Role-playing activities, as a form of active learning, enable instructors to teach difficult concepts in ways that better facilitate student learning. This note tests the effectiveness of a role-playing activity that simulates the job market: Most students play job seekers seeking employment, and a few play the employers who make employment…

This article analyzes the effectiveness of an activity we developed to help students better understand intersectionality. Intersectionality is an analytic concept that signifies ways that inequalities may overlap to create unique forms of privilege and subjugation. In the activity, students use assigned vignettes from the perspective of research…

Scholarship examining the educational potential of semester-long research projects in non-methods undergraduate sociology courses is limited. To address this gap in knowledge, I drew from active learning and problem-based learning literatures to develop a term research project in two sections of an undergraduate sociology course at a large public…

In this article, I connect globalization and qualitative methodological practice, describing a semester-long intensive interview project about the anti-apartheid movement. I provide a detailed overview of the project as well as considerations for those who might want to adapt it for their own courses. Using students' reflections on the projects…

Effectively teaching sociological theories to undergraduate students is challenging. Students often enroll in theory courses due to major requirements, not personal interest. Consequently, many students approach the study of theory with anxiety. This study examined the effectiveness of an experiential learning activity designed to teach Karl…

Few evaluated classroom exercises to date have addressed one of the most cited and compelling explanations of gender formation over the life course: interactionist gender theory. This theory posits that people actively "do" or "perform" their gender in every interaction, and as such, they often subconsciously reshape their…

Lecturing has been criticized for fostering a passive learning environment, emphasizing a one-way flow of information, and not adequately engaging students. In contrast, active-learning approaches, such as team-based learning (TBL), prioritize student interaction and engagement and create multidirectional flows of information. This paper presents…

This article explores the use of a social science-fictional play to teach macro-structural concepts related to global capitalism and surplus labor in a small and large Introduction to Sociology course. Relying on a cross-disciplinary and critical pedagogical approach that combines theory and practice to empower students to develop a critical…

This article presents an in-class exercise for teaching theories of the presentation of self that is organized around two key concepts, impression management and impression formation. By highlighting the interpretive, interactive aspects of the presentation of self, this exercise is also useful for teaching the major principles of symbolic…

This teaching note describes my multiyear experience with interventions designed to enhance student engagement and learning through various teaching techniques, most notably active and collaborative learning through local case studies. While other aspects of this course had been successful, I was disappointed in the level of engagement--the…

The authors provide a brief case study of a three-strategy approach for teaching undergraduate research methods that (1) incorporates active learning assignments and discussion-based learning, (2) integrates a cross-discipline and cross-method faculty guest discussion facilitators series, and (3) focuses on the challenges and rewards of conducting…

The increasing ubiquity of PowerPoint in the university classroom raises complex questions about pedagogy and the creation of dynamic and effective learning environments. Though much of the sociological teaching literature has focused on engagement and active learning, very little of this work has addressed the presence of PowerPoint in sociology…

This article describes and evaluates an activity designed to demonstrate how biological factors (e.g., genetics), individual-level behaviors (e.g., smoking), and social factors (e.g., socioeconomic status) shape health status and access to health care. Active learning techniques were utilized to introduce the sociological imagination as it…

The Integrating Data Analysis (IDA) approach to undergraduate education developed by the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) has been embedded in the undergraduate sociology curriculum at Lehman College, The City University of New York (CUNY), since 2003. This study draws on student and…

Suggests that field trips may best be seen as an example of short-term experiential education. Explains how field trips may be helpful in a range of sociology classes; notes the basic steps to planning, undertaking, and evaluating field trips; and addresses advantages of, and objections to, such excursions. (DSK)