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Rockin' Soc: Using Popular Music to Introduce Sociological Concepts
... The reflective benefits of an A/V approach noted in the literature (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Tan & Pearce, 2011) addresses one of the perceived weaknesses of Net Generation learners (Holliday & Li, 2004;Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005). Whilst the careful use of visuals as noted in section 2.2.2.1.3 ...
... Whilst the careful use of visuals as noted in section 2.2.2.1.3 suits the visual nature and preferences of the Net Generation, the additional use of audio in a non-traditional form is noted in the literature as also being beneficial to learning (Ahlkvist, 2001;Albers & Bach, 2003;Brkich, 2012). ...
... Anxiety is noted as a key signifier for surface learning (Fransson, 1977), therefore targeting such teaching with alternative and relevant methods, which foster critical analysis and are related to the real world is more likely to ensure that deep learning is fostered in this context (Marton & Säljö, 1997). Furthermore the use of A/V approaches can foster critical thinking and reflection by encouraging discussion in a group context through the creation of a shared experience (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Hraba, Powers, Woodman, & Miller, 1980). ...
Consideration of sustainability in product and industrial design courses is becoming more common and relevant within higher education in the UK. However little is known about how widespread the teaching is and what is actually understood as sustainable design with discrepancies in the definitions used in different institutions. Literature highlights that many universities now engage with the tangible environmental aspects of sustainable design, whilst the intangible social aspects are left unaddressed. This thesis explores methods for encouraging and enabling students to address the social aspects within sustainable product design (SPD) education. The first research stage presents the results of a nationwide survey, which investigated how widely SPD is taught, which social aspects are addressed, how SPD is taught and assessed and the attitudes and awareness of it amongst academics. The second research stage presents further research into best practice in SPD through detailed interviews with leading academics in the field. A third research stage built upon the findings from both these studies, and sought to address a perceived weakness in SPD education; the lack of understanding and consideration of the social aspects in sustainable product design in teaching and project outcomes. Three Rethinking Design workshops were developed and tested at five universities in the UK and Ireland. These workshops were designed to introduce students to the wider social aspects of SPD, through the use of audio visual group based workshops. The design of the workshops enabled a learning environment where a deep understanding of the social aspects of Sustainable Product Design could be developed through; group work, discussion and critical reflection, which led to students exploring design thinking responses, suggesting that deep learning, had occurred. - See more at: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.594455#sthash.QbXkG9Z7.dpuf
... Literature suggests that the use of an audio-visual approach can have reflective benefits for students (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Tan & Pearce, 2011), and foster critical thinking and reflection by encouraging discussion in a group context by creating a shared experience (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Hraba, Powers, Woodman & Miller, 1980). This is important as this addresses the key perceived weakness of Net Generation learners: the ability to critically reflect (Holliday & Li, 2004;Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005b). ...
... Literature suggests that the use of an audio-visual approach can have reflective benefits for students (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Tan & Pearce, 2011), and foster critical thinking and reflection by encouraging discussion in a group context by creating a shared experience (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Hraba, Powers, Woodman & Miller, 1980). This is important as this addresses the key perceived weakness of Net Generation learners: the ability to critically reflect (Holliday & Li, 2004;Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005b). ...
... This is important as this addresses the key perceived weakness of Net Generation learners: the ability to critically reflect (Holliday & Li, 2004;Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005b). Additionally, the careful use of photographs suits the visual preferences of the Net Generation, while the additional use of music is also noted in the literature as beneficial to learning (Ahlkvist, 2001;Albers & Bach, 2003;Brkich, 2012). ...
... Given that the focus of this particular paper is on teaching criminological theory, information on the application of non-traditional teaching tools in the closely related field of sociology is quite relevant. As discussed by Albers and Bach (2003), sociology professors have used a wide variety of non-traditional teaching methods in an effort to draw illustrations of key sociological concepts. Some of these methods include literature (Sullivan, 1982), film (Berg, 1992;Burton, 1988;Demerath, 1981;Fails, 1988;Hannon & Marullo, 1988;Prendergast, 1986;Smith, 1973;Tipton & Tiemann, 1993); Short Stories (Berg, 1992); Puzzles (Lowney, 1998); Michael Jordan's shoes (Kaufman, 1997), and even The Simpson's cartoon (Scanlan & Feinberg, 2000), among others. ...
... Some of these methods include literature (Sullivan, 1982), film (Berg, 1992;Burton, 1988;Demerath, 1981;Fails, 1988;Hannon & Marullo, 1988;Prendergast, 1986;Smith, 1973;Tipton & Tiemann, 1993); Short Stories (Berg, 1992); Puzzles (Lowney, 1998); Michael Jordan's shoes (Kaufman, 1997), and even The Simpson's cartoon (Scanlan & Feinberg, 2000), among others. Music, the medium of interest for the current paper, has been a widely used tool in both the fields of sociology and criminal justice (Ahlkvist, 2001;Albers & Bach, 2003;Elterman, 1983;Hinds-Aldrich, 2012;Martinez, 1994Martinez, , 1995Walczak & Reuter, 1994). ...
