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Overcoming Academic Cynicism: Some Suggestions for a Joyful Teaching ExperienceAuthor(s): David M. NewmanSource: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jan., 1991), pp. 48-53Published by: American Sociological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1317573

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OVERCOMING ACADEMIC CYNICISM: SOME SUGGESTIONSFOR A JOYFUL TEACHING EXPERIENCE*

DAVIDM. NEWMANDePauw UniversityMany explanationshave been offeredfor the sorrystate of undergraduateeducation.Onethat has been overlooked is the attitude toward students and the philosophy of educationbroughtto the classroom by the instructor.Cynicism, indifference,and low expectationspervade the undergraduate eaching experience.An alternativephilosophythatfocuses onpositive expectations and mutualrespect is offeredhere.I recommend echniquesthat aredesigned to makesociology courses enjoyable, noncompetitive,nonstratified,and relevantto the lives of students.

Recently Rau and Baker (1989) discussedquitepersuasivelyhow the goals of largere-search institutions underminequality under-graduate ducation.Theirs s the latest llustra-tion of a growingprofessionalconcernwith thestate of thecontemporary ollege learningen-vironment e.g., Sykes 1988).Explanationsortheproblemsof undergraduateducationcen-teraround uch issuesasuniversity-level iscalconcerns,whichproducesuchimpediments oteachingas largeclass sizes andbudgetaryon-straintsBassis 1986); acultymembers' natten-tion oteaching ndtheprivatizationf theclass-room(Association f AmericanColleges1985);and,of course,an academicmission thatover-emphasizes esearch o the detriment f qualityteaching Brooks1987;Clark1986;GoldsmidandWilson1980).Solutions ikewisehave beennumerous,angingromcallsforsweeping nsti-tutionalhanges e.g.,RauandBaker1989;Bas-sis 1986)to tangibleclassroom-levelmodifica-tions (e.g., Billson 1986; Browne and Litwin1987;Friedrichs1987; Goldsmid and Wilson1980;Pestello 1987).FACULTYATTITUDESTOWARDSTUDENTS

Although useful and important, these ap-proachesoverlooka more troublesomebut lessobvious aspect of the problem.I refer to thesolidification f aratherdisdainfulprofessionalattitude owardstudents nd,by implication,o-ward heedllcationalrocess tself.It hasbecomeall too common or nstructorsoapproacheach-ingwith hebeliefthat tudents enerally redefi-

* The author is grateful to Jodi O'Brien, SusanPitchford, amesMannon,and threeanonymous eviewersfor theircommentson earlierversions of this paper.

cient in overall preparation, re increasinglymoreself-concered andvocationallyoriented(Bassis 1986), and lack the skills to evaluatesociologicalconceptscritically Fredericks ndMiller1985;Sullivan1982).These beliefs havebecome a drivingforcebehindmuchof collegeinstruction.ncombina-tion with decliningadministrativeupport orteaching,moreandmorefacultymembers areexperiencinga sense of helpless resignation,indifference, and alienation (Bassis 1986).Otherscome to loathe theirtime in the class-roomandresent ts intrusion n more mportantcareer oncerns.This situationhas led some toembrace the rathersinister notion thatif theirstudentsaren'tmiserable, heyaren't earning:"No pain, no gain."l Too often the perceivedanxiety evel of studentsbecomesa measureofteachingeffectiveness. The instructorbeamswith pride when he or she hears how muchstudents dread the examinationsand feels asenseof professional ulfillmentwhen thisrep-utationbecomes partof the common knowl-edge thatmakesupthe studentculture.As a consequence,thejoy of teachingandlearninghas disappeared or many studentsandinstructors. amarguing,quitesimply,for

1 Certainly a meaningful learning experience in-volves some pain. A degree of discomfort must be in-volved in discovering troublingfacts about one's worldand one's life. One of the uniqueblessings of sociology(or curses,dependingon one's perspective)is the abilityto help "comfortable" tudentsconfrontthe realities of asociety characterizedby injustice, inequity,andideolog-ical half-truths. I am suggesting here that this can beaccomplishedwithoutarbitrarilymposingon the studentan autocraticpedagogical method that he or she soongrows to dread. Hence "pain" here refers to theinstructor's overall approachrather than to the rockycourse of self-discovery experiencedby the student.

