This article presents the "modus operandi" of a game, the so-called Game of Shapes, which can be used as an active learning tool to teach Constructivism to introductory International Relations courses. While sharing our own experience of the development and application of the game in a laboratory with International Relations students,…

This paper describes the application of a "biosocial" approach to informal health and science education. As an engagement between biological and critical social sciences, biosocial theory has sought to re-articulate human bodies as fundamentally the product of interrelationships between the biological and social dimensions of human life.…

In this paper, we maintain that sociologists should deliberately teach social responsibility as a means of fulfilling the promise that C. Wright Mills envisioned. A key aspect of the sociological imagination includes a sense of social responsibility, but that aspect is best learned through a combination of experience and academic knowledge.…

States that individualistic orientation of most U.S. college students presents a persistent problem for teaching sociology. Provides an empirical evaluation using an active-learning exercise. Focuses on whether mate selection increases student understanding of social structure's impact on marital choice. Indicates that the exercise participants…

The topic of social structure and interaction presents social science professors with a notable teaching opportunity. The active learning technique described in this article requires students to briefly analyze the statuses and roles of individuals with whom they are familiar. They then role play assigned characters as they would interact at a…

Maintains that the study of complex organizations has long been central to sociology. Presents and describes a college assignment based on the sociological practice perspective, a new approach to social science instruction. Includes a six-step student process, information on grading, and a sample of student questions. (CFR)