Course Syllabus

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COVID-19 Health & Safety Guidelines

Health Screening: Students who come to campus for face-to-face classes will be required to complete a daily health screening which will include temperature checks. If you have experienced COVID-19 symptoms and/or have tested positive within the past 10 days; or if you have had close contact (less than 6 feet for longer than 15 minutes while unmasked) with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient within the past 14 days, you are not allowed to come to campus.  Please complete the campus online reporting form.  A campus official will reply to provide guidance and information.    

Safety Measures: Consistent with the Governor’s order and updated state public-health guidelines, face masks or cloth face coverings are required to be worn in public spaces on-campus and during in-person classes to reduce possible exposure to COVID-19 and prevent the spread of the virus. Physical distancing must be practiced by maintaining 6 feet of distance between individuals. Good hygiene of handwashing for a minimum of 20 seconds or using hand sanitizer is required. Please avoid touching your face with unclean hands. Disposable face masks will be provided to anyone who arrives to campus without one.

Please see university website for the most updated information: www.fresnostate.edu/coronavirus 

Course Description

Principles of Sociology promotes the understanding of society and how it works. It also examines how society affects individuals and how individuals affect society. Major topics include culture, socialization, social problems, gender, race and ethnicity, and social change.

Course Objectives

The goal of this course is to enable the student to understand and analyze the basic principles underlying human social behavior. Students will explore the sociological perspective, basic research methods, and major topic areas of sociology. Theoretical perspectives will be identified and utilized to examine a variety of subjects. This course is designed to enhance students understanding of the realities of their social world. To complement your classroom learning, each student will participate in a minimum of 20 hours of service-learning with the local community (1-2 hours per week, over 12 weeks in the semester). Service-learning helps students connect classroom learning with meaningful community-based work.

GE Program ePortfolio

Fresno State's GE ePortfolio program applies to freshman and transfer students admitted Fall 2018 or after. Since this is a lower division GE course, only freshman students admitted Fall 2018 or after are required to submit an assignment to their GE ePortfolio for this course.

Please submit your final project "Sociological Autobiography" to your ePortfolio, which satisfies G.E. Breadth D3, Student Learning Outcome #1. You can download the file as a PowerPoint or PDF and then submit that file to your ePortfolio. If you have any technical issues submitting your assignment, please contact Dr. Melissa Jordine (mjordine@csufresno.edu).

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply sociological ideas and concepts to everyday life,
  2. Identify and apply major sociological theories, and
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of sociological methods.

Required Materials  

Textbook 

You do not need to purchase a textbook or any course materials for this course. This course uses digital course materials designed using Open Educational Resources (OER), high-quality, openly licensed educational materials, rather than a traditional textbook. You can access all readings, videos, quizzes, and other activities through our course site on Canvas.

CLICK HERE to access our NO COST textbook Introduction to Sociology 2e.

Introduction to Sociology 2e cover-1.jpg

Figure 2. The image above shows the cover of our class text "Introduction to Sociology" 2 edition.

Internet Connection

Students must have access to reliable internet service (DSL, LAN, or cable connection desirable). You will need to access Canvas & Student Email regularly.

Technical Assistance 

If you need technical assistance at any time during the semester or to report a problem with Canvas or campus email you reach out to the Technology Help Center by 

You can also review the topics/links below for specific issues.

There are several ways to get help with your Canvas course.

  1. Visit the Canvas Student Guide (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10701-canvas-student-guide- table-of-contents).

  2. Call or visit the Academic Technology Resource Center(http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/cfe/gethelp/resource-center.html) located on the second floor of the library.

  3. Stop by the DISCOVERe Hub (http://www.fresnostate.edu/president/discovere/hub/index.html) located on the first floor of the library to get help from one of the Hub Guides.

  4. Self-enroll in the Canvas Student Orientation.
    • Log in using your Fresno State Username and Password
    • Click to Enroll in Course
    • Learn all about the Canvas tools, complete the assignments and receive a Certificate of Completion and a Digital Badge
 

Teaching Format

This course will be delivered entirely online through Canvas. You will use your Canvas account to login to the course from the Fresno State login page (http://Canvas.fresnostate.edu). In Canvas, you will access announcements, course syllabus, supplemental readings, assignments, grading rubrics, and additional materials. Due to COVID-19, the service-learning activities (see Service-Learning section below for details) will be online.

How To Take This Course

How to take this class.png

Figure 3. The diagram above illustrates how this course can be taken on a continuum with the left side showing that students can do the minimum (read, take quizzes, and do post discussions) and gain valuable information or students can approach the course with a deeper level of engagement (the right side of the continuum) and obtain a much deeper level of knowledge and understanding about themselves and their social world.

Course Requirements

Getting Started in SOC 1S Activities and Quiz (10 points)

To help me better understand what you may need to thrive this semester, please complete the "Student Tech Survey." To figure out the best times for scheduling office hours and service-learning meetups, complete the Doodle poll. To help us create an online community, update your Canvas bio. And, in an effort to ensure that everyone reads and understands the course syllabus and knows how to navigate our class Canvas site, students will complete the “Getting Started in SOC 1S” module on Canvas and then take a 10-question quiz. The activities and assignments are due by 11:59 pm on Thursday, August 27.

