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2013 IBIS Grant Final Report Colleen Avedikian, Lecturer Department of Sociology

UMass Dartmouth

Introduction to Sociology (SOC 101) is a survey of the fundamental principles of sociology and the basic factors conditioning social behavior. This is a general education course that fulfills the diversity requirement for General Education courses, and either Cluster 4 B or 4C for University Studies requirements. The majority of students enrolled in the course are in their First Year of college.

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Four blended sections of SOC 101 taught in Fall, 2012

The learning management system: My Soc Lab through Pearson Higher Learning.

Blended activities: on-line chapter quizzes, articles, videos and interactive map assignments

One section of SOC 101 required to also participate in discussion boards (experimental group)

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SOC 101 students who participate in on-line discussion boards will demonstrate a

deeper comprehension of the concept “sociological imagination” than students

who do not participate in discussion boards.

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The sociological imagination is the concept of being able to “think ourselves away” from the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to look at them anew. Mills defined sociological imagination as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.” It is the ability to see things socially and how they interact and influence each other. To have a sociological imagination, a person must be able to pull away from the situation and think from an alternative point of view (Crossman, 2011).

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Analyze issues/events using one’s own “sociological imagination.”

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The assessment of the SLO was through the use an exam, administered at the end of the semester.

Exam grades of students in experimental group (those required to participate in discussion boards) were compared to those in the control groups (three classes not required to participate in discussion boards).

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Student Score 0 - 2 points

Student Score 3 - 6 points

Student Score 7 - 9 points

Student Score 10 points

SOC 101 01 3 5 26 17

SOC 101 04 2 9 68 24

SOC 101 07 0 17 8 26

SOC 101 06 *Experimental group

7 0 15 26

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The average grade between groups of students differed significantly. The average score of the experimental groups was 8.29 (of possible 10 points) while the average of the non experimental group was 4.95 (with a standard deviation of 3.87).

However, class performance varied as well. In terms of final grades, only 29% students in the experimental group earned A for the course. In the other courses, the number of students earning As were 45%, 41% and 51% (sections 01, 04 and 07 respectively). The only F grades were given to students enrolled in SOC 101 06.

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This project was not able to definitely conclude that student performance was enhanced through the use of technology. Further analysis of the data will be necessary. There may be other independent variables to explain the difference in test scores between the experimental and control groups.

While the test scores were higher for the experimental group, it should be noted many students did not consistently participate in discussion boards. Of the total group, 19% (9 students) did not participate at all in discussion boards

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