Stereotype Exercise

Challenging Ethnic Stereotypes: A Classroom Exercise
Author(s): Mark Beeman and Robert W. Volk
Source: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 299-304

This article offers a very interesting exercise to introduce the idea that stereotypes are social constructions. Being societal constructions, stereotypes exist in some cultures and not in others and change over time. To drive home this point the authors accessed a list of racial slurs used against ethnic whites in the early 1900’s. In the activity the class is divided up into small groups and asked to define these terms. (Biddy, Dutch courage, Dutch milk, stolid as a Dutchman, Dutchy, Frenchified, made in Germany, Greek ease, to have an Irish shave, Irish club house, Irish draperies, Scotchmen.) Of course since these terms are no longer common in our society, the students do not now what they mean and have to guess at the definitions. The definitions are given along with some of the background of the time. The stereotypes are placed in historical context as these groups were new immigrants, and considered different that the dominant culture of the time. The parallels to today’s stereotypes are drawn, showing how stereotypes are often recycled. This meaning that they are dropped from an assimilated group and applied to a different distinct ethnicity. A discussion is lead surrounding questions of what stereotypical thinking can do to a society, and how these ethnic minorities were able to shed these stereotypes over time.

Course Innovations- Diversity

Marketing Education Review
Volume 18, Number 1
(Spring 2008)

Lynn Barnsback

Course Innovations:” Diverse Consumers: Race, Ethnicity, Religion, Social Class, and Gender”
By Barbara Stern

I chose this article to report on based on our most recent class where we discussed the topic of Diversity. As highlighted in our class discussion it is an important topic in our society and on campus. George Mason University has made the local news this week with an example of its diversity and its embrace of it; the Homecoming Queen is a Drag Queen, a young male student who ran as his stage persona-a woman.

The Journal Article points out in the first paragraph; “by 2030 minorities will be the majority of the U.S. population, as they are now in major cities”. While the article was about diversity in marketing, it is relevant to other teaching as the course innovation can be used in other disciplines (Nursing; Public Administration).

The diversity learning was accomplished by Diversity Walks, with small groups of students walking through ethnic neighborhoods, observing and interacting with the residents. The course and its main project, the walk, were designed to meet the schools (Rutgers-Newark campus) goal of “preparing students for multicultural society by encouraging the development of courses that provide information about diversity’s ramifications”.

The author designed the project to utilize “experiential learning…whereby learning is created through the transformation of experience” (Kolb, David 1984). The critical argument is that students learn more when they are “active participants in creating knowledge”. This type of learning provides improved educational relevance because students enjoy the learning experience more. Barbara Sterns premise is that “second hand exposure to diversity only goes so far” in gaining understanding. As a result, the interactive walks were developed.

Four Walks were the major part of the class. Experiential learning needs to build on prior learning, in this case discussions and guest speakers about diversity. The work outside the classroom needed to be connected to the classroom by the students through the activity. By making the learning process more real the instructor hoped the students would understand the topic as more than just a “set of facts about different cultures” but rather as a source of “practical information”.

To prepare there were class speakers and reading on the subject of diversity and specifically, the groups they were to encounter. In addition a lesson on “observational research” was conducted. Students were assigned in small groups to go to specific communities, maps and a guide on what to observe were provided. Students then reported back at the next class about their findings. This was to keep the observations fresh. A written report followed.

Stern feels the course innovation was successful based on the evaluations, and the reports that showed the students ability to connect the real-world experiences to the classroom discussions. Another indicator she felt was that many students went beyond the guides while on the “Walk”, choosing to explore the neighborhoods further. This indicated to the teacher that they truly enjoyed the assignment and based on the “experiential learning” model reinforced the learning further. The project is adaptable to other disciplines and non-urban locations. She suggests looking at upper vs. lower class neighborhoods or using an “etic approach-defamiliarizing the commonplace” by looking at such mundane groups as senior citizens or men vs. women.

Although relatively simple, this appears to be an interesting exercise, one that can be adapted in various ways yet provides good results. I felt it was a good example of Experiential Learning. It appeals to me as worthwhile premise to consider when designing a project or assignment.