... In their research on the use of non-traditional methods to teach key sociological concepts, Albers and Bach (2003) discussed the benefits of the basic integration of music into the classroom. To incorporate music in their classroom, the instructors played music each day in the 5-10-min time period before class started. ...
Today’s students are entering college having been immersed in media to an extent that has not been seen previously. The media-driven influence on college students has led many educators to use non-traditional mediums to engage their classes in meaningful learning experiences. Many educators advocate for the use of music and/or musical lyrics as a non-traditional teaching tool, specifically to illustrate the basic concepts of criminological theory. While many types of songs and lyrics could be used to teach criminological theory to undergraduate college students, the emphasis of this particular paper is on the use of popular music. Included is a discussion of using non-traditional instruction in the college classroom, student examples of theory application to popular music, and suggestions for implementing popular music in the classroom.
... Literature suggests that the use of an audio-visual approach can have reflective benefits for students (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Tan & Pearce, 2011), and foster critical thinking and reflection by encouraging discussion in a group context by creating a shared experience (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Hraba, Powers, Woodman & Miller, 1980). This is important as this addresses the key perceived weakness of Net Generation learners: the ability to critically reflect (Holliday & Li, 2004;Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005b). ...
... Literature suggests that the use of an audio-visual approach can have reflective benefits for students (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Tan & Pearce, 2011), and foster critical thinking and reflection by encouraging discussion in a group context by creating a shared experience (Albers & Bach, 2003;Hanson, 2002;Hraba, Powers, Woodman & Miller, 1980). This is important as this addresses the key perceived weakness of Net Generation learners: the ability to critically reflect (Holliday & Li, 2004;Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005b). ...
... This is important as this addresses the key perceived weakness of Net Generation learners: the ability to critically reflect (Holliday & Li, 2004;Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005b). Additionally, the careful use of photographs suits the visual preferences of the Net Generation, while the additional use of music is also noted in the literature as beneficial to learning (Ahlkvist, 2001;Albers & Bach, 2003;Brkich, 2012). ...
This paper considers the impact of audio-visual resources in enabling students to develop an understanding of the social aspects of sustainable product design. Building on literature concerning the learning preferences of ‘Net Generation’ learners, three audio-visual workshops were developed to introduce students to the wider social aspects of sustainability and encourage students to reflect upon the impact of their practice. The workshops were delivered in five universities in Britain and Ireland among undergraduate and postgraduate students. They were designed to encourage students to reflect upon carefully designed audio-visual materials in a group-based environment, seeking to foster the preferences of Net Generation learners through collaborative learning and learning through discovery. It also sought to address the perceived weaknesses of this generation of learners by encouraging critical reflection. The workshops proved to be popular with students and were successful in enabling them to grasp the complexity of the social aspects of sustainable design in a short span of time, as well as in encouraging personal responses and creative problem solving through an exploration of design thinking solutions.
... Recognizing the power of music in young people's lives, some educators have used music to enhance students' engagement in school. For instance, music was used in an undergraduate sociology course to help students make a personal connection both to the instructor and to the course content (Albers & Bach, 2003). At the high school level, teachers in one Chicago high school used hip-hop culture and music to make the social studies curriculum more engaging and personally relevant to their African American and Latina/o students (Stovall, 2006). ...
... Teachers also agreed that the music video was an effective way to 'hook kids in' to a science unit. These findings are consistent with earlier research showing that music can be used to engage students and help them to find a personal connection to science (Albers & Bach, 2003;Emdin, 2010;Stovall, 2006). Forming a personal connection to science plays an important role in promoting science learning (Donovan & Bransford, 2005;National Research Council, 2009). ...
We assessed the impact of music videos with science-based lyrics on content knowledge and attitudes in a three-part experimental research study of over 1000 participants (mostly K-12 students). In Study A, 13 of 15 music videos were followed by statistically significant improvements on questions about material covered in the videos, while performance on ‘bonus questions’ not covered by the videos did not improve. Video-specific improvement was observed in both basic knowledge and genuine comprehension (levels 1 and 2 of Bloom’s taxonomy, respectively) and after both lyrics-only and visually rich versions of some videos. In Study B, musical versions of additional science videos were not superior to non-musical ones in their immediate impact on content knowledge, though musical versions were significantly more enjoyable. In Study C, a non-musical video on fossils elicited greater immediate test improvement than the musical version (‘Fossil Rock Anthem’); however, viewers of the music video enjoyed a modest advantage on a delayed post-test administered 28 days later. Music video viewers more frequently rated their video as ‘fun’, and seemed more likely to revisit and/or share the video. Our findings contribute to a broader dialogue on promising new pedagogical strategies in science education.
... Previous research has demonstrated that utilising music within lectures is an effective way of engaging students [24] and addressing issues of social justice [25]. With this in mind, I decided to deliver a music listening and discussion activity with a Year 1 cohort. ...
