Introductory Sociology Course Research Articles

The Impact of OER’s Continuous Improvement Cycles on Students’ Performance: A Longitudinal Analysis of the RISE Framework

Open educational resources (OER) have been praised for revolutionizing education. However, practitioners and instructors battle keeping OER updated and measuring their impact on students’ performance. Few studies have analyzed the improvement of OER over time in relation to achievement. This longitudinal study uses learning analytics through the open-source Resource Inspection, Selection, and Enhancement (RISE) analysis framework to assess the impact of continuous improvement cycles on students’ outcomes. Panel data (i.e., performance and use) from 190 learning objectives of OER of an introductory sociology course were analyzed using a hierarchical linear model. Results show that more visits to an OER do not improve student achievement, but continuous improvement cycles of targeted OER do. Iterative implementation of the RISE analysis for resource improvement in combination with practitioners’ expertise is key for students’ learning. Given that the RISE classification accounted for 65% of the growth of students’ performance, suggesting a moderate to large effect, we speculate that the RISE analysis could be generalized to other contexts and result in greater student gain. Institutions and practitioners can improve the OER’s impact by introducing learning analytics as a decision-making tool for instructional designers. Yet, user-friendly implementation of learning analytics in a “click-and-go” application is necessary for generalizability and escalation of continuous improvement cycles of OER and tangible improvement of learning outcomes. Finally, in this article, we identify the need for efficient applications of learning analytics that focus more on “learning” and less on analytics.

Cultivating Quantitative Literacy in the Introductory Course: A Mathematics Education Collaboration to Teach the Gini Coefficient

We report on a cross-disciplinary collaboration between sociology and mathematics education to more effectively cultivate quantitative literacy (QL) in the introductory sociology course. Focusing on an instructional unit presenting the Gini coefficient (the most commonly used summary measure of income inequality), we engaged in iterative cycles of presentation, assessment, and redesign across four semester-long courses. Assessments were guided by insights from mathematics education—such as the procedural/conceptual distinction, student misconceptions, and student noticing—and characterized by extensive informal discussion and analysis of patterns in student exam responses. Assessments were formalized via coding of specific response elements and used to identify strategic foci for revision and redesign (including creating a brief instructional video series and an active learning exercise). In this article, we highlight the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration in QL pedagogy, demonstrate the effectiveness of analyzing specific elements and patterns of student comprehension to revise pedagogical presentation, and advocate for the strategic utility of the Gini coefficient for cultivating QL in introductory sociology.

Creating a Visual Dictionary of Sociology: A Faculty-Student Collaboration

The Visual Dictionary of Sociology is a collection of images that illustrate core sociological concepts, created through a multi-year partnership with an undergraduate artist. I have successfully used the images in a first-year introductory sociology course to encourage discussion and deep thinking among students. The process of creating the images provided an opportunity for the student to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts through regular consultation with me, and for me to reflect on my own teaching practices. Drawing on reflections gathered from both of us, I discuss the creation process, the growth we have experienced, and the impact on my teaching.

Sociology for Beginners

This article examines the teaching of the introductory course in sociology. The first section sets the context of the teaching of introductory sociology in American higher education. The second turns to an examination of the written materials of introductory sociology: the textbooks used in the vast majority of these courses. Their widespread use provides a window into how introductory sociology has evolved over time. These texts also provide a view of what certain stakeholders—publishers and a select group of authors—have taken as central for beginners to master. The third section considers the scholarship on teaching and learning (SOTL) literature in sociology, which has produced research on current pedagogical practices and on strategies, techniques, ideas, and solutions to problems that contemporary introductory instructors face. A short conclusion offers a reflection on the implications of these issues for the future of teaching in the discipline.

