On Bridging the Theory-Research Gap for Sociology Students: NSF-ILI-IP Support for the Role of a Micro-Computer Laboratory in Cedar Crest College's Sociology Curriculum

对于就读于雪松冠学院的介绍文化和社会，研究方法和设计，并评估人类服务组织课程的本科生，分析人类社会组织和行为过程之间的相互关系需要理论和应用（即，“真实的世界”）维度。 虽然传统的教学技术（例如，教科书和课堂讨论）探索这一重要联系，没有“动手”的经验，学生们想知道社会学（和所有社会科学）提供的概括是如何发展的。 这种怀疑影响了他们学习经验的基础，可能会妨碍他们将课程融入个人生活，并最终妨碍他们的职业生活。 为了解决这一关键需要的联系和实践经验，三个计算机辅助教学（CAI）程序的可靠性和课堂使用的历史，数据快乐！ （卡特，1995年），调查研究：计算机辅助介绍（班布里奇，1989年）和SPSS/PC+ Studentware（诺鲁西斯，1991年），将被纳入介绍文化和社会，研究方法和设计，并评估人类服务组织的微型计算机教室实验室，通过NSF的ILI-IP奖和雪松冠学院提供的资金的基础上。 每个CAI程序在课程实验室中扮演的角色是三重的。 首先，透过检视社会学研究中的重要理论概念，加强学生对这些概念的理解，以及它们在社会学中的重要性。 第二，提供初级或高级数据分析及其与建立因果关系问题的联系的练习，以促进对社会学框架的工作知识和批评。 最后，挑战学生继续使用真实的数据，探索，测试和应用社会学的见解，以社会条件和环境在他们的社区。

For undergraduate students enrolled in Cedar Crest College's Introduction to Culture and Society, Research Methods and Design, and Evaluating Human Service Organizations courses, analyzing the interrelationship between human social organization and behavioral processes takes on both theoretical and applied (i.e., "real world") dimensions. Though traditional pedagogical techniques (e.g., textbooks and class discussion) explore this important connection, without "hands-on" experience, students are left to wonder how generalizations offered by sociology (and all social sciences) are developed. Such suspicion affects the very foundation of their learning experiences and may prevent the integration of course lessons in their personal and, ultimately, professional lives. To address this critical need for linkage and hands-on experience, three computer-assisted instructional (CAI) programs with a history of reliability and classroom use, Data Happy! (Carter, 1995), Survey Research: A Computer-Assisted Introduction (Bainbridge, 1989) and SPSS/PC+ Studentware (Norusis, 1991), will be integrated within Introduction to Culture and Society, Research Methods and Design, and Evaluating Human Service organizations micro-computer classroom labs, based on funds made available through NSF's ILI-IP Award and Cedar Crest College. The role that each CAI program plays in course labs is threefold. First, to enhance the students' understanding of key theoretical concepts and their importance in sociology by examining how these concepts have been used in sociological research. Second, to provide exercises on elementary or advanced data analysis and its connection to the problem of establishing causality in order to facilitate a working knowledge and critique of sociological frameworks. Finally, to challenge students to continue to use real data and explore, test, and apply the insights of sociology to social conditions and circumstances in their communities.