Geoffrey Habron
MSU Sociology Department
Retreat May 10, 2006

• Office of Faculty and Organizational
Development Resources
• What is quality education?
• A concrete assessment example

“That's a fine idea in practice, but it will never work in theory.” – Harry Perlstadt

“The new institutionalism that is the focus of this essay is about the body. Its fundamental assertion is that actors pursue their interests by making choices within constraints. This assertion can be expanded to identify three characteristic elements of the theory.
First, it holds that actors are boundedly rational in the sense that they pursue a broad set of self interests, but with limited knowledge and cognitive capacity. Second, institutions are defined as the rules, combined with their enforcement mechanisms, that constrain the choices of actors. These rules include the laws of states, the policies of organizations, and the norms of social groups. Third, institutions ideally constrain actors such that their best choices are consistent with the collective good, enabling, for example, mutually profitable exchange between actors.” (Ingram and Clay 2000:525-526)
Ingram, P. And K. Clay. 2000. The choice-within-constraints new institutionalism and implications for sociology. Annual Review Of
Sociology 2000. 26:525 –46

• Dr. Patty Payette
• What is quality education? How do we know?
– Literature; research; SoTL
• Resources provided
– Seminars/workshops
– Fellowships
– Assessments
– Web links
• Suggestions for retreat follow-up

• General Undergraduate Education
• Sociological Education (ASA)
• MSU Boldness by Design
• MSU Department of Sociology
• Course level (SOC 361)
Second, institutions are defined as the rules, combined with their enforcement mechanisms, that constrain the choices of actors. These rules include the laws of states, the policies of organizations, and the norms of social groups. (Ingram and
Clay 2000:525-526)

• Encourage student-faculty contact;
• Encourage cooperation among students;
• Encourage active learning;
• Give prompt feedback;
• Emphasize time on task;
• Communicate high expectations; and
• Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
Chickering, A. and Z. Gamson. Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education.' American Association for Higher Education, 1986.
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/
7princip.htm
http://www.byu.edu/fc/pages/tchlrnpages/7princip.html

Backward Design
• Stage 1: Identify desired outcomes and results.
• Stage 2: Determine what constitutes acceptable evidence of competency in the outcomes and results
(assessment).
• Stage 3: Plan instructional strategies and learning experiences that bring students to these competency levels.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J.(1998). Understanding by design .
Alexandria, VA:Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
http://pixel.fhda.edu/id/six_facets.html
http://www.ubdexchange.org/resources.html

Report of the Task Force on the
Undergraduate Major:
Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major .
American Sociological Association.
January 2005.
<http://www.asanet.org/governance/LiberalLearningUpdate.pdf>

• There is a wealth of research, theory, and practical ideas on important approaches to teaching and learning in higher education should inform discussions about, and choices made for, the sociology major and curricular or pedagogical reforms. Three of these are briefly discussed here:
– learning-centered instruction,
– deep learning, and
– best practices.
Pg. 44

• With such an approach, the impact on student learning is the key variable in all course, department, and institutional decisions. From this perspective, we must consider, for example, student variables and diversity, the impact of the environment on learning, learning styles, and the scaffolding for learning. Covering the content is not the important objective in this paradigm; rather, it is nurturing student learning.
Pg. 44

• Relates previous knowledge to new knowledge;
• Relates knowledge from different courses;
• Relates theoretical ideas to everyday experience;
• Relates and distinguishes evidence and argument;
• Organizes and structures content into a coherent whole; and
• Emphasis is internal, from within the student
• Deep learning clearly implies increasing integration among topics, courses, and out-ofclass experiences.
Pg. 44

Pop Culture View of Student College Experience
Closer to Fine – Indigo Girls
I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.
I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper
And I was free.
http://www.indigogirls.com/lyrics/byalbum/indigo.html

• Encourage student-faculty contact;
• Encourage cooperation among students;
• Encourage active learning;
• Give prompt feedback;
• Emphasize time on task;
• Communicate high expectations; and
• Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
Pg. 45
Refers to 7 principles of undergraduate learning