Creative pedagogies within youth work practice are well established. Practitioners working with young people are often called upon to utilise their own personal and professional ‘toolboxes’, as a way of supporting ‘Creative Arts Youth Work’. However, within Higher Education (HE), creative methods for teaching and learning within the university context are often overlooked. The problem posed by this article is: how can HE ‘catch-up’ with more advanced pedagogies in the field of practice? Despite a recent focus on the personalisation of learning within HE, how can arts-based pedagogies, including digital storytelling, be drawn upon to enhance the learning experience? This article reports on three areas of pedagogical innovation engaged with by students undertaking the Youth Studies degree at Nottingham Trent University. Three experimental initiatives are explored, which assisted in educating informal educators, through creative learning techniques. Engaging with music, film-making and boardgames are given as examples of creative pedagogy, reporting on both my own practical experience in organising these activities and student feedback. Results showed that the symbiosis of creative pedagogies with relational and experiential learning, key tenets of youth work practice, offered expressive and authentic conditions for learning that are based upon student’s experiences. Therefore, there is much to learn from youth work courses within HE, not only in terms of engaging and encouraging students through creativity, but also setting the scene for the future of creative youth work practice.
... 6 Finally, if the music is both enjoyable to the students and relevant to the material they are study- ing, it may spark students' interest in that material. 7 While these assertions are rather speculative, I think they're plausible and likely to be true at least in some contexts. ...
... Educational objectives associated with their use in the classroom include enhancing the teaching of theory and ambiguous concepts, improving student understanding of global issues, building knowledge of historical, religious, and cultural dynamics, learning about primary actors, institutions, and processes in international relations, and enhancing critical thinking skills. Alternative texts can include film and video (Haney 2000;Kuzma and Haney 2001;, television (Beavers 2002), music (Albers and Bach 2003), cartoons and political humor (Dougherty 2002;Symposium 2007;Baumgartner and Morris 2008), novels (Lang and Lang 1998;Morgan 2006;Nexon and Newmann 2006;Pappas 2007), memoirs (Deibel 2002), plays (Ciliotta-Rubery 2008), and news articles or editorials (Cusimano 2000). ...
The paper discusses to what extent the benchmarks and reading competencies proposed in existing National Curriculum for English grade ten are achieved by the matriculation learners. To be more specific, the study was designed to examine and investigate learners‟ reading performance after receiving four months reading instruction. Consequently, this study was undertaken to investigate secondary school matriculation students‟ reading comprehension performance with a particular focus of „main idea‟ retrieval after completion of an academic program. In this study three private non-elitist secondary schools were selected from one town which was based on maximal variation sampling. To do so, only grade ten students‟ reading performance were investigated. All respondents of the selected schools were already formed in intact groups which were selected by the schools‟ principals. In order to assess respondents‟ main idea as a comprehension skill, discreet-point approach was adopted. To execute a comprehension test, ten short passages in conjunction with multiple choices were given as intensive reading tasks. The data were analyzed through a percentage study. Data analysis revealed that among three selected schools, 58.19% respondents were failed to retrieve main ideas from 10 given short texts, however, only 41.81% respondents were successful in intensive reading tasks.
... This methodology has support in physiological, neurological and behavioral studies to reduce stress in students [3]. Research has shown that music reduces blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature in students [4] and these may be indicative of reduced levels of anxiety. ...
... A number of techniques and technologies have been suggested to facilitate engagement and learning in varying class sizes: clickers with constructivist pedagogy (Judson & Sawada, 2002), flip video camcorders (Gao & Hargis, 2010), online blogging (Pimpare & Fast, 2008), music (Albers & Bach, 2003), crossword puzzles (Davis, Shepherd, & Zwiefelhofer, 2009), stories (Levy & Merenstein, 2005), and media clips from soap operas (Hood-Williams, 1986), reality shows (Berry, 2008;Misra, 2000), and cartoons (Scanlan & Feinberg, 2000). In addition, the ubiquitous feature of most large lecture halls, Power-Point, while critiqued by some for passivity, has been lauded by others as a promising technology of learning (Clark, 2008;D'Arcy, Eastburn, & Bruce, 2009;Pippert & Moore, 1999). ...
... While being informed by the use of other forms of popular culture in sociology education, such as music (Ahlkvist, 1999(Ahlkvist, , 2001Albers and Bach, 2003;Elterman, 1983;Martinez, 1994Martinez, , 1995Martinez, , 1998, and television shows (Bonomo, 1987;Donaghy, 2000), this paper predominantly refers to the discussion of films, because it is the most relevant and comprehensive literature with conclusions that have implications for considering The Simpsons as a teaching tool. Furthermore, the findings from the literature on films not only coincide with but also expand the main conclusions of the discussion on television programs. ...
The academic literature on the use of television shows in sociology education has successfully highlighted the value of the practice, but has not afforded any examples from seminar teaching. This article contributes to the discussion by demonstrating how The Simpsons, an American animated television sitcom, assists in teaching sociology seminars. The article suggests that using The Simpsons in group-based, participatory teaching and the learning environments of seminars helps students to understand sociological theories and develop their sociological imagination. It shows the application of the cartoon series to seminars of a Sociology of Belonging module and tests the value of the practice by drawing on responses to student satisfaction surveys and in-class observations. The results illustrate that the cartoon helps to highlight sociological theories and improve students’ sociological imagination. The research concludes that the sociology curriculum would benefit from developing particular ways of using The Simpsons according to course content.
... Educational objectives associated with their use in the classroom include enhancing the teaching of theory and ambiguous concepts, improving student understanding of global issues, building knowledge of historical, religious, and cultural dynamics, learning about primary actors, institutions, and processes in international relations, and enhancing critical thinking skills. Alternative texts can include film and video (Haney 2000;Kuzma and Haney 2001;, television (Beavers 2002), music (Albers and Bach 2003), cartoons and political humor (Dougherty 2002;Symposium 2007;Baumgartner and Morris 2008), novels (Lang and Lang 1998;Morgan 2006;Nexon and Newmann 2006;Pappas 2007), memoirs (Deibel 2002), plays (Ciliotta- Rubery 2008), and news articles or editorials (Cusimano 2000). For example, film and video are viewed as the most widely used form for teaching international relations. ...
Introduction The volumes featured in the International Studies Association Compendium illustrate the sheer breadth and depth of the discipline. Yet one key dimension of work in the field – teaching – has historically received relatively less scholarly attention than deserved. This is especially ironic given that for the majority of international relations scholars, teaching is a primary activity. Teacher-scholars often strive to create positive learning environments in the classroom, promote engagement with material to help students better understand international politics, and encourage responsible global citizenship. Such commitment to effective teaching techniques has been reflected in the dynamic and expanding scholarly studies published on active teaching and learning in inter-national studies. Active teaching involves the use of instructional techniques designed for meaning-ful student engagement in the discovery of knowledge. Philosophically, the approach has a long history, from Socrates to John Dewey to the teaching case method refined at Harvard University. The conscious selection of goals for the classroom and methods for teaching helps create a sense of purpose in the educational process. It also rep-resents collaboration – a commitment on the part of instructors and students to enliven the educational environment. Active learning means that students are working together, and with the instructor, to achieve educational objectives. An overview of the motivation and pedagogical emphases in the active teaching and learning literature leads off the essay. Five key dimensions of the active teaching and learning literature – case studies, alternative texts, simulations, games and role-play, technology in the classroom, and service-learning – are then surveyed in order to evaluate the state of the scholarship in relation to these forms of exercises. This review illustrates the significant scholarship on teaching in international relations that has developed over time, but also addresses limitations in this literature. Across these five dimensions the analysis emphasizes four core areas – educational objectives, examples/range of applications, procedures or rules, and assessment (EEPA) – that represent best practices in international relations education. The essay returns to these themes in the conclusion and addresses the critical goal of the cumulation of knowledge about teaching in the discipline.
... Music can illustrate concepts in classical theories (Ahlkvist 2001); race, class, and gender-based stratification (Martinez 1994); alienation, socialization, and conflict theory (Walczak and Reuter 1994); and deviant behavior (Martinez 1995;Walczak and Reuter 1994). In addition, the use of popular music as a pedagogical tool has been suggested in a number of courses, including introductory sociology (Ahlkvist 1999;Albers and Bach 2003;Walczak and Reuter 1994), stratification (Martinez 1994), deviance (Martinez 1995), and social theory (Ahlkvist 2001). Some have gone as far as to suggest that popular music may be an instructional asset to nearly any sociology course . ...
To begin, a student in my juvenile delinquency class played the song "I Don't Like Mondays." The first lines were: The silicon chip inside her head Gets switched to overload. And nobody's gonna go to school today, She's going to make them stay at home. And daddy doesn't understand it, He always said she was as good as gold. And he can see no reason 'Cause there are no reasons What reason do you need to be shown? Tell me why? I don't like Mondays… (Boomtown Rats 1979). After the class listened to the selection, the student explained that the song was written about 16 year-old Brenda Ann Spencer who in 1979 went on a shooting spree in a California elementary school, killing two adults and wounding eight children and a police officer. Further, the student explored how the song illustrated the psychological, social, and mass media dimensions of the incident. For the semester, we began most class sessions with a student playing a song. Outside of the classroom, many students consume pop music, often including themes about crime and other social problems. Such pop cultural representations of the social phenomenon of crime can serve as a set of claims for comparison with the social scientific claims. Sociological research has demonstrated a rhetoric of violence in popular music (Armstrong 1993), and this paper reports on the results of attempts to integrate a social constructionist claims-making approach within the context of a juvenile delinquency course through the inclusion of pop music in the classroom. While the specific application reported here appeared in delinquency course, this exercise may also be fruitful when used in a variety of social problems courses. Prior to the first class session, students entering social problems-related courses have been exposed to numerous claims about the existence of various social problems. In the juvenile delinquency course, I attempted to integrate a social constructionist theory of social problems research into the pedagogical approach.
... Incorporation of music into high school and college science classes has also been attempted [1][2][3], albeit more rarely. In addition to music's advantages as a mnemonic device [4], it could also make students feel relaxed and welcome in the classroom [5], deepen understanding by targeting multiple modalities (channels of perception) [6], and motivate students to practice, reflect on, and personalize the material [7]. There is preliminary evidence that musical interventions may enhance student learning, at least under some circumstances [8][9][10][11]. ...