Weekly Reflection/Application/Discussion Posts/Activities (10 Points Each)

Each week after you read, watch videos, and/or engage in online activities, students will create a reflection/discussion post or engage in an online activity. Discussion posts are reflections of some of the main takeaways presented in the weekly material, combined with your personal reflection of the material, and an application to your lived experience. Detailed guidelines and a sample post will be available on Canvas. Posts are due to Canvas every week on/before Thursdays by (11:59 PM). The discussion topics will be in the “Weekly Modules” on Canvas.

Social Media Posts (2 Points Each)

This class is a public sociology class, which means that we will take our learning and voices into the public sphere and share key takeaways, "ah-ha moments," critical reflections, service-learning experience, and more. The purpose is to engage with the 'publics' on what you're learning each week and how it relates to what's going on in the world. Students will use the hashtag #FSUSoc so we can engage with one another.

Sociological Autobiography (100 Points)

As a culminating part of your learning, each student will complete a comprehensive written and visual representation (100 points) that will allow you to apply what you’ve learned over the course of the semester to your life and the world around you. Details about the project will be made available in the final project module in week #3. The final project is due on the last day of instruction on December 9th by 11:59pm.

Service-Learning Reflection Paper (25 Points)

As a culminating part of your service-learning, each student will write a two-page service-learning reflection paper relating your experiential learning of community engagement to course content. Further information including guidelines and a grading rubric will be made available on Canvas in week 12. The weekly reflection posts will help you with this paper. The more thoughtful your weekly reflection, the easier it will be to write your final paper. The paper is due on the date listed in the course calendar and is worth a possible 25 points. 

Service-Learning

Critical service-learning (SL) is a problem-posing method of teaching where students learn by active participation in organized community-based learning to gain deeper insight about local issues and connect with resident leaders who are actively engaged in addressing the root causes of social problems; it is linked to academic study through structured reflection.

Before continuing, take a moment to read "Beyond the Canned Food Drive," which provides more information about what service-learning is and why it's important.

To complement your online learning, students will participate in a minimum of 20 hours of virtual community-based learning. Due to COVID-19, the applied/SL component will be different than in previous semesters. Instead of signing up with one community benefit organization, this semester, I will provide a calendar of relevant opportunities for you to take action -- e.g. attend a virtual community forum based on what we're learning, participate in a research meeting with an elected official, join a city council, board of supervisors, or school board meeting (and give public comment), attend a virtual rally, participate in a phone bank to talk with infrequent voters, etc. If you hear of any virtual events or activities that relate to what we are learning this semester, please share them with me on Canvas. 

Students may need to complete a “Service-Learning Plan” (5 points). I will provide more details on this after I confirm whether or not you need to complete it given that our SL will be structured differently this semester. But, students will keep track of SL activities by completing a “Service-learning Participation Log” (20 points). This form will be available on Canvas in Module 2.

The service-learning paper will provide you with a deeper understanding of sociological theories, social issues, and community-based social change. Service-learning helps to foster agency-- a belief in one’s ability to effect change. It may also aid in building professional contacts and job skills. More information about service-learning and the paper guidelines will be provided.

Watch the short video below (9 min) to see what my students said about their experience with service-learning.

I encourage you to visit the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement website to learn more about service-learning and community engagement opportunities at Fresno State. To learn more about the impact of service-learning projects on change efforts in Fresno, visit my ePortfolio at  http://www.janinenkosi.com.

Grading Scale

There are 290 total points possible in this course. Grades follow the standard university scale:

Letter Grade Points Percentage
A 290 – 261 100% - 90% 
B 260 – 232 89% - 80%  
C 231 – 203 79% - 70% 
D 202 – 174 69% - 60% 
F 173 and lower 59% and lower 

Late Work Policy

All assignments for this course will be submitted electronically through Canvas unless otherwise instructed. Assignments must be submitted by the given deadline. No late quizzes. No exceptions. Late papers/exams are not accepted except under extreme circumstances. Your instructor reserves the right to determine if a late assignment will be accepted under extenuating circumstances and will require documentation.  Twelve (12) points per day are deducted for late papers – no exceptions. Students who do not complete all of the components/assignments in Module #1 could be dropped from this class. No exceptions.

How to Communicate with My Instructor and Peers

If you have a general question about the course, please consult the syllabus and Canvas first. 

If you do not find the answer in the syllabus or on Canvas, then please post general questions to the "Help Me Help You!" discussion board under the Discussions tab on Canvas (see the link to the left of this page). 