• Some ideas for potential outcomes and assessment indicators

Overall Satisfaction with Outcomes of Sociology Programs
% Very satisfied
• Note link to best practices
Overall satisfaction with experiences
Access to necessary technology
Ease in seeing faculty outside class*
Quality of teaching*
Getting courses needed to graduate
Interaction with fellow majors*
Undergraduate advising
Career advising
Graduate school advising
Michigan
State
(n=14)
57.1
85.7
50.0
42.9
50.0
28.6
28.6
28.6
7.1
Doctoral
Programs
(n= 860)
69.0
68.5
63.4
60.9
60.0
52.8
46.9
13.4
8.7

Ten learning activities participated in by Graduating
Sociology Majors
% Participating as part of Sociology Major
Michigan
State
(n=14)
21.4
21.4
21.4
Doctoral
Programs
(n= 860)
32.0
29.0
26.4
How to work in a group
Internship
Community Political
Volunteer
Service Learning
Sociology club [AK∆]
Career related mentor networking
Faculty mentoring
Faculty research program
Dept honors program
Prof sociology meetings
14.3
21.4
14.3
7.1
7.1
7.1
7.1
24.5
17.2
16.7
16.2
13.8
11.3
7.4

Top Eight Skills Gained by Graduating Sociology Majors
% Strongly Agreeing
Identify ethical issues in research
Develop evidence based arguments
Evaluate different research methods
Write report for non sociologists
Form causal hypotheses
Use computer for bib references
Interpret results of data gathering
Use statistical software
SPSS SAS etc
Michigan
State
(n=14)
64.3
Doctoral
Programs
(n= 860)
67.5
78.6
71.4
50.0
71.4
50.0
42.9
42.9
65.3
63.9
63.6
59.6
57.9
55.6
35.9

Six Conceptual Abilities of Graduating Sociology Majors
% Strongly Agreeing
Michigan
State
(n=14)
Doctoral
Programs
(n= 860)
85.7
86.6
Basic sociological concepts
People’s experiences vary
Current sociological explanations
Society from alternative critical
Basic sociological theories/paradigms
Social Inst & impact on individuals
92.9
85.7
100.0
85.7
71.4
85.2
85.5
80.8
76.2
75.4

• http://strategicpositioning.msu.edu/default.asp

• http://strategicpositioning.msu.edu/Design_Glance.asp

Enhancing the Undergraduate Experience:
Task Force Recommendations
1.
Enhance the first year experience; assist students in making a strong academic and social transition, and in creating appropriate expectations about their undergraduate education
2.
Promote the improvement of and rewards for successful college teaching
3.
Articulate, target and expand opportunities for undergraduate students to develop cultural competencies.
4.
Promote and integrate more active and applied learning in undergraduate education
5.
Modify the undergraduate curriculum and related policies so that our goals for undergraduate liberal learning are met
6.
Enhance the physical environment in ways that support learning for the students, faculty and staff at MSU
7.
Continue the review of graduate programs and graduate teaching and the mentoring of graduate students.
http://strategicpositioning.msu.edu/documents/BbDImperative1_002.pdf
G: addresses mostly choices, but few constraints

Report of the Working Group on Improving
Undergraduate Education:
Goals for Liberal Learning
1. Integrated Judgment
2. Advanced Communication Skills (both writing and speaking)
3. Cultural Competence (addressed in recommendation 2)
4. Analytical Thinking
5. Literacy in Science and Mathematics
6. Effective Citizenship

• Illustrate sociological perspectives
• Help students develop skills in critical thinking
• Introduce and explain strategies and methods for conducting sociological research
GH: Need to reframe in terms of outcomes and add explanation for terms e.g. critical thinking
Gold and Pyle. 2005. MSU Sociology Department assessment plan.
January

