@article{Zito_2017, place={Washington DC: American Sociological Association.}, title={Crime over Time: A Two-Part Assignment on Temporal Changes in Crime Rates}, url={https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/crime-over-time-a-two-part-assignment-on-temporal}, abstractNote={This resource introduces Criminology students to various explanations of crime patterns over time, provides hands-on experience using UCR and NVCS data, and links data and theory through a scaffolded two-part assignment. Both parts require students to critically evaluate explanations of temporal patterns in crime rates. The first component is a jigsaw activity in which students teach one another about one explanation of crime decline. The second component is a writing assignment for which students examine and compare patterns in robbery over the past 15 years, evaluate their data sources, and reach conclusions about whether crime decline explanations are useful for explaining the patterns they observe. The goals of the two-part assignment are (1) encourage collaborative learning through peer education, (2) practice reading criminological theory and research, (3) provide experience using sources of empirical data to answer questions about crime, and (4) develop higher-order skills of application, synthesis, and evaluation. This assignment uses best practices including developing reciprocity and cooperation among students, encouraging active learning, emphasizing time on task, and builds structural knowledge to achieve understanding.}, journal={TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology}, author={Zito, Rena}, year={2017}, month={Aug.} }