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Navigating the Process of Curriculum Redesign in Sociology: Challenges and Lessons from One Program
Abstract
The American Sociological Association has produced a wide range of reports and materials addressing curricular best practices. Collectively, those materials are an invaluable resource for guiding revisions of the sociology major, but they do not address processes for implementing such revisions. In this conversation piece, we describe the steps by which our department implemented a thorough curricular redesign—a process nearing completion after five years of formal discussions, and with roots reaching back even farther. We organize our discussion around three areas of effort that comprised our process: charting a course, bringing colleagues along, and institutionalizing outcomes. We highlight important milestones, challenges, and successes that we encountered along the way and provide recommendations based on our experiences for colleagues in other departments interested in undertaking their own redesign.
... In this attempt to redesign the accounting curriculum, Tyler's (2013) model is primarily adopted. To overcome some of the issues raised by Lau (2001), Downey et al. (2019) and Fowler et al. (2015) are integrated within the approach. ...
... Following Tyler's (2013) approach, with the integration of Downey et al. (2019) and Fowler et al. (2015), this paper suggests the inclusion of these technologies across the accounting curriculum at different course levels (Debreceny and Farewell 2010;Joseph, Asha, and Strickland 2015;Kotb et al. 2019). It would be rational to include a new introductory course FIGURE 1 Typical Undergraduate Course Sequence on ''Business Technology'' to cover the basic elements of BT, BDA, AI, and other related technologies. ...
Recently, accounting academics have reported increased attention in the accounting profession toward the employment of various technologies. These studies only highlight the exploitation of these technologies in the profession and areas for future research, while missing the need for modernizing the accounting curriculum to meet the industry's technological needs. This paper follows an integrated model for curriculum redesign to reflect blockchain technology, business data analytics, and artificial intelligence employment in the accounting profession. By building on the main four educational curricula designs components, we propose ways to incorporate these technologies into the accounting curriculum. Current industry implementation of new technologies should be considered by academia when designing accounting curriculum to prepare graduates for the market and to ensure their employability. This paper calls for radical changes in the accounting curriculum to reach a balance between existing accounting knowledge and information technology skills relevant to the profession.
JEL Classifications: M4; I23; O33.
... A positive assessment of Simmel, finally, is evidence of a general aversion to both qualitative and quantitative work. Our findings indicate that departments should also consider interdependencies and path dependencies between theories and methods in processes of curricula (re-) design (see Downey et al. 2019). ...
... Again, it needs to be explored whether these relations are similar in other countries, especially in those with a more standardized teaching of research methods. The process of curricula (re-) design (see Downey et al. 2019) should reflect the fact that any specialization in theories or methods possibly influences the perception and choice of other theories and methods at a later stage. ...
We discuss findings from a survey of sociology students in Germany and consequences for teaching. We focus on the de facto formation of a sociological canon, the relation between theories and methods, and effects of social and political characteristics on student’s scientific preferences. Our findings suggest that irrespective of an agreement of the sociological professionals on a common definition of a core, a de facto canon of theories and methods exists in teaching practices. Moreover, specific relations between
sociological theories and methods occur in the data. Both should be recognized in the discussion about curricula design, especially concerning teaching research methods. Finally, we discovered effects of gender and political attitude on students’ preferences for theories and methods. Such differences might be associated with different motivations for studying sociology and labor market orientation. This should be considered in curricula design as well, especially at the local level of departments.
... Model pembelajaran Round Club artinya pembelajaran aktif, dimana siswa saling bekerja sama untuk saling membantu menyelesaikan persoalan dan siswa diberi kesempatan untuk menyatakan, menjelaskan, menggambarkan, mendengarkan, dan menayakan tugas yang diberikan oleh guru kepada kelompoknya (Downey et al., 2019). Menurut (Giuffre & Sweet, 2017) menyatakan bahawa model pembelajaran Round Club atau keliling kelompok adalah kegiatan pembelajaran yang berkelompok untuk bekerja sama saling membantu mengkontruksi konsep menyelesaikan persoalan atau penyampaian pelajaran. ...