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OVERCOMINGCADEMICYNICISM 49a change in pedagogical philosophy: a newattitudebuilt on mutualrespect and positiveexpectationsas well as on a concertedefforttomaketheclassroom pleasurableandhallengingexperience.suggest hat hesolution o theprob-lems of undergraduateducation lies as muchinaddressing he instructor'sperceptualworldas in changingthe structureof academe. Ourbeliefs, expectations, and attitudes motivatemuch of our social behavior (Lindesmith,Strauss, and Denzin 1975). Surely our ap-proach o theclassroom s noexception.Unlesswe speak to these factors,calls for structuralchanges in the edncation industry (e.g., RauandBaker1989) will fall on deaf ears.

Ipresent hefollowingsimple principles norder to help make teaching and learningagratifyingexperience.None of these arenew.Severalhave been mentionedby others n dis-cussing particulareachingtechniques.To myknowledge,however,theseprincipleshaveyetto be presented explicitly as elements of asingle overallphilosophyof education.

PHILOSOPHYOF EDUCATIONLEARNING OESNOTHAVE OBE ADREADFULEXPERIENCEMuchas we hateto admit t, instructors re,tovaryingdegrees,parteducatorandpartenter-tainer. If presented in a vapid manner, thegreatestnsight n theworldwillbe lost ina seaof yawns and lifeless stares.Conversely,allflash and no substancemay earn an instructorhighmarkson courseevaluationsbutwill notcreate a substantiallearning experience forstudents.Thus one of the majortaskswe faceis to makethe materialexciting and informa-tivewhilenotallowingit tobe overpoweredby"bellsandwhistles."As countlessothersbeforemehaveargued,all aspectsof acourse,witha little thoughtandpreparation, an be made thought-provokingwithout being tedious and challenging andwithout being painful. Billson (1986) offersseveralpractical echniques ormakingteach-ingmore nteractiveandthereby mproving heclassroomexperience. Friedrichs(1987) dis-cusses ways in which instructorscan maketheirclasses more personalby using experi-ences from theirown lives to illustratepartic-ularconcepts.Browneand Litwin(1987) pro-

vide a seriesof methodsdesignedto facilitatecriticalthinking n theclassroom.One techniquethat I have found particu-larly helpful is the use of small-groupdiscus-sionsanddemonstrations. heseeasilycanaddspice to a course while also relieving the in-structor f theburdenof dailymonologues.Inview of thebreadthof material hatsociologytouches, it is easy to find topics thatstudentswantto discussor thattap contemporary on-troversy.Forexample,studentsn smallgroupscan beaskedtoreach onsensus n some mport-antor controversialarea such as factorsthatpredictmarital uccess(Watcke1982),theper-ceived seriousness of certain deviant acts(Lovely 1985), the subjectiveand biased na-ture of social control (Huff 1985; Klemke1985), or how farindividualsarewilling to goin theirzeal to restore aw and order(Rogers1986). I have found theseexercisesto be mostsuccessful when studentsfirst work on a taskalone andthenmeet in smallgroups o discusstheir deas andattempt o achievesomeagree-ment within the group.This process enablesstudents to give some thoughtto their argu-mentsbeforecomingtogether o discuss themwith others. After 20 minutes or so, groupsreport heirresults to therest of theclass; thisstepleads to furtherdiscussion.Another rea hatcanbe made ess fearsomeandmoreenjoyables examinations,he baneofstudentand instructor like. I have foundthatmuch of students' roublewith examinations,particularlyssayexaminations, rises romex-ternally mposedtime constraints.To alleviatetheproblem andstillobtaina reliablemeasureof theirperformance) providestudentswithaset of essay questionsone week before the ex-aminationdate.I encourage hemto studywithothersand/orto consult with me duringtheirpreparation.On examinationday I choose asubsetof these questions,quotedverbatim, oconstitute hetestThis approachhasseveralimportant ene-fits. First, it reduces the pressure to createanswersunderthe clock. The cognitive workthatmust be done upon initialexposure to aquestionshouldhavetakenplace already.Sec-ond, it maintains heexpectation hat studentsbecomeconversantwith all facetsof themate-rial.Unlesstheyhave fail-safepsychic powers,they do not know which questions will bechosen; hence they must be well-prepared nall areas.Third,students'uncontrolledaccessto previousexaminations e.g., fromfraternity

