Our teaching sociology majors learn successful teaching techniques as these techniques are modeled in the classroom by sociology faculty. Engaging students in critical thinking and reflexive learning are probably the most common goals, as well as the practices most modeled. Sociology is a generalizing science that seeks to discover the general in the particular, while allowing for variation. To teach sociology, we take the process in reverse through reflexive learning, which involves both teacher and student applying broad sociological issues and concepts to the student’s individual experience. The larger goal is to get students to see the general experience of social life that is reflected in their personal experience.
In addition to guiding students to make application of sociology to their personal and professional lives, we also attempt to make clear to our students the application of sociology to other sciences, and vice versa. One way that we accomplish this is through our support of a general education curriculum. Dr. Barbara Richardson is currently a member of the General Education Reform Committee at EMU, and she exemplifies our commitment. A common practice among our faculty is to make clear to students the manner in which other sciences inform sociology. In other words, we help students to understand why sociology courses are important to their understanding of history, psychology, medicine, communication, etc., even geology.
Engaging in critical thinking involves guiding students to question the construction of their reality: who they are, what are their beliefs, where did those beliefs come from, who or what influenced those beliefs, and what are the consequences of those beliefs? In other words, we hope to encourage sociologically examined lives, by guiding students to apply sociological understandings within their personal lives, within their family and friendship networks, and within their workplaces, communities, and larger social contexts.
These two goals, engaging students in reflexive learning and critical thinking, are accomplished through a variety of methods: student lead/professor guided problem-solving exercises; group discussions; academic service learning; project-based learning; learning by teaching; and multi-medium learning. Clearly, our teaching methods are very applied and action oriented. As evidence of the strength of our Department’s commitment to an applied approach, we are currently developing an applied sociology major, to be offered along with our general sociology major and our sociology teaching major.
Group Discussions. Small group discussions allow faculty to model the teaching of “acceptance” of alternative viewpoints, rather than just “tolerance” of difference. Students learn to work through their emotional response to challenges to their viewpoint at the same time they are learning to develop reasoned and well-supported counterarguments. Students also learn that accepting an alternative viewpoint can be a sign of personal and professional growth.
Service Learning. Several of our faculty participate with EMU’s Academic Service Learning Program, wherein students of sociology learn to work with sociological principles in applied settings. Most recently, Dr. Liqun Cao was an Academic Service Learning Fellow in 1998, and Dr. Robert Orrange is currently a Fellow. Dr. Cao believes that the incorporation of service learning into his courses helps students make connections between theory and practice, and Dr. Orrange is reporting similar positive results.
Project-Based Learning. In methods and statistics classes, faculty commonly assign students problem-based exercises. Statistics students are routinely provided with a subset of data from the General Social Science Survey, from which they construct a research question and test various research hypotheses. In methods courses, students learn to approach problem solving by creating a research question, constructing an appropriate research design, and collecting appropriate data to address the question.
In-Class Student-Lead/Professor Guided Problem-Solving Exercises. In addition to the individual project-based approach to problem solving, many of our faculty guide students through in-class exercises. In this way, faculty model the process of applying sociology to lived experiences. Sociology then becomes a “tool” that students can use to clarify issues and to identify alternative approaches and perspectives. This teaching technique is most obviously useful when teaching a course such as SOCL 202 Social Problems, but in actuality, this technique can be found in practice within virtually every course taught.
Learning By Teaching. A well-worn refrain in sociology classes appears to be that “the best way to learn is to teach.” In smaller classes, a common way for this to be accomplished is by having students present their terms papers. In larger classes, as well as in smaller, some faculty give student panels the responsibility of presenting different segments of the lecture material.
Multi-Medium Learning. Most of our faculty offer students an opportunity to learn through the use of various medium, rather than simply through textbooks. For example, film (including assigning feature films to be viewed outside the classroom), newspapers, websites, and Internet groups. Several faculty have developed their own websites, as well. Dr. Kern and Dr. Reiling have their students learn about various groups by reading exchanges posted within Internet chat rooms. Dr. Reiling finds this technique especially useful for teaching SOCL 312 Medical Sociology because it allows students to get a better understanding than a textbook could provide of the struggles of those who are ill, without invading their privacy. Students have expressed that being in the “intimate” space of the present time chat-room discussion (even though they do not actively participate by posting themselves) brings them closer to the subject than reading a synopsis of the experience in the textbook.
Return to Sociology Index