Sociological and Instructional Design Readings: Two Appropriate Pathways to Learning about Human Behavior

The anthology Sociological and Instructional Design Readings provides students and instructors with carefully selected readings that introduce them to sociological and instructional design-based ways of thinking. The articles demonstrate how behavior is influenced, at the individual and group level, and how these behaviors impact learning, society, and globalized behavior.

The reader is organized topically into ten distinctive sections and features articles by both sociologists and instructional designers that explain, expand upon, and strengthen various sociological theories, concepts, and perspectives. Opening sections introduce sociology as an area of study, familiarize students with research methods used within the discipline, and offer an overview of fundamental social theories. Latter sections explore designing learning materials through the lens of instructional design, where learning is defined by end goals and the objectives of one's instruction, separate from teaching the subject matter in advance of understanding the needs of the learner.

Students read thought-provoking pieces about social stratification, social movements and gender, race, social media, education, and politics. The process of how to analyze learning needs and goals, as well as the development of a delivery system to meet those needs using instructional design and technology, is covered. Face-to-face, blended, and virtual approaches are discussed as ways to be more efficient, effective, and appealing to learners.

Sociological and Instructional Design Readings is an ideal supplementary resource for foundational courses in sociology and education.

Ron Shamwell is a professor in the Department of Social Science at the Community College of Philadelphia. Ron holds MSW and M.Ed. degrees in social administration and instructional design from Temple University and Capella University. He's certified in DE using BB, E-Commerce, Bronze and Gold-Canvas LSM, and other areas of expertise, including learning design architecture, technology, learning devices, social media use in education, sociology, and development.