Soc 530, Sec 002: Teaching Sociology

Spring 2002

Required Texts

Boice, Robert. 2000. Advice for New Faculty Members. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. (B)

McKeachie, Wilbert. 1994. Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers. Lexington, MA: Heath. (M)

Additional readings as assigned. Attached to this syllabus is a bibliography of several readings you may find helpful, some of which are assigned for the class. I also will keep a few folders of helpful hints in the conference room for your perusal throughout the semester. Please do not take these materials.

Course Description

Wanted: PhDs willing to teach 5-6 (or more) courses per year on a diversity of topics and do exceptional research with little to no grant support and serve on as many committees as we tell them to (making a substantial contribution to each). Salary (below your peers), benefits (limited by managed care) and soon-to-be outdated computers come with the positions. Summers off (except for research, service, and teaching responsibilities not completed during the academic year). Tenure might be possible in 5-7 years if you meet our (as yet unspecified) expectations, publish profusely in the correct journals and receive at least respectable teaching evaluations from students who just want an easy A. Individuals with a personal life need not apply.

All cynicism aside, academe is not a profession for the unmotivated or the unrealistic. This is why, in part, PhD programs are designed to challenge students to the point of frustration and, occasionally, failure. First, we train you in research by requiring difficult classes, a comprehensive examination and, then, a dissertation. Next, we train you in collaboration by forcing you to work with others to successfully pass these culminating experiences and by working with you on research projects. Finally, we train you in teaching by throwing you, as we were thrown, into the undergraduate classroom.

What is wrong with this picture? Obviously, the lack of training in teaching. While we spend, in this department, 1.5 semesters teaching you how to do research before we expect you to conduct your own, we make no similar demands for your intellectual training in pedagogy. It is a truism to state that professors, in the past, received virtually no training in education. Almost fifteen years ago, when I started teaching, I had a 1-hour seminar held concurrently with my first teaching experience, as a recitation instructor with 150 undergraduate students.

This class, then, is designed to help begin to fill the gap in teacher training in our department. As an academic, you will almost certainly be required to teach, although you may find your teaching responsibilities (and skills) devalued compared to your research duties. You probably will find yourself spending countless hours working with and talking to students, grading papers, designing courses, and presenting lectures. It is my hope in this class that you can learn how to do those things in a more efficient, effective, and personally satisfying manner.

I don't believe (and research supports this belief) that teaching is a "natural" skill that only some of us have. I do believe that all teachers, no matter how gifted, can improve their talents. In fact, my personal experience is that often it is the best teachers who are the ones seeking new ways to improve their instruction. I invite you to work with me this semester on this pedagogical challenge.

Course Objectives

My objectives for this class are twofold:

1. I want you to improve your teaching. This implies that no matter how successful you already are as a teacher, there is always room for improvement. It also implies that if you have never taught before, I believe you have some residual teaching skills you have not yet utilized.

2. I want you to appreciate teaching as a valued and valuable part of your academic career.

You will meet these objectives by:

a. Practicing and receiving feedback on new or existing skills.

b. Trying new strategies to improve student learning and therefore instructor effectiveness.

c. Learning how to better organize your teaching responsibilities.

d. Learning how to thoughtfully plan your courses.

e. Discussing the role of teaching in our lives as academics and in the lives of our students.

Assignments

This is not a normal graduate seminar, as the emphasis in this course is on the development of teaching skills. To make the process of learning and enhancing your teaching skills helpful to you, I want you to consider each of the following assignments as related to one over-arching goal- helping you to develop an undergraduate course that you hope to teach some day. You will be asked to select the course that you wish to develop, and to use your existing knowledge in that area to drive your creation of assignments, syllabi, etc. Toward this end, then, 70% of the course grade is dedicated to assignments related to the development of materials for your prospective class.

Class exercises: Several assignments are required in this class. A draft of each exercise is due on the day the exercise is scheduled. A final draft of the assignment is due on the date listed in the parentheses. This will allow you to revise each exercise prior to handing it in. Collectively, all of the assignments are worth 10% of the course grade.

Micro-teaching and Guest Lecture: You will teach twice during the semester.

A. In a micro-teaching exercise during the seminar you will present a teaching tip in 10 minutes to your fellow students. This presentation is 5% of your course grade.

