Abstract:
Collaborative teaching techniques are designed to alter the relationship between the professor and the students in order to share the process of learning class materials. In a collaborative classroom, students are encouraged to participate in the design and implementation of class materials. This paper presents an exercise in which the students are required to develop the assessment criteria for a class in introductory sociology. In the first class session, students are given a syllabus including only topical headings and are charged with constructing the list of graded assignments. It is noted that, by and large, students respond positively to being included in the design of the class syllabus, and some of the logistical concerns and pedagogical constraints of implementing this exercise are described.