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A Quarterly Publication of
The American Sociological Association

ABSTRACTS--Volume 28, Number 3, July 2000

ARTICLES

NOTES

When Architecture Disables: Teaching Undergraduates to Perceive Ableism in the Built Environment
(Kathy Livingston)
This article describes an exercise in which students analyze architectural barriers in campus buildings to understand that people with disabilities are excluded from everyday social interaction. Sociological concepts such as deviance and discrimination prove elusive to students when merely studied from a textbook. Through this active learning exercise, students link their experiential understanding of environmental obstacles with theories and concepts about conformity and non-conformity. In their written work, students report about access in public spaces, an understanding of obstacles imposed on people with disabilities, a connection between the physical and social environments, and deviance as a failure to meet the demands of an environment built for able bodies.

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Fear Journals: A Strategy for Teaching About the Social Consequences of Gendered Violence
(Jocelyn A. Hollander)

Although violence against women is an important topic for many sociology classes, teaching about it can be problematic. Students may see violence against women as an individual rather than social problem, may trivialize or blame victims, or may react defensively. In this paper, I present an approach to teaching about violence that addresses some of these difficulties. Students keep a one-day journal of their experiences of fear and use of safety strategies, and then analyze their findings both individually and in discussion with their classmates. This analysis helps students to see violence not simply as an individual experience, but as a form of social control that differently affects social groups. In this paper, I describe this exercise, illustrate its effectiveness using excerpts from students journals, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this pedagogical approach.

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Given an Opportunity to Reach Out: Heterogeneous Participation in Optional Service-Learning Projects
(Morten G. Ender, Lee Martin, David A. Cotter, Brenda Marsteller Kowalewski, and JoAnn DeFiore)
Service learning in the local community is a useful and effective pedagogical technique and learning process for students and instructors. We offered an integrated service-learning option in a variety of sociology courses and assessed socio-demographic and other student characteristics to explore differences between participants and nonparticipants. We surveyed undergraduates (N= 413) from across the academic spectrum and enrolled in sociology courses at a large state university. The results contradict previous findings: we found heterogeneous participation in the service-learning project; no statistical association between prior and current service; commuter status and employment appear to influence student decisions to opt; and non-social science majors are more likely to participate than social science majors. Confirming previous studies, males are less likely to participate than females. Research in sociology shows strong support for service learning in passing on sociology. Results suggest students' other life demands should be taken into account when implementing a service-learning option.

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Don't Worry, Be Happy: Instructor Likability, Student Perceptions of Learning, and Teaching Ratings in Upper-Level Sociology Courses
(Michael Delucchi)
Data from 205 course evaluation forms representing student responses in ten upper-level sociology courses was used to examine the role of instructor likability/rapport on student perceptions of learning and ratings of overall teaching ability. The results suggest that students who rate their instructor high in likability reward that instructor with high ratings in overall teaching ability. However, high likability ratings are also associated with a decrease in student perceptions of learning. The negative effect of likability on perceived learning juxtaposed with its positive impact on global teacher ratings gives some credence to sociological critiques of student consumerism in higher education. Namely, when students approach college as customers, they expect to be entertained and served only in ways they find pleasing. Suggestions for more appropriate use of student evaluations of teaching (SETS) and their impact on how sociologists define teaching effectiveness are discussed.

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Using Videos to Teach Mass Media and Society from a Critical Perspective
(Donna Lee King)

In this paper, I focus on using videos to teach mass media and society from a critical sociological perspective. A number of excellent videos are available. The critical perspective I use focuses on power, inequality, and the institutional and cultural role the mass media play in creating, sustaining, or changing social relations. I begin with an institutional analysis of mass media, focusing on corporate producers and advertisers, and then move to representations in the media of race, class, gender, and sexuality.

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Planning and Running Effective Classroom-Based Exercises
(Robert D. Woodberry and Howard E. Aldrich)
Classroom-based exercises, when used regularly and appropriately, foster many valuable skills. Building on advice scattered across various articles, as well as our own classroom experiences, we offer some general guidelines for planning and running classroom exercises. We focus on planning exercises effectively, communicating these plans to students, and executing them skillfully in the classroom.

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Connecting the Classroom to County Characteristics
(Linda A. Renzulli)
This paper describes how a semester-long, group project can be designed to develop student learning processes and course content. I explain the specifics of four group-based projects for a labor force class which can be adapted for other sociology courses. The group projects encourage students to take their experiential knowledge seriously, facilitate the search for new information, and evaluate their knowledge in a wider context. Several important steps in the successful implementation of group projects include creating effective groups, monitoring students through peer evaluations, and grading group work. This paper also considers some of the problems with group work and suggests strategies to deal with them.

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For articles, notes, and conversations, send manuscripts to: Helen A. Moore, Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324. Phone: 402-472-6081, Fax: 402-472-6070.

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