B. You will be assigned to guest lecture in a lower-level Sociology class in the department. You will work with the instructor to identify the topic and present the material. You will be responsible for the entire class period on the day of your presentation. This guest lecture will be observed by a fellow classmate (see below) and it will be videotaped. I will review the videotape with you and provide detailed feedback. Your videotaped guest lecture with the follow-up review is 15% of your course grade.

Peer review of fellow student's teaching: Each of you will be asked to attend the guest lecture of a fellow classmate. Following your observation you will provide detailed, written feedback to the presenter emphasizing the strengths of the presentation and areas for improvement. (5%)

Journal of teaching mentoring experience: You will each be assigned a faculty teaching mentor with whom you should plan on spending approximately one hour per week discussing and working on teaching related activities. You are not the faculty member's Teaching Assistant (TA). However, you are expected to work alongside the faculty member as they prepare classroom activities, present lectures, grade materials, etc. You may be assigned to look up materials for a lecture (also good experience). You may be asked to copy materials (a necessary task for any faculty member).

Throughout the semester you should take note of what you are learning from your mentoring experience and include it in your journal. You should also use your journal to comment on course readings and other issues related to the class. Plan on writing at least 3-5 pages per week. All journals will be kept confidential. (10%)

Final Project: Teaching portfolio. At some point in your academic career you will need to demonstrate to others the quality of your teaching. To do this, you need to begin now pulling together teaching-related materials. Therefore, your final project for the class will be a 5-8 page paper where you summarize your teaching goals and philosophies and relate them to a specific course that you intend to teach. Attached to this narrative should be many of the components of a course that you have developed throughout the semester, although you should revise them prior to incorporation into this packet. At a minimum, your final project will include:

a. teaching philosophy

b. detailed syllabus, including bibliography

c. 2 assignments: 1 writing; 1 non-writing; 1 in-class; 1 out-of-class; grading rubric for all

d. sample lecture outline with lecture objectives clearly identified

e. exam format/sample questions, with grading rubric

f. a 5-8 page narrative where you relate your teaching philosophy and goals to the specific course you developed.

More information regarding this assignment will be distributed later. 25%

In addition to the 70% of the class that is focused on preparing you to teach an undergraduate course, 20% of your final grade will be based upon your participation in the seminar. Participation, in my perspective, involves being prepared for class discussion, timely completion of assignments, and willingness to contribute to class activities. Respectful, professional responses to fellow seminar participants will be expected at all times.

Finally, 10% of your final course grade will be based upon your participation in a seminar project that is designed to help the Sociology department at SIUC improve its undergraduate instruction. This is a project that we will work on together, although each student will have their own responsibilities clearly outlined. More information regarding this project will be distributed the second week of classes.



Course Schedule and Required Readings

Note: * means optional reading

Section 1: Teaching as Planning

January 15 What makes a good teacher?

Readings: M: Ch 1; B: Pp. 1-18; Goldsmid & Wilson: Ch 1-2 ; Phillips 1994

Exercise 1: Teaching Philosophy (due 1/21)


January 22 What is in your teaching toolbox?

Readings: M: Ch 2-3; B: Ch 1; Goldsmid & Wilson: Ch 4; Walvoord & Anderson: Ch 3; Light: Ch 6

Exercise 2: Syllabus draft (due 1/28)

Get on the web and look at sample syllabi from SIUC Sociology classes; bring critique

January 29 Entering the Field: First Impressions

Readings: M: Ch 4; B: Ch 2; Royse: Ch 3*

Exercise 3: Introductions (due 2/4)

Section 2: Teaching as Praxis: The Basics

February 5 Discussing; Learning styles

Readings: M: Ch 5; B: Ch 4; Advocate, 2/1999*, 10/2000; Bonwell & Eison: Ch 1

Journals due

Exercise 4: 3 ways to Present a Concept (due 2/11)

February 12 Lecturing- the Art of Presentation

Readings: M: Ch 6; B: Ch 3; Bonwell & Eison: Ch 2; Flannery 1994

Exercise 5: Lecture outline (due 2/18)

February 19 Assignments- Reading, Writing

Readings: M: Ch 10-11; Light: Ch 4; Sociology Writing Group: Ch 1

Exercise 6: Developing exercises, Part 1 (due2/25)

February 26 The Buzz Words: Alternative Pedagogies, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning

Readings: M: Ch 14-16; B: Ch 7; Newble & Cannon: Ch 3*; Millis & Cottell 1998; Browne: Ch 1*, 14*

Exercise 7: Developing exercises, Part 2 (due 3/4)

March 5 Micro teaching of teaching tips

Journals due

Section 3: Teaching as Art and Philosophy

March 19 Testing and Grading

Readings: M: Ch 7-9; B: Ch 5-6; Walvoord & Anderson: Ch 2, 5

Guest Lectures

Exercise 8: Sample Exam questions and grading rubric (due 3/25)

March 26 Technology

Readings: M: Ch 17; Advocate, 1/2001*

Exercise 9: Incorporating the Web (due 4/1)

Guest Lectures

April 2 Pedagogy as Social Action

Readings: M: Ch 13; Freire: Ch 2; hooks, 1994*; Hamner: Ch 1-2; Sample Service-Learning syllabi*

Guest Lectures

Class Project (due 4/9)

Section 4: Teaching Challenges

April 9 Challenges unique to Sociology

Readings: Goldsmid & Wilson: Ch 7-8; Stauffer

Guest Lectures

Exercise 10: Enhancing Sociology's Webpage (optional)

April 16 Diversity

Readings: M: Ch 20; Turner & Myers, Ch 2, 4*; Light: Ch 7; Women in Higher Education, 1993; Academe, 1994; Ms. 2001*

Peer Assessments due

April 23 "Problem" Students

Readings: M: Ch 21-22; B: Ch 8; Advocate, 3/2000, 12/2000

Journals due

April 30 Self-Assessment

Readings: M: Ch 23-24; B: Ch 5-7; Advocate, 5/2001, 10/2001*

Portfolios due

May 7 Celebration of Teaching

Bibliography

Allen, R.R. and Theodore Reuter. 1990. Teaching Assistant Strategies: An Introduction to College Teaching. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

+Bell, Inge. 1999. This Book is not Required. Newbury Park, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Boice, Robert. 1996. First Order Principles for College Teachers: Ten Basic Ways to Improve the Teaching Process. Bolton, MA: Anker.

+Bonwell, Charles C. and James A. Eison. 1991. Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1. Washington, D.C.: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.

+Browne, M. Neil and Stuart M. Keeley. 2001. Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, 6^th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

+Campbell, Frederick L., Hubert M. Blalock, Jr. and Reece McGee, eds. 1985. Teaching Sociology: The Quest for Excellence. Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.

+Davis, Barbara Gross. 1993. Tools for Teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Dorn, Dean S. 1996. Voices from the Classroom: Interviews with 36 Sociologists about Teaching. Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association, ASA Teaching Resources Center.

D'Souza, Dinesh. 1991. Illiberal Education : the Politics of Race and Sex on Campus. New York: Free Press.

+Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 1970, 2000. New York: Continuum.

+Goldsmid, Charles and Everett K. Wilson. 1985. Passing on Sociology: The Teaching of a Discipline. ASA.

+Hamner, Doris M. 2002. Building Bridges: The Allyn & Bacon Student Guide to Service-Learning. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge.

Keating, Anne and Joseph Hargitai. 1999. The Wired Professor: A Guide to Incorporating the World Wide Web in College Instruction. New York: New York University Press. http://www.netlibrary.com/ebook_info.asp?product_id=2163

+Light, Richard J. 2001. Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

+Nelson, Cary, ed. 1997. Will Teach for Food: Academic Labor in Crisis. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Pescosolido, Bernice and Ronald Aminzade, eds. 1999. The Social Worlds of Higher Education: Handbook for Teaching in a New Century. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Reis, Richard. 1997. Tomorrow's Professor. New York: Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers.

+Royse, David. 2001. Teaching Tips for College and University Instructors: A Practical Guide. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Seldin, Peter. 1991. The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions. Bolton, MA: Anker.

+The Sociology Writing Group. 2001. A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers, 5^th Edition. New York: Worth Publishers.

+Turner, Caroline Sotello Viernes and Samuel L. Myers, Jr. 2000. Faculty of Color in Academe: Bittersweet Success. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

+Walvoord, Barbara E. and Virginia Johnson Anderson. 1998. Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

+Weimer, Maryellen. 1993. Improving your Classroom Teaching. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

+ These books I currently have on my shelf.