Learning Technique 1: Entry and Exit Tickets
I would use the entry and exit ticket to accomplish the learning objective of: understand a sociological definition of deviance as a social construction, to be used in class when we cover Deviance & Crime. Operating essentially like a pre-test and post-test, I would start class with a cold entry ticket, asking students to anonymously write down 3 deviant acts that they or someone they know have committed. Then the class will proceed as usual with discussion and lecture on the theories of deviance. Then at the end of class, I will again ask students about their written deviant acts, probing them to think about what is deviant, what is normal, and how all deviance is truly relative to the context, and entirely a societal construct. I will know if it is effective through qualitative means: Are students asking questions, are they actively participating, does their body language indicate interest, are they having some measure of fun?
Learning Technique 2: Quotation Commentaries
I would use the Quotation Commentaries activity to look some of the classical sociological theorists whose writing may be dense and dated. This could be used to accomplish the learning objective: Compare and contrast sociological theories of religion. This would be used in the lecture on families and religion as social institutions. I would have students read Marx’s famous quote “Religion is the opium of the masses” but contextualize it with the paragraphs he wrote directly before and directly after. Students would read 5 paragraphs in total and be responsible for identifying the main point in each one, distilling it down to a short phrase. I will know if this activity is effective by whether students are able to orally articulate, at least in elementary form, Marx’s basic premise.
Learning Technique 3: What’s the Problem?
I would use the What’s the Problem? activity to accomplish the learning objective of: Define and distinguish the different forms of racism. This would be used in the class discussion of Race/Ethnicity. I would ask students to form a pair and then to find a short youtube clip (such as from a movie or tv show) of an example of each form of racism, like Jim Crow racism, aversive racism, colorblind racism, institutional racism, etc. Students would then present the clips they found. By the end of class I will know if this was effective by questioning students with cold calls to give me their own definition of what each type of racism is.
Matthew West 