Social Problems

Course Number:

SOC 206Z

Transcript Title:

Social Problems

Created:

Aug 16, 2022

Updated:

May 31, 2025

Total Credits:

4

Lecture Hours:

40

Lecture / Lab Hours:

0

Lab Hours:

0

Satisfies Cultural Literacy requirement:

Yes

Satisfies General Education requirement:

Yes

Grading Options

A-F, P/NP, Audit

Default Grading Options

A-F

Repeats available for credit:

0

Alignment with Institutional Learning Outcomes

Major

1. Communicate effectively using appropriate reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. (Communication)

Major

2. Creatively solve problems by using relevant methods of research, personal reflection, reasoning, and evaluation of information. (Critical thinking and Problem-Solving)

Not Addressed

3. Extract, interpret, evaluate, communicate, and apply quantitative information and methods to solve problems, evaluate claims, and support decisions in their academic, professional and private lives. (Quantitative Literacy)

Major

4. Use an understanding of cultural differences to constructively address issues that arise in the workplace and community. (Cultural Awareness)

Major

5. Recognize the consequences of human activity upon our social and natural world. (Community and Environmental Responsibility)

To establish an intentional learning environment, Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) require a clear definition of instructional strategies, evidence of recurrent instruction, and employment of several assessment modes.

Major Designation

1. The outcome is addressed recurrently in the curriculum, regularly enough to establish a thorough understanding.
2. Students can demonstrate and are assessed on a thorough understanding of the outcome.
   • The course includes at least one assignment that can be assessed by applying the appropriate CLO rubric.

Minor Designation

1. The outcome is addressed adequately in the curriculum, establishing fundamental understanding.
2. Students can demonstrate and are assessed on a fundamental understanding of the outcome.
   • The course includes at least one assignment that can be assessed by applying the appropriate CLO rubric.

Suggested Outcome Assessment Strategies

The determination of assessment strategies is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: writings (journals, self-reflections, pre writing exercises, essays), quizzes, tests, midterm and final exams, group projects, presentations (in person, videos, etc), self-assessments, experimentations, lab reports, peer critiques, responses (to texts, podcasts, videos, films, etc), student generated questions, Escape Room, interviews, and/or portfolios.

Department suggestions:

1. Short analytical or application papers on specific concepts, themes, and issues.
2. Term or research papers, using a variety of research strategies.
3. Oral presentations.
4. Group research, analysis, and presentation projects.
5. Class participation in full-class discussions and small groups or teams.
6. Response papers or journals reflecting on life experiences, events, and social phenomena.
7. Service-learning tasks, involving service to community, reflection, and application of sociological perspective.
8. Student-instructor conferences.
9. Portfolios.
10. Video projects.
11. Oral histories and interviews.
12. Field reports.
13. Policy analysis and development.

Course Activities and Design

The determination of teaching strategies used in the delivery of outcomes is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: lecture, small group/forum discussion, flipped classroom, dyads, oral presentation, role play, simulation scenarios, group projects, service learning projects, hands-on lab, peer review/workshops, cooperative learning (jigsaw, fishbowl), inquiry based instruction, differentiated instruction (learning centers), graphic organizers, etc.

Course Content

Outcome #1: Describe the ways in which social problems are defined and constructed.

• Explanation of how sociologists view social problems

• Natural history of social problems

• Methods for gathering information on social problems

• The sociological imaginations and how it helps us understand the difference between individual problems and public issues

Outcome #2: Apply the sociological perspective to identify and analyze social problems.

• Sociological research findings relative to contemporary social problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, violence and crime, wealth and poverty, racism, sexism and ageism and the environmental crisis

• Explanation and comparison of the three major theoretical perspectives in sociology in reference to social problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, violence and crime, wealth and poverty, racism, sexism and ageism and the environmental crisis

Outcome #3: Distinguish between individual and structural explanations of social problems.

• The sociological imaginations and how it helps us understand the difference between individual problems and public issues

• Explanation and comparison of the three major theoretical perspectives in sociology in reference to social problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, violence and crime, wealth and poverty, racism, sexism and ageism and the environmental crisis

Outcome #4: Assess the effects of social problems using empirical evidence.

• Basic research design

• Methods for gathering information on social problems

• The sociological imagination

• Sociological theories as applied to social problems

Outcome #5: Examine the structural, institutional, and cultural roots of social problems

• Explanation and comparison of the three major theoretical perspectives in sociology in reference to social problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, violence and crime, wealth and poverty, racism, sexism and ageism and the environmental crisis

• Explanation as to why a social problem consists of both objective conditions and subjective concerns and why social problems are relative depending on their structural and cultural roots

Outcome #6: Assess solutions to address social problems.

• Research and theory and how it aids us in formulating social policy

• Pros and cons of social policies relative to different social problems

• Intended vs unintended consequences of social policies

Suggested Texts and Materials

Social Problems: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 13th Edition, by James M. Henslin. Pearson: New York, NY: 2020, ISBN# 9780135164709.