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50 TEACHINGOCIOLOGYor sororitytest files) becomes a nonissue be-cause differentsubsets of questionscan andshouldbe choseneach term.Finally,and mostimportant, tudentsenjoy this approach.Notonly do they appreciatethat the element ofsurprisehas been removed from the process;theyalsoarewillingtoacceptsole responsibil-ity for theirperformance.Insum,partof ourtaskas instructorshouldbe to providestudentswith an enjoyableandcomfortable tmospheren whichto learn.Thiscan be accomplishedwithoutsacrificingaca-demicrigor.Studentswho look forward o com-ing to class and who know what to expectwillbeina frameof mindconducive olearning.Thefollowing principles laborate n thisideal.LEARNINGDOES NOT HAVETO BECOMPETITIVE

Abyproduct f livingin this individualistic rais a belief that classroom performance s azero-sumgame.That s, if a certainnumberofpeople are to succeed a certain number bynecessity must fail. The unfortunateconse-quence s thatstudentsareencouraged o com-peteagainstone anotherrather hantocooper-atewith one another.Some criticsmightarguethatthis situationsimply prepares tudentsforthe "realworld,"wherecompetitions essentialforsurvival.nthecontextof education, owever,extremecompetitivepressuresmay increase helikelihoodof destructiveaction(e.g., hoardinglimited commonresourcessuch as reserveli-braryreadings).Instructorsrenot immune o thebeliefthata certainnumberof studentswill do well anda certain number will do poorly (Pestello1987), hence the prevalent use of the bell-shapedcurve. The"curve"arbitrarilymposesaparticular ypeof distributionwhenwe do notand cannotknow whether such a distributionexists.Moreover, t leads to a certaindegreeofcaprice in gradingpractices.The notion thatthemajority f theclasswill receive Bs andCs,for instance,createsexcessively artificialcut-off pointsandgradeallocations.

Inmycourses,students'gradesdependen-tirelyon their own masteryof the material.Ifeveryone gains a thoroughunderstanding fthe material,everyone will receive a goodgrade.The motivationto competewith othersfor scarcehighgrades s removed.Therefore tis in the students' best interest to help one

anotherwhen necessary, pointstressedheav-ily throughouthe term.Tofacilitate heatmosphere f cooperationI use an anonymouspeercritiqueapproach owriting assignments.The procedure usuallyworks ike this:A few weeks into thesemester,students ubmitaone-pagedescriptionof theirpapertopic.Theyarefree to choose any topicif it is relevant ocourse material. ask them topose a specific questionthatthey will answersystematicallyn theirpapers.A roughdraftofthe paperis due abouttwo-thirdsof the waythrough hecourse.At thatpointthestudentshand n twocop-ies of theirdraft:one goes to me and theother,whichdoes notincludetheauthor'sname,goesto another student in the class for critique.Before the exchange of papersI hand out athree-pageevaluationguide thatstudents useto assess thepaper heyarereading.It consistsof a series of Likert-typetemspertainingotheclarity of expression and the content of thepaperas well as to overall impressions(e.g.,did theylike it? Did theylearnanythingnew?Did it seem as if the authorknew whathe orshe was writing about?). Students also areaskedtoTrovide dditional ommentsandsug-gestions. A week or so afterturning n theirdrafts,they receive two sources of feedbackabouttheirwriting:one froma fellow studentandone fromme.Thentheyareencouraged orrequired, f theclass is smallenough)to meetwith me to discuss the commentsandsugges-tionsthattheyreceived on theirpapers.Althoughatfirst studentsdo not thinktheywill like thisprocedure-because itappears othem that they are writing two term papersinsteadof one-they soon realizethat t helpstheir writing immensely.Because others, in-cluding their peers, are readingand judgingtheirworkbeforeit is to be graded,they startto take morepridein theirwriting.As a sidebenefittheyderive a greatdeal of insightfromtheirroleas evaluator. tudentsarely eceive heopportunityo see whatclassmatesarewritingaboutor,more mportant, ow theywrite.This

