TEACHSOC: Re: Senior Seminar

[Diane Pike]

Title: --

And if we read Diane Vaughan's brilliant analysis of that event in her book The Challenger Launch Decision then things get really interesting and  maybe the key point is not what we assumed. Last term I used the fiction novel Earth Abides by George Stewart. It was a terrific success for sophisticated sociological analysis by the student, for what its worth. Diane Pike Del Thomas Ph D wrote: Hi, In many cases we are preparing students to solve problems and perform tasks that have yet to be recognized. As far as being too elementary we could argue that brilliance is cutting thru what seems complex.  This is what Feynman did in his testimony before the Rogers Commission hearings on the 1986 Challenger space shuttle accident. Feynman  performed a simple impromptu experiment that proved the key point regarding the shuttle disaster.  He dunked a piece of the rocket booster's O-ring material into cup of ice water and quickly showed that it lost all resiliency at low temperatures.    As Thoreau said, A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting. I suggest using Cannery Row with software Sim City 2000 Age of Empires and Del Diane Pike wrote: Allan Johnson's The Forest and the Trees was excellent--not sure if still in print. My students also liked Lemert's Social Things and Schwalbe's The Sociologically Examined Life. Each has strengths but are fairly different in tone and approach (using sociological vocabularyand including sociologists--or not--, voice of author, level of audience, questions at end of chapter)  so it might be worth comparing to see what is best fit for your course. I have used each in senior seminar over the years and each worked well to different strengths. Diane Harriet Hartman wrote: I am teaching a Senior Seminar in the Fall, and the topic was not announced (usually there is a topic). Therefore the students don't quite know what to expect, and what I'd like to do is give the students a common "sociology" reading to get us started and then have each do their own project. The common sociology reading I'd like is something along Charon's "Ten Questions" line, but I think that may be too elementary. Does anyone have a suggestion for a somewhat more advanced, but similar kind of reading? Thanks, Harriet -- Diane Pike, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology Director, Augsburg College Center for Teaching and Learning Chair, ASA Section on Teaching and Learning “If you teach, you belong!” Augsburg College Box 132 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis MN 55454 612-330-1228  fax 612-330-1649 [EMAIL PROTECTED]   --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to teachsoc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- -- Diane Pike, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology Director, Augsburg College Center for Teaching and Learning Chair, ASA Section on Teaching and Learning “If you teach, you belong!” Augsburg College Box 132 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis MN 55454 612-330-1228  fax 612-330-1649 [EMAIL PROTECTED]