Question 1 is due tomorrow 11-21 by 9pm Arizona time.

What does facilitation mean to you and why is it particularly important in teaching sociology? Name a sociology topic and describe how you would facilitate learning about this topic in a college classroom.

This discussion response

Response #1

Facilitation means being able to give students the opportunity to learn something by it being presented. Giving the student the chance to be able to respond. You must make sure you are facilitating by giving students the right to learn what is needed. It is important when teaching sociology because you need to make sure students are getting what they are supposed to. You are setting it up for them to understand what is being taught. You can facilitate by providing groups or whole group instruction. It is a way in where you can address what is needed. A topic that is taught in sociology is stratification. One way I will make sure students are learning what they are supposed to it creating direct instruction. Then giving them group work where they can interact with the material. As stated in the text, “gives visual representation to abstract thoughts” (Moskovich & Sharf, 2012) In doing this you are able to help students from different learning styles learn. You as the instructor will be able to walk around and help those that need it through the process.

Moskovich, Y., & Sharf, S. (2012). Using Films as a Tool for Active Learning in Teaching Sociology. Journal of Effective Teaching.

Reply #2

From the case study assignment, explain whether or not you felt Professor Independent’s facilitation method was effective or not, regarding the sociology topic he was assessing. In what ways does small group teaching differ from large group teaching?

Reply 2

This facilitation method was not an effective as it did not effectively engage students. Class discussion with one or two worksheets rather than a packet of worksheets would have been a more effective facilitation method.

Large group teaching is a convenient method to get information to more students at once. Large group teaching is less interactive and typically the attention is focused on the professor leading the class. Small group teaching is more focused, interactive, and leads to better received information. With the proper facilitation methods, Professor Independent could have turned the larger class into smaller groups and facilitated productive discussions.

Reference:

Saiyad, S., George, C., Mishra, S. K., & Kaur, G. (2018, December). (PDF) teaching and learning through large and small groups. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331742703_Teaching_and_Learning_through_Large_and_Small_Groups.

Reply 3

Fellow Classmates/Dr. “S”

Social stratification is ubiquitous. There are multiple definitions of social stratification but in general, social stratification is “a horizontal division of society into ‘high’ and ‘lower’ social units” (Murray, n.d.). Researchers have explained that the dominance of the upper class over the lower layers of society can lead to the prevention of talented individuals from the realization of their potential, which may negatively affect society’s functioning and prosperity (Shankar Rao, 1990). This is one explanation of social stratification. I think that facilitating the subject of social stratification would be difficult because of its complexity. A class of 75 is a large class and could benefit from small group teaching as opposed to large group teaching. Large group teaching is a convenient and oldest way to transmit large amount of information to large number of students. However, large group teaching is primarily teacher centered and if non interactive, can hamper learning. Small group teaching is learner centered and keeps learner in active mode. The facilitators and students together prepare the lectures, and the students are encouraged to interact on subject matter. Hopkins, 1998 reveals that “Today, about a million of the state’s pupils are in classes of twenty students or fewer. Reports of participation reveal and early test results indicate that the program has had some success” (p 2). Based on this research, results illustrate that smaller class sizes did increase student achievement, based on higher scores on standardized tests. Strengths of small group teaching are flexibility and interaction. Whether large group or small group teaching should be adopted depends on various factors like number of students, domain addressed, infrastructure.

Hopkins, G. (1998b). The Debate Over Class Size Part 2. Retrieved September 25, 2006 from Education World.

Murray, R. (n.d.). Introductory Sociology. American Journal of Sociology, 42(2): 282.

Shankar Rao, C.N. (1990). Sociology. Principles of Sociology with an Introduction to Sociological Thought. S Chand and Company Limited, 1st ed.

Access and view the “Bachelor of Science in Sociology” page on the GCU.edu website: https://www.gcu.edu/degree-programs/bachelor-science-sociology

Next, select a course in sociology from the list of Program Core Courses and read the course description. Describe what technological methods you would use to enhance learning if you were teaching that course. What other technological tools can be used inside the sociology classroom? Explain how technology has affected the college classroom. 

Reply 1 Due tomorrow 11-28 by 9pm AZ time

Hi Class,

I chose to read the Marriage and Family course description. A major technological method I would use would be videos. The course focuses on present marriage and family life currently and future (Bachelor of Science in Sociology, n.d.). I think making use of videos for students to acknowledge modern families and divorce would be a great tool so they can get a better understanding. I also think charts of like comparing and contrasting previous family lifestyles and how they have changed to get a better understanding of how families will continue to change in the future. There are also many games to play in the classroom and Trivia that can also engage the students while helping them learn the material.

Technology has affected the college classroom in several ways. I believe that technology allows for creative ways for a fun learning environment. Technology can also be a great way to target all types of learners from visual to kinesthetic. The college classroom no longer must consist of just lectures and note taking but can be much more than that.

Bachelor of Science in Sociology. GCU. (n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2021, from https://www.gcu.edu/degree-programs/bachelor-science-sociology. 

Reply 2 due tomorrow 11-29 by 9pm AZ time

Class,

The program that I would choose is SOC-220. The title of the program is Social Problems. Which provides an overview of problems in the American Society that includes drug abuse, crime, poverty, family relations, and overpopulation. The depth of this class will stem from how problems are formed due to modern social structure, and how we can correct them. The technological methods I would use in this class would be Digital field trips, creating digital contents, and using video and multimedia lessons for presentations. With doing this, students are more engaged with the visual effects, photos, and contents which are easier to retain. Websites such as Canva is more frequently in schools now to present class material, presentations, and creative tools for students. With Canva used in this classroom it can display the infographics of social culture, the population and compare data that has been implemented.

Technology has influenced traditional and online classrooms. We have more access to internet, digital resources, tools filled with data and reports. All of these will help a class get to the next level with hands on digital learning. It has increased the educational productivity, while reducing the cost of materials, and instructional materials (Harvey, 2001). Many things that we used to buy, we can now access online for less or free. Being that standards, curriculum, and schools change their learning requirements often it is important to create opportunities for other ways of engagement, support, and collaboration.

References,

Mansfield, Harvey C. 2001. “Grade Inflation: It’s Time to Face the Facts.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 47(30): B24. 

Reply 3 due tomorrow night 12-1 by 9pm. This is the last one of this assignment.

As technology application and tools have been integrated into learning environments to enhance student learning, I have selected cloud-based technologies from my portfolio used inside the sociology classroom. Cloud-based applications and tools provided the flexibility and innovative opportunity to improve pedagogy to create effective use of the cloud (Kumar et al., 2018). Cloud computing is a learning management system (LMS) application that saves databases, servers, software, analytics, and file storage over the internet, empowering professors and students to access material and resources at any time when needed. Students will have the ability to access, respond, post, and share coursework materials, projects, technology tools, and resources with their professors and classmates through the cloud (Kumar et al., 2018). Assess to the cloud influences a collaborative learning approach with others on group coursework and assignments without being present at the same time, location, or room, effective for an online learning community. When students implement cloud computing in their educational process, it allows them to have immediate access and store course assignments and assessment-related material on remote servers working from any place long as they have an internet connection.

Kumar, V., Senthil, J., & Palanisami, R. (2018). Optimizing Resources in Teaching and Learning using Cloud Technology. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), 6(9). Retrieve from https://doi.org/ISSN: 2278-0181