• Student responsibility for learning
• Active learning and research skills
• Doing sociology
• Team learning
• Computers
• Job skills
• Life skills
• World as a classroom
GH: some of these seem like outcomes e.g. research skills, computers.
• Integrate graduate and undergraduate education
Gold and Pyle. 2005. MSU Sociology Department assessment plan.
January

• Individual course adjustments
– e.g. 7 principles, backward design
• Departmental curriculum adjustments
– backward design

• Contemporary Communities
• Fall 2005
• Geoffrey Habron
• 68 students
Third, institutions ideally constrain actors such that their best choices are consistent with the collective good, enabling, for example, mutually profitable exchange between actors.” (Ingram and Clay
2000:525-526)

• Approaches to study community
• Levels of complexity
• Community Change
• Community Development
• Links to external institutions and factors

• Knowledge
• Comprehension
• Application
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Evaluation
– Define, name, list
– describe, explain, arrange
– illustrate, demonstrate
– diagram, compare, criticize
– organize, propose, manage
– argue, assess, defend

Weekly
Assignments
15%
Field Project
15%
Doing sociology, research skills, world as classroom
SOC 361 Structure
Outcomes
Approaches
Complexity
Change
Development
External
Portfolio
15%
Flexible
5%
Lecture
Group Project
10%
Participation
15%
Exams
30%

• Encourage student-faculty contact;
( SIRS )
• Encourage cooperation among students; ( presentations )
• Encourage active learning;
(field project, presentations )
• Give prompt feedback;
( final feedback )
• Emphasize time on task;
*
• Communicate high expectations; and
*
• Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
( flexible 5%, presentations )
Pg. 45
* Missing in SOC 361

• Relates previous knowledge to new knowledge;
• Relates knowledge from different courses;
• Relates theoretical ideas to everyday experience;
• Relates and distinguishes evidence and argument;
• Organizes and structures content into a coherent whole; and
• Emphasis is internal, from within the student
• Deep learning clearly implies increasing integration among topics, courses, and out-ofclass experiences.
Pg. 44

• Humorous look at bowling leagues
Relates previous knowledge to new knowledge
• Historical and census analysis of hometown
• Fairy tale depicting deeply personal critique of hometown Relates and distinguishes evidence and argument
• “Bridging the gap: the connections between the restaurant community and the field of social work” integration among topics, courses, and out-of-class experiences

Relates theoretical ideas to everyday experience
Organizes and structures content into a coherent whole

• “It was not until I began collecting research for this field project on my own community that I truly understood how to take charge of my education outside of a classroom setting. By making use of the tools that we are all equipped with, I was able to turn my everyday observations into an educational experience”
(student a)
Relates theoretical ideas to everyday experience

• “People do not usually process or analyze the information that they gather from their observations and it is simply lost. A major concept behind learning is to be an active learner. Active learning means taking any situation and turning it into a valuable and educational experience on your own terms.”
(student a)
Emphasis is internal, from within the student

• Capacity
– Structural
– Cultural
– Capital:
• Human
• Social
• Financial
• …

Enhancing the Undergraduate Experience:
Task Force Recommendations
1.
Enhance the first year experience; assist students in making a strong academic and social transition, and in creating appropriate expectations about their undergraduate education
2.
Promote the improvement of and rewards for successful college teaching
3.
Articulate, target and expand opportunities for undergraduate students to develop cultural competencies.
4.
Promote and integrate more active and applied learning in undergraduate education
5.
Modify the undergraduate curriculum and related policies so that our goals for undergraduate liberal learning are met
6.
Enhance the physical environment in ways that support learning for the students, faculty and staff at MSU
7.
Continue the review of graduate programs and graduate teaching and the mentoring of graduate students.
http://strategicpositioning.msu.edu/documents/BbDImperative1_002.pdf
G: addresses mostly choices, but few constraints

• Faculty
– Letting go
– Diligent monitoring of tension
– Organization, instructions
– Structure: assignment status; load; teaching style
– Culture: routine, expectations, habitus
– Agency: choice, decisions, motivation