Overview
Sociology is a distinctive way of critically understanding the social forces that shape the self, Australia and the world - whatever professional paths you take. This unit will enable you to start thinking critically about Australian society, your place in it as part of an increasingly diverse and globalising world. It will help you to develop a deeper understanding of the underlying social forces that shape social inequality and individual autonomy using critical thinking and reflective practice
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 3 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from 'Have your say' button
Students gave textbook mixed review feeling it was too advanced and too US-centric.
Has set an Australian textbook which is more readable and less detailed.
Feedback from 'Have your say' button
Overall students said the unit was too difficult and key concepts needed more explanation
The new textbook will address this
- Explain the interactions between self and Australian society in a broad historical, cultural and social-structural context.
- Apply sociological frameworks to major forms of social inequality in Australia in global context, such as class, race and gender.
- Define basic sociological concepts.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | |
1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 25% | |||
2 - Written Assessment - 25% | |||
3 - Written Assessment - 50% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | |
1 - Communication | |||
2 - Problem Solving | |||
3 - Critical Thinking | |||
4 - Information Literacy | |||
5 - Team Work | |||
6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
8 - Ethical practice | |||
9 - Social Innovation | |||
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 25% | ||||||||||
2 - Written Assessment - 25% | ||||||||||
3 - Written Assessment - 50% |
Textbooks
The Sociological Quest
Edition: Any (2011)
Authors: Evan Willis
A&U Academic
St Leonards St Leonards , NSW , Australia
Binding: Paperback
Additional Textbook Information
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.hopkinson@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Sociology, Human services, systems and social innovation
Chapter
Textbook: Willis (2011) Ch. 1 Introduction & Ch. 2 Nature of Sociological Explanations
Hopkinson (2007) 'WTF is Sociology?'
Events and Submissions/Topic
Complete ichange module
Module/Topic
Is Sociology a Science? Challenging appearances & the ideology of "common sense"
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Complete Practice Quiz
Module/Topic
The Sociological Imagination 1: History and Cultural Factors - roles & norms in capitalist society
Chapter
Textbook: Willis (2011) Ch. 4 Sociological Imagination
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The Sociological Imagination 2: Structure of Capitalist Society & Critique
Chapter
Textbook: Willis (2011) Ch 5 Structure and critique
Events and Submissions/Topic
Two Timed Online Quizzes Due: Week 4 Friday (30 Nov 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Social Structures 1: State Ideology & Neo-liberal Politics
Chapter
Wallerstein (2001) Ch. 1 The French Revolution as world-historical event
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Biology as ideology - it it really in your DNA?
Chapter
Textbook: Willis (2011) Ch. 6 The Social and the Biological
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Social Structures 2: Class Structure & Capitalist Globalisation
Chapter
Textbook: Willis (2011) Ch.7 Theory & Method Ch. 8 Doing Sociology
Walter & Saggers (2007) Poverty & Social Class (CRO)
Events and Submissions/Topic
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS
Module/Topic
Social Structures 3: Class & Cultural Norms
Chapter
Germov (2013) Imagining Health Problems as Social Issues (CRO)
:
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Social Structures 4 : The Gender Order & Families
Chapter
Bessant & Watts (2007) Ourselves in Families (CRO)
Torres (2000) Indigenous Australian Women (CRO)
Transgender Basics [Youtube clip]
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Social Structures 5: Nation-state and "race": An imaginary community
Chapter
Craven & Price (2011) Misconceptions, stereotypes & racism (CRO)
Thompson (1994) The cult of disremembering (CRO)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Cultural Norms: Moral panics: Sex, drugs & deviance
Chapter
Hari Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong (URL)
Freij & Germov (2015) Sociology of licit and illicit drugs (CRO)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Intersectionality
Chapter
Lerner (1997) Rethinking the paradigm: race & class (CRO)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Revision
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Two Timed Online Quizzes No. 2 Due Week 12 Friday (8th Feb 2019) 6am-10pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Having an understanding of the sociological imagination is an important component of working in human services (e.g. social work, psychology) or social innovation. For this assessment, you are asked to write a 1000 word essay describing the sociological imagination and why it is important in understanding contemporary society and its relevance to your future profession.
Week 6 Friday (21 Dec 2018) 12:00 pm AEST
Week 9 Monday (14 Jan 2019)
Assessment items will be returned on Monday 2 weeks after submission
Structure (20%)
Academic essay conventions apply
Sociological Content (60%)
Introduction: Briefly explain how the sociological imagination connects private troubles with public issues.
Discussion
History: How does an understanding of history inform human service work?
Structure: In what ways do an understanding of class, race and gender impact on human service work?
