Hi: I tend to give some sort of debunking quiz also, appropriate for the particular course. For INTRO to SOC, what I've found that works well for me is to combine a little true/false quiz with some examples of research that can show that sociology is not just research confirming "common sense" stuff that "everybody knows." The three examples I used last semester were suicide (because "everybody knows" those who commit suicide are just depressed "crazy" people), Chambliss' Saints and Roughnecks study (because "everybody knew" the saints were saints and the roughnecks were roughnecks) and Zimbardo's study of who vandalized cars in NYC (becuase the police "knew" it was gang members). These examples worked well because they are interesting in themselves and we have a large criminal justice program with many students overlapping into sociology.
I'd love to hear other examples of research that could work like this for INTRO or other courses. And I hope you keep those first day ideas coming! Kathy Kathy Stolley, PhD Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Virginia Wesleyan College 1584 Wesleyan Drive Norfolk, VA 23502 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