This research aims to improve sᴏsiᴏlᴏgi learning outcomes and improve sᴏsiᴏlᴏgi learning outcomes. The type of research used is classroom action research (PTK), which is intended to enhance classroom learning. The subjects in this research were 25 class XC students. The research was conducted in two cycles. Where in each cycle, there are 2 meetings, and at the end of the meeting, an evaluation or final test is held. The data collection techniques used were observation sheets, interviews, and tests. The data analysis techniques used are qualitative and quantitative data analysis. In the class action thesis from cycle I to cycle II, it was found that there was an increase in the learning outcomes of students in senior subjects after the Rund Club learning model was implemented in students’ classes. There was an increase in the percentage of students' learning outcomes, which was calculated from the average value of students in cycle I and cycle II, that in cycle I, the value obtained was 1,687 with an average of 67.48, categorized as sufficient, while in cycle II the value obtained was 1980 with an average of 79.2. In cycle II, students' classical learning mastery was achieved, and they experienced very good improvement. This result has reached the KKM determined in this research, namely 72.
... Kebijakan dalam pengembangan kurikulum merdeka belajar pada satuan pendidikan sebagai tolok ukur dan pemulihan pembelajaran selama tahun 2022-2024. Hal ini, kurikulum merdeka belajar diimplementasikan atau diterapkan pada satuan pendidikan yang siap menerapkan kurikulum merdeka belajar (Downey et al., 2019;Korkmaz & Unsal, 2017;Maxwell, Lowe, & Salter, 2018;Molnar & Szuts, 2016). Selanjutnya kebijakan ini sangat erat kaitannya dengan kurikulum nasional dan akan dikaji ulang di Tahun 2024. ...
This study aims to determine teacher adaptation to the independent learning curriculum policy and the obstacles to the independent learning curriculum policy for teachers at SMA Negeri 5 Kupang. This research used a descriptive-qualitative approach. The subjects of this study were school principals, curriculum representatives, and teachers. Data collection techniques in this study were carried out through observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis techniques use data reduction, data display, and verification. The results of the study found obstacles to the independent learning curriculum policy for teachers, namely: (1) the quality of the teacher's human resources, who do not fully have competence in minimal learning; (2) the facilities and learning resources are minimal, or the infrastructure is not yet adequate, and teachers are technology stuttering; and (3) the selection of subjects the students are not given the freedom to choose according to their interests, talents, and abilities.
... Terdapat bebera pamasalah yang dihadapi dalam pembelajaran sosiologi sebagai berikut: (1) Proses belajar mengajar masih berpusat pada guru dalam pembelajaran sosiologi yang mengakibatkan rendahnya kualitas Proses Belajar Mengajar (PBM), (2) Guru masih menggunakan model konvesional dalam pembelajaran, sehingga peserta didik menerima pengetahuan secara langsung tanpa mengalami sendiri dan merasa bosan serta jenuh, sehingga peserta didik terkesan hanya menghafal, akibatnya rendah hasil belajar peserta didik (Carlin, 2010;Downey et al., 2019;Eglitis, Buntman, & Alexander, 2016;Giuffre & Sweet, 2017;Harley & Natalier, 2013;Maswi, Syahrul, & Datuk, 2022;Syahrul, Yusuf, Julyyanti, Nautu, & Arifin, 2023;Vergés Bosch, Freude, & Camps Calvet, 2021;Zahrawati, Aras, Syahrul, Jumaisa, & Nzobonimpa, 2023). ...