If you have a personal question or concern please message me directly through Canvas. Click on the inbox icon on the far left side of this page. Then, at the top of the screen, click "compose new message." Click here, to watch a short video on how to send a message through Canvas. I have office hours on Fridays from 12-2pm (by appointment only). After you confirm an appointment time with me, use this zoom link https://fresnostate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcofuGvrzopEt1yiu8kmCo-YxYzg7N3ttCh. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

If you message me on Canvas, response time from me is usually within 24 hours Monday through Thursday only. Messages sent to me Friday-Sunday will be responded to on Monday of the following week (unless Monday is a holiday, then I will respond on the next non-holiday day).

If you message me and the answer to your question can be found in the syllabus or on Canvas, then I will reply and direct you to the source where you can find the answer to your question. Please know that I have spent a lot of time creating a syllabus and designing a Canvas site that provides students will as much information as possible. It's very important that students take the time to read the information I provided before they email me.

Please know that I do not mean to be rude. I have 100+ students each semester, so if you do not hear back from me within a 24 hours M-TH, please resend your message. Also, in the 'subject' line, please type a 2-3 word description indicating the subject (or purpose) of your message. Example: Textbook help.

Help and Resources

If you are feeling lost or overwhelmed…

  1. Communicate with me by email or phone. Please don’t be shy, much research explains the challenges that students experience while trying to navigate the college system and balance school, work, family, and life commitments. It’s not easy – but it’s worth it! If you have any questions about this class or need any assistance, please talk to me right away so we can make a plan of action to keep you on a path to success.
  2. Participate in the weekly discussion meet-ups. The course is asynchronous, meaning we do not have regularly scheduled meetings. However, if you would like to participate in an optional 1-hour weekly meet-up so we can talk through any questions, discuss some of the major points in the modules, and support each other over the course of the semester, please complete the Doodle Poll in the "Getting Started Module" and mark all of the days/times that you are able to meet. I will choose 1 or 2 times based on the majority availability. I will create a zoom meeting and share it via Canvas Announcements and add it here in week 2 of the semester. If you're not able to attend the sessions, don't worry, you have other ways of reaching out to me and our class. You can use the "Help me, Help you" discussion board, message me on Canvas, and reach out to schedule a one-on-one meeting too. 
  3. Use online resources, such as YouTube, Khan Academy, Crash Course Sociology, and the Public Library of Critical Thinking. If you're not sure about the credibility of the resource, please message me via Canvas.
  1. Campus Supports: Meet virtually with academic advisors and mentors to learn about campus and community resources that will help you succeed in school. If you are an AB540/Dream student, you can meet with mentors in the Dream Success Center. For gender-inclusive spaces, programs, and services visit the LGBTQ+ Programs and Services. For programs and services specifically designed to support students of African descent visit the Office of Black Student Success. 
  2. The Writing Center and Learning Center offers virtual academic support. These centers provide trained tutors and/or workshops to assist students in improving their writing and editing techniques.  Drop-in tutoring and online submissions of papers for feedback are also available. For more information, call 278-0334 or 278-3052, respectively.
  3. Classmates: Form study groups and meet regularly with classmates in the library or USU.  Exchange contact information with at least one classmate just in case you or need clarification on course content or class assignments. Use the discussion board on Canvas to communicate with classmates.
  4. Fresno State Student Cupboard: For on-campus complimentary assistance with food security services visit the Fresno State Student Cupboard.
  1. Community: If you need assistance in the form of food, shelter, clothing, etc., call 211 and someone will connect you with resources to help you meet basic needs. This will help you to focus on your coursework.
  2. Services for Students with Disabilities: “If you have special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and need course materials in alternate formats, immediately notify your course instructor or Jennie Johnson, director of Services for Students with Disabilities, 559.278.2811. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate your special needs.” 

Fresno State has many resources available to help students succeed – please use them!

University Policies

University policies on cheating, plagiarism, copyright policy, compute usage, disruptive behaviors are strictly followed. Any problems in these areas are dealt with according to University policies. For detailed information go to the following link: http://www.fresnostate.edu/catalog/academic-regulations/policies.html

As part of your participation in virtual/online instruction, please remember that the same student conduct rules that are used for in-person classroom instruction also apply for virtual/online classrooms.  Students are prohibited from any unauthorized recording, dissemination, or publication of any academic presentation, including any online classroom instruction, for any commercial purpose.  In addition, students may not record or use virtual/online instruction in any manner that would violate copyright law.  Students are to use all online/virtual instruction exclusively for the educational purpose of the online class in which the instruction is being provided.  Students may not re-record any online recordings or post any online recordings on any other format (e.g., electronic, video, social media, audio recording, web page, internet, hard paper copy, etc.) for any purpose without the explicit written permission of the faculty member providing the instruction.  Exceptions for disability-related accommodations will be addressed by Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) working in conjunction with the student and faculty member.

If there are questions or concerns that you have about this course that you and I are not able to resolve, please feel free to contact the Chair of the Sociology Department to discuss the matter: Dr. Jennifer Randles, jrandles@csufresno.edu, (559) 278-5146.

Course Policies

Students are required to read the course policies before the end of the third week of the semester. If you have any questions about the course policies, please do not hesitate to message me through Canvas or meet with me during office hours.

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due