Sociology+Fall+2011+Announcements

Class announcements will be made here with the most recent announcements at the top. Students will be notified via email when additions are made to this announcements page.

Thursday December 15
A. One final reminder that the class survey is due at noon on Friday December 16. B. The semester average that appears on PowerSchool should be final unless: C. Remember, Mr. Duncan will not search for the identity of the student who filled out a survey unless: D. Any questions about grades should be asked //in person// either tomorrow (Friday) or when school resumes in January. Email requests/questions will likely not be answered. E. Mr. Duncan left comments on each of your "Words of Wisdom" reflections. Feel free to read them. Overall, they were impressive, much like Sociology D was this semester. Have a great break and I will see you around KIS next year! (2012)
 * // 1. Wrapping up the Semester Part II //**
 * 1) someone does not complete a thoughtful, reflective class survey on time (points would be deducted) OR
 * 2) someone shares his/her Words of Wisdom in the next 24 hours for late credit (points would be added)
 * 1) someone did not complete the survey
 * 2) someone obviously put little effort into completing the survey
 * 3) someone uses offensive language (however, remember that negative is fine!)

Monday December 12
A. Here are the final dates for wrapping everything up this semester: B. The Words of Wisdom, //Believing Brain// assessment (during the exam period), and final class survey will combine to be the 10% "TBD/Participation" grade for the class. The grade weighting for the major project wrap-up is explained on that wiki page.
 * // 1. Wrapping up the Semester //**
 * Tuesday Dec 13 -- (a) Words of Wisdom reflection on Google Doc, (b) excerpt from //The Believing Brain// read, (c) major project wrap-up due, (d) bring textbook!
 * Friday Dec 16 -- final class survey due, 12pm

Monday November 7
A. Some interesting articles about sex/gender are included on the Further Exploration - Sociology & Beyond part of the wiki. Discussions include the male/female achievement gap in schools, single sex schools, fewer babies, and the consequences of far more males being born in Asia than females.
 * // 1. Sex & Gender Links //**

A. By the end of this week, students should have posted their final major project research questions on the project home page.
 * // 2. Major Research Project Questions //**

A. Please bring these to the next class--your teacher meant to get them today!
 * // 3. 3 Questions & 10 facts //**

Friday November 4
A. Students in class, read the chapter you selected--Ch. 11 "Sex and Gender." (If you miss this class, you will need to read over the weekend.) After reading the chapter, do the following: B. Homework due Tue Nov 8
 * // 1. Fri Nov 4 Class //**
 * Come up with **3** questions about sex/gender that you would like answered. These questions should be ones that do not have a crystal clear answer...they should have at least two different sides that people could argue
 * List 10 facts that you found interesting from the chapter. (Note: Spread these out...don't have them all from the same section.
 * Turn in, printed out, the 3 questions and 10 facts from the "Sex and Gender" chapter
 * Have a more finalized major project research question (does not need to printed/posted anywhere)

Saturday October 29
The Fall 2011 Sociology Major Research Project will get underway this week. This is a chance for students to explore in-depth (just about) anything that interests them in the field of Sociology. Unlike the Korea-USA projects, a survey or experiment is not the main focus of this. Students will be expected to do scholarly research in that field. Much, much more information can be found using the PROJECT DESCRIPTION + INFO link on the KIS Major Sociology Research Project page of the wiki. The project will be formally introduced in class on Monday. However, the main reason for sharing this with you now is so you can start to think about what interests you in the field of sociology. The topics found in chapters 9-22 of your textbook may provide inspiration, but ultimately, the students will design their own questions. The initial question will be due on Wednesday. Until then, happy brainstorming!
 * // 1. Major Sociology Research Project //**

This semester's class voted to cover Chapter 11, Sex and Gender, in more detail. The first few weeks of November will primarily be dedicated to studying student-originated essential questions from this chapter.
 * // 2. Class-Selected Topic //**

The wrap-up for this project will be due Wednesday November 2. The specifics for this will be described in class on Monday.
 * // 3. Korea-USA Project Wrap-Up //**

Friday September 30
Today is all about peer reviewing others. There are two phases to the class: >
 * // 1. Friday's Class Instructions //**
 * PART I (9:25-9:55 a.m.)
 * Within your groups from this activity, peer review 2 paragraphs (2 different partners from your group) using the Google Doc. Peer review by adding comments on the Google Doc, __//not//__ by correcting on the Google Doc. Add comments that do any of the following: praise, offer constructive criticism on content and/or writing style. You are trying to help your partners become better writers and understand the concepts better.
 * PART II (9:55-10:40 a.m.)
 * Within the same groups, peer review as many projects (try to review one from all of the other members in your group) as possible on the Korea-USA project wiki. Be sure to add discussion either on the comments tab or on the wiki page itself. Make a special effort to offer feedback that can help the other groups achieve the best research possible.
 * At the end of class (perhaps with 5 minutes left), be sure to read the feedback others have left on your page. It is your responsibility to contact your USA group members if any changes are made.
 * Your project plan should be finalized by Sat a.m. There will be 9 days (2 weekends, 1 week) to complete the research. Be thorough but have fun as well!