Scaffolding & Fading: Enhancing Literacy Skills across a Curriculum to Achieve Mastery

This paper discusses the use of paragraph frames in a formative assessment activity within an introductory sociology course. The paragraph frame scaffolding allows the student to be a more informed and engaged learner in lower level courses and feel success with their introductory summary writing. This self-confidence allows the student to move forward into no longer being reliant upon paragraph frames or others (peers/instructors). The Sociology in the News activity incorporates scaffolding and fading via the use of a similar activity across the curriculum. The use of the paragraph frames focuses on mastery of information literacy, and accommodates student needs through effective instruction (using paragraph frames). This allows for retention, progression, and matriculation of students. The sociology curriculum is discussed via the use of scaffolding and fading based on Vygotsky’s scaffolding concepts within the student’s zone of proximal development, using paragraph frames across a curriculum, using the concept of IRMA level of ability (Introduce, Reinforce, Mastery, and Assessment) in formative assessments. As universities are focusing general education assessment of students, particularly Post-Covid19, information literacy is a skill that is can be assessed using IRMA level of ability. Literacy skills are particularly important in moving the students toward life-long learning and understanding how information is situated from a social situated perspective as well as the production from a scholarly standpoint. Keywords: IRMA Level of Ability, Paragraph Frames, Literacy, Vygotsky, Scaffolding DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-3-01 Publication date: January 31 st 2023

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.

A Tale of Two Sections: Assessment Variation in Hybrid Teaching of Introductory Sociology Classes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study analyzes the efficacy of varied types of assessment in student learning in a collegiate level introductory sociology course held during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two sections were taught in one semester via hyflex modality. Each utilized unique assessments to measure course level outcomes. Both section assessments measured the achievement of student learning against the proscribed course learning outcomes. The researcher employed mixed methods to gather data for this study including outcome achievement, grading statistical data, and autoethnographic methods to examine the instructor experience. Questions about teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic typically focus on the student experience or technology use, not teaching or pedagogical challenges. Teaching activity choice and success remains unexplored. This study follows a single semester, comparing the teaching experience among two sections at the same institution. Results reflect that the innovative, less structured but more meaningful group project assessment led to both greater teaching satisfaction and higher student achievement of learning.

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.

Integrating the Daily Newspaper into the College Classroom

Newspaper readership has declined dramatically over the last few decades. Millennials and students of college age report reading a daily newspaper less frequently than any other generational cohort in America. However, credible newspapers continue to provide in-depth coverage and analysis of key contemporary issues that facilitate civic literacy and a sociological understanding of the world. This case study discusses an exploratory approach to integrating the newspaper into the college classroom as a way of connecting journalism with theoretical knowledge. In an Introductory Sociology course, I provided daily copies of The New York Times to students throughout the duration of a semester. Students worked in assigned groups, regularly read articles in the paper, and searched for stories related to a wide variety of sociological issues. As a final project, students wrote detailed summaries of several articles published throughout the semester and explained how they were connected with key sociological concepts studied in the class. Nearly all students in the course reported that consistent readership over a 12-week period of the semester to be an effective learning activity that expanded their understanding and exposure to core sociological issues.

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.

Islamophobia: Social Distance, Avoidance, and Threat

A sample of undergraduate college students (N = 610) enrolled in Introductory Sociology courses participated in a study exploring attitudes toward and social distance from persons who are Arab, Pakistani, and Muslim vis a vis other ethnic and religious groups. Data were collected between 2010 and 2016 using the Bogardus Social Distance scale and a 16-item Islamophobia scale. Respondents positioned Arabs, Pakistanis, and Muslims at the bottom of a closeness hierarchy. In multiple regression analyses where race, religion, political affiliation and preferred news source are regressed on Islamophobia scores we find that being Christian, being a Republican and watching Fox News, separately and together, significantly influence negative attitudes toward Muslims and persons from those regions, while knowing someone Muslim diminishes these views. The persistence of these sentiments is explored.

Deconstructing Victim-Blaming, Dehumanization, and Othering: Using Empathy to Develop a Sociological Imagination

The sociological imagination is a core component of all introductory sociology courses. A main focus of this perspective is how social forces are related to individual lives. Undergraduates are often socialized to rely on individualistic explanations of public issues. These explanations often blame, dehumanize, and other the victim, thereby inhibiting the understanding and application of structural analyses. A classroom activity that sought to increase empathy by showing video clips of individuals affected by the issues followed by a focused discussion of their experience was developed, implemented, and assessed. Results comparing pretests and posttests of students who engaged in the activity and those who were taught via more traditional methods indicate the exercise reduced victim-blaming and increased understanding of the sociological imagination. The pedagogical implications of these results for teaching introductory sociology are discussed along with the promise of sociology in the current socio-political context.

Teaching Summative Writing within an Introductory Sociology Course: Do Paragraph Frames Improve Students’ Writing Skills?

