Graduate students face obstacles when attempting to pursue public sociology in general, but specifically when they desire to utilize public sociology as both a research and teaching orientation that fully incorporates undergraduate students. Drawing on a two-year public sociology project on student financial security challenges, the author…

Sociology instructors widely recognize writing as an effective tool for deep learning. However, we argue that deep reading is a prerequisite for effective thinking through writing. To support this argument, we highlight the potential of deep reading teaching techniques, such as concept mapping, to empower students to master class readings and…

In this conversation essay, the authors incorporate teaching assistants (TAs) into pedagogical theorizing through what they call the teaching triad, an analytic heuristic to understand faculty-TA-undergraduate interactions. TAs are graduate students who are tasked with running discussion sections, smaller settings where undergraduates interact…

Faculty members and graduate student instructors (GSIs) spend a significant portion of their time in the classroom. Much of the literature calls for formal training for graduate students in pedagogy and teaching techniques (DeCesare 2003), and increasing attention has been paid to the benefits of informal supports for GSIs, such as peer networks.…

Research has consistently shown the high value of mentorship for graduate students in various areas--program satisfaction, professional self-image, confidence, productivity, and so on. However, specific templates of how to best mentor graduate students, especially in the vital area of teaching, are lacking. This article outlines the mentoring…

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…

Some effort to test the effectiveness of teacher assistant training programs is common, but these evaluations are typically limited to measures of student satisfaction. Two forms of assessment commonly used in elementary and secondary teacher training programs, measuring levels of teaching anxiety and teacher efficacy, may be of use for sociology…

Increasingly, colleges and universities are relying on fully online classes to teach students. This article investigates how students evaluate online courses in comparison to more traditional face-to-face courses. Data come from undergraduate student evaluations of 118 sociology courses, and results of a series of hierarchical linear models…

Course evaluations of women's studies programs in 1970 at Cornell University showed that men responded less favorably than women. In 1977 a male teaching assistant (TA) was introduced to assist the female professor. Recent analysis suggests the TA's attitude toward feminism affects students' ratings. (Author/AV)

A graduate teaching assistantship should be regarded as an apprenticeship. There should be close supervision in a supportive atmosphere during the earlier stages of training. The apprentices can be granted increased autonomy as they gain teaching experience and demonstrate competence. A program established by a sociology graduate department is…

This article describes a seminar, practicum course in sociology required of all graduate students about to teach for the first time at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Specifically discussed are selection of students, tapping sociological lore for pedagogical insights, and interplay of theory and practice. (Author/RM)

Presents results from a study that focused on undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) using in-depth written interviews with UTAs; interviews with faculty members/instructors who work with UTAs; and questionnaires from students in classes that use UTAs. States that UTAs can be useful in promoting active learning. (CMK)

Reports on a study in which 19 doctoral students were interviewed regarding their own self-esteem and their attitudes toward undergraduate student and professors. Finds differences between precandidate and candidate graduate students in all three areas. Asserts that these differences are evidence that doctoral programs encourage a shift away from…

Describes a research study about graduate students and the teaching requirements and credentials requested by potential university employers. Cites the American Sociological Association's 1999 Employment Bulletin to highlight the teaching experience requirement and the lack of requested evidence of teaching effectiveness. Finds research oriented…

The author describes a teaching innovation in which undergraduates were used to lead weekly discussion sections of lower division sociology courses. The selection process of teaching assistants, student reactions, and possible solutions to potential problems are presented. (Author/DE)