Socio-Cultural norms: How does understanding the role of social norms in constructing cultural 'commonsense' help human service workers understand power relations?
Conclusion Critique: How useful do you think a sociological way of seeing will be in your future career?
Presentation (20%)
It is expected that students will present their work in a professional manner - it should be clear and easy to read. It should follow the marking rubric available on Moodle and be properly referenced and formatted.
- Explain the interactions between self and Australian society in a broad historical, cultural and social-structural context.
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
2 Written Assessment
You are asked to write a 1500 word essay focusing on a current social issue using the sociological imagination template. Some current social issues you may like to choose from include drug use, sexual assault, Aboriginal recognition, or refugees. Please contact the Unit Coordinator if you would like choose a different social issue.
Please, to ensure your own self-care, it is advised to choose a social issue that you do not have personal experience with. Do not interview people for this assessment, use the sociological literature and other sources to present the issue starting from an Indigenous perspective.
Week 11 Friday (1 Feb 2019) 12:00 pm AEST
Exam Week Friday (15 Feb 2019)
Assessment items will be returned on the Monday following 2 weeks after submission
Structure (20%)
Academic essay conventions apply
Sociological Content (60%)
Introduction: Briefly outline the issue and how the sociological imagination addresses it.
Discussion
History: How does an understanding of history inform your understanding of the issue?
Structure: In what ways do an understanding of class, race and gender shape the social issue?
Socio-Cultural norms: How does the cultural 'commonsense' frame the isseu? How does a sociological 'way of seeing' differ?
Conclusion Critique: Sum up the argument and explain how your perspective on the issue has changed as a result of your research
Presentation (20%)
It is expected that students will present their work in a professional manner - it should be clear and easy to read. It should follow the marking rubric available on Moodle and be properly referenced and formatted.
- Apply sociological frameworks to major forms of social inequality in Australia in global context, such as class, race and gender.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
3 Online Quiz(zes)
There will be two quizzes with a total of 50 questions. You will be given one minute per question and each question is worth 0.5 mark.
QUIZ 1 20 Questions in 20 minutes - at the end of Week 4
QUIZ 2 30 Questions in 30 minutes - at the end of Week 12 (BEFORE the exam period)
0
Other
Week 4 Friday (30 Nov 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Quizzes will be available on Friday of Week 4 and Week 12 between 6am and 10pm
The online quiz is graded as it is completed. The results will be available when the overall quiz closes (ie the following day).
Objectives
The quizzes are set to test your understanding of fundamental concepts, methods, perspectives and facts covered by the textbooks and lectures. Each covers the whole term’s work up to that point.
Details
These are a timed online quizzes that must be sat on the due date between the hours of 6 AM and 10 PM (Australian Eastern Standard Time). If there are timezone issues for you please contact me well in advance.
They will be delivered through the ‘Assessment’ section of the course Moodle site, and will only become available on the due date. Students will need to have access to an Internet connection in order to complete the quiz. It is your responsibility to make time to sit the quiz on the due date, and to arrange for a reliable Internet connection. Before you take the quiz, make sure that you are ready (i.e. a proper revision has been done) and choose a time and computer/place with minimum distraction to sit for the quiz (i.e. do not have external disturbances from people, pets, etc).
Be conscious of the time limit while taking the quiz—make sure you have a clock in front of you, and note down your starting time. Do not wait until the last minute to complete the quiz as it will time out once the time limit is reached (i.e. at 10PM the quiz will close regardless of your start time).
There will be 2 quizzes with a total of 50 multiple choice questions. The first quiz will have 20 questions in 20 minutes and the second will have 30 questions in 30 minutes.
There will be only one correct or best answer to each question, and you need to select the option corresponding to this answer. There are no penalties for incorrect answers. While you will be able to refer to the textbook or other resources while you are taking the quiz, you cannot afford to do this for every question because of the time limit. You need to have a good understanding of the course content before taking the quiz. Each student will receive a customised quiz, chosen in random fashion from the test bank, so that collusion will not be possible.
The presentation of questions is one page at a time with 5 questions per page. You must complete each page before you go on to the next one. Attempts to backtrack to previous pages are not allowed.
Example -
Q. Which theorist developed ‘power elite’ theory?
a. Robert Merton
b. Emile Durkheim
c. Erving Goffman
d. C. Wright Mills *
The correct answer is (d) C. Wright Mills—this is the one you need to tick.There will also be a mock quiz early in the term for you to gain some practice. Students who may have special difficulties in undertaking the quiz need to contact the course coordinator as early as possible to make the necessary arrangements.
NB These are quizzes and not EXAMS so they are not sat in exam period.
- Define basic sociological concepts.
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Technology Competence
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.