Bachelor of Arts [B.A] [Sociology] From Skidmore College

The collaborative learning exploration in sociology requires that students spend three hours each week in addition to class time in small group activities, working collectively or independently to contribute to group projects. This time will be devoted to group meetings, independent work, and meetings with the instructor to advance group projects. Products of this work will be assessed by the instructor via group presentations or project papers written collaboratively, in aggregation (each student writes a section of the paper), or independently (each student writes an independent paper based on the group project). This module accommodates a wide array of cooperative group structures varying by length, membership, and size, as well as varying formats for assessment including individual and group grades. One example of a collaborative project is the assignment of a different research article to each group, with each group developing and offering a presentation to the class based on its article. Another example is a semester-long group assignment in which rotating team leaders are responsible for delivering discrete project reports (oral and/or written) based on various concrete tasks (e.g., Web-based research, off-campus interviews, data analysis, and field trips).