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A Quarterly Publication of
The American Sociological Association
ABSTRACTS
Volume 34, Number 4, October 2006
ARTICLES Bridging the Gap between Cultures of Teaching and Cultures of Research .....
Edward Kain Peer Facilitators as Border Crossers in Community Service Learning .....
Mark Chesler, Joseph A. Galura, Kristie A. Ford, and Jessica M. Carbeneau Critical Pedagogy and Classroom Praxis ..... Dean Braa and Peter Callero Effects of Web-Based Instruction on Math Anxiety, the Sense of Master, and Self-Esteem: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Undergraduate Statistics Students .....
Karen Van Gundy, Beth Morton, Hope Q. Liu, and Jennifer Kline NOTES Who Rules America? .....
Shelly Tenenbaum, and Robert J. Ross What Kind of Car Am I? An Exercise to Sensitize Students to Social CLass Inequality .....
Kathleen Tiemann, Karen Davis, and Eide Terr Understanding Social Structure through Personal Experience: The Creative Use of Status and Role as Explanatory Factors .....
Derek Greenfield Bridging the Gap between Cultures of Teaching and Cultures of Research
The twentieth century saw a series of major changes in higher education that, among other things, led to an increasing tension between teaching and research within the academy. I argue that the contraposition of these two activities is counterproductive to sociology as well as other disciplines. Content analysis of job listings in the American Sociological Association (ASA) Employment Bulletin from three different decades suggests that although teaching and research increasingly blended near the end of the twentieth century, significant differences remain between type of institution and the relative emphasis upon teaching and research. I conclude with several suggestions for changes that are needed to help bridge the gap between teaching and research within the changing landscape of higher education.
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Peer Facilitators as Border Crossers in Community Service Learning
Community service learning offers students the opportunity to cross socially constructed and epistemological borders of power and privilege, allowing them to come into contact with groups of people who are different from themselves and to learn in different ways. Peer facilitators, undergraduate student instructional leaders who guide others through these encounters, often experience especially powerful border crossing experiences, both by virtue of their service site supervision and their seminar leadership roles. Using their own writings and interviews, we explore some of these peer facilitators' border crossing experiences in a community service learning course at a large midwestern research university. We focus on how peer facilitators encounter various issues as they guide discussion of the experiences students have at community service sites in reflective seminars. The findings suggest that such border crossing experiences can encourage peer facilitators to reflect on their own social group identity and position within the larger social structures of privilege and oppression, and on their own learning styles and engagement in the higher educational environment.
Critical Pedagogy and Classroom Praxis
In this paper we argue for the incorporation of critical pedagogy in the teaching of sociology. We first establish the theoretical and emancipatory rationale for critical pedagogy with a review of the neomarxist concept of reproduction. We then examine a specific application of critical pedagogy in the sociology curriculum of Western Oregon University. We give particular attention to a course sequence on community organizing in which students have developed a successful tenants union that serves as a vehicle for both personal and social transformation.
Effects of Web-Based Instruction on Math Anxiety, the Sense of Master, and Self-Esteem: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Undergraduate Statistics Students
To explore the effects of web-based instruction (WBI) on math anxiety, the sense of mastery, and global self-esteem, we use quasi-experimental data from undergraduate statistics students in classes assigned to three study conditions, each with varied access to, and incentive for, the use of online technologies. Results suggest that when statistics course requirements included the use of WBI techniques, such as Blackboard's (Blackboard Inc. 2001) digital drop box and online student discussion board, class levels of math anxiety were reduced from the beginning (Time I) to the end (Time II) of the course instruction periods. In classes that required student participation in online discussion forums, self-esteem levels appear to have been enhanced. Perceived mastery levels, however, were not influenced significantly by use of the WBI tools we consider here. The findings indicate that the incorporation of WBI techniques into statistics courses may benefit college students; yet, the mechanisms by which WBI tools affect student outcomes require elucidation. We recommend that widespread implementation of WBI follow only from systematic evaluation of its efficacy across various educational settings, student populations, and social conditions.
Who Rules America?
In this article, we explore two power structure research exercises that help our students understand the formidable political and economic power of the upper and corporate classes in the United States. In one project, students focus on the boards of trustees of two American universities while in the other, they investigate the board of directors of a major American corporation. By gaining the tools and skills that will permit them to investigate the personnel at the top of firms and organizations, undergraduates are able to reproduce the kind of work about which they are reading in class.
What Kind of Car Am I? An Exercise to Sensitize Students to Social Class Inequality
This paper describes an activity that demonstrates the salience of stereotypes and social inequality on people's lives. It also allows students to apply sociological concepts and theories, to test their "common sense" assumptions about the world and to recognize statements that are not sociologically informed. For this activity, the class is broken into small groups. Some groups receive a list of automobiles and are asked is to describe who they think would typically drive each car. The others receive a list of types of people and are asked to describe the car they believe each person would drive. Through discussion and a written assignment, students begin to recognize the power and sociological significance of stereotypes and the complexity of social inequality.
Understanding Social Structure through Personal Experience: The Creative Use of Status and Role as Explanatory Factors
In a society that privileges the psychological perspective, sociology instructors need a variety of techniques that can help students appreciate the benefits of the sociological imagination. I propose here that the use of personal experiences can be highly meaningful in this endeavor, and I offer a comprehensive lesson consisting of two specific exercises to be completed in one class session. By encouraging students to make personal connections to the concept of social structure, instructors can generate greater interest and understanding of the course material while offering learners the opportunity to gain practical skills for their own lives. By capitalizing on the intersection of cognitive and affective domains, this powerful and enjoyable lesson can produce a host of positive outcomes for students.
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For articles, notes, and conversations, send manuscripts to: Liz Grauerholz, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Purdue University Stone Hall, 700 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2059. Phone: 765-494-5874, Fax: 765-496-1476.
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