This article describes the use of a summary writing assignment within an intro sociology course for application of sociological knowledge to current events. Summative writing is paramount to moving through the college curriculum, yet students struggle to be able to begin summary writing exercises, often procrastinating until the last moment, and thus are unsuccessful. Scripts or summary frames are also helpful in the transition to academic language acquisition skill-building, noting scripts, even for speech, provide scaffolding. Thus low states summary writings such as in introductory sociology courses are allowing students to build upon their learned skill as they move through into their upper level discipline focused courses. The skill is transferable to all disciplines and is not relegated to discipline specificity. The following article describes a Time 1/Time 2 assessment of the use of summary frames, with Time 1 using non-prompted writing within the assignment, and Time 2 using prompted writing within the assignments. Additionally, an assessment of the Readability Flesch-Kincaid is considered. Keywords: Writing Prompts, Summative Writing, Introduction courses, Sociology DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-29-09 Publication date :October 31 st 2019

Open Textbooks in an Introductory Sociology Course in Canada: Student Views and Completion Rates

Open educational resources (OER), including open textbooks, are free, adaptable learning resources. The integration of these materials in place of commercial textbooks allows for considerable financial savings for students and creates opportunities for more active and engaged learning. The growing interest in the use of OER at a Western Canadian university led to the chance to survey students for their feedback on using OER instead of traditional commercial textbooks. This paper focuses on the views of students in an introductory sociology course for which an instructor adopted an open textbook and otherwise left the course unchanged from when it was taught with a traditional textbook. In addition, completion rates for the offerings with the open textbook are compared to previous offerings with a commercial textbook.

The Sociology Literacy Framework and Students’ Views of Learning in Introductory Sociology

Discussions of the core in sociology have focused on faculty members’ perspectives regarding what should be taught in introductory sociology courses. Because the development of curricula is and should be a social process, we argue that students’ perceptions of learning outcomes also should be considered when curricula are developed. This study utilizes a content analysis of 461 student-authored, end-of-semester reflective essays concerning the most memorable learning that occurred in an introductory sociology course. Collected between 2006 and 2015, the assignment was utilized in each of 12 introductory sociology course sections taught by the same instructor at two universities. We then map student essay topics onto the Sociological Literacy Framework (SLF) to identify the themes most memorable to students, comparing responses of online, regional campus students with residential campus students. Results suggest the instructor placed the greatest emphasis on the SLF Sociological Eye theme and the least emphasis on the SLF Social Change and Reproduction theme. Students found topics within the SLF Socialization theme most memorable and rarely cited the SLF Social Change and Reproduction theme.

Flipped Classroom Activity Using the PTA Model in an Introductory Sociology Course

This scaffolded writing-to-learn activity incorporates a number of Writing Across the Curriculum-based suggestions that draw upon the strengths of student reflection, the PTA (prioritization, translation, and analogization) model of concentric thinking, and the benefits of a flipped-classroom approach to learning. Thus, the purpose of this article is to explain what one model for structuring a flipped classroom that purposefully integrates writing in the PTA model looks like and to provide a concrete example of a flipped-classroom activity that I have utilized in numerous introductory sociology courses.

Learning Outcomes in an Introductory Sociology Course: The Role of Learning Approach, Socio-Demographic Characteristics, Group and Teacher Effects

The article discusses a study on learning outcomes in an introductory Sociology course in a higher education setting. A quantitative model similar to education production functions is hypothesized. Independent variables include socio-demographic and psychological ones, as well as others pertaining to the learning environment. Learning is measured with the binary categories of “deep” and “surface” outcomes, which are qualitatively different, and are based on the comparison of mind maps drawn by students at the beginning and end of their first semester. Questionnaire data was collected from 264 first-year students of a Social Science Faculty. Significant effects on learning outcome are found for family background, major area of study, and teacher’s gender.

The Sociological Imagination and Community-based Learning: Using an Asset-based Approach

Fostering a sociological imagination in students is a central goal for most introductory sociology courses and sociology departments generally, yet success is difficult to achieve. This project suggests that using elements of asset-based community development can be used in sociology classrooms to develop a sociological perspective. After introducing asset-based community development, ways of incorporating this process into the classroom are discussed. Then, t tests are used to compare students’ ability to describe the relationship between individuals and society before and after engaging in asset-based activities; the sample group is also compared to a control group who did not engage in asset mapping. Results show significant improvement in the ability to think sociologically after completing asset-mapping projects.