This research aims to improve sociology learning outcomes at MAN Kupang City by applying the scramble learning model. This research is classroom action research (PTK) intended to overcome problems in the classroom. The subjects of this research were students in class X IIS2 MAN Kupang City, totalling 29 students. This research was carried out in each cycle with two meetings. Data collection techniques in this research used observation sheets, interviews and test sheets. The data analysis techniques used are qualitative and quantitative analysis. The results of the research showed that the initial test had an average of 79.2 and experienced an increase in cycle I with an average evaluation of learning outcomes of 17.24, and observation of learning outcome indicators with an average of 86.19 and experienced an increase in cycle II in evaluation results with an average of 96.54. These results include the classical completeness target of 80%.
... Peserta didik kurang memahami materi yang disampaikan oleh guru karena metode yang digunakan oleh guru belum bervariatif dan bersifat ceramah. Model pembelajaran, strategi, dan pendekatan yang digunakanpun bersifat konvensional, sehingga suasan kelas tidak menyenangkan, peserta didik merasa bosan dalam memahami materi yang dipaparkan oleh guru (Downey et al., 2019;Fobes & Kaufman, 2008;McInnes, 2017). ...
The purpose of this study was to find out the application of the Learning Cycle 5E Learning Model at Grade XI IPS SMA Efata Soe. This type of research was Classroom Action Research (PTK) which was intended to improve classroom learning. The subject of this study was 23 students at Grade XI IPS SMA Efata Soe. This research was conducted in two cycles. In each cycle, there were 2 meetings, and an evaluation or test was held at the end of the meeting. Data collection techniques used observation sheets, interviews, tests, and documentation. The data analysis technique used qualitative and quantitative data analysis. This research shows that there was an increase in student learning outcomes in learning sociology in Cycle II. Sociology learning outcomes at the Pre-Cycle meeting total scores of 1,560 with an average of 67.8 and Cycle 1 total scores of 1,640 with an average of 71.30 while Cycle II total scores of 1,910 with an average of 83.8. This study shows that the success criteria set by the researcher were 80% above the KKM 72, so this research was said to be successful because it has achieved success indicators.
... At California State University, Channel Islands, the sociology department used three standards and reports from The American Sociological Association (ASA) to form the basis of a curricular redesign. (Downey et al., 2019). This case study illustrates how departments that use national standards to "update or improve their curriculum" will find both an "invaluable set of recommendations and resources" (p. ...
Considerable research argues the importance of situating information literacy in disciplinary curriculums. Arguments within this body of publications frequently share a common recommendation, to look towards national disciplinary standards and curriculum learning outcomes to develop relevant learning outcomes for librarian-led information literacy instruction. The assumption underlying this recommendation is that disciplinary faculty are knowledgeable of and use national standards to design their curricula and learning outcomes. This paper presents the results of a single-institution survey that explored California State University, Los Angeles faculty's knowledge of national disciplinary standards and program learning outcomes and tested if that knowledge is related to disciplinary faculty teaching information literacy. The findings suggest that faculty are generally more aware of program learning outcomes (PLOs) than national standards and that there is an association between knowledge of PLOs and teaching information literacy.
... For instance, analyzing data from 32 political science departments that employed the Major Field Aptitude Test (MFAT) Political Science II to assess student learning, Ishiyama found that the more structured the curriculum, the better graduates did on the exam (Ishiyama 2005b; see also Breuning, Parker, and Ishiyama 2001;Ishiyama and Hartlaub 2003). Of course, curriculum redesign is a significant undertaking, which requires a well-developed plan and faculty buy-in (Downey et al. 2019). ...
Despite the essential position of introductory courses within most political science departments’ curricula, comprehensive comparisons of introductory requirements for majors have been somewhat rare. In this manuscript, I report on the state of introductory requirements through analyses of data from 381 national liberal arts colleges and universities (164 colleges and 217 universities, respectively) that offer a major or its equivalent in political science. These data show that a great deal of curricula diversity exists across departments: While nearly 30% of departments require at least three distinct introductory subfield courses, another near 30% do not require any specific introductory courses. Despite this diversity, an introductory course in American politics represents the de facto standard introductory course within the discipline. In comparison, a general, cross-subfield introductory course in political science is required in a minority of the departments sampled. My analyses reveal that structural and curriculum-based variables, including the total number of courses required, whether or not a department grants PhDs, and faculty size, are correlated with a general introductory requirement.
