Socializing Students into
Your Discipline
Dr Shaun Longstreet
Teaching Learning & Technology Center
Friday, February 8, 2008 1

Agenda
Introductions & socialization as a pedagogical tool
Case Study: destabilizing and coaching - how to engage
a spectrum of points of view
Decode your discipline
Syllabus as a foundation for modeling
Friday, February 8, 2008 2

What does it mean to
socialize our students?
Write on your handout
&
Share with a partner
Friday, February 8, 2008 3

Let’s Discuss
Friday, February 8, 2008 4

Case Study:
Religious Studies
@ Texas A&M
Friday, February 8, 2008 5

Student Body
Predominantly Christian (Southern
Baptist, non-denominational
evangelical)
72% White, 11 % Latina/o, 3%
African-American, 4% Asian, 8%
International.
Students self-identify politically as
conser vative or very conser vative
Friday, February 8, 2008 6

Student Body
20% are Engineering majors, 20% are
Agriculture and Veterinary majors and
14% are Liberal Arts majors.
86% of the students come from TX,
75% come from Dallas and Houston
Friday, February 8, 2008 7

So what?
Friday, February 8, 2008 8

Religious Studies
Introduction to Religions and
Philosophies of South and East Asia
Introduction to Western Religious
Traditions
The Hebrew Scriptures
Friday, February 8, 2008 9

Decoding the Discipline
Clearly identify class space as academic
Learning outcome was that students
should be aware of the rhetoric of
Religious Studies
What distinguishes the discipline?
Friday, February 8, 2008 10

Socialization
Identified a broad range of approaches
to the subject matter
bet ween the devotional and the
academic or the ‘insider’ vs ‘outsider’
perspectives.
Then we identified different tactics
taken by the t wo poles of the spectrum.
Friday, February 8, 2008 11

Socializing Students
Students were encouraged to identify
themselves on the spectrum and
recognize that others can and would be
at different points.
We highlighted contexts for different
points on the spectrum.
Friday, February 8, 2008 12

Western Religions Hebrew Scriptures Asian Religions
5.00
4.60 4.56 4.62 4.71
4.52 4.55 4.56 4.52
4.30
3.75
2.50
1.25
0
2002-03 2004 2005 2006-07
Friday, February 8, 2008 13

and now....
Explaining Why
Friday, February 8, 2008 14

Every discipline has a
“rhetoric”
Each discipline aims to study a
particular data set
Every field has a particular approach to
data
It is important to highlight this to the
students
Friday, February 8, 2008 15

Importance of
explaining what we do
Students need to know relevance and
purpose
If students are better socialized,
classroom management is easier
discussions can be more meaningful
Friday, February 8, 2008 16

Another Activity
Friday, February 8, 2008 17

Identify a ‘polarity’ in a
subject that you teach
How might you ‘s ocialize’ your course by
identifying a framework? (content or
process)
Where can you introduce a spectrum
and/or point of instability?
How might you facilitate students’
acclimation to the discipline?
Friday, February 8, 2008 18

Framing what we do
& promoting civility in the classroom while we
are at it...
Friday, February 8, 2008 19

Syllabus as a
socialization tool
Clear, explicit syllabus is your front line
for socializing students
Course outcomes are defined
Expectations are identified
Begin the modeling process
Friday, February 8, 2008 20

Setting guidelines:
Classwork
What is appropriate? Why?
Context of classroom activities?
How is classwork going to model
discipline-specific activities
(e.g. professionalism, procedures,
interactions)
What about beyond the classroom?
Friday, February 8, 2008 21

Setting guidelines:
Discussions
What is appropriate? Why?
What is the purpose of the
discussion(s)?
Context of the discussion?
Friday, February 8, 2008 22

Setting Guidelines:
Discussion
Stress the third person
Raise awareness of pronouns (us, we,
you, them)
Friday, February 8, 2008 23

Setting Guidelines:
Homework
What is the purpose of homework?
How will it help the student both in the
course and beyond the course?
Provide a rubric for grading
Tie homework to professionalism
Friday, February 8, 2008 24

Another Activity
Friday, February 8, 2008 25

Syllabus & Behavior
Identify 3 behaviors that could/should be explained
in your next syllabus.
This can address classwork, discussions and/or
homework.
Friday, February 8, 2008 26

Questions?
Thank you!
Friday, February 8, 2008 27