Potential benefits of incorporating music into science and math curricula include enhanced recall of information, counteraction of perceptions that the material is dull or impenetrable, and opportunities for active student engagement and creativity. To help instructors and others find songs suited to their needs, I created the “Math And Science Song Information, Viewable Everywhere” database in March of 2004. Recently rebranded as the SingAboutScience.org database, it now covers >5,500 songs varying widely in topic and grade level. Website visitors may search the database using such criteria as keywords from lyrics, performer/songwriter names, and age ranges targeted by songs. Changes in the database's contents over the past 7 years suggest that the online availability of educational songs has increased greatly during this period. College biochemistry and molecular biology instructors can use the database to find songs covering core concepts for majors and nonmajors as well as relevant material from related subjects, such as physics and mathematics. In offering teachers and students a menu of existing scientific songs, the database may inspire some of them to create additional content-rich music.
... Regarding the first point, a memorable data source has the potential to make an exercise more impactful for students. Not surprisingly, engaging students through movie-related exercises has a rich tradition in the social sciences (e.g., Berg 1992;Demerath 1981;Finley 2004), as do exercises focusing on music (e.g., Ahlkvist 1999;Albers and Bach 2003;Armstrong 2001;Walczak and Reuter 1994). The Harry Potter franchise's overwhelming popularity makes it a particularly ideal data source: More than 400 million of the books have been sold worldwide (BBC 2008), and not adjusting for inflation, the movies based on the books represent the highest-grossing film series ever (Box Office Mojo 2011). ...
Content analysis is a valuable research tool for social scientists that unfortunately can prove challenging to teach to undergraduate students. Published classroom exercises designed to teach content analysis have thus far been predominantly envisioned as lengthy projects for upper-level courses. A brief and engaging exercise may be more beneficial for introductory social science courses in which less time can be allotted to any one topic, such as content analysis. With this in mind, this article presents a highly engaging and temporally compact classroom exercise designed to teach introductory social science students about content analysis. In the exercise, students are guided through a content analysis of the music in Harry Potter films. An evaluation study suggests that the exercise improves students' understanding of content analysis and that students find it both highly helpful and enjoyable.
... While this technique was successful, Ahlkvist (2001:481) commented that, "A more ambitious extension of the technique might include the use of popular music that emerged in the aftermath of progressive rock." Albers and Bach (2003) utilized more contemporary rock music; however, their application involved playing relevant songs prior to the beginning of class as a way to humanize the instructors and to encourage critical thinking and participation. Muschert (2006) extended the use of music in the classroom by offering the opportunity for students to pick and analyze music that was more familiar to them. ...
Introduction: Comparing tailored e-mail messaging to mailed postcards promoting seasonal influenza immunizations for dorm dwelling college freshmen is important for early health prevention and promotion. Dorm dwelling college students are particularly at risk of viral diseases due to the close proximity of their living conditions. Understanding influences with health care decisions and practices is therefore also important with the college dorm dwelling population. Method: A convenience sample was used to collect data from influenza clinic participants on a Midwest college campus over three seasonal flu periods. A Health-E card was sent in 2010 via university issued student e-mail accounts informing students how to prevent influenza through immunization. Postcards were sent in 2008 and 2009 solely to dorm dwellers and parents of college freshmen. Short questionnaires gathered demographic data from participants at flu clinics for comparison. Results: In 2008 and 2009, 8% and 14% of dorm dwelling college freshmen participated in flu clinic following printed media sent to them and their parents. In 2010, only 3% of the same population participated in campus flu clinics following tailored e-mail messages sent via campus listserv. Discussion: Efficiency of social media e-mail messaging was established, however effectiveness of tailored e-mail to college freshmen was not supported. Family was most influential for the seasonal influenza in the third year of the study. Further study is needed to determine efficacy of social media intervention for college students and parental or family influence.
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... More to the point of this assignment, research indicates that using popular culture can be effective in fostering students' awareness of a sociological imagination (Albers and Bach 2003;Tipton and Tiemann 1993) and improving their critical thinking skills (Remender 1992;Valdez and Halley 1999). Forms of popular culture are varied and rapidly changing (see Misra 2000 for an extensive list of references), but television remains one of the most widespread. ...
... This session emphasized using a range of "alternative texts" (i.e., source material that can be drawn upon to support the teaching of international relations beyond standard textbooks and readings). For the purposes of the workshop, we identified alternative texts as including film and video, television, theater, music, comics and cartoons, novels, memoirs, news articles and editorials (Lang and Lang, 1998;Deibel, 2002;Dougherty, 2002;Albers and Bach, 2003). We opened the session with a survey of the various alternatives available and the wide range of possible educational objectives associated with their use in the classroom, including enhancing the teaching of theory and ambiguous concepts, improving student understanding of global issues, building knowledge of historical, religious and cultural dynamics, learning about primary actors, institutions and processes in international relations, and enhancing critical thinking skills. ...