In recent years, there have been numerous attempts to improve the quality of higher education in Africa, but there is limited knowledge about the impact of these initiatives on student learning. The results of a study published in 2015 offered some initial data in this regard by identifying a lack of improvement in the critical thinking ability of students enrolled at three of Rwanda’s public universities, despite extensive pedagogical reforms across the sector. However, subsequent analysis of the study data suggests that this lack of improvement is not a general phenomenon, as students graduating from the KIST Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design appear to exhibit deeper approaches to learning and stronger critical thinking skills than graduates with similar backgrounds from other Faculties involved in the study. This paper examines the factors that appear to have contributed to this outlying Faculty’s success and argues that departmental culture has played a crucial role, by fostering the conditions necessary for pedagogical innovation.
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators.] This paper provides a research-based framework for promoting institutional change in higher education. To date, most educational change efforts have focused on relatively narrow subsets of the university system (e.g., faculty teaching practices or administrative policies) and have been largely driven by implicit change logics; both of these features have limited the success of such efforts at achieving sustained, systemic change. Drawing from the literature on organizational and cultural change, our framework encourages change agents to coordinate their activities across three key levels of the university and to ground their activities in the various change perspectives that emerge from that literature. We use examples from a change project that we have been carrying out at a large research university to illustrate how our framework can be used as a basis for planning and implementing holistic change.
This article argues that good practice in teaching and learning in the English-speaking world may be compromised by structural changes in the higher education system. The impact of these changes is, however, affected by leadership practices and working cultures at the departmental level. These can, it is argued, assist in the development of 'deeper' teaching and learning practices even in a context which may be seen as unfavourable to them. Rejecting simplistic notions of transformational leadership and organisational cultural engineering, the article identifies activity systems at the local, departmental, level as the central loci of changes in approaches to and recurrent practices in teaching and learning. Desirable change is most likely to be achieved in collective and collaborative ways, which means that change processes are contingent and contextualised, and that outcomes are unpredictable and fuzzy. The data in this article come from in-depth interviews with academics in England and Canada; from one author's previous studies; and from literatures on faculty's work environments in English-speaking countries.
The literature on faculty vitality has not traditionally addressed senior faculty members who are professionally productive but disengaged from their departments. This article draws on research in organizational behavior, social psychology, and developmental psychology to explore sources of senior faculty disengagement and to assess its impact on institutions.
In spite of soaring tuition costs, more and more students go to college every year. A bachelor’s degree is now required for entry into a growing number of professions. And some parents begin planning for the expense of sending their kids to college when they’re born. Almost everyone strives to go, but almost no one asks the fundamental question posed by Academically Adrift: are undergraduates really learning anything once they get there?
For a large proportion of students, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa’s answer to that question is a definitive no. Their extensive research draws on survey responses, transcript data, and, for the first time, the state-of-the-art Collegiate Learning Assessment, a standardized test administered to students in their first semester and then again at the end of their second year. According to their analysis of more than 2,300 undergraduates at twenty-four institutions, 45 percent of these students demonstrate no significant improvement in a range of skills—including critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing—during their first two years of college. As troubling as their findings are, Arum and Roksa argue that for many faculty and administrators they will come as no surprise—instead, they are the expected result of a student body distracted by socializing or working and an institutional culture that puts undergraduate learning close to the bottom of the priority list.
Academically Adrift holds sobering lessons for students, faculty, administrators, policy makers, and parents—all of whom are implicated in promoting or at least ignoring contemporary campus culture. Higher education faces crises on a number of fronts, but Arum and Roksa’s report that colleges are failing at their most basic mission will demand the attention of us all.
