The two inter-linked volumes in this series are dedicated to the development of analysis and theorisation of learning and teaching in higher education. The two volumes focus on the multi-scalar ecological inter-connectedness of learners with teachers, with artefacts, with cultural patterns and resources, with places, with social activities and…

Courses: Communication Theory, Intercultural Communication, Performance Studies, Gender and Communication, Rhetorical Criticism and Analysis. Objectives: This unit activity encourages students to engage in reflexivity regarding the ways intersectionality and power influence their lives and the lives of others. Utilizing strategies grounded in…

"Welcoming Blue-Collar Scholars Into the Ivory Tower" is the first volume in a new book series designed to explore how institutional policies, practices, and cultures shape learning, development, and success for students who have been historically underserved or given limited consideration in the design of higher education contexts.…

In comparing one public school to another, discussions frequently include talk concerning the socio economics of a school or district, which then leads to talk about the advantages that one socioeconomic setting has over another. Educators tend to agree that low academic achievement frequently associated with a low socioeconomic status is a…

Scholars who study teaching and learning have provided the academy with a range of progressive pedagogies that move beyond traditional ways of teaching. In the call for the use of diverse classroom practices in higher education, many have highlighted the benefits and challenges that come with collaborative teaching models. In this chapter, the…

One of the unique promises of sociology is to illuminate the intersection of the personal and public by encouraging largely individually-oriented students to examine interrelationships between themselves and the social world. This can be an especially challenging task when teaching introductory sociology courses that are populated largely by…

Much of the sociological curriculum often represents society as tragedy. This article explores the incorporation of a society as comedy component in introductory courses at two institutions using the sociological insight and social critique of comedians. A general discussion of parallels between the comedic eye and the sociological imagination is…

Teaching the social construction of race remains one of the most challenging tasks for instructors, yet understanding this concept is integral to student success in race and other inequality-themed courses. Instructors have access to an array of readings to help students understand race as a social construction, but few known inclass activities to…

The purpose of this paper is to describe an original active learning exercise that incorporates both referential and constructivist perspectives on the role of language in the social world. The exercise encourages students to view language as both a vehicle for transmitting sociologically-relevant content (e.g., attitudes, perspectives,…

This article describes an in-class activity that helps undergraduate students to understand the effects of their socio-economic position on the formulation, pursuit, and achievement of goals. Social stratification and inequality have an initial impact on the formulation of goals. Through this exercise students will perceive the effects of having a…

As evidence of the growing ecological crisis mounts, it is imperative that sociologists speak to this social problem and incorporate a sociological perspective on environmental issues into the curriculum. Central to understanding how social issues relate to environmental problems is an examination of the ties between consumption and its ecological…

To investigate the speech of black college students for nonfluencies--linguistic elements breaking the flow of words or ideas--and to ascertain if students' attendance of a largely black or largely white university influenced their use of nonfluencies, 21 black students at a predominantly black university and 25 black students at a predominantly…

This study examined the relative importance of curricular, classroom, and out-of-class experiences on learning related attitudes and values of freshman college students after taking into account certain precollege characteristics of new students, including initial levels of interest in learning. Specifically, the study looked at students' formal…