2A copyof thepeerevaluation ormis available romthe author. f the nstructoris oncernedabout he students'ability to critiquea fellow student'spaper adequately, twould be wise to devote some class time to lessons inevaluatingpapers. havefoundthat tudents ometimesarereluctantojudge theirpeers' academicperformance, o amini-workshop n whatto look for in the contentandstyleof someone else's writing and a lesson on the value ofhonest constructive riticismareoftenhelpful.

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OVERCOMINGCADEMIC YMCISM 51exercise allows them to scrutinize a class-mate'swriting.Furthermore,hey come to re-alizethatwriting s aprocess, which cannotbedone well in a vacuum(i.e., without feedbackfromothers),andthat constructivecriticism snota sign of failure.Althoughthis method worksquite well, Imustpointout somepotentialdifficulties. Oneobviousproblemis the differencein students'critical abilities. Some students will be as-signeda criticwho offersin-depthanalysisandvaluable suggestions. Others, however, willhave acriticwhogives thepaperonlyacursoryreading.Unfortunatelyhisproblems out of theinstructor's ontrolandis subject o thewhimsof randomassignment.I dealwith it as well asI can by stressing the importanceof honestcriticismand,asmentioned arlier, y providinginstructionon how to evaluatepapers.A second problem is that this procedurefavorsstudentswho have access to computersor wordprocessors. They can make revisionsandadjustments asily, whereas studentswhohave no such access must rewrite their draftsfor final submission.For this reason, I allowstudents o handwrite irst drafts f theywish.

Finally,there is a potential ogistical prob-lem. Whenthefirstdraftsare submitted gatherupallthepapers, heckthenamesof thestudentswho turned hemin, and redistributehem ran-domlyforcritique.Onlystudentswho hand nafirst draft receive anotherstudent'spaper toevaluate.This simple procedurecan becomeproblematicf a studenthands na draftafter heexchange as aken lace.Thereforet isessen-tialtostress hetimelycompletionof theassign-mentand, f necessary,oimposestrictpenaltieson writersof latepapers.LEARNINGDOES NOT HAVETO BE STRAIFIEED

Because we have received far more trainingthanourstudents,t is temptingo claim amonopoly on wisdom. We overlook the factthat our students have hands-on experiencewith many of the topics covered in class and3 I have found this method to be equally effective in

bothupper-and lower-division classes (although he olderstudentsare somewhatmore sophisticated n their criticalabilities).I also have tried o use thisprocedure"non-anon-ymously."Unfortunately, owever,studentsaremuch lesswilling to offer criticismwhen their identities are known.HenceI have found the anonymousprocedure o be moreeffective, although still give students he optionof meet-ing withtheir criticsif bothpartiesareagreeable.

