Date:         Fri, 27 Jun 97 11:47:23 EDT
From: danielle <DMC96005@UCONNVM.UCONN.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Intro Sociology Course
To: socgrad@CSF.COLORADO.EDU
In-Reply-To:  <33B326D8.39231108@pe.net>
Message-Id:   <970627.115126.EDT.DMC96005@UConnVM.UConn.Edu>
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Charles -- in response to advise for intro to soc.....
I taught it for a year and had to use a required textbook.  It ended up
working out well because it gave me a guideline for structure and what
to do when.  I did, however,supplement that with outside articles (both
sociological and popular media) to highlight certain subjects (stratification,
etc).  I also had my students bring in articles or books that pertained
to what we were doing so they could learn to see sociological concepts in
everyday life.
The thing that worked the best though was using movies -- some documentary
some PBS programs, and some "pop" movies.  HOOP DREAMS is my favorite for
both intro and social problems -- it deals with most of the major issues
and is presented in a coherent and thoughtful way.
Another successful thing is group projects and oral presentations of the
material (games sometimes).  Gets the students out of the rut of just having
to read dry material.
Good luck!!!  It can be fun to teach intro -- you'll probably learn more
than they do...

-danielle at uconn