Terminal Course Objectives DeVry University course content is constructed from curriculum guides developed for each course that are in alignment with specific Terminal Course Objectives. The Terminal Course Objectives (TCOs) define the learning objectives that the student will be required to comprehend and demonstrate by course completion. The TCOs that will be covered in detail each week can be found in the Objectives section for that particular week. Whenever possible, a reference will be made from a particular assignment or discussion back to the TCO that it emphasizes. 1 Given a social problem such as homelessness, use sociological imagination to interpret the problem, assess possible solutions, and illustrate how a social scientist may view this issue in a cultural context. 2 Given a hypothesis such as, "Using a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as driving under the influence," apply the scientific method and use appropriate scientific techniques in refining the hypothesis, applying operational definitions, and selecting the appropriate research method for validating the hypothesis. 3 Given a social issue or case study involving an applied sociological situation, such as the current state of the educational, prison, health care or public assistance system in a state or province, analyze the situation from the major sociological, theoretical perspectives, determine if one theory seems more applicable to this issue than another, and provide basic guidelines for improving the system. 4 Given a sample reading, such as Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993), or a film such as Avatar, analyze the meaning of culture within society and demonstrate how the concepts of culture and society are inseparable. 5 Given a case study dealing with issues of the interactions of ethnic or racial groups within social organizations, identify areas of social stratification, discrimination, differentiate between racial and ethnic groups, illustrate stereotypes and analyze these interactions based on the cultural characteristics of the groups within the case study. 6 Given the changing demographics of the United States and the globalization of markets, compare and contrast cultural differences and illustrate their impact on providing services to members of different cultures, especially non-dominant populations in the United States. 7 Given a case study on a multicultural issue other than race and ethnicity, such as the aging North American population, changing family forms, marriage equality, undocumented workers, the location of religious houses of worship, etc., analyze this issue in the context of a subgroup within a larger "normative" population and evaluate the extent to which the subgroup fits in with society's overall norms. 8 Given a film involving a multicultural issue or issues, such as Higher Learning, A Class Divided, or Do the Right Thing, extrapolate at least three major and two minor sociological concepts and demonstrate in a well written essay how ...

1. Terminal Course Objectives
DeVry University course content is constructed from curriculum
guides developed for each course that are in alignment with
specific Terminal Course Objectives. The Terminal Course
Objectives (TCOs) define the learning objectives that the
student will be required to comprehend and demonstrate by
course completion. The TCOs that will be covered in detail each
week can be found in the Objectives section for that particular
week. Whenever possible, a reference will be made from a
particular assignment or discussion back to the TCO that it
emphasizes.
1
Given a social problem such as homelessness, use sociological
imagination to interpret the problem, assess possible solutions,
and illustrate how a social scientist may view this issue in a
cultural context.
2
Given a hypothesis such as, "Using a cell phone while driving is
as dangerous as driving under the influence," apply the
scientific method and use appropriate scientific techniques in
refining the hypothesis, applying operational definitions, and
selecting the appropriate research method for validating the
hypothesis.
3
Given a social issue or case study involving an applied
sociological situation, such as the current state of the
educational, prison, health care or public assistance system in a
state or province, analyze the situation from the major
sociological, theoretical perspectives, determine if one theory
seems more applicable to this issue than another, and provide
basic guidelines for improving the system.
4
Given a sample reading, such as Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993),
or a film such as Avatar, analyze the meaning of culture within

2. society and demonstrate how the concepts of culture and society
are inseparable.
5
Given a case study dealing with issues of the interactions of
ethnic or racial groups within social organizations, identify
areas of social stratification, discrimination, differentiate
between racial and ethnic groups, illustrate stereotypes and
analyze these interactions based on the cultural characteristics
of the groups within the case study.
6
Given the changing demographics of the United States and the
globalization of markets, compare and contrast cultural
differences and illustrate their impact on providing services to
members of different cultures, especially non-dominant
populations in the United States.
7
Given a case study on a multicultural issue other than race and
ethnicity, such as the aging North American population,
changing family forms, marriage equality, undocumented
workers, the location of religious houses of worship, etc.,
analyze this issue in the context of a subgroup within a larger
"normative" population and evaluate the extent to which the
subgroup fits in with society's overall norms.
8
Given a film involving a multicultural issue or issues, such
as Higher Learning, A Class Divided, or Do the Right Thing,
extrapolate at least three major and two minor sociological
concepts and demonstrate in a well written essay how these
concepts are sociologically related through the film's storyline.
Course Schedule
Week, TCOs, and Topics
Readings and Class Preparation
Activities and Assignments
Week 1
TCOs 1, 2, and 3
Introduction to Sociology

3. Chapter 1: Sociology: Perspective, Theory, and Method
Sociological Imagination Assignment
Graded Discussion Topics
Week 2
TCOs 3 and 4
Socialization, Culture Social Interaction
Chapter 2: Culture
Chapter 3: Socialization: From Infancy to Old Age
Chapter 4: Social Interaction in Everyday Life
Graded Discussion Topics
Quiz
Week 3
TCOs 4 and 6
Social Groups, Organizations, and Sexuality
Chapter 5: Groups and Organizations
Chapter 6: Sexuality and Society
You Decide Activity
Graded Discussion Topics
Week 4
TCOs 3, 5 and 6
Deviance, Stratification, and Global Inequality
Chapter 7: Deviance
Chapter 8: Social Stratification
Chapter 9: Global Stratification
Graded Discussion Topics
Quiz
Week 5
TCOs 5, 7, and 8
Gender Stratification, Race and Ethnicity
Chapter 10: Gender Stratification
Chapter 11: Race and Ethnicity
Socioautobiography Assignment
Graded Discussion Topics
Week 6
TCOs 3, 5, and 7
Economics and Politics, Family and Religion, Education and

4. Medicine
Chapter 12: Economics and Politics
Chapter 13: Family and Religion
Chapter 14: Education, Health, and Medicine
Graded Discussion Topics
Quiz
Week 7
TCOs 1 and 3
Population, the Environment, and Social Change
Chapter 15: Population, Urbanization, and Environment
Chapter 16: Social Change: Modern and Postmodern Societies
Graded Discussion Topics
Week 8
All TCOs
Final Exam
Socioautobiography Assignment Guidelines
The purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to
apply the sociological imagination to your everyday life: To
make connections between your everyday life and the broad
sociocultural structures within which you live. In this
assignment, you will reference appropriate Terminal Course
Objectives (TCOs) that relate to your socioautobiography. You
can find the TCOs in this course listed in the Syllabus and in