unknowingly may possess a fair amount ofsociological insight. For instance, they allcome from families of somesort; heyhaveallbeen through a formal educational system;they all interact with others and care whatothers hink.Thereforeheyhavemuchtoofferand we have much to learn from them. Mystudents n a marriageandfamilycourseoncespentan entire class periodteachingme aboutcontemporary atingpatternsandattitudesoncollege campuses.Successful teachers are those who probeinto the untestedand unknownby challengingnot only the students but themselves. Suchprobing is possible, I believe, only if theteacher s willingto abandon herole of "tellerof truth,"admit deficits in knowledge, andapproachothers (including students) to fillthese deficits.One of the most important nd most diffi-cult tasks,then,is to breakdown or at least toweaken the authoritystructureof the class-roomwithout osing the students'respectandwithoutlosing respect for them.Early in thetermI spenda greatdeal of timebridgingthegap between teacher and students.From thefirst day of class I admit that I am not theultimateexperton theparticular ubjectwe arestudying:although he studentsmightnotreal-ize it, they have been "amateur ociologists"formanyyears.I tell them thatI wantto learnas muchfrom themas (I hope) theywill learnfrom me. I also stress that earning s an inter-activeprocess,a give andtake,a dialogue,nota monologue.The goal of this classroomsocialization sthedevelopmentf rapportTothisend,person-alizingthe classroomby bringing n one's ownlife experiences can be extremely helpful(Friedrichs 987).Itshowsthestudentshat heyare trustedwithintimatepiecesof information.Furthermore,t enablesheinstructoro breakdown the artificial arrier etweenpersonalandprofessionallife-to become, if you will, a"real" erson.A fewweeks into thetermwe aresharingifeexperiencesnd,more mportant,n-alyzing hemfor theirsociologicalrelevance.Another technique for creating a non-stratifiedearningnvironments theuse of mid-termcourseevaluations,whichgive studentsasense of sharedresponsibilityor the class. It iscommonpracticeat most institutions o handout evaluation orms to studentson or nearthelast day of class. Results usually are not re-ceived until well into the next semester. By

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52 TEACHINGSOCIOLOGYthen, however, it is too late to make adjust-ments in the evaluated course and too late toimplementchangesforthe following term.More important,this heavy reliance onend-of-term appraisals devalues feedbackfrom students, who come to feel that theiropinionsand commentsabouttheclass arenottakenseriously.Mid-term valuationsgive stu-dents the opportunity o offer suggestionsforimproving he courseduringthe term,when itmattersmost. This practicereinforcesthe be-lief that the course belongs to all involved,students as well as instructor.After I collecttheirevaluations,we usually spendsome classtimeon theircomments andsuggestions.

Viewingstudentsas peers(albeit ess well-informedpeers)is loathsometo manyinstruc-tors, who fancy themselves erudite peda-gogues andspendan inordinate mountof timeon aGoffmanesqueresentationf theacademicmaster.This should come as no surprise.Afterall, we have too much invested in a profes-sional identityto allow ourselves to becomechums with our students;certainlyI am notadvocating t. InsteadI am suggestingthat thefacade of academicelitism can and often doesinterferewith learningand that a nonstratifiedapproachmaybe helpful.LEARNINGOESNOTHAVETOBEIRRELEVANTSociology, quite simply, s aboutus.One of ourgoalsas teachersshouldbe toprovidestudentswith the tools to analyze their lives and thesocial worldtheyinhabit.Frequently, owever,instructorsmiss the opportunityto help stu-dents see themselvesin what is being studied;thereby heylose an invaluablechance tomakethe classroom as well as the course materialpersonallyrelevantandapplicable.Making sociology personallyrelevant tostudentscreatesa potentialproblem.The dis-cipline is inherently threatening in manyways. The traditionof benign disruptionhasa long history (Goldsmidand Wilson 1980),and it is true that "a gain in knowledge is aloss of innocence."Tryingto induce studentsto see themselves in what they are studyingor to face "inconvenientfacts"(Weber1958)may lead them to question strongly held as-sumptionsabout how the world works. Thisprocess can be uncomfortableand can pro-voke frustration.I assure students,however,thatmy task is not to preachor to makethemchange the way they think, but simply to