Interview with Lang Lang - A Life So Far

Interview with Pianist Lang Lang – A Life So Far
by Scott McBride Smith

From Clavier Companion Magazine, Jan/Feb 2009

“Classical music is like the whole world – there are pieces that are introverted, percussive, or expressive. If it doesn’t fit your personality, you need to learn.” Lang Lang

I think that says a lot about education – both teaching and learning. Sometimes (or most of times) we feel so overwhelmed by all the information we have to swallow and digest for our own learning and teaching system. But in the end, we know that there are not a lot of options because there is no short-cut in learning and teaching. If it doesn’t fit you, you take time to make yourself fit in.

I chose this article because it presents a pianist’s passion in learning and teaching. The interview features a well-known Chinese pianist Lang Lang. Lang Lang is a 26-year old pianist who has been an international celebrity since his dramatic debut with the Chicago symphony, substituting for Andre Watts when he was 17 years old. I remember hearing his performance on NPR in 2003 for the first time then I went to see him playing live at the Kennedy center the following year. I was very impressed by his amazing technique and musical interpretation (but not so much on his facial and body expression).

In this interview, he talks about his piano training with his former teachers including Gary Graffman at Curtis. He also tells readers about the launch of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, dedicated to sponsoring study opportunities for a small number of talented young musicians aged 6-12 and encouraging all children’s love of music. It was a pleasant surprise for me that he decided to launch an educational organization at this time of his life and at this stage of his career. Because I have seen many distinguished artists become involve in education later in their careers, when they are not touring so much. Lang Lang says that the purpose of this foundation is to inspire and give positive motivation to young people. He continues that he learns a lot through collaborative work with other musicians and students whether the results meet his expectations or not. He believes that there are still things to be learned from the experiences.

The interview continues with talks about his teaching. He states that, for students, a good teacher should be able to open door to music. Yes. Music is all about inspiration. It opens one’s heart and it helps one to see the world in different views. He recalls his former teacher Gary Graffman being open-minded from selecting repertories to building career as professional pianist. He says that, through Mr. Graffman, he learned to study music in a deeper level. He continues that he found great joy in learning different styles of music in very precise and detailed manner. Then he adds that he learned a different approach to thinking about music. He remembers his teacher being easy to work with, generous and kind.

As I finished reading this article, it made me reflect my own teaching in the past. It is not so much about what I taught; it was about how I taught and what kind of teacher I was.
With all the great things Lang Lang has said, I think about this; what kind of teacher am I going to be.

What Kind of Car Am I? (Naliyah 2nd blog post)

“What Kind of Car am I? An Exercise to Sensitize Students to Social Class Inequality”
Kathleen A. Tiemann, Karen Davis, Teri L. Eide

Teaching Sociology, Vol. 34, 2006 (October: 398-403)

I decided to report on this article because it presents a teaching activity related to a concept discussed in sociology 101 courses, social class inequality. I would also like to create a file of teaching activities that I can pull from. The article explains how to run an active learning exercise about cars to teach students about social class inequality. This activity is used to challenge students’ ideas about competitive individualism and to show students “the salience of stereotypes on people’s lives” (399). The point is for students to realize that inequities in society are due to structure not individual failures. The activity lets students see their flaws and that “common sense” assumptions fail when looking through a sociological lens. The activity is designed for a 50 minute class period.

Preparation: Make a list of different kinds of people students are familiar with making sure you have a good mix of people on the basis of ethnicity, gender, social class, and other ascribed attributes (in non-sociological terms: characteristics you are born with/into). Then make a second list of different kinds of vehicles, including those most common in the area/region. Then put the two lists of people and cars on handouts for the students.

Activity: Have students become familiar with information on stratification and inequality both globally and within the United States or do the exercise first and then teach about stratification and inequality.

1. Divide students into small groups of around 7 students maximum. Give half of the groups copies of the list of people and ask them to list the model and year of the vehicle they think the people listed would drive. Then give the list of vehicles to the other groups and ask them to describe the type of person they think would drive each vehicle. After about 15 minutes ask the groups to come to an agreement on their choices.
2. On the board the instructor should put the lists of people and vehicles leaving room for each group to write their answers. Once the students’ time is up they select one member of the group to write their answers on the board. Once they are finished ask the students why they chose the responses they did. Then the authors suggest asking the following questions:

“Does driving a particular vehicle mean that the driver actually owns it?
Does it tell us whether the owner paid cash, leases the car, or is deeply in debt?
Do race, gender, or age determine the type of vehicle someone drives or are other variables at work? (400).”

