Workshops to enhance Quantitative Instruction on American Society (QIAS) will bring together 40 social scientists teaching at the undergraduate level. The workshops will involve two sequential sessions in each of two years. During the initial five-day June workshop participants will use microcomputers to work actively with data exploration software and large scale data bases doing exercises which foster scientific thinking, analytic skills and an inquiry- based approach to social science teaching and learning. Participants use their own data along with data from the General Social Survey and the National Election Study to develop material for their own courses. Following this workshop faculty participants will return to their home campuses and experiment with altering curriculum to include quantitative instruction. The following January they will reassemble at a three-day follow-up workshop and demonstrate their materials for their workshop colleagues. Throughout the program networking will be encouraged and instructional applications shared through a newsletter.
