Flipping the classroom

This article describes one approach to flipping an introductory sociology course. To encourage students to practice ‘doing’ sociology, we designed a flipped classroom that included a ‘pay to play’ model, small group work and an emphasis on active learning during class time. With this course design, we linked in-class active learning with outside prework so that students could engage with critical sociological concepts and apply those concepts in practice. With this flipped design, the instructors observed that students were deeply engaged with the course topics and expressed positive perceptions of their learning and growth over the semester. As the landscape of university instruction shifts, this course design model may assist instructors looking to foster active and engaged learning remotely.

The Lasting Impact of a First Impression: An Exercise for the First Day of Class

This article details an exercise for the first day of class in an introductory sociology course. Students in two sections of Introduction to Sociology taught by the same professor and covering the same content, with the exception of the exercise on the first day of class, were surveyed at the end of the semester regarding the first day. Student responses in the section with the experiment reveal that students believe that the activity is useful in making them think deeper, recalling and applying sociological concepts to their own lives, and challenging their conceptions of roles of students and professors in the college classroom. These students also report positive recollections of the first day and of the professor. Additionally, the future trajectory of students in each section (in terms of their decision to major, minor, or take further classes in sociology) reveals surprisingly different paths.

Thoroughness in Explanation of Substructure-Superstructure Relations in Introductory Sociology Textbooks

The introductory sociology course is typically the only course most students take in sociology; hence, the introductory textbook becomes the only sociology textbook they may ever read as college students. The textbook, however, often lacks rigor in explaining concepts. This study focused on the thoroughness of explanations of the relations of substructure and superstructure of society by Karl Max (economic determinism) and Max Weber (ideological determinism) in a sample of introductory sociology textbooks. We found only one textbook to be consistently thorough in explaining both determinisms, and most textbooks were rated as low in their explanations of both concepts. We argue for greater thoroughness in introductory sociology textbooks, especially in the interest of students who participate in online learning and those who may not take another course in sociology and whose impression of the discipline would be framed by the introductory textbook.

Transforming Introductory Sociology with Team-Based Learning: Sufficient Value and Surmountable Challenge?

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a highly structured, immersive teaching strategy that emphasizes active learning through peer teams. Despite its many potential benefits for teaching introductory sociology, it has been slow to gain traction in the discipline. Instructors may debate whether the value of TBL is sufficient to justify its challenges, which may include student resistance, increased time demands, and difficulty envisioning implementation. We aim to resolve this debate in four ways by (1) familiarizing faculty with the TBL method, (2) examining the value of TBL for students and instructors, (3) discussing strategies for overcoming challenges, and (4) offering an example of how TBL can be implemented in an introductory sociology course. As the scholarship of teaching and learning continues to challenge faculty to implement forward-thinking teaching techniques that move beyond traditional lecture, we conclude that TBL offers a compelling framework for transforming the introductory sociology course.

Getting students to ‘do’ introductory sociology: Analysis of a blended and flipped interactive workshop model

Blended learning and flipped classroom models are increasingly encouraged in higher education, where notions of flexibility and technological development inform institutional systems and strategies. This article presents results from an Australian study on redesigning and delivering an introductory sociology course using a combination of such models. Four central elements of the redesign are highlighted: overall course format; use of mini-lectures; face-to-face activities; and our assessment model. We present analysis of students’ and instructors’ understandings and experiences of the redesign over three course iterations to offer insight into the unfolding and responsive dynamics involved in implementing blended and flipped models. We aim to contribute to the ongoing implementation of similar models in the context of changing institutional environments and expectations, as well as to broader projects for pedagogical enrichment in sociology.

Republication of “Science Fiction and Introductory Sociology: The Handmaid in the Classroom”

Although there is a great deal of available material on using nontraditional resources for teaching sociology, the pedagogical uses of science fiction have not been examined for 20 years. This essay first asserts the need for an update based on changes in society and in science fiction over the past two decades. The paper then focuses on the uses of SF to teach sociology and critical thinking by describing how SF can help students to “make strange” (i.e., develop a skeptical, questioning stance), to “make believe” (i.e., develop critical and creative thinking), and to “make real” (i.e., use sociological concepts and theories). As illustration, the essay concludes with a detailed description of the use of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale in teaching introductory sociology.

Do Sociology Courses Make More Empathetic Students? A Mixed-Methods Study of Empathy Change in Undergraduates

Assessing course goals is often challenging; assessing an abstract goal, like empathy, can be especially so. For many instructors, empathy is central to sociological thinking. As such, fostering empathy in students is a common course goal. In this article, we report the initial findings of a semester-long assessment of empathy change in undergraduate students ( N = 619). We employ a mixed-methods research design that utilizes qualitative instructor data to determine independent instructor-level variables and student surveys to measure student empathy change. We compare empathy change between students enrolled in introductory sociology classes to students not enrolled in sociology classes and test which student and instructor variables predict empathy change. We find that students taking sociology classes have positive empathy change compared to those who do not. We interpret these findings as evidence that study of sociology promotes empathy development and discuss implications for the classroom and further research.