This article provides a critique and an addition to observations raised by Ballantine et al. in this issue. After reviewing the strengths of Ballantine et al.’s article about the need for a core in sociology, I argue that this debate has gone on long enough and needs to be reframed around areas of agreement. Three major curricular projects (that have already begun to move this discussion forward) are presented, including the American Sociological Association (ASA) High School National Standards; the ASA Task Force on Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major, Updated, Third Edition; and the Measuring College Learning (MCL) Project. A critical outcome of the MCL Project in sociology is the Sociological Literacy Framework, which is already changing conversations about sociology curricula and learning outcomes. The Sociological Literacy Framework is summarized, and use of this framework is discussed.
Twenty years ago, Pescosolido and Milkie (1995) reported that 50 percent of U.S. and Canadian sociology graduate programs offered formal teacher training. Despite pronouncements that offerings have increased substantially, no similarly thorough and direct investigation has been published since. In this time of dramatic change and increasing scrutiny of higher education, graduate teacher training is arguably more important than ever before. Thus, we seek to provide a new baseline of teacher training in the discipline. Using a 2013 survey of U.S. and Canadian sociology graduate programs (N = 173), we find that 94 percent involve graduate students in teaching, almost 68 percent provide formal training for graduate student instructors, and 54 percent provide formal training for teaching assistants. We discuss the kinds and frequency of teacher training, as well as the type of graduate programs most likely to offer teacher training, and we provide suggestions for future research.
Formal socialization of graduate students into the profession is not balanced. All departments offer formal training in research, but teacher training is often neglected. A study conducted in 1975 showed that only one-half of graduate sociology departments provided teacher training of any sort for graduate students. In the past 20 years, however, concern for teaching excellence has increased, as has evidence of the effectiveness of teacher training. This study examines survey responses from 218 U.S. and Canadian sociology departments on the nature of teacher training for today's graduate students. Only about half of the teaching assistants and graduate students teaching their own courses receive formal training, an indication of little change in the institutional profile of training programs. We argue that the lack of formal socialization into the teacher role, especially compared with comprehensive training offered in research methods, contributes to the devaluation of teaching among sociologists.
With the support of the National Science Foundation, the American Sociological Association conducted a longitudinal survey of sociology majors from the class of 2005, following them from senior year into careers or graduate school. The first part of this article provides a context for the results from the What Can I Do with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology? study and a summary of its key findings. Wave I data demonstrate strong student interest in sociological concepts, perceived mastery of some research skills but not others, and general satisfaction with the major. Sociology majors are both idealists and careerists. The majority expects to enter the job market after graduation but is not satisfied with the career advising they receive. Key findings from Wave II demonstrate that more respondents go directly into the job market than expected, job search strategies are important in finding a job that matches what students learned in their sociology programs, and those who find such jobs are more satisfied with the major. The second part discusses how the survey findings can be used to enhance curriculum, advising, and assessment without vocationalizing the curriculum and without adding extra burdens to faculty members' already heavy schedules. Finally, the article discusses how the data can be used as a baseline for department assessment.
This report examines issues concerned with the vitality and productivity of senior faculty at institutions of higher education. The first section reviews shifting faculty demographics and is followed by a case study of the career of one professor. Next, research on the productivity of senior faculty in teaching, research, and service is reviewed. The following section identifies, in the context of research on adult development, specific internal factors affecting productivity, including: socialization, motivation, content knowledge and skills, networking and professional communication, having several projects under way simultaneously, autonomy and commitment, and morale. Institutional factors affecting productivity are considered in the context of career development theory. They include: clear goals, institutional culture, a positive climate, participative governance, rewards, opportunities for revitalization, and effective leadership. The report concludes that: (1) there appears to be no significant decline related to age in faculty competence or productivity; (2) internal and institutional factors should be addressed to preserve faculty vitality; and (3) senior faculty frequently experience a shift in their priorities and values. It urges a comprehensive approach to faculty vitality and identifies specific strategies to address individual, institutional, and leadership vitality. An appendix reviews the studies cited in the monograph. (Contains approximately 225 references.) (DB)
This volume explores the theory and practice of scaffolding—a style of instruction that provides students with the intellectual support to function at the cutting edge of their individual development.
