Syllabus for SOC-210

MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Marriage and the Family is an introductory course in the sociology of the family. The course takes an in-depth look at the history of the family, mate selection, love, social class characteristics and marriage, marital crises, alternative marriage forms, and human sexuality. An important thread throughout the course is the diversity expressed in modern marriage and family experiences. From this smorgasbord of possibilities you may choose or reject components with respect to your own relationships. Keep in mind, however, that these alternatives are working satisfactorily for various groups of people around the world.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, you should be able to:  

1. Develop an understanding of the family life cycle, relevant sociological perspectives, and the significant variations that occur within the family system from culture to culture and even within our own culture.
2. Explore the stages that the family goes through and analyze the tasks that family members must accomplish at each stage.
3. Utilize conflict theory, family systems theory, and developmental theories to investigate all aspects of marriage and the family.
4. Examine the diverse families presented in this course to gain information that will be useful in your own relationships.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbook is available from the college's textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

Required Textbook

1. The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society, 11th ed., by Bryan Strong, Christine DeVault, and Theodore F. Cohen (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage, 2011)

ISBN-10: 0-8400-3194-7

Study Guide

1. Study Guide for Strong, DeVault, and Cohen's The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society, 11th ed., by Patricia Clark (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage, 2011)

ISBN-10: 0-495-90513-5

2. Note: The study guide is designed to help you organize your assignments. It also tests you on your knowledge of course material. Use the corresponding chapter in the study guide for each chapter of the textbook. The study guide occasionally includes additional information about chapter subjects and always provides useful Internet sites and activities. These activities are supplemental; they are not required for the course.
3. Also, please note that the study guide that accompanies this text is published by Wadsworth/CENGAGE, not by Thomas Edison State College. Occasional errors have been found in the study guide answer key. If an answer seems wrong, check it against the textbook itself. If your concern is not fully addressed, ask your mentor about the topic.

COURSE STRUCTURE

Marriage and the Family is a three-credit online course, consisting of five (5) modules. Modules include study materials and activities.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Each of the course's five assignment modules includes a study assignment, an online discussion forum, a writing assignment (reaction report), and take two proctored online examinations—a midterm and a final. See below for more details. Study assignments, in turn, comprise one or more chapters in the textbook together with their associated study guide readings.

Consult the course Calendar for due dates.

Discussion Forums

In addition to an ungraded introduction forum in Module 1, you are required to participate in five graded online discussion forums.

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 posted question (discussion thread) 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.

Reaction Reports

The writing assignments in this course comprise five (5) reaction reports (maximum two typewritten pages, double-spaced) in which you analyze specific issues using information from the course. These reaction reports are your opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the reading material. For the specific issues and questions addressed in each reaction report, as well as an explanation of how they will be graded, see the Assignment Modules area of the course Web site.

When preparing your written assignments be sure to include your name at the top of the report, 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.

Examinations

You are required to take two (2) proctored online examinations: a midterm exam and a final exam. Both exams require that you use the College's Online Proctor Service (OPS). Please refer to the "Examinations and Proctors" section of the Online Student Handbook (see 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 schedule your exam within the first week of the semester.

Midterm Examination

The midterm is a closed-book, proctored online exam. It is two hours long and covers all reading and assignments from modules 1 through 3. The exam consists of fifty (50) multiple-choice questions.

Final Examination

The final is a closed-book, proctored online exam. It is two hours long and covers all reading and assignments from modules 4 and 5. Like the midterm, the final consists of fifty (50) multiple-choice questions.

Online exams are administered through the course Web site. Consult the course Calendar for the official dates of exam weeks.

Statement about Cheating

You are on your honor not to cheat during an exam. Cheating means:

1. Looking up any answer or part of an answer in an unauthorized textbook or on the Internet, or using any other source to find an answer.
2. Copying and pasting or, in any way copying responses or parts of responses from any other source into your exams. This includes but is not limited to copying and pasting from other documents or spreadsheets, whether written by yourself or anyone else.
3. Plagiarizing answers.
4. Asking anyone else to assist you by whatever means available while you take an exam.
5. Copying any part of an exam to share with other students.
6. Telling your mentor that you need another attempt at an 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 an exam, the exam will be declared invalid, and you will fail the course.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

1. Online discussions (5)—10 percent
2. Written assignments (5)—40 percent
3. Midterm exam (proctored online, modules 1–3)—25 percent
4. Final exam (proctored online, modules 4–5)—25 percent

All activities 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:

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or better (for an area of study course) or D or better (for a nonarea of study course), based on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., exams, assignments, discussion postings, etc.).

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

1. Read carefully the entire Syllabus, making sure that all aspects of the course are clear to you and that you have all the materials required for the course.

2. Take the time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course, how to schedule exams, and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State College.

3. Arrange to take your examination(s) by following the instructions in this Syllabus and the Online Student Handbook.

4. Familiarize yourself with the learning management systems environment—how to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time.

5. If you are not familiar with Web-based learning be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting assignments before class begins.

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

1. To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the course Calendar. The Calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments, posting discussions, and scheduling and taking examinations.

2. Check Announcements regularly for new course information.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Students at Thomas Edison State College are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.

Academic Dishonesty

Thomas Edison State College expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the College insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty takes the following forms:

1. Cheating
2. Plagiarizing (including copying and pasting from the Internet without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources)
3. Fabricating information or citations
4. Facilitating acts of dishonesty by others
5. Unauthorized access to examinations or the use of unauthorized materials during exam administration
6. Submitting the work of another person or work previously used without informing the mentor
7. Tampering with the academic work of other students

Academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary action and possible dismissal from the College. Students who submit papers that are found to be plagiarized will receive an F on the plagiarized assignment, may receive a grade of F for the course, and may face dismissal from the College.

A student who is charged with academic dishonesty will be given oral or written notice of the charge. If a mentor or College official believes the infraction is serious enough to warrant referral of the case to the academic dean, or if the mentor awards a final grade of F in the course because of the infraction, the student and the mentor will be afforded formal due process.

If a student is found cheating or using unauthorized materials on an examination, he or she will automatically receive a grade of F on that examination. Students who believe they have been falsely accused of academic dishonesty should seek redress through informal discussions with the mentor, through the office of the dean, or through an executive officer of Thomas Edison State College.

Plagiarism

Using someone else's work as your own is plagiarism. Although it may seem like simple dishonesty, plagiarism is against the law. Thomas Edison State College takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing will be severely penalized. If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > "Citing Sources.")

Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else's. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.

Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.

Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.