make themaware of how they came to thinkin thatway and to acknowledgethe existenceof alternatives.Moreover,the creation of a "low threat"

environmentBillson 1986)can makestudentscomfortableenough to share this process ofself-examinationwith therestof the class. Toaid them in theirintrospections,I encouragethem to write papers in which they analyzepersonalexperiences using sociological theo-ries andconceptslearned n class (e.g., experi-ences withprejudiceordiscrimination,hedy-namics of their intimacies,instancesof self-presentation).Sociology also concerns the world aroundus.Aglanceatany newspaper nanygivendaywill reveal many stories of sociological im-portance.Studentscan be encouraged o learnthatsociology canhelpthem to understandheimportantssuesof theirworld.Ialwaysdevotethefirstfive to ten minutesof class (whichtendto be lost anywaybecauseof late-arrivingtu-dents and paper shuffling) to a currentnewsstorythatrelateseitherto specifictopics beingdiscussedin class or to sociology in general.By the end of every semesterI have taught,several studentshavereported hattheylearn-ed moreaboutthe world around hemduringthose 10-minuteperiods than they had everimaginedpossibleina sociologycourse.Someeven admit to tearingarticlesout of papersthemselves(to the chagrinof familyor room-mates,I imagine)andoccasionallybringthemto me to share with the class.

CONCLUSIONI presentthese four principlesin an effort tohelp instructorsmake their courses more en-joyableand more successful.I haveno empir-ical dataon theeffectivenessof implementingthisphilosophy.Myjudgmentsof its valuearebased primarilyon students'comments, re-sponses,andevaluations,butalso on my ownsenseof efficacyandthepleasure derivefromteachingthe courses.

To some readers these suggestionsmightappear to be excessively pollyanaish-or,worseyet, to be anexerciseinnaivesociology.Some might say that arguingfor changes ininstructors' ttitudesandperceptionss simple-minded nview of theinstitutional ature f theproblem. Certainly subjective intentionsand

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OVERCOMINGCADEMIC YNICISM 53values are influenced strongly by structuralarrangementsWeber 1958). The externallyimposedpressuresnourowncareersrequentlyleave us littletime orenergyforimprovingourteaching Bassis 1986).Nevertheless,Ibelievethat we must takesome responsibility or im-provingthe situation.Accordinglythis paperhas been less anargument or a majorrestruc-turingof sociology coursesthan an appealfora changein subjectivefocus. My specific sug-gestionsare less importanthanan assessmentof one's ownphilosophyof educationandgen-eral attitude toward students.I presentthesetechniques because they have helped meachieve thegoals I set formyself. Othersmayfind different methods more suited to theirparticulartyle of teaching.In light of the tendency for establishedbeliefs and schematato persevere(Fiske andTaylor1984;McGuire1985), a changein theperceptual approachto teaching will not beeasy. In the absence of external incentives,manywill choose the low-riskoptionof teach-ing as theyhave always taught.If the prophe-cies of doom are accurate,however,we mustgo beyond paying lip service to improving hequalityof undergraduateducation;we mustattend to the things that we personally cancontrolandchange.

4I wishtoacknowledgehe comments f ananonymousreviewer or stressing heimportanceof thisissue. Unfor-tunately,however,I amundermy own set of constraintsnaddressingthe problemmore fully. Those interested inpursuing he moregeneral opicof institutionalvaluesareencouraged o consult Weber(1975).REFERENCES

Associationof AmericanColleges. 1985. Integrity n theCollegeCurriculwn:AReport o theAcademicCommu-nity.Washington, C:Association fAmericanColleges.Bames, RC., and E.W. Mills, eds. 1985. TechniquesorTeaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC:AmericanSociologicalAssociation.Bassis,M. 1986."TheQualityof Undergraduateducation:Towardan Agendafor Inquiryand Action."TeachingSociology14:1-11.Billson, J.M. 1986. "The College Classroomas a SmallGroup:Some Implicationsor TeachingandLeaming."Teaching ociology14:143-51.Brooks,M. 1987."Buildinghe Commitmento Undergrad-uateEducation:A Structural esponse."TeachingSoci-ology 15:376-83.Browne,M.N., andJ.L.Litwin. 1987."CriticalThinkingnthe Sociology Classroom:FacilitatingMovementfromVague Objective to Explicit Achievement."TeachingSociology15:384-91.

