Syllabus for SOC-322-OL
Cultural Diversity in the United States
Description | Objectives | Materials | Structure | Assessment | Grading | Strategies
Cultural Diversity in the United States examines racial, ethnic, sexual, religious, and other minority groups in American society. The course explores the impact of law and policy on these groups and promotes an understanding of individuals from diverse backgrounds.
You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbooks are available from the College's textbook supplier, MBS Direct.
Required Textbooks
Racial and Ethnic Groups, 12th ed., by Richard T. Schaefer. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2010).
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin (New York: New American Library, 2003; originally published in 1961).
Cultural Diversity in the United States is a 3-credit online course. The course consists of seven modules. The student is required to complete seven (7) written assignments and take seven (7) quizzes as well as to participate in ten (10) online discussions. Students are also required to take two examinations: a proctored midterm exam and a proctored final. Module titles are listed below.
Consult the course Calendar for assignment due dates.
For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete written assignments, take a proctored midterm examination, and complete a final project. See below for more details.
Consult the course Calendar for assignment due dates.
Written Assignments
Cultural Diversity in the United States has seven (7) writing assignments, including a book review. Pay attention to each set of directions and to the general directions for assignments. Many students find it helpful to read over the assignment questions for a module before beginning the reading for the module.
Prepare your written assignments using whatever word processing program you have on your computer. Include your name at the top of the paper, as well as the course name and code and the semester and year in which you are enrolled.
Before submitting your first assignment, check with your mentor to determine whether your word processing software is compatible with your mentor's software. If so, you can submit your work as you prepared it. If not, save your assignment as a rich-text (.rtf) file, using the Save As command of your software program. Rich text retains basic formatting and can be read by any other word processing program.
Go to the Submit Assignments area of the course Web site to submit all written assignments.
For additional help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information section of the course Web site.
Online Discussion Forums
In addition to posting an introduction to the class in Module 1, you are required to participate in ten (10) graded online discussions, each focusing on a different subject.
Communication with the mentor and among fellow students is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online discussions involves two distinct activities: an initial response to a discussion question and at least two subsequent comments on classmates' responses.
Meaningful participation is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered value-adding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate, the reading, or your mentor, state and support your agreement or disagreement. You will be evaluated on the quality and quantity of your participation. Responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, professional, and respectful.
For posting guidelines and additional help with discussion board assignments, please see the Student Handbook located within the General Information section of the course Web site.
Module Quizzes
Cultural Diversity in the United States has seven (7) graded quizzes. Taken together they are worth 12 percent of your grade. These quizzes are closed-book and will be completed online. Go to the Tests & Quizzes area of course site and click on the link when you are ready to take the quiz.
You have 20 minutes to complete each quiz. You may enter each quiz only once, so be sure you are ready to take the quiz before clicking the link. After you take the quiz, you will be able to see your score.
Examinations
You are required to take two proctored examinations: a midterm and a final. See the Calendar for the official dates of your midterm and final exam weeks.
For the both of these online examinations you are required to use the College’s Online Proctor Service. Please refer to the "Examinations and Proctors" section of the Online Student Handbook (see the General Information area of the course Web site) for further information about scheduling and taking online exams and for all exam policies and procedures. You are strongly advised to make your scheduling arrangements for both exams within the first week of the semester.
Online exams are administered in the Tests & Quizzes area of the course Web site.
Midterm Examination
The midterm is a closed-book, proctored exam. It is two hours long and covers material from Modules 1 through 3. It consists of identification questions and short essay questions. The identification questions require you to write definitions for terms. If you have concerns about the format and/or content of the examination, please contact your mentor at least a week in advance of the scheduled test.
Final Examination
The final is a closed-book, proctored exam. It is two hours long and covers material in Modules 4 through 7. Like the midterm, it consists of both identification and short essay questions. In the identification section of the final exam, however, you will be asked to supply the proper term that fits a particular definition.
Statement About Cheating
You are on your honor not to cheat during the exam. Cheating means:
- Looking up any answer or part of an answer in an unauthorized textbook or on the Internet, or using any other source to find the answer.
- Copying and pasting or in any way copying responses or parts of responses from any other source into your online test. This includes but is not limited to copying and pasting from other documents or spreadsheets, whether written by yourself or anyone else.
- Plagiarizing answers.
- Asking anyone else to assist you by whatever means available while you take the exam.
- Copying any part of the exam to share with other students.
- Telling your mentor that you need another attempt at the exam because your connection to the Internet was interrupted when that is not true.
If there is evidence that you have cheated or plagiarized in your exam, the exam will be declared invalid, and you will fail the course.
For more information on scheduling a proctored examination, see the section Examinations and Proctors in the Student Handbook located within the General Information section of the course Web site.
Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:
All assignments will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:
| A | = | 93–100 |
| A– | = | 90–92 |
| B+ | = | 88–89 |
| B | = | 83–87 |
| B– | = | 80–82 |
| C+ | = | 78–79 |
| C | = | 73–77 |
| C– | = | 70–72 |
| D | = | 60–69 |
| F | = | Below 60 |
First Steps to Success
To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:
Study Tips
Consider the following study tips for success: