Resources for Teachers

Videos on Teaching

ICPSR hosts its instructional videos on YouTube:

In addition, ICPSR has a number of video presentations that address a variety of other topics on our YouTube Channel.

External Resources for Teaching Undergraduates

  • Active Learning in Political Science
    Provides resources and ideas for using active learning techniques in the political science classroom and to promote general discussion about innovative teaching methods.
  • Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)
    Provides data on American and international religion, as well as features for educators, journalists, religious congregations, and researchers. Teaching materials include learning modules to interactively explore religion topics, syllabi, assignments, and links for teaching religion in multiple disciplines.
  • Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE)
    A national organization whose mission is to support and advance undergraduate statistics education in four target areas: resources, professional development, outreach, and research. Resources for instructors include lesson modules, computer and hands-on activities, homework projects, classroom pedagogy, data sets, humorous items related to statistics (cartoons, jokes, puzzles, quotes,...), and multimedia.
  • Gapminder
    Fosters a "fact-based world-view" by offering data on more than 400 indicators of global historical development that can be explored through interactive graphs. The site also provides sample lectures and activities (quizzes, card games) using Gapminder World to foster interest in statistics.
  • MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching)
    Provides a wide range of peer reviewed online teaching and learning materials in disciplines ranging from the arts to the social sciences.
  • National Numeracy Network
    Although made up largely of individuals in math and science fields, the National Numeracy Network is still a good starting place for materials about quantitative literacy (QL; also called numeracy, quantitative reasoning, and statistical literacy). This site includes a list of books/articles on QL, teaching resources, and more.
  • New Educational Materials on Trends in Inequality
    This downloadable slideshow, presented by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, offers a broad set of facts and figures on inequality of all types. The educational materials include fourteen modules, each examining a different face of inequality: debt, education, employment, family, gender, health, immigration, income, mobility, politics, poverty, race and ethnicity, violent crime, and wealth.
  • Office Hours
    Audio conversations with top social scientists about their research and the social world. The interviews cover a broad range of topics and contemporary social issues.
  • POV
    Showcases independent non-fiction films on contemporary social issues. Resources for instructors include lesson plans, discussion guides, and reading lists.
  • Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
    One of the world's leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion. The data held by the Roper Center range from the 1930s, when survey research was in its infancy, to the present. Most of the data are from the United States, but over 50 nations are represented. This site offers assignments and lesson plans about polling and attitude-related topics.
  • Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN)
    An organization that creates demographic media (such as user guides, web sites, and hands-on classroom computer materials) to make US census data accessible to policymakers, educators, the media, and informed citizens. Through products such as DataCounts! (an archive of census-based datasets and teaching modules designed to provide educators with resources to integrate data analysis exercises into their curricula) and CensusScope (which displays U.S. demographic trends through eye-catching maps, graphics, and exportable trend data), SSDAN provides online tools and resources to facilitate the exploration of demographic trends and further quantitative literacy.
  • Sociological Images
    Offers brief sociological discussions of compelling and timely imagery that spans the breadth of sociological inquiry. Instructional resources include image guides (organized in a way that follows standard syllabi for frequently-taught sociology courses or cover particular books, articles, or theorists) and sample assignments.
  • Statistics Rap
    If you're looking for an ice-breaker or "mood lifter" for a statistics course, this rap might fit the bill.
  • Teaching Integrity in Empirical Research (TIER)
    This protocol teaches undergraduate students professional standards of statistical research (good practices in data management and documentation) by taking them through all the steps needed to conduct data analysis and document their work carefully and rigorously.
  • TRAILS (Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology)
    A project of the American Sociological Association, TRAILS is an online, dynamic, modular (by topic and type of teaching tool) and searchable database that reflects a major innovation in the creation and dissemination of peer-reviewed teaching resources. Effective, vetted teaching techniques and materials include syllabi, assignments, and class activities.
  • The Sociological Cinema
    Provides video clips tagged with appropriate sociological themes to help faculty incorporate video into their classes.
  • The Teaching Professor. A trusted guide for tens of thousands of educators who are committed to creating a better learning environment.
  • US Census Bureau Data Visualization Gallery
    Offers visualizations of social data ranging from historical population data, to household and family dynamics, migration and geographic mobility, and economic indicators.