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TRAILS Featured Resources
TRAILS Featured Resources
February 23, 2023

TRAILS, the Teaching Resources and Innovation Library for Sociology, provides a way for you to easily locate peer-reviewed teaching materials, showcase your teaching ideas, develop professionally, and join a community of scholarly teachers. You will find great assignments, syllabi, lectures, and other teaching ideas at TRAILS. Please also consider submitting your great ideas for teaching. The Featured Resources include some of the newest additions to our collection.

-Stephanie Medley-Rath
TRAILS Lead Editor

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Dennis J. Downey, J. Brooke Ernest, Michael McGarry
Understanding the Gini Coefficient: From Conceptual Foundation to Quantitative Measure (Video Series)
April 24, 2017
Subject Area(s):
Stratification/Mobility
Resource Type(s):
Video
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This series of brief videos (three parts, approximately 27 minutes total) explains to students the logic of the Gini Coefficient as the most common measure of income inequality, and explains how it is derived through a sequence of basic steps. The first video...
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Colleen Elizabeth Wynn
Metropolitan Area Characteristics and Residential Segregation Using American FactFinder
March 20, 2017
Subject Area(s):
Urban Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This paper assignment teaches students how to use American FactFinder from the U.S. Census Bureau to examine data on two comparably sized metropolitan areas. Students extract data from the 2014 5-year American Community Survey (ACS). Students also apply urban...
Cover Page Requires Subscription XLSX Requires Subscription DOCX
Kenneth R. Hanson
Sorting Sexual Scripts
March 20, 2017
Subject Area(s):
Sexualities
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
By using Simon and Gagnon’s sexual scripting theory, students learn how to apply abstract theoretical concepts to concrete examples that resonate with the current Western sexual mores. In addition, a class discussion at the end of class helps students see how sexual...
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Colleen Elizabeth Wynn
Research Evaluation Activity and Paper Assignment
December 29, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Research Methods
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This in-class activity allows students to apply the methodological knowledge they have learned thus far in class to critiquing and evaluating existing research. This activity is used to prepare students for a series of paper assignments assigned throughout the...
Cover Page Requires Subscription PDF
Colby King
World’s Largests: Understanding Expressions of Place Character and Efforts to Attract Economic Investment
December 29, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Urban Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Assessment, Assignment, Lecture, PowerPoint
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Place character is a modern concept in urban sociology that is a critical piece for understanding how processes of economic development can be rooted in socially constructed subjective understandings of place characteristics. Because understanding the processes from...
Cover Page Requires Subscription PPTX Requires Subscription DOCX Requires Subscription DOCX
Teresa Irene Gonzales
Community Engagement: Theory, Practice, and the Politics of Help
December 29, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Social Welfare/Social Work
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Why do community service? What does it mean to help? What kinds of communities need help in order to thrive? Where should that help come from? What should that help look like? What is the difference between help and engagement? In this course, we will explore...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX Requires Subscription PDF
Matt Reid
Photo (Visual) Essay of Social Problems
November 29, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Essay
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
For this major experiential learning project, students are tasked with creating a photo essay (or an essay which uses some other form of imagery) to illustrate and explicate a social problem in our society. Students are free to pick whatever social problem they want...
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May Takeuchi, Alex Takeuchi
Introduction to Operationalization
November 29, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Research Methods
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Science’s mission is to discover the underpinning behind observable phenomena or abstract principles that link relevant variables, while testing specific hypotheses deduced from those abstract principles in terms of how those variables are related to each other....
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Mark P Killian, Horizon Worden
Introduction to Sociology Syllabus employing Team-based Learning
November 29, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Large
Abstract:
This is a syllabus for an introductory sociology course. The units contained in the course are administered through the Team-based Learning (TBL) process. TBL is a pedagogical strategy that uses student teams "to provide students with both conceptual and procedural...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Jennifer R. Darrah-Okike, Keith Scott, Penn Pantumsinchai
Teaching Sociological Theory: Engaging Visual and Creative Learning
October 27, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Theory
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
We provide instructions for three classroom activities to use in an introduction to sociological theory course for undergraduates. The goals of the activities are to develop students’ understanding of key concepts from sociological theory and to practice applying...
Cover Page Requires Subscription PDF

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