Then discuss how the vehicles we all drive are nonverbal, yet public statements of where we fit in the organization of social stratification and how others should treat us. The authors also mention noting that vehicles can be indicative of our social, political, and environmental views.

3. Finally have students do a written assignment asking them to respond to the questions
“What type of vehicle do you own?
What is the year of your vehicle?
Why do you own that particular vehicle?
What does it tell others about you and where you fit in the social hierarchy?
How does it do so?” (400-401).
(If the student doesn’t own a car have them answer the questions about the car they drive most often or the car which the ride in the most).

Then have students think about what they learned about “material culture, prestige, social stratification, inequality, and stereotypes” from the exercise and how it relates to additional material assigned to them in the course (401).

All in all, I think the article is a good way of discussing a sensitive topic and breaking down students’ beliefs about who is most likely to be successful in society and who is not and why without seeming confrontational. Students see for themselves where their common sense view of “those who work the hardest get to the top” fails and how they stereotype others, as well as, how they might be stereotyped themselves. Hopefully a simple activity like this will stick with students and possibly change how they view the world, that they will realize things are set up to benefit specific groups and exclude others and thus will realize that inequality is institutionalized.

Exercise Decreases the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome in Elderly Females

 by Wolfgang Kemmler, Simon Von Stengel, Klaus Engelke and Willi Kalander

http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.mutex.gmu.edu/hww/results/results_single_ftPES.jhtml

This study addresses the positive effects of a multi-purpose exercise program on the Metabolic Syndrome in elderly women.  The Metabolic Syndrome is a term that has is used to link coronary heart disease, hypertension, high blood lipids, diabetes (type II) and upper body obesity to insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia.  It has been observed that upper body obesity is associated with insulin resistance and that insulin resistance is highly correlated with increased risk for coronary heart disease, hypertension, and type II diabetes.  It appears that obesity is the trigger that leads to metabolic syndrome.  

Other studies have focused on specific exercise programs, such as specifically addressing muscular endurance (high repetitions, low weights) or muscular strength (low repetitions, high weights) in addition to a cardiorespiratory exercise program.  The argument these researchers make is that a specific exercise program is difficult to adhere to and isn't as readily available to all individuals.   The study that they propose is a multi- purpose exercise program (which consists of: an aerobic activity, a resistance training sequence, isometric strength training and dynamic strength training) and the effects it may have on metabolic syndrome as well as the level of adherence by the participants.

The results indicated that not only did the multi purpose program positively affect metabolic syndrome in its participants but the subjects in the control group who participated in a low volume, low intensity program also experienced positive affects to their metabolic syndrome as well.   

In my teaching, we use articles such as this to not only emphasis the importance of fitness but to explore how different modes, intensity, duration, and frequencies affect fitness and health.   Some theories of fitness that were the trend 10 years ago are now obsolete so it is important as an instructor to stay current with the latest research and convey the pertinent research areas to my students.  

Teaching with Clickers

Teaching with Clickers in the Large Size Principles of Marketing Class

Douglas J. Lincoln
Marketing education Review, Volume 18, Number1 (Spring 2008)

I choose this article because the “clickers” intrigued me; I had no idea what they were or could be used for. Also, I hope to teach Marketing Classes and expect that my first level classes might be large. I will note here that the article did not necessarily concentrate on Marketing, which just happened to be where the study took place, so the information is transferable to other disciplines.

I found the Article interesting. It describes 5 problems and provides 3 recommendations related to teaching in a large class (defined as 50+ students) using “clickers”. A “clicker” is a student response device, pool or system, like an audience response pad on a TV show-apparently students must carry them to class. No other information was provided regarding the apparatus.

The Authors feel that used correctly, the clickers are a very helpful and can relieve the students from “Death by PowerPoint”. The 5 problems instructors face in a large classroom are defined as:
1. getting the students to attend class
2. keeping the students attention
3. Getting them to actively participate in the learning process
4. instructors have difficulty in gauging where each student is in the learning
5. managing significant volumes of course maintenance work load

Lincoln feels students enjoying using the clickers so attendance is improved. Using a clicker question immediately upon starting class can engage student’s attention and move thinking patterns towards classroom subjects. Because today’s students are comfortable with technology they do not like an “impassive” learning style. An interactive style provided by the clicker is better suited to their interests. Because clickers are anonymous students whom would not normally participate in class do so. In addition clickers can help identify misconceptions and provide instant feedback allowing instructors to focus discussions on specific topics.