This article reports on the results of a workshop on active teaching and learning sponsored by the Instituto de Relações Internacionais at the University of Brasilia. This 2-day, intensive workshop was designed by the authors to introduce teaching and learning strategies and to promote critical dialogue for professors and advanced students from institutions across Brazil. Details are provided on sessions that addressed the philosophy behind active teaching and learning, resources available for developing and carrying out exercises, a wide range of techniques, and the importance of debriefing and assessment. Finally, the article provides an evaluation of the workshop experience, emphasizing its potential value for training international relations instructors, both within the United States and across other international contexts, on ways to integrate active teaching and learning into their classrooms.
... Within this paper I have referred to " non-sociological materials " and, as it happens, various types of media other than novels have also been utilized for sociological purposes and have been reported as efficacious teaching devices (e.g. Ahlkvist, 1999; Albers and Bach, 2003; Burton, 1988; Hraba, Powers, Woodman and Muller, 1980; Misra, 2000; Pescosolido, 1990; Prendergast, 1986; Scanlan and Feinberg, 1988; Tan and Ko, 2004; Tipton and Tiemann, 1993). Given the concerted work realizing items such as films, television shows, etc. as recognizably instructional materials for recognizably sociological themes; the work of establishing the relevance of these materials; enabling students to recognize the relevance of these materials in the way that is intended by the teacher; and the glossing of these practices of recognition as the " sociological imagination " ; it is possible also to approach the use of such materials for teaching sociology under the auspices of Sacks' " sociological reconstruction " argument, and Garfinkel's explicative approach to discipline-specific elements, " corpus status " . ...
Using fiction in teaching sociology involves what Harvey Sacks calls “sociological reconstruction”. Numerous comments on teaching
sociology provide advice and suggestions on the use of literature and “what counts” as “sociological” literature, including
specific titles. This paper goes further: while the use of literature is a routine feature of sociological accounts, discerning
the relevance of a novel, or a passage within a novel, to sociological themes is an analyst’s achievement. It requires work
both by the teacher and the student to recognize the relevance of fiction to sociology. Previous studies on fiction in sociology
focus on the pedagogic aspects of using novels but fail to acknowledge the key problem of “sociological reconstruction” attempted
through the use of novels. The paper explicates the crucial and generic issue of “corpus status”, which is fore-grounded by
the use of non-sociological materials in sociology.
KeywordsFiction-Harvey Sacks-Literature-Relevance-Sociology of literature-Teaching sociology
... If there is one thing that sociology instructors agree on, it is the value of incorporating supplementary materials (e.g., newspaper articles, film and television clips, music) into class lectures and discussions (Prendergast 1986;Misra 2000;Albers and Bach 2003). In our third analysis of the race blogs, we wanted to determine what, if any, differences existed in the types of supplementary materials black and white students might bring to bear in their discussions about race. ...
Racial diversity is understood to play an important role for all students on the college campus. In recent years, much effort has gone into documenting the positive effects of this diversity. However, few studies have focused on how diversity impacts student interactions in the classroom, and even fewer studies attempt to quantify contributions from students of different races. Using Web blog discussions about race and religion, the authors uncover the differences in contributions black and white students make to those discussions. The implications of these findings are important for scholars interested in how diversity impacts student learning, and for policymakers advocating on behalf of affirmative action legislation.
... Certain pieces reliably reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature in students (Savan, 1999), and these changes may correspond to reductions in anxiety (Russell, 1992). In one survey, 75% of college sociology students reported that lecture-related songs preceding lectures made them feel more comfortable in the classroom (Albers and Bach, 2003). ...
Music is recognized as an effective mode of teaching young children but is rarely used in university-level science courses. This article reviews the somewhat limited evidence on whether and how content-rich music might affect college students' understanding of science and offers practical suggestions for incorporating music into courses. Aside from aiding memorization, songs may potentially improve learning by helping students feel relaxed and welcome in stressful settings, engaging students through multiple modes (verbal vs. nonverbal) and modalities (auditory vs. visual vs. kinesthetic) simultaneously, challenging students to integrate and "own" the material through the medium of song lyrics, and increasing students' time on task outside of class through enjoyable listening or songwriting assignments. Students may produce content-rich songs of good quality if given sufficient assistance and encouragement by instructors and peers. The challenges ahead include 1) defining the circumstances in which music is most likely to promote learning and 2) developing rubrics for evaluating the quality of songs.
In this study we explore how incorporating an arts-based pedagogical approach, specifically, the use of film, art, and music, into a second-year sociological theory course enhances students’ overall learning experiences. We report on data collected from a survey given to students enrolled in this course in 2020. Findings reveal that employing this arts-based pedagogy helps students to sustain an interest in the course material, understand the theoretical course material, engage in a higher level of thinking/analysis, feel more confident in their abilities to write about theories covered in the course, apply theory in the real world, contextualize historical content, and enhance their memory of theories and concepts. Findings are also compared with data collected from a similar survey conducted in 2009, revealing that the overall favorable responses to arts-based resources have remained consistent over time and that this pedagogy remains an enduring approach that contributes to positive student learning experiences.