Caplow,T., and RJ. McGee. 1958.The AcademicMarket-place.New York:BasicBooks.Clark,SM 1986. "The AcademicProfessionand Career:PerspectivesndProblems."eaching ociology14:24-34.

Fiske,S.T.,andS.E.Taylor. 984.SocialCognition.Reading,MA:Addison-Wesley.Fredericks,M., andS.L Miller.1985."LogicandSociologi-calArguments." eachingSociology12:149-75.Friedrichs,D.O. 1987. "BringingOurselvesBack In: TheReflexiveDimension n TeachingHumanist ociology."Teaching ociology15: 1-6.Goldsmid,C.A.,andE.K Wilson.1980.Passing OnSociol-ogy.Belmont,CA: Wadsworth.Huff,C.R 1985."Deviance,MoralIndignation nd PublicPolicy."Pp. 16-17 n TechniquesforTeaching ociolog-ical Concepts,editedby R.C. Bares and E.W. Mills.Washington, C:American ociologicalAssociation.Klemke,LW. 1985."SocialControl ndExtra-Legal actorsin Police DecisionMaking." p.79-81 inTechniquesforTeachingSociologicalConcepts, ditedby R.C. BaresandE.W.Mills.Washington, C:American ociologicalAssociation.Lindesmith,AR., A.L Strauss,and N.K. Denzin. 1975.SocialPsychology.Hinsdale, L:Dryden.Lovely,R.F.1985."Devianceand heSeriousness f Crimi-nal Behavior."Pp. 14-15 in Techniquesor TeachingSociologicalConcepts, ditedby R.C. Bares and E.W.Mills.Washington, C:American ociologicalAssocia-tion.McGuire,WJ. 1985."Attitudes nd AttitudeChange."Pp.233-346 in The Handbook f SocialPsychology,editedby G. Lindzeyand E. Aronson.New York:RandomHouse.Pestello, F.P.1987. "The Social Construction f Grades."

Teaching ociology15:414-17.Rau,W, andPJ. Baker. 989."TheOrganized ontradictionsof Academe:Barriers acing he Next AcademicRevolu-tion."Teaching ociology17:161-75.Rogers,J.W.1986."TeachingCriminology." eaching oci-ology 14:257-62.Sullivan,T. 1982."Introductoryociology ThroughLitera-ture."Teaching ociology10:109-16.Sykes,CJ. 1988.ProjScam:Professorsand the DemiseofHigherEducation.Washington,DC:Regnery.Watcke,R. 1982."Group ndIndividualDecisionMaking."Pp.45-46 in TechniquesforTeachingSociologicalCon-cepts,editedbyR.C.BamesandE.W.Mills.Washington,DC: American ociologicalAssociation.Weber,M. 1958. From Max Weber:Essays in Sociology,editedby H.H. GerthandC.W.Mills.New York:OxfordUniversityPress.. 1975.TheTheoryofSocialandEconomicOrgani-zation,editedbyT. Parsons.New York:Macmillan.

David M. Newman is an AssistantProfessorof Sociol-ogy andAnthropology tDePauwUniversity.Histeachinginterests include marriageand family, deviance, socialpsychologyand mental llness. His research nterestscen-ter on the effects of genderandpoweron perceptionsandself presentationaltrategieswithin intimaterelationships.Addresscorrespondencendrequests or reprintso DavidM. Newman, Departmentof Sociology/Anthropology,DePauw University, Greencastle,IN 46135, BITNET:DNEWMAN@DEPAUW.

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