The recommendations are:
1. Go for Depth not Breadth – when using these apparatus to help create deep learning, instructors need to really prioritize topics. They should use them to execute a contingent teaching style where the teaching depends on the actions (answers) of students rather than a fixed sequence of events.

2. Design effective Questions- keep in mind three purposes behind the questions use when designing them:
a. Content Goals; “What piece of subject matter do I want to illuminate?”
b. Cognitive Process Goals; “What skills to I want the students to exercise?” (Compare/contrast; predict & observe etc.)
c. Metacognitive Goals; “What beliefs about learning and practicing this discipline do I wish to reinforce?” The Author warns that clickers should not be used to reinforce rote memorization.

3. Use a Series of Questions- A Session; Two thoughts on this are:
a. Chronological six step question cycle (Beatty et al 2006) which starts with small group discussions, individual response, displaying response patterns, conducting classroom discussion and having the instructor express observations or a brief lecture
b. A three question cycle (Reay et al 2005) used as part of a constructivist approach to learning. The thought here is to give students three questions all different features but all with the same concept, response summaries are then shown. Classroom discussion then follows, another harder question is given, response again shown, more discussion and finally a third question is used to check if they understand the concept, which by this point most answer correctly.

In the conclusion Lincoln warns that “most of these challenges are only addressed when instructor carefully design course pedagogy and activates to that student use of clickers is a means to an end and not an end onto itself,….learning the art and science of designing and implementing effective clicker questions and question sessions is much more difficult”.Teaching with Clickers in the Large Size Principles of Marketing Class

Ethnocentrism Article

Kim D. Schopmeyer and Bradley J. Fisher

Exploring Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity in Sociology Courses

Teaching Sociology, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Apr., 1993), pp. 148-153

Introducing the idea of ethnocentrism, the tendency to judge other cultures by your own culture’s standards, is often difficult. While most people will on the surface admit that cultural diversity is normal and should be understood instead of judged, they still tend to see their cultural beliefs and practices as normal and view other cultural practices as deviations from the normal human actions and therefore weird and kind of silly. Although you can lead discussions about the horrors that ethnocentric thinking has allowed historically, and you can discuss how odd our way of life might seem to others, I always felt the need for a good activity to cement the concept. I had been using a great article (Miner, Horace. 1956. "Body Ritual among the Nacirema." American Anthropologist 58(3).)

which describes American cultural norms from an ethnocentric viewpoint (Nacirema is American Spelled backwards). Here’s a clip from the article;

“While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries.”

In this excerpt the article is describing our use of bathrooms. I ask the students to write up anwers to two questions (Before they are told the article is about Americans) Would you marry a member of the Nacirema? and How would you feel if you had to live among the Nacirema for a year. This usually gets the point across that any way of life can seem odd to an outsider, especially if no effort is made to understand the way of life.

The Article that I chose expanded this concept of outsider bias to include insider’s bias. The tendency to not really thinking about or see your own culture because it seems so natural to you. The Article includes the entire assignment description/outline and even offers some ideas of cultural practices to focus on (Status symbols, Political procedures or elections, Religious customs, Foods, Celebrations of holidays, Leisure activities, sports, Clothing or methods of beautification, etc.) and I plan to build it into my summer courses as a graded writing assignment.

Article review from Journal of Accounting Education

I chose to review Consideration of control environment and fraud risk: A set of instructional exercises from the Journal of Accounting Education, October 2007
The article referenced the difficulty of teaching the topic of accounting controls to students with no background in auditing and little exposure to corporate accounting. The article was instructional, directed toward giving the teacher a variety of exercises that have been proven successful in teaching students to assess risk based on a standard questionnaire.
The students are given a case study for a fictional company. The case study includes a brief description of the company and some financial and situational personnel data. Included in the materials is a “Control Environment Questionnaire” which includes “yes” and “no” answers as well as a box for additional comments. The questionnaire is designed to paint a picture of the ethical environment of the company by asking questions about the existence and adherence to a company’s code of conduct.
In addition to the case study the student is told that they are now in charge of the audit team and their job is to write a professional memo that outlines their findings and, using specific accounting guidance, come to a conclusion about the effectiveness of the control environment at that company. Completing this exercise requires that the student research and understand the purpose of the questionnaire and the accounting standards that the questionnaire is designed to address.
The article outlines the objectives for each exercise and describes what the student should be identifying in the case study and the skills that will be developed using this exercise. The article also describes the potential difficulties that the students may encounter while completing the exercise and suggests remedies and guidance that the teacher can offer.
There were four different exercises presented in the article and the authors gave assignment suggestions and options for these exercises. For example you can assign one exercise to the class or have the students complete the exercise individually or in groups.
The authors of the article performed a survey of their students to evaluate their understanding of the topic and the usefulness of the exercise. The majority of the students found the exercise was valuable in that they were able to put into practice what they had learned in the class.
These types of articles will be beneficial to me by giving me some concrete examples so I can learn how to approach difficult topics with my students using proven methods that yield positive results.

