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Spring, 2010, Syllabus and Course Manual
Dr. Mark A. Foster, Professor of Sociology
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Introductory Notes
- This syllabus and course manual are only for my distance learning class.
- In case you arrived here by mistake, and you are one of my on-campus students, go to my MarkFoster.ORGanon™ Site. (I won't tell anyone <grin>.)
- Due to the constantly changing nature of the web, I cannot be responsible for the content of external websites hotlinked from the pages I administer. Please email me (from Angel) with any problems or broken links you may find.
- If you are in my distance learning course, please read it thoroughly.
- The syllabus is beta (preliminary) until the beginning of the semester.
Office Location and Hours
Office: GEB 151D
Office Hours (Spring 2010): Monday through Friday from 9:55 until 10:55
You are most welcome, though not required, to meet with me in my office or to chat with me over the phone.
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Phone, EMail, Fax, and Social Networking
Office Phone: (913) 469-8500, x 3376 (voice mail available)
EMail: Use only the Angel email system for this course. I generally check email a few times each week, with the exception of weekends, college holidays, and when I am out of town. Please do not write me any other way (including with MyJCCC). If you have difficulties reaching me by email, phone me in my office (913-469-8500, ext. 3376).
Fax (office): (913) 469-2589 (contact me before faxing)
Social Networking: Links to my profiles on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Linkedin, etc. are on my Reticulation website.
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Professor and Text Websites (optional)
The MarkFoster.ORGanon™ - Dr. Foster's Johnson County Community College Site:
Hit that mouse button below:
- http://markfoster.org (primary site)
- http://markfoster.net/mfo (European mirror site)
- http://staff.jccc.edu/mfoster/home.html (JCCC mirror site)
This site has been successfully tested (using a PC, a Mac, and a Palm Pre) on virtually all major (and many minor) web browsers. (Please note that Angel requires a more limited selection of browsers.)
All of the computers in the JCCC computer labs have an up-to-date browser installed. You may use these computers free of charge by showing the staff member your student ID card. JCCC also maintains a restricted wi-fi network.
Text Website:
Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life
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Course Information
Professor: Dr. Mark A. Foster, Professor of Sociology
Semester Hours: 3
Course Name: Introduction to Sociology
Course Prefix and Number: SOC 122
Course Type: Transfer
JCCC Student Code of Conduct: See here.
JCCC Student Handbook: See here.
Required Text: Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, seventh edition, by David M. Newman.
Course Description: This overview of social life will cover group structure and processes, social interaction, social institutions, theories, research methods, and other areas. Formal assessment will take place through essays, discussions, and a term project.
Course Objectives:
- Learning how to think sociologically
- Developing a sociological imagination
- Studying group structure and processes
- Examining sociological theory
- Exploring the meaning of science and specific techniques of sociological research
- Considering a variety of other subjects, including ethnocentrism, stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, values, norms, socialization, stratification, deviance, and social institutions
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Discussions, Tests, and RealAudio Lectures
Class Discussions: We will usually complete, consecutively, a discussion of one section per week. A section includes a text chapter. As many sections as possible will be covered by the end of the semester. Any changes will be announced on the Angel board.
Group discussions will be conducted on the Angel message board for this class. You should be able to log in with your Campus Pipeline user name and password. Everyone will be expected to contribute. A student's response, or combined responses, for each week should be no less than 400 words.
- Section 1: Chapter 1 in text and RealAudio lecture 1
- Section 2: Chapter 2 in text and RealAudio lecture 2
- Section 3: Chapter 3 in text and RealAudio lecture 3
- Section 4: Chapter 4 in text
- Section 5: Chapter 5 in text
- Section 6: Chapter 6 in text
- Section 7: Chapter 7 in text
- Section 8: Chapter 8 in text
- Section 9: Chapter 9 in text
- Section 10: Chapter 10 in text
- Section 11: Chapter 11 in text
- Section 12: Chapter 12 in text
- Section 13: Chapter 13 in text
- Section 14: Chapter 14 in text
As long as you participate on the discussion board the vast majority of the time, you will receive 100 points. There will be no partial credit.
