes, review a sample of students' work, and consider the limitations of the assignment. We also consider the hostile responses those who use the assignment may face and discuss the peril this poses to academic freedom and democracy.

Climate change is a complex, multisystem phenomenon that disrupts human development both directly and indirectly through the interactions of interconnected systems. This article outlines the physical, social, and psychological impacts of exposure to climate disasters, which are already increasing in frequency and ferocity across the globe. Climate change poses particular challenges for billions of people with vulnerabilities related to geography, age, injustice, poverty, and many other social or economic disadvantages. In this article, we apply resilience and positive development frameworks to describe the resources and processes at the level of the individual, the family, and the community that can prepare and support people as they contend with the impacts of climate change. To illustrate these frameworks in action, we give examples of promising interventions that focus on mobilizing powerful human adaptive systems to build hope, agency, social cohesion, and a shared sense of belonging. We conclude by calling on developmental scientists to engage in research, interventions, and collaborative advocacy to address the unprecedented and existential threat posed by climate change.

This teaching note reviews a four-part discussion post assignment that asks Black-identified students enrolled in a class connected to a Black living-learning community to make sociological and personal connections to concepts related to race, anti-Blackness, and institutional racism in Yaa Gyasi's novel "Homegoing." Reflecting on their posts, I share how using literary fiction in the classroom can support students' development of a sociological imagination grounded in history's missing voices and an intersectional and structural understanding of race and racism. Moreover, by making connections between the characters, their peers, and their own lives and sharing these connections via their discussion posts, students create a space of collective vulnerability where they can reflect simultaneously upon the dehumanizing aspects of anti-Blackness and assert their individual and collective humanity in the face of this oppressive force.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surfeit of information and misinformation in the media about it. The lockdown in England meant that schools were closed from March to June, meaning that students had limited access, in school, to ask questions and discuss the biology of the novel virus (SARS-CoV-2) or the impact of the pandemic on themselves, their families and friends. In this small-scale exploratory study, we decided to ask students (15- to 16-year-olds) on their return to school in June 2020 and in September 2020, what they wanted to know about COVID-19. Findings show that their questions were similar at both time points, indicating that students wanted to know the same things. This suggests that despite the high volume of information available in the media, some of the students' questions had not been answered or that sources of information were confused and at times contradictory. Interestingly, the questions they asked were based on reliable sources of news rather than fake news, and this finding seems to contradict the literature that indicates young people are prone to believing misinformation. The implications for teaching and learning about COVID-19, and other zoonotic diseases as socio-scientific issues are discussed.

The following article presents the findings of a Reverse Mentoring evaluation project conducted at a modern university in northwest England, which has a high proportion of students from non-traditional educational backgrounds. Using a reverse mentoring framework, the traditional mentor-mentee relationship was flipped with students serving as senior partners and their tutors as junior partners. The purpose of this study was to investigate how staff-student relations could be strengthened by gaining a better understanding of one another's perspectives. The concept of institutional habitus provided a theoretical framework within which to examine disparities in mentor-mentee cultural understanding. Using a mixed approach to data collection, composite narratives were constructed. They revealed subtle cultural mismatches between the positions of mentor and mentee. The study speculates that by gaining a better understanding and appreciation of students' habitus, more inclusive teaching practises can be developed to ensure the inclusion of all students.

This paper discusses the conception of a joint intercultural students' research program of one German and two Kyrgyzstani teachers and students from the Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg (Germany) and the American University of Central Asia (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan). The paper conceptualizes such a research training program and gives reference to qualitative methods teaching in the two corresponding universities. What follows is a description of the chosen research topic: "The 'Intersections' of Gender, Family, and Society in Kyrgyzstan" and the course program. With different academic cultures concerning research ethics in the Anglo-Saxon and continental European contexts, a challenge for such a program will be addressed. A short review of the research results of the different students' teams is provided, and the paper is finalized with a self-reflection upon such a joint intercultural undertaking.