Naliyah's 1st blog post Research Versus Teaching

Teaching Sociology Vol. 34 2006 October: 325-340

"Bridging The Gap Between Cultures of Teaching and Cultures of Research" by Edward Kain

I chose to report on the article because it highlights the persistent and controversial tension of splitting one’s time between research and teaching within institutions. As a future professor this is something, which is of great concern to me because I know that I would like to focus more on teaching. The author, Edward Kain, looks at how job expectations fluctuate in merging these activities within the academic realm. He specifically examines the way in which sociology positions are announced and how such position advertisements have changed since 1980 when Goldsmid and Wilson noted a “curious gulf” amid teaching and research within sociology programs. Kain uses content analysis to examine job listings published in the American Sociological Association Employment Bulletin during three separate decades (1977, 1987, 1997). He looked for patterns and trends within the language of the job descriptions that emphasized teaching, research or both while noting the institution type. The author believes reducing the distance between teaching and research cultures will strengthen sociology departments. His research questions were:

1) has the trend of a decline in the emphasis upon teaching continued since Rau and Baker’s research in the late 1980s, or has it reversed?
2) How do job descriptions differ by type of institution?
3) How do the position descriptions vary by rank?
4) What are some of the implications of these patterns and trends?

Kain concludes that the data show, regardless of institution type, the demand for blending of teaching and research has increased. The expectations that faculty in institutions focused on teaching will also do research and vice versa for research based institutions seem to be the norm. Kain offers four suggestions for continuing to help reduce the gap between teaching and research cultures:

1) rejecting the dichotomy of teaching versus research,
2) implementing a cumulative curriculum,
3) building structures that link the multiple functions within departments of sociology,
4) making certain that our reward structures reflect a change in values.

The point Kain makes, which I agree with the most, is that when teaching and research are set in opposition to each other it is not beneficial and causes education to suffer. His suggestion is to reconceptualize them as mutually supportive activities. Some of the ways he suggests this could be done are by involving undergraduates in research opportunities with faculty and graduate students, as well as, using undergraduates as teaching assistants. Kain also notes the significance of introducing research skills in sociology 101 courses. I find this discussion to be most critical; often sociology professors tend to lean more toward teaching or research depending on their own preference and job position and thus may emphasize the importance of one over the other in how they teach the subject to students. Therefore, from the first course a student may be taught with a focus on research versus teaching or teaching versus research and thus the “gap” is already being set into place for the student in how they view the discipline. Myself included, many students tend to be intimidated by research and view it as difficult and frustrating because they are not coached on the skills of breaking the work into manageable pieces, finding the love of researching something they are interested in, or are unaware of the different types of research methods. For instance, I thought research inherently meant math and statistics which I found to be very difficult. Later I was introduced to qualitative research methods such as ethnography that drew my interest. Here again, we have a dichotomy that arises –qualitative versus quantitative- methods of research, which also need to be merged. It is important to note that Kain’s research was done in 2006 and only looked at ASA job postings. While he found an increase in the desire for teaching faculty to increase their research skills and vice versa for research faculty I wonder if in fact this is true across the board. When speaking with faculty and looking at job postings within my department research tends to be the point of focus- the most notable reason being that universities are looking to be viewed as prestigious and for faculty who can bring in the biggest research grants and maintain publications in the most well known journals. Ultimately, I believe faculty are hired, kept, and promoted based on how big of a cash cow they are for the college and this means research not teaching skills, which often do not bring the same cash and prestige associated with research.

I wonder if this works.

Here is a test message. I've never blogged before. I'll remember it though. Everyone remembers their first time.

Welcome

I hope that we can create here a place where we might learn from each other, and discuss our findings in the literature devoted to teaching and learning