Spring, 2010
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SOC 268 Bulletin Board |
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The Mid-Term Exam is scheduled for Thursday, March 18.
Check the Course Bb page under Course Information for the The Voice Board Study Session is also posted there.
The link for a recorded lecture on the Transition from H&G to
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Spring, 2010 Class Pictures:
SOC 268
8:00-9:15 TT,
Room 649 & Elluminate Spring, 2010
John Barnes
Office: 654
Phone: 863-2886
Home Phone: 862-1271
Cell Phone: 540-691-7763
This course is taught using Elluminate and Blackboard classroom management tools. Although students must be involved in classroom activities via computer during the meeting time each week, they do not have to be physically on the DSLCC campus. They can participate from any internet-connected computer. Students will also have the option to attend live class presentations if they prefer that to computer participation. While this class will meet as a group (in person or virtually) only in our morning sessions, students are expected to participate in an additional course activity via Elluminate recordings, pod casts, and Blackboard activities between morning meetings.
Hybrid courses use the world wide web, Blackboard course management system, video and audio pod casts, and Elluminate web conferencing software to provide lectures, group discussion, interactive links, email communication, testing, homework assignments, study sessions, virtual office hours, and discussion board as well as assignments and other course information. Class attendance (in person or virtually) is required because much of the course content is still provided in classroom activities and some of the Bb and computer activities occur in a monitored classroom setting.
To take this class you will need:
1.) a college email address to receive course communications and access Bb
(This detail will be taken care of the first day of class if you don't already
have one.);
2.) access to the internet (Not necessarily from your personal home
computer--you may use computers available at the college) so you can use Bb,
Elluminate, Podcasts, and web pages;
3.) the textbook;
4.) a set of headphones with microphone attached to participate in
course activities;
5.) Lockdown
browser installed on your computer in order to take tests.
To take advantage of the distance or eLearning components of this class you must
have reliable equipment and internet connection. You should have a plan B
in place in case of equipment failure. Often, you will have the option of
participating in class, using college equipment, in Room 649.
Non-proctored tests require that you use Lockdown browser. Mid-term and
Final Exams must be taken in a proctored location.
Course Description:
SOC 268--Social Problems (3cr) Applies sociological concepts and methods to analysis of current social problems. Includes delinquency and crime, mental illness, drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual behavior, population crisis, reace relations, family and community disorganization, poverty, automation, wars and disarmament.
Developmental Prerequisites: ENG 01 & 04 Developmental Corequisites: ENG 03 &05
Instructional Goals:
This course is designed to introduce you to the general principles of sociology. The viewpoint of the sociologist is perhaps the most useful single thing you can hope to gain from contact with a survey of the discipline.
The course will communicate something of the sociologist’s intellectual orientation toward behavior and defining the subject matter of sociology.
It will attempt
to develop the basic tools of sociological research and analysis. Most students take this
course as part of a sequence with
SOC 268—Social Problems and social institutions;
although the courses are designed so they stand alone also. Some major social institutions
will be analyzed systematically applying the tools of sociological research. Finally, a
systematic study of social change, social control, and social problems with be undertaken.
Ideally, you will be motivated to develop a framework of thought whereby you can more
effectively and critically judge contemporary social issues. You are also expected to
increase you ability for critical evaluation and effective
communication.
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGIES:
The course instructional procedures include reading, writing, discussion, lecture, audio-visual presentations, research, testing, homework, projects and individual conferences with me. To a great extent, classroom activities will be independent of the text and other readings. I will not attempt to "cover" or duplicate reading assignments in class. You are expected to complete all reading and related homework assignments before we cover a topic in class so you can better understand classroom activities and participate meaningfully in them. It is important that you take good notes of classroom activities to use as you prepare for quizzes and exams. You should make arrangements for someone to tape class and/or provide you a copy of their notes for any classes you must miss since you will be responsible for all material covered.
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EVALUATION PROCEDURES: EXAMINATIONS --There will be two examinations, a mid-term and a final exam. The mid-term will cover material for the first half of the term and the final will cover material for the second half of the term. Each of these exams will count for twenty percent (20%) of your course grade. The exams will consist of questions taken from the tests for each half of the course plus essay questions which will be provided in advance on a study sheet, which will contain all the possible essay questions. The exams will be taken in a proctored environment. The tests will be taken in Blackboard, during class time, using Lockdown Browser.TESTS-- The remaining sixty percent (60%) of your course grade will be the average of your test scores. There will be about six tests during the term. Each test will consist of multiple choice, true-false, and short answer questions. They will be based on the reading assignments plus notes from classroom material. After the tests are graded, a score for the test will be entered in the Bb grade book. We will go over each test in class and it is important that you take good notes on this review because some of the test questions will also be on the exams. No make-up tests are permitted. If you have a compelling reason for missing a test, you must communicate it to me before the test is scheduled, unless that is manifestly impossible to do. If I agree to excuse the test, you will take a special mid-term or final exam that will count as both an exam grade and for the missed test, or some other assignment that I determine will substitute. Two Test Grades will be entered for class participation (therefore, you will have approximately eight test grades). Class participation includes attendance for the entire class period and participation in all activities (counts as one test grade), and all other assignments and projects (counts as another test grade). Projects and assignments must be completed in full and received by the due date and time to receive credit. I assume you registered for this course intending to master the content and earn credit for the class. To accomplish this will require a significant investment of time and effort on your part. If your personal circumstances won’t allow this level of effort, perhaps you should reconsider your decision to enroll at this time. The Attendance Test Grade is determined as follows: If you miss no classes: 100%. Missed classes are not excused and will negatively affect your attendance grade. A week of accumulated absences results in a grade of 90%; more than a week = 80%; two weeks = 70%; more than two weeks = 60%; three weeks =50%; and so on. The key to success is to attend every class session (much of the information you will need for quizzes, homework and examinations will come only from classroom activities), take good notes, study all assigned readings, thoroughly prepare for each test and examination, and successfully complete all writing assignments, projects, and homework on time. Take advantage of my office hours and study sessions, as well as the services of the Achievement Center, to get all the individual help you need.
1. Arrive on time and don’t leave until class ends, pay constant attention and engage in all interactivity whether you are participating physically or virtually; 2. Remain awake, alert, participate, and arrive prepared; 3. Don’t carry on side conversations, pass notes, or induce other distractions including beepers, cell phones, irrelevant computer activities, and text messaging; 4. Don’t bring children to class. The grading scale is: Below 60%=F; 60-69%=D; 70-79%=C; 80-89%=B; 90%+=A.OFFICE HOURS:
WITHDRAWAL POLICY: Withdrawal from the class with no penalty may be made up to the end of the (equivalent of the eight weeks of class in the summer session) eighth week of regular class, The withdrawal date for this session is March 29, 2010. You will be allowed to withdraw from the course with a grade of W after this date only if you have a documented mitigating circumstance. Initiating a withdrawal is your responsibility. I will not initiate the Administrative Withdrawal procedure. Warning! VCCS policy prohibits
enrolling in a course more than twice unless mitigating circumstances
exist. A W grade counts for an enrollment. |
My
office is located in Room 650, ACC. A copy of my class schedule with
office hours marked is posted there and on my home page. I will also
schedule virtual office hours online. Please feel free to call or email
me if that’s more convenient. 
Following is a topical list of the topics we plan to discuss this semester in their approximate sequence. You are responsible for the reading assignments for each topic before we cover it in class. Regular quizzes, homework assignments, and study sheets are planned for this class and these will provide you with more specific objective to help you study for the examinations. The reading assignments are in the required textbook for the course, Sociology by Rodney Stark, 10th edition and in handouts which will be provided in class or on-line.
Preface & Introduction: The Sociological Perspective on Sex Role
Socialization
A. Chapter Eleven: Racial and Ethnic Equality and Conflict
Chapter Twenty-one: Social Change and Social Movements
Case Study of Japanese-American Relocation
Causes, consequences, and cures of prejudice and dysfunctional
discrimination
B. Chapter Nine: Concepts and Theories of Stratification
Chapter Ten: Comparing Systems of Stratification
Karl Marx’s Scientific Socialism
C. Wright Mills’ Power Elite
Comparing the Conflict and Functionalist views of stratification;
the politics of poverty
C. Chapter Seven: Crime and
Deviance:
Chapter Eight: Social Control
An examination of various theories of the causes and cures of
deviance
D. Chapter Thirteen: The Family
Sociology of the Family; Contemporary American Family Patterns
Dealing with conflict within the family
E. Chapter Eighteen: Population Changes
Demography and the study of family planning and population control
F. Chapter Fourteen: Religion
Comparative Religion; elements of religion
G. Chapter Seventeen: Social Change: Development and Global Inequality
The Rise of the West; Technological Determinism; The Arms Race
H. Chapter Fifteen: Politics and the State
Chapter Sixteen: The Interplay Between Education and Occupation
SOC 268 Course Calendar Spring, 2010
Spring, 2010 Course Calendar TuTh Classes
First Day of Class . . . . . . . . Tuesday, Jan. 12
Last Day to Add . . . . . . . . . Friday, Jan. 15
Last Drop w/Refund . . . . . Thursday, Jan 28
Tests 1 – 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . .TBA
Mid-Term Exam . . . . . . . . Thursday, March 4
Spring Break No Class . . . March 8 – 12
Last Day for W . . . . . . . . . Monday, Mar 29
Last Day of Class . . . . . . . . Thursday, April 29*
Reading/Make-up Days . . May 3 & 4*
Final Exams . . . . . . . . . . . May 5-7 & 10-11*
Graduation . . . . . . . . . . . Friday, May 14
*Days may vary due to Inclement Weather
Closings
during the semester.