#GetEngaged: Assignment for First Year Students

This resource was originally published in TRAILS, which is an online database of peer-reviewed teaching resources supported by the American Sociological Association.

We assign #GetEngaged in Introductory Sociology to increase student engagement with campus and to help achieve institutional goals related to student retention. We select campus and community events for students to attend or participate in to get them more connected to their campus, community, or both. Students prepare an artifact that includes photographic evidence of their participation/attendance and write a narrative (either a 25-50 word caption or a longer essay) connecting what they are learning in our courses with the event. This assignment includes short and long assignment options reflecting the multiple ways in which the assignment could be adapted to meet your students’ needs.