Trading Places: Teaching with Students in the Center and Professors on the Periphery of the Principles Course

Abstract

After 14 years' experience in teaching Principles of Sociology (four sections of 30 to 40 students each per year) as a required course to nonmajor students, I was not satisfied with results, despite good to excellent evaluations from students. Further, although I was known as a good, but hard professor, my attempts to teach a rigorous course did not mean that students retained any more knowledge than they might otherwise. Indeed, research on learning retention after a typical course has ended shows fairly dismal results (McKeachie 1986). I was not only dissatisfied but bored, although I frequently tinkered with course by changing textbooks, tests, and paper assignments. At various times I had also tried simulation games, movies, guest speakers, and like. Although they worked for individual class sessions, they did not solve of course itself. It seemed to me that I still didn't have very happy students. On many days I dreaded going into classroom to try to entertain them, knowing that sooner or later I would see glazed look in their eyes that told me I was boring them. Still, there simply wasn't time to prepare involving and scintillating lectures for all classes on a four-course, three-preparation teaching schedule per semester, as well as fitting in time for research, publishing, and service work. When I had a few moments to discuss the problem of teaching Principles with colleagues, we all agreed how terrible it was that students had changed so much since our day and were no longer interested in learning. We swapped favorite war stories about classroom and went back to our posts, blaming TV generation for their unrealistic expectations to be entertained.