This paper presents and analyzes a case study of a five-week study abroad course called "Inequality in Brazil: An exploration of race, class, gender, sexuality, and geography." The course was constructed to teach social inequality in the context of Brazil by using place-based and experiential learning within the framework of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1989). By examining inequality through the lens of culture and geography, students were empowered to become "student-teachers" in their explorations of race, class, gender, and sexuality as they linked theory to practice and lived experience. This paper provides an example of how study abroad can be used to teach about issues of inequality by partnering with community members to build learning environments where students and community members can all benefit.

Deficit framings of marginalized students, though maintaining widespread social influence, are thoroughly condemned in recent educational scholarship. The goal of this "counter-deficit" scholarship is to challenge racism in schools and improve opportunities for marginalized youth. To meet the lofty ambition of racial equity in education, how scholarship understands racial oppression is a central concern. Sociologists of race have emphasized the duality of racial oppression. Racism is ideological and structural. Ideologically, racism shapes how communities of color are perceived and how they are treated in educational settings. Structurally, racism is embedded in histories and policies that systematically disadvantage racially minoritized people. Both processes matter to educational inequality. However, in this review of counter-deficit literature, we find that racism is primarily understood by way of ideology and seldom by way of structures. This framing has important implications for how schools can support racially minoritized students to overcome racism in schools and communities.

The research on education philanthropy typically characterizes foundations as practicing either "traditional" or "strategic" philanthropy. These labels are used to indicate divergent ways of thinking about the impact of grants and approaches to grantmaking between the two models. Drawing on a theoretical framework informed by institutional theory of sociology, I analyze data from interviews with officers at foundations characterized as traditional or strategic to identify areas of convergence between different kinds of funders. I find that while differences remain, a third ecosystem model of philanthropy is emerging across the sector that balances the demand for grantmaking driven by measurable outcomes with the reality of the institutional field in which grantees operate and projects are implemented.

In an institution where assessment was viewed as meaningless box-checking for the purpose of accreditation, a new reflective assessment practice changed 15 faculty members' perception of assessment in a single semester. Piloted with an interdisciplinary graduation requirement for Cultural Competency, the new assessment practice became a powerful tool for closing the loop in which participating faculty analyzed evidence to make improvements for student learning. This article provides a detailed history of the inception and development of that practice and evidence of faculty appreciation for a new four-question protocol.

Exchanges between the great range of disciplines and experts within IOE (Institute of Education), UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (University College London, UK), can be very productive. This article celebrates two professors who, in markedly different ways, have transformed interdisciplinary understanding of their chosen specialties. Some of their ideas are summarised here to encourage readers who could benefit from their publications and are not yet familiar with them to be keen to study and gain from them. Berry Mayall and Roy Bhaskar might seem too dissimilar to fit into one article. Berry worked here for nearly fifty years, Roy for only seven. One was a sociologist, working mainly on empirical research, the other a philosopher developing extremely advanced theories. Yet they both developed critical new ideas and were under-recognised within IOE despite their international influence. Roy is such a prestigious philosopher, many may wonder why a whole article is not dedicated to him. My aims include recording some benefits of the interdisciplinary thinking he promoted. This article briefly considers some of the ideas that each developed and why these are important; their collaborative work; memories from colleagues they have influenced; and their contribution to IOE's history and, potentially, to its future.

Peer mentorship programs have mostly emphasized formal structures, wherein a more experienced student guides a less experienced student. However, these practices are hierarchical and require substantive resources to organize and implement. Searching for alternatives, we research the effectiveness of an informal teaching technique that facilitates active learning and peer-mentorship from everyday classroom settings and processes. Drawing on formative feedback from students enrolled in a lower-level Sociology course over a term, this paper analyzes how a "Liberating Structures" (LS) technique called Five Whys (an adaptation of the Nine Whys of LS) can promote in-class collaboration, peer mentorship, and increased engagement without training and the need to design a formal peer-mentorship program. Students identified many benefits, including that Five Whys promoted community, reflective learning, and deepened engagement with course content. However, the structuring of interactions was seen to be stifling to natural group processes. Broader implications for LS and in-class mentorship are discussed. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]