The inclusion of music is central to early education pedagogy as an efficient means of conveying information and a mechanism for knowledge retention, yet these tools are generally omitted from higher educational approaches. Drawing on prior studies highlighting how musical assignments successfully supplemented traditional criminal justice coursework, a criminological theory course was redesigned with music as a core component. Musical selections were included and discussed in each class meeting as well as being tied to class assignments within a pilot course. Teaching techniques were refined over several semesters with the revised course framework including more student involvement, somewhat approaching a flipped classroom model whereby the instructor and students equally shared musical selections relevant to course curriculum. The instructor perceived students were more invested in the course. The professor-student dynamic also appeared to become more intimate due to both sharing music about which they were personally passionate. Further, the instructor’s inclusion of crime-specific songs from older musical genres appeared to disrupt students’ stereotypes associating crime with other genres and demographics. We offer a summary of the techniques for teaching a criminological theory course framed by instructor presentations of “outlaw” country music; guidance is also provided for utilizing other genres.
This study aims to develop a product in the form of an animated video on material characteristics and changes in the form of objects in MI Walisongo Gempol Pasuruan with research subjects of class III A. This research uses Research and Development, with a research design adapted from the ADDIE model. The results of this study indicate that the animated video is valid to be used in science learning in class III A MI Walisongo Gempol Pasuruan. This is evidenced by the results of validation from media experts, design experts, content experts, and students’ responses by using questionnaire. The results of data analysis from media experts is 87.5%, which means it is very valid, content experts is 90%, and design experts is 82.5%. For the media test, the students obtained 93.76%. After using animated video as a learning media, the number of students who are able to reach the standard of minimum completeness was 85%, while the number of students who did not reach the standard of minimum completeness was 15%. The trial of using animated video as a learning media has been effective. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the animated video is valid to be used as a learning media on material characteristics and changes in the form of objects. Animated video media can improve student learning outcomes and be able to encourage students to think critically in learning science.
The main aim of this study is to show Iraqi EFL students' attitudes towards using Online videos as supplemental materials in the classroom. In addition, it is conducted to show the Iraqi EFL students' perception towards the use of Online videos in terms of ease of use and usefulness of language learning. In this qualitative research, 28 Iraqi students from the third year of studying English at the College of Art at the University of Thi-Qar were selected. The study was conducted when the students attended the six sessions when online videos were used at the 2018-2019 academic year. Data was collected through three techniques: observation, students' journals and a written form of the interview. The researcher's main focus was on the learners' reflections of their experience while using online videos. Thematic analysis was used to examine the themes that appeared in the students' reflections. The results of this study showed that Iraqi students have a positive perception towards the use of online videos in English learning. In addition, they consider Online videos are acceptable in terms of ease of use and usefulness of language learning. However, there were challenges that students might encounter through using online videos would be like technical problems and attention distraction.
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This article responds to a trend of people pursuing academic careers after, or alongside, participation in popular music scenes and subcultures, applying scholarly perspectives on how identity can inform teaching and recognising the pedagogical benefits of teachers drawing on their multifaceted lives. The authors reflect critically on their pedagogical approach in teaching a youth studies sociology course and consider how their respective musical and subcultural backgrounds inform their professional lives as educators. Importantly, the article highlights the ways in which the authors’ ‘youth culture biographies’ can become useful resources for exploring youth studies concepts with students. It is argued that identity-based teaching practices including ‘insider teaching’ can not only help to illustrate course ideas and make them more relatable for students, but more broadly empower students to practice reflexivity toward their own experiences, contrary to the depersonalising tendencies of neoliberal education.
This chapter explores how to encourage Net Generation learners to develop deep learning through the use of carefully designed interactive audio-visual workshops. Careful design of teaching resources can increase relevance, encourage discussion and debate and provide opportunities for critical reflection amongst students, a noted weakness of Net Generation learners.
Song has been used by faculty of many disciplines in their classrooms and, to a lesser extent, by educational developers in workshops. This paper shares and discusses a new song (about an instructor's evolving openness to alternatives to lecture-only teaching) and its novel use to open an educational development workshop. Self-reported participant data from an exploratory survey suggest that the song was most effective in reducing stress as well as in increasing motivation, morale, engagement, and connection. Practical implications and implementation considerations are discussed regarding the song as well as related creative work.
Popular cultural products are a useful way to teach sociological concepts, and oftentimes films are the medium used to explore core sociological theories and ideas. Time constraints, however, limit the number and types of films that can be shown in a class period or within a given semester. The use of commercials in the classroom can overcome these and other types of constraints. Moreover, because students are often daily consumers of commercials, commercials as a pedagogical tool can prompt students to become more media literate outside of the classroom setting. In an effort to use popular media while overcoming constraints, we advocate for the use of commercials as a way of connecting abstract sociological concepts to concrete examples and everyday lived experiences.
Numerous economic concepts are present in popular music lyrics. We conduct a study to examine the effectiveness of using music to convey economic concepts. The empirical results suggest that there is an opportunity to improve student understanding by using music lyrics to introduce and reinforce economic concepts, but the selection of topic and music matter.
