Briefly reviews the history, for sociology graduate teaching assistants in the United States, of training for college teaching. Describes the Michigan State University program, which has evolved over a 14-year period and includes workshop goals and objectives, the agenda, and evaluations by participants. (JDH)

A college course designed to introduce students to the administration of voluntary associations is described. Course goals and objectives are discussed, and course requirements and the grading system are reviewed. Sources of teaching materials are provided. The appendix contains a list of national organizations that provide training materials and…

An alcohol studies program offered at the undergraduate level in the Department of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts (Boston) is described. Students combine classroom work with applied practice in alcohol agency settings. Sources of information are identified for those interested in developing alcohol courses. (Author/RM)

Suggests how to solicit feedback from college level sociology students during a course rather than at the end of the semester. Feedback can be encouraged by establishing student liaison committees, scheduling student meetings in the absence of the instructor, and accepting discussion of course content in addition to more technical matters.…

Describes eight classroom activities which instruct college level sociology students about major concepts and principles of social psychology. Concepts include gestalt psychology, nonverbal communication, adaptation level, relative deprivation, selective exposure, labeling, sexism, and perceptual distortion. (Author/DB)

Describes a sociology major curriculum at Alverno College in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) designed around ability-based and assessment-based learning. Explores the daily teaching practices and curriculum development. States that students learn to evaluate their development. Includes portions of the syllabi and learning assessments from two courses. (NL)

Describes a system, Infracom, which enables students to influence content and structure in introductory college level sociology courses. Infracom involves writing evaluations of class meetings, making comments in class, and helping determine learning aids. (Author/DB)

Reports on the development of a critical pedagogy in a sociology of education course. Examines the effectiveness of the project, using drama, in terms of the opportunities provided for students to relate common-sense understandings to sociological concepts. Looks at students' political development in a collaborative group situation. (Author/LS)

Teaches an introductory course on issues of prejudice and discrimination. Assigns a two-essay autobiography and analysis of other student biographies. Encourages students to use their life experiences to articulate sociology's theoretical, conceptual, and substantive materials. Finds course effective in reducing ethnocentrism. (NL)

Outlines a newly designed foundations of sociology course at Mount Saint Mary's college (California) that attempts to integrate the course into the College's liberal arts core curriculum. Suggests teaching this integrated, sociohistorical curriculum furthers students understanding and attraction to the discipline. (NL)

Reports on an experience using a teaching technique designed to promote active learning in an undergraduate social-problems course through student analysis of real social data. Discusses course materials and teaching procedures used, advantages and disadvantages of the approach, and student reactions. (DSK)

The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate an active-learning exercise designed to allow college students the opportunity to experience the consequences of stratification by social class. In particular, this activity challenges the belief that success is primarily an outcome of hard work (i.e., the belief in a meritocracy). Data…

Over the past several years, scholars of teaching and learning have demonstrated the potential of collaborative learning strategies for improving student learning. This paper examines the use of computer-mediated communication to promote collaborative student learning in large introductory sociology courses. Specifically, we summarize a project we…

Reflects on the implementation of Paulo Freire's problem-posing method in an East Los Angeles College (California) course on the media portrayal of Chicanos. Examines Freire's pedagogy and its application in the classroom, and critiques the process. Describes recent work applying the Freirean methodology in college classrooms. (Author/LS)

Tries to make explicit race/class/gender connections in an undergraduate seminar on stratification. Students learn about models of social class and mobility and ideas of inequality. Attempts to balance the syllabus by including material about different groups and a representative group of scholars. Describes classroom discussions and experiences.…