This book address the how-tos of scaffolding students who need support in learning and are at risk for failure, as well as strong students who are working to master difficult materials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Freedom Is an Endless Meeting offers vivid portraits of American experiments in participatory democracy throughout the twentieth century. Drawing on meticulous research and more than one hundred interviews with activists, Francesca Polletta challenges the conventional wisdom that participatory democracy is worthy in purpose but unworkable in practice. Instead, she shows that social movements have often used bottom-up decision making as a powerful tool for political change. Polletta traces the history of democracy in early labor struggles and pre-World War II pacifism, in the civil rights, new left, and women's liberation movements of the sixties and seventies, and in today's faith-based organizing and anti-corporate globalization campaigns. In the process, she uncovers neglected sources of democratic inspirationâDepression-era labor educators and Mississippi voting registration workers, among themâas well as practical strategies of social protest. But Freedom Is an Endless Meeting also highlights the obstacles that arise when activists model their democracies after familiar nonpolitical relationships such as friendship, tutelage, and religious fellowship. Doing so has brought into their deliberations the trust, respect, and caring typical of those relationships. But it has also fostered values that run counter to democracy, such as exclusivity and an aversion to rules, and these have been the fault lines around which participatory democracies have often splintered. Indeed, Polletta attributes the fragility of the form less to its basic inefficiency or inequity than to the gaps between activists' democratic commitments and the cultural models on which they have depended to enact those commitments. The challenge, she concludes, is to forge new kinds of democratic relationships, ones that balance trust with accountability, respect with openness to disagreement, and caring with inclusiveness. For anyone concerned about the prospects for democracy in America, Freedom Is an Endless Meeting will offer abundant historical, theoretical, and practical insights. "This is an excellent study of activist politics in the United States over the past century. . . . Assiduously researched, impressively informed by a great number of thoughtful interviews with key members of American social movements, and deeply engaged with its subject matter, the book is likely to become a key text in the study of grass-roots democracy in America."âKate Fullbrook, Times Literary Supplement "Polletta's portrayal challenges the common assumption that morality and strategy are incompatible, that those who aim at winning must compromise principle while those who insist on morality are destined to be ineffective. . . . Rather than dwell on trying to explain the decline of 60s movements, Polletta shows how participatory democracy has become the guiding framework for many of today's activists."âRichard Flacks, Los Angeles Times Book Review "In Freedom Is an Endless Meeting, Francesca Polletta has produced a remarkable work of historical sociology. . . . She provides the fullest theoretical work of historical sociology. . . . She provides the fullest theoretical picture of participatory democracy, rich with nuance, ambiguity, and irony, that this reviewer has yet seen. . . . This wise book should be studied closely by both academics and by social change activists."âStewart Burns, Journal of American History
Handling Resistance to Change.” Pp
- Sandra I Cheldelin
Effective Practices for Academic Leaders: Faculty Development Programs
- Carol J Bland
- Kelly R Risbey
Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major
- Paul Eberts
- Carla B Howery
- White Berheide
- Catherine
- Crittenden
- Kathleen
- Davis
- Robert
- Gamson
- Zelda
- Wagenaar
- C Theodore
Adjunct Faculty Voices: Cultivating Professional Development and Community at the Front Lines of Higher Education
- Roy Fuller
- Marie Brown
- Kendall
Using the Capstone Course for Assessment of Learning in the Sociology Major
- Catherine Berheide
- White
Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major Updated: Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Sociology in the Twenty-first Century
- Kathleen Mckinney
- Carla B Howery
- Kerry J Strand
- Edward L Kain
- Catherine White Berheide