Developing a National Model for
a College-level Introductory
Sociology Course
DUE-0442836
Caroline Hodges Persell
Department of Sociology
New York University
chp1@nyu.edu
In collaboration with
Barbara Schneider
Michigan State University
What should the curriculum
for an innovative Introduction to
Sociology course be?
• Started with a draft curriculum and
resource materials developed by an
American Sociological Association (ASA)
Task Force. 4 goals of project.
• First, wanted to see if leaders in the field
shared the learning goals of the
curriculum.
Goal 1: To refine conceptions
of what should be taught in an
Introduction to Sociology course.
Actions: 1) Telephone interviews with 44
leaders (elected heads of sociology
professional associations, winners of
awards for their research, NSF sociology
grant recipients) to learn what they think
students should understand after taking an
Introduction to Sociology course, and how
they teach sociology. 2) Brief electronic
survey ranking Task Force goals.
Results: Leaders identified 9
Themes
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Thinking sociologically.
Thinking scientifically.
Thinking critically.
Understanding inequality.
Sociology as a field.
Social construction of ideas.
Distinguishing sociology from
other social sciences.
8) Improving the world.
9) Understanding social
institutions in society.
article:
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/persell/aIntroNSF/Documents/WhatShouldStudent
sUnderstandOctober2007TeachingSociology.pdf
Goal 2: To learn more about how
leaders teach important principles
• Interviews with 44
leaders.
• Comparisons with
other research on
teaching in the field.
• The article:
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/persell/aIntroNS
F/Documents/HowSociologicalLeadersTeac
hApril2008TeachingSociology.pdf
Results: Teaching Sociology paper
• Leaders involve
students in
research much
more than seen in
studies of general
syllabi or courses.
• This includes data
collection and
analysis, field
projects, or other
research projects.
70%
60%
50%
40%
% involved in
research
30%
20%
10%
0%
44
418
229
Leaders Syllabi Courses
Goal 3: To assess whether the
curriculum increases students’
understanding of important principles.
Actions: 1) Keeler, Fermin, and Schneider,
collaborative partner, developed a rubric for
assessing critical thinking. Applied it to student
learning in an Introductory course in a large public
university. Paper forthcoming, Teaching
Sociology, October 2008.
2) Persell conducted focus groups with
undergraduates at a selective private university.
Working paper written with Mateiro.
Keesler, Fermin, &
Schneider
Measured the effectiveness of the curriculum by
three goals: student knowledge of sociological
content, the development of critical thinking
skills, and the interest of students in studying
sociology.
Found that, overall, sociological knowledge and
critical thinking skills appear to have increased
in the course of the semester and that students
expressed greater interest in the application of
sociology to their daily lives.
Persell and Mateiro:
Assessed whether students’ understandings of
complex and abstract ideas benefit from the
strategies used to teach them, and how and why.
Showed the value of using multiple methods for
assessing teaching strategies and student learning,
including before and after essays, discussion
questions, and open-ended discussion in focus
groups.
Revealed how focus groups provide insights into
students’ thinking and illuminate student perceptions
of a given teaching strategy, such as an exercise,
game, or film.
Goal 4: Dissemination of the curriculum,
pedagogical resources and research
Actions:
Developing a
web-based
gateway to the
curriculum,
teacher and
student
resources.
Outcomes
Website
http://www.nyu.
edu/classes/per
sell/aIntroNSF/h
ome.html
Website designed to make resources
available to college and high school
teachers and students
• Materials include original resources, carefully selected
existing materials, and links to high quality outside websites.
• Flexibly framed by substantive curricular themes and issues.
• Organized by units, type of resource, and audience (teachers
and students).
• Involve active learning including data exploration, scientific
approaches and reasoning, simulations, streaming video, and
multiple media and senses.
•Each page contains an interactive feedback form.
We Hope You Visit the Website
and share your reactions
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/persell/aIntroNSF/home.html