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A Quarterly Publication of
The American Sociological Association
Comments from the Editor
Volume 29, Number 1
January 2001There is no comment from the editor in this issue.
Volume 29, Number 2
April 2001IN THIS ISSUE, we offer a range of interesting material, including five articles, four teaching notes, and 16 book and video reviews. Topics of the papers include teaching religion within the framework of deviance, experiential learning models, the tribulations and rewards of social science computer labs, avoiding moral dichotomies, classroom interaction issues such as small group debates and classroom discussion and innovative strategies for teaching the methodologies such as qualitative coding and operationalizing the term “drunk driving.”
We continue to solicit papers for a special issue on “Teaching Sociology with a Purpose: Curriculum Design and Outcomes Assessment.” This issue will include papers discussing research and pedagogy in teaching sociology in the context of national assessment movements and local responses. The manuscript submission deadline is July 16, 2001. Please send manuscripts to: D. Bruce Keith, Office of the Dean (MADN-AAD), Building 600, Room 10, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, 10096-5000. Professor Keith can be reached at bruce-keith@usma.edu if you have further questions regarding this issue.
The Twenty-Seven Year Index of Teaching Sociology is available on disk and hard copy ($19.00 for ASA members/$23.00 for non-members). Compiled by Tara Burgess, Pauline Pavlakos, and Jeffrey Chin. This helpful index of Teaching Sociology lists entries by category and sub-categories, making it easy to find articles. Includes years 1973-1999. 374 pp., 2000. ASA Stock #411.T00. For further information on ordering, see the ASA Web page.
Helen A. Moore
University of Nebraska—Lincoln
Volume 29, Number 3
July 2001THE JULY 2001 ISSUE of Teaching Sociology spans the educational landscape from the high school campus to graduate education programs. The four articles address the nature of Ph.D. qualifying exams; the benefits to sociology programs and learning outcomes for undergraduate students who participate as classroom teaching assistants; and two extensive projects considering social class experiential activities and grappling with the definition of Eurocentrism in social theory courses in Singapore. Two Teaching Notes in this issue explore the application of social movement theories and the benefits of teaching sociology to incarcerated students. Our final two Notes focus on the under-examined life of sociology in high schools and at middle-school science fairs.
The annual American Sociological Association meetings in Anaheim, California, this coming August will showcase roundtables and scholarly paper presentations, as well as opportunities to “shop” the ASA marketplace of teaching materials and socialize at the “Just Desserts” evening reception. The current members of the journal editorial board will meet to review our past efforts and discuss goals for this next volume year. Laurie Scheuble and I will be making a report to the Teaching Sociology Editorial Board and to the ASA Publications Committee on the findings from our reader survey. A summary of those materials will appear in the October issue. Many thanks to all of those board members who continue to provide such important and substantial support to our editorial activities. We look forward to seeing all of our readers and contributors at the coming national meetings. Note also that Laurie Scheuble will be moving permanently to Penn State University this summer. Her e-mail address will remain the same for those book reviewers with continuing questions or for those who want to volunteer for future book reviews. We wish her the very best in her new teaching arena.
Helen A. Moore
University of Nebraska—Lincoln
Volume 29, Number 4
October 2001Publishing in Teaching Sociology
DEBATES ABOUND IN higher education concerning the scope and definition of the scholarship of teaching and learning. Despite these ongoing discussions, some manuscripts submitted to Teaching Sociology are rejected immediately or ultimately because of their disconnection from these discussions. What authors commonly fail to bring to the manuscript are the basic tools of the sociologist as observer/researcher.
There are two primary reasons for manuscripts to be rejected. The first of these is that the manuscript does not directly address the pedagogical processes or goals of the instructor. This is the equivalent of omitting the research question from a thesis, dissertation, grant proposal or journal article! I include in this notion of “research question” all of the theoretical and methodological dimensions which can be brought under the sociological “lens.” Often the author outlines materials which he or she uses and believes would benefit students in other classrooms, without a context of the teaching and scholarship documented in this journal or other journals over the past decades.
Our reviewers consistently request more information on the teaching goals for the overall course or the specific classroom lecture/activity, and how these guide the implementation of certain techniques. If specific theoretical constructs are explored, why are these central to the discipline and do students learn about alternative models other sociologists have proposed? The best manuscripts include the following: A statement of your pedagogical questions (How can my students learn...?) A review of prior pedagogical efforts related to this topic, as well as citations of the related conceptual scholarship in sociology. A listing of specific course goals and how this project fits within. A clear description of your techniques for others to replicate. A summary of possible “pitfalls” or improvements you will make in the future. Teaching Sociology has two different levels of expectations for citations (in articles or notes, see Guidelines section of this issue of the journal) but all manuscripts are expected to draw from and expand upon past scholarship.
The second primary reason for rejection is that the author asserts that students have “learned” or “appreciated” or “benefitted from” a pedagogical process, but omits any systematic evidence for that assertion. These issues reflect the national focus on classroom assessment of student outcomes, but sociologists bring much more to this through our sociological imaginations and methodologies. What do we mean when we say that a student will “learn” or “be engaged” or “positively evaluate” a set of sociological skills or concepts? How are these outcomes visible to you as the instructor and to others? Describe what indicators you use to assure yourself that students “get it” (whether qualitative student responses in writing or discussion, or quantitative evaluations of the project or the course). Compare these to past students’ responses or teaching efforts, to students with different demographics, or to practices in other courses. Do you gain theoretical insights or sociological observations from your students’ responses, and how do these move the scholarship of teaching and learning forward?
We need to encourage the next generations of sociologists to bring their sociological imagination and skills into the classroom with them. Graduate training that specifically applies sociological methodologies and theories to topics in the scholarship of teaching and learning will benefit sociology Ph.D.s who seek a range of academic positions. Faculty members will increasingly be asked to lead departments through assessment activities, to develop portfolios of their teaching contributions, and to publish the outcomes in pedagogical journals such as Teaching Sociology.
Helen A. Moore
University of Nebraska—Lincoln
The Editor of Teaching Sociology is Helen A. Moore.
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.
For book, video, and software reviews, send manuscripts to: Laurie Scheuble, Department of Sociology, 211 Oswald Tower, Penn State University, University Park, PA. Phone: 814-865-6949.
For questions about manuscript processing, contact Kathy Acosta, Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324. Phone: 402-472-6081, Fax: 402-472-6070.
The Webmaster is Pauline H. Pavlakos. Observations on form and egregious spelling may be directed to Ms. Pavlakos.
The Teaching Sociology Web Page is located at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Le Moyne College, the Jesuit College of Central New York.
Page last updated: September 15, 2001