Incorporating popular culture and creative options for assignments makes undergraduate students aware of Arthuriana as a living tradition.
There have been a number of articles recently advocating the use of nontraditional mediums to teach criminological theory. Many of these articles have advocated using music and/or music lyrics to illustrate and enliven the various theories taught in introductory theory courses. Despite the growing attention paid to teaching criminological theory, few, if any, discuss how to help students understand the more fundamental ontological question—what is “theory.” This article proposes an alternative pedagogical approach that draws upon students’ understanding of musical genres analogically to explain: (1) the historical development of the various theoretical approaches, (2) the historical, cultural and theoretical antecedents of the various approaches, and (3) how to identify the theoretical orientation(s) and influences in an unfamiliar text. Ultimately, this approach is intended to counter the overly compartmentalized and linear understanding of theory unintentionally brought on by the dynamics of teaching schedules, generic “theory” textbooks, computerized presentation software and testing methods.
One of the unique promises of sociology is to illuminate the intersection of the per sonal and public by encouraging largely individually-oriented students to examine interrelationships between themselves and the social world (Mills 1959). This can be an especially challenging task when teach ing introductory sociology courses that are populated largely by first-year students who enrolled to satisfy a general education re quirement and are probably getting their first and last taste of sociology. The assign ment described here (see Attachment A) asks these students to find, describe, and explain underlying themes common to American education and the television game show, Jeopardy! I have found that relying on students' enormous store of concrete experiences related to school and television watching helps this assignment fulfill sociol ogy's distinctive promise in a lively, engag
Pad-printed thick-film transducers have been shown to be an interesting alternative to lapped bulk piezoceramics, because the film is deposited with the required thickness, size, and geometry, thus avoiding any subsequent machining to achieve geometrical focusing. Their electromechanical properties are close to those of bulk ceramics with similar composition despite having a higher porosity. In this paper, padprinted high-frequency transducers based on a low-loss piezoceramic composition are designed and fabricated. High-porosity ceramic cylinders with a spherical top surface are used as the backing substrate. The transducers are characterized in view of imaging applications and their imaging capabilities are evaluated with phantoms containing spherical inclusions and in different biological tissues. In addition, the transducers are evaluated for their capability to produce high-acoustic intensities at frequencies around 20 MHz. High-intensity measurements, obtained with a calibrated hydrophone, show that transducer performance is promising for applications that would require the same device to be used for imaging and for therapy. Nevertheless, the transducer design can be improved, and simulation studies are performed to find a better compromise between low-power and high-power performance. The size, geometry, and constitutive materials of optimized configurations are proposed and their feasibility is discussed.
This paper explores the relevance of "cultural literacy" for teaching sociology at the undergraduate level. Past research demonstrates that women and racial minorities have limited access to certain types of cultural knowledge. Thus, they may be particularly vulnerable to poor academic performance. Given the potential relationship between background knowledge and sociological comprehension, we empirically examine the importance of "cultural literacy" for students' mastery of introductory sociology. Using a cultural literacy test based on our assumptions about what students should know before entering an introductory-level sociology class, we surveyed 709 undergraduates at a major state university. Our data show that female and black students score lower than non-black males on our indicators of cultural literacy. Despite this initial disadvantage, women, but not blacks, exhibit higher overall academic performance. We conclude that cultural literacy pretests can be a tool for improving the teaching and learning climate of introductory sociology courses.
L'A. presente une experience pedagogique, menee, aux Etats-Unis, dans le cadre d'un cours de sociologie, afin de developper l'imagination sociologique. Il affirme que l'analyse et l'etude d'objets appartenant a la vie quotidienne peut constituer un exercice fondamental en ce domaine. Il montre comment les etudiants sont invites a decrire ce type d'objet, a puis analyser leur signification a un niveau local, global puis historique. Il s'efforce d'evaluer l'utilite pedagogique de cette experience
The author reports continued success with the general philosophical thrust of her course but reports substantial modification, specifically the reduction of the amount of literature used and the substitution of other experiences to create "a common denominator" for students.
A film/discussion series that brought the sociological imagination before sizable audiences of adult community residents is described, evaluated, and justified. The format of the series is recommended for sociology departments that wish to strengthen their ties to the humanities. Two of the films used in the project are discussed.
The reflexive dimension is defined, and arguments for its relevance in the teaching of a humanist sociology are reviewed. Some attention is devoted to considering the relative neglect of this dimension in the pedagogical literature and to the tension between sociology's structural and subjective aspects. A number of specific strategies for bringing the reflexive dimension into the teaching of sociology are described. Some evidence that students respond favorably to subjective and autobiographical material is provided. The conclusion is that both strategic factors and considerations of integrity call for the incorporation of a reflexive dimension into sociological pedagogy.
Depuis longtemps, la culture populaire a fait l'objet d'etudes sociologiques. La musique populaire, en particulier, est un reflet du contexte social dans lequel elle voit le jour. L'A. de cet article propose une utilisation des textes de chansons pop ou rock dans son enseignement de la sociologie non comme une simple illustration du cours mais comme une possible reference de concepts-cles de la sociologie