Wednesday September 28
A. One of the most important goals you should have is to conduct the best original research possible. Please keep these points in mind to help you do just that: In a side note, Ms. Allen and myself are excited about the progress that has been made and look forward to some outstanding research that people all over the world will see!
 * // 1. Korea-USA Project - The Original Research Phase //**
 * 1) **MAKE THE PROJECT PLANS MUCH MORE DETAILED**. As of today, the "how" of the experiment was not clearly stated for any project. The instructions should be clear enough so students from both schools will conduct their research in the exact same way. For example, if the research subjects are to do something such as watch a video clip, the exact instructions of how they are to watch it (Will others be present? What type of setting? What time of day? Will they have headphones or not? etc.) must be included. This should be done for all phases--choosing subjects, what questions will be asked and how, etc--of the project plan.
 * 2) WHY do the plans need to be exact? 2 reasons: First, this is so the project/research will succeed as much as possible in __finding accurate results__. The more variables that exist, the less accurate the research will be. Second , good research should be able to be replicated. People that want to test your findings should be able to easily understand what steps they should follow.
 * 3) **SELECT THE BEST SAMPLE SIZE**. Ideally, you would be able to conduct your research on 1000s of subjects. But, due to serious time constraints, this will not be possible. However, you will need to try to get a large sample size to increase the likelihood that you will compile accurate research. Also, be sure to remember what was discussed in class about getting quality, random samples.
 * 4) **FOCUS ON THE INTERPRETATION OF YOUR RESULTS!** Interpreting/analyzing will be the most important component to the project. For example, if you are doing an experiment on dessert preferences, it is not enough to just understand which groups of people prefer certain desserts. Consider __WHY__ that result is the way it is. You are being reminded of this BEFORE you conduct your research because it may affect the way you plan to conduct your research. If you will be unable to do quality analysis, then your current plan should be altered.

Tuesday September 20
A. Live Introductions & Two Questions
 * // 1. Korea-USA Project //**
 * If for some reason you are unable to complete your live communication with your partners from San Antonio by tomorrow (Wed), there will be a chance to talk to many of them at 10:45pm Korea time on Thursday and/or Friday. Mr. Duncan will explain more in Wednesday's class.
 * Having said that, it is vital to communicate with your partners in some form by tomorrow as the general and specific questions are due, posted on the wiki, prior to tomorrow's class. Because the US students will not have access to the wiki until later this week, it is the KIS students' responsibility to post the questions.

Friday September 9
A. Introductions B. Topics for the project C. Collaboration description D. Project Partners E. Questions
 * // 1. Korea-USA Project //**
 * Hello, several of you have done a great job with your introductions and have already heard back from your partners. I am glad that you can start getting to know each other as well as begin brainstorming project ideas.
 * Having said that, several of you (a) did not do a great introduction and/or (b) did not put the Google Doc into your folder. If you fall into one or both of these categories, fix this immediately (as in today)!
 * A few of you started brainstorming which is good. Please keep in mind that the suggestions are designed to help you come up with your own ideas. They are not intended to be a list to choose from. Look at the list from the project description as well as the projects from the Korea-Illinois Spring 2011 Sociology Collaboration for additional inspiration. Really try to stretch your imagination--find out something that interests you and your partners!
 * The project description and key dates are posted here: Korea-USA Fall 2011 Sociology Collaboration. Be sure to plan ahead so nothing sneaks up on you and so you can do the best job possible.
 * A few of you may have had your partners change since yesterday's class. Be sure to look at the Google Doc sent to you yesterday to make sure you still have the same partners.
 * If you have any questions, please ask me today by 5:00pm as I will likely be "off the grid" for much of Chuseok break.
 * In the meantime, have a great break and keep in touch with your partners!

Tuesday August 23
A. Read p. 64-68, 73-86, 87-91 (including boxes on p. 65 & 77)...consider nature v. nurture, where we learn our gender roles, and how people are trained to behave certain ways based on their age.
 * // 1. Assignment for Thursday's class //**

Monday August 8
A. To help your teacher "get to know you a bit more," download the document. After downloading, answer the questions and print it out for next class. Later on, we will put this in a Google Folder, so do not delete it after turning it in! Be sure to be descriptive on the paragraphs and write the "Why" and teacher name for the best class taken @ KIS.
 * // 1. Getting to Know You Activity //**