USING THE GROUP PRESENTATION TO FOSTER FUNCTIONAL SKILLS.

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.