Sociology 4380 Schedule and Assignments

SS 2008 Sociology 4380-Selected Topics in Social Policy: Drug Policy for the 21st Century-Schedule and Assignments

Week	Day	Dates	Times	Topic	Wimba	Assign. Due	Assignments and Readings Due (readings should be completed prior to class on day listed)
1	Wed	June 11	3:30-6:00 PM	Introduction	y	.. .	Introduction and overview: Drug Use in America? Talking about Drugs: Sociological Concerns about Social Constructions.
..... .. . .				Online Discussion		.. ..... . .	What does it mean to call drugs and drug users social constructs?
2	Tue	June 17	11:59 PM	Syllabus quiz and intro. due		Syllabus quiz and intro. due	Complete syllabus quiz and introduction in the general class discussion forum. End of Day.
	Wed	June 18	3:30-6:00 PM	Theories of Use	y		Categorizing Drugs; Types of use and Drug Effects. The Social Construction of Drug Addiction and Abuse. Explaining Drug Use and other Readings for Part One. Basic reading: chapters 1 and 2 of Drugs and Drug Policy.
. .				Online Discussion		. .	Explaining Drug Use: Discuss the limitations of Biological and Psychological approaches, as well as their possible connections to sociological concerns.
3	Wed	June 25	3:30-6:00 PM	Drug History			History of Drug Use in the USA: Alcohol, Marijuana, Hallucinogens, Stimulants, Narcotics, Psychopharmaceuticals. Basic reading: chapters 3 and 4 of Drugs and Drug Policy. Readings for Part Three
.... . ... .						Test 1 opens	Test 1 available.
4	Wed	July 2	3:30-6:00 PM	Patterns and Trends in Drug Use	y	Group Project Part 1 Due	Drugs, the Media, and Social Science Patterns and Trends in America Basic reading: chapters 5 and 6 of Drugs and Drug Policy. Readings for Part Two. Access recent national (MTF, NSDUH, DAWN) surveys and discuss major findings, trends, and implications.
. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	Group Project due: annotated outline of assigned chapter
5	Tues	July 8	11:59 PM	Test 1 Due	... .. .	Test 1 Due	Test 1 Due End of Day
... .. .	Wed	July 9	3:30-6:00 PM	A Historical Perspective on Drugs and Social Policy	.y	... .. .	History of Drug Use in the USA Drugs, Crime and Violence Illicit Drug Industry Basic reading: chapters 7 and 8 of Drugs and Drug Policy. Independent readings
6	Wed	July 16	3:30-6:00 PM	Dealing with the User	y	. .	Drug Education, Prevention and Treatment Dealing with the User: Medicine and Social Control Prohibition and Punishment or Harm Reduction? Basic reading: chapters 9, 10, and 11 of Drugs and Drug Policy. Readings for Part Four
7	Tue	July 22	11:59 PM	Multiple Choice Questions from Final Project Due	. ... .. .	Multiple Choice Questions from Final Project Due	Multiple Choice Questions from Final Project Due
. .	Wed	July 23	3:30-6:00 PM	Final Project Presentations	y	Test 2 Available, final projects due	Final Project Presentations Due Basic reading: chapter 12 Drugs and Drug Policy.
8	Wed	July 30	3:30-6:00 PM	Final Project Presentations	y		The for-credit portion of the online discussion forums closes on Wednesday, July 30 end of day.
	Friday	Aug 1	12:00 Noon	Test 2 Due			Last Day to take Test 2: Due by 12:00 Noon

End of day: Unless otherwise posted, assignments are due by the end of the day listed: 11:59 PM (23:59). Students who submit work past a due date are subject to penalties, point deduction, or not having their work accepted for grading.

Tests

There will be two (2) tests (75 questions, 1 point each, 75 points per exam) given during the semester. The tests are designed to evaluate your comprehension of the basic material presented in the course: assigned readings, online lecture notes, and other online resources. All these resources will be supplemented by in-class and online discussions. Class engagement and participation (face-to-face, online, and written work) will be another part of your evaluation-they are not designed to cover "what is on the test," rather they are designed to evaluate your ability to synthesize course material and develop a sociological understanding of life in modern society.

Tests can be found in the Assignments area of the class MyGateway site in a folder called, Online Tests.
- Please be sure to use the "StudyMate Chapter Review/Mastery Quizzes" in the "Assignments" area to help you prepare for the test, as well as the practice quizzes and other learning resources found in the chapter folders in the Course Documents area.
- The "Course Documents" area also contains study guides, test study tips, and other utilities to help you prepare for the quizzes and exams.
The tests are of mixed, objective format, consisting of multiple choice and true/false questions.
Each test will be available for a one week period. Specific availability dates for the tests are detailed on the "Assignments, Readings, and Course Schedule" found in the Assignments area.
- Tests may be taken from any Internet location, so in effect, the tests are "open book."
- The tests are "timed" and it is advisable to only use the Firefox web browser (MS Internet Explorer often has difficulty with the test timer).
- Each test can be taken twice. Your high score from the two attempts will serve as you final score on that test
- Following completion of a test, you will receive feedback--the questions, your answers, and whether your answers were right or wrong. It makes sense to use the feedback from a first attempt at a test as a study resource prior to taking the second attempt
- You can also review your work on a test (after completion) by clicking on the grade in the grade reporting area of MyGateway (Student Tools: View Grades).
- You will have 90 minutes to complete each test.
- You will need to complete each test by the due date indicated on the "Assignments, Readings and Class Schedule" page.
- An attempt is an attempt. You may request up to three resets for technological "glitches" over the course of the semester. Submitted exams will not be available for reset.
- Any concerns regarding your tests must be addressed before the end of the semester.
Make-up tests will be available for students who can document exceptional circumstances that prohibited them for completing at least one attempt of a test during its regular availability period. You must contact the instructor within 24 hours following the close of a test to arrange for a make-up. There will only be one attempt available for a make-up test.
Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in a Zero (0) being recorded for the test/final exam in question.

Please be sure to use the "Practice Quizzes" found in the "Assignments" area to help you prepare for the test. The "Course Documents" area contains study guides, test study tips, and other utilities to help you prepare for the tests and final exam.

Wimba: Wimba Live Classroom is an online, synchronous learning tool we will be using this semester. Wimba allows students to "attend" a live class via the Internet, and it also allows me to record class sessions so that students can access and review the recordings (archives). A brief explanation for using Wimba is included in the course syllabus and at http://www.horizonwimba.com/technicalsupport. You can contact Horizon Wimba Technical Support by phone (toll-free): 866.350.4978 or email: technicalsupport@horizonwimba.com. You'll find a link to Wimba on the navigation menu of our course MyGateway site. To attend a live course session, you will need a computer with Internet access, as well as speakers and a microphone (a headset works best). Be sure to run the "Set Up Wizard" to insure your computer is properly configured for the Wimba Live Classroom interface. To review archived class sessions, you'll just need speakers. Any student is invited to participate via the live interface (Wimba session classes are noted on the "Assignments, Readings, and Course Schedule" found in the Assignments area). All students (especially those in the Internet-only section) are encouraged to use the archived sessions in their studies for the course. Learn more about how Wimba is used in this class.

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/4380/4380_assignments.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated: Friday, January 2, 2015 9:24 AM

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