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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

TRAILS logo with gold star superimposed on the lower right corner. Logo is composed of four vertical bars in varying shades of blue.
Riku Kawaguchi
Syllabus for (Online) Social Research Methods with Discussions
June 18, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Research Methods
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
This syllabus is for a social research methods course that emphasizes discussions, primarily designed for a fully online, short 5-week semester. This resource may be helpful in designing an online methods course or incorporating discussions into a methods course....
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Devrim Adam Yavuz
Edited Book Project in Classical Sociological Theory
June 12, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Theory
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
The "edited sociological book" project was developed as part of an effort to reimagine the required classical theory course at Lehman College (CUNY) to make its instruction less top-down and more focused on the skills students need in the practice of their...
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Christian Michael Smith
Interrogating Causation with Screencasts, a "Clickbait" News Activity, and Short Essays
June 11, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assessment, Assignment, Class Activity, Essay, Video
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
With this resource, students learn the fundamentals of causal inference and apply these skills to evaluate the outlandish claims found in many internet article headlines ("clickbait"). The resource has three parts. First, at home, students watch two screencast videos...
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Erin Jane Davenport
Occupational Licensure Activity
June 11, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Work and Labor Markets
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This activity allows students studying the sociology of work or the labor force to engage with the question: How do licensing laws affect workers, and what industries are most heavily licensed? They will complete a reading, answer discussion questions, and then break...
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Stephanie Marie Baran
Let’s Build a Prison: Exploring Structural Functionalism
June 4, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Social Organization
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
This in-class activity centers around how students understand the creation and construction of prisons within the United States. Suited for any level of sociology or criminology courses, this activity could be utilized in a criminology course or in a sociology...
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Daniel R Scholes, Amanda Jayne Miller
Mate choice from sociological and biological perspectives: Sexual selection meets mating markets
February 21, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Family
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Mate choice is a deeply studied topic of both evolutionary biology and sociology due to the complexity of social interactions, the process of conscious and unconscious evaluation of potential mates, the high stakes of successful reproduction, and consequently the...
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Zach Rubin
Panel Discussions – A Gentler Introduction to Debating Social Problems
February 21, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assessment, Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This activity is a group presentation without group work that will take place over the middle segment of the course. It happens in two stages: one where students will create discussion questions for some of your classmates to answer, and one where students will...
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Mehmet Soyer, Marisela Martinez-Cola
Auto-Ethnography: A Tool for Creating Safe Zones
February 21, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Race, Class and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
It can be threatening for students to confront the stereotypes and prejudices they hold about any groups. One strategy for overcoming this barrier to change is to offer students a safe forum wherein they can examine their beliefs without fear of judgment. In this...
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Marshmallows
Colby King
Information literacy and the marshmallow test in the replication crisis
February 21, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Audio, Essay
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Through this set of materials students will engage with a variety of sources discussing the marshmallow test and the replication crisis in the social sciences, including primary research, public scholarship, and secondary sources including videos and an optional...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Judith A. Linneman
Do Dogs Cause Climate Change More Than Cats? Variables, Relationships and "Spurious-Curious" Thinking
February 21, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Research Methods
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Could dog ownership cause more climate change than cat ownership? It appears so when examining the relationship between pet choice and whether owners drive personal vehicles to work or use public transportation. However, when controlling for residence type (single...
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