Essay Tests: There will be two essay tests, each consisting of only one question, over the course of the semester. The schedule is given later in the syllabus. Questions will be assigned via Angel. Your response to each of the tests must be at least 400 words. They may include web-based research. The essay questions will be based on material previously covered in the course.
You will email your essay to me (using the Angel email system) before midnight on the day after the question was emailed through Angel. (PLEASE DO NOT respond to the essay question ON THE Angel BOARD.) Then, usually within a week to a week and a half, your grade will be emailed back to you.
DO NOT ATTACH YOUR ESSAY TO AN EMAIL MESSAGE (i.e., in Microsoft Word or in Corel WordPerfect format). Your essay should itself be the text of a regular email message.
I do not give makeup tests for people who did not know the date or time of the exam.
RealAudio Lectures (by Dr. Foster): There will be three RealAudio lectures (one for each of the first three sections of the course). You must have the RealPlayer installed on your computer in order to hear these lectures. They are listed on a separate page. The lectures are optional.
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Term Project
You will write a term paper (1500-word minimum) on some aspect of sociology. If you are looking for ideas, check through the table of contents to the textbook. Essentially, your page will be an online research paper.
As with the essay tests, your term paper will be the text of a regular Angel email message. ATTACHMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED.
The HTML creator is included in every email message you send.
You must, in addition, use the style sheet on this page for both parenthetical citations (in the paper) and the REFERENCES section (at the end of the paper):
American Sociological Association Referencing Style
Include at least five sources in your research (the more, within reason, the better), and, following the instructions on the Referencing Style page, create hot links to all of them. Creating a hot link means that clicking on it will take you directly to that page.
You can use whatever search engines you like in locating sources for your Angel paper. However, here are a couple of suggestions:
When creating your paper in Angel, you can temporarily save it in your drafts folder on Angel. That way you can go back to it until you are ready to send it to me.
Do not create your paper in Word, Word Perfect, or some other word processing program. If so, when you paste it into Angel, your formatting will probably be off, and your web links may not work.
If you wish to create your paper off-line, my suggestion would be to use Notepad or a similar plain text editor. After you paste it into Angel, you will need to adjust the formatting and create the links to your web sources. (Should you plan to be working on your paper for some time, without saving it to your drafts folder, this is actually a good idea. Angel times out after a while, and you will lose your work.)
Finally, make sure that you check your paper (including the links) before sending it me. If you are not sure, first mail it to yourself within Angel.
Please feel free to phone me or to come by my office (during my office hours or by appointment). I will be as helpful as I can.
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Grading
General: First, I put you on your honor that you will do your own work. Second, don't be like the chap on the right. If you have any questions, ask me <smile>.
Tests: Essay tests must be emailed to me by the date assigned.
I will be looking at the comprehensiveness, clarity, accuracy, and thoroughness of your research and thinking (in addition to the factors I mentioned earlier).
Grades on essay tests and on the term paper will be calculated on a 100-point scale. Then, at the end of the semester, I will add together the test 1 grade, the test 2 grade, and term project grade, and the 100 discussion points (where applicable). The total will be divided by 4. (In other words, I do a simple average.)
Here is the final grading scale:
A = 90 - 100
B = 80 - 89
C = 70 - 79
D = 60 - 69
F = Below 60
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Important Dates and Times
Test Questions sent out using Angel email: March 4 (Thursday) and May 6 (Thursday). (Any changes will be announced through Angel email.) Responses must be emailed back to me using the Angel email system before midnight on the following Monday. ATTACHMENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED. The tests will be given instead of the regular discussion question.
Term Project Due Date: You need to email me your completed term project by April 23 (Friday). ATTACHMENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED.
Last Day to Drop with a W: April 15.
Final Grade: It will be emailed to you along with your grade on the last test.
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Copyright © 1996- Mark A. Foster. All rights reserved.
The JCCC image on the top of this page was taken, unaltered, from the June 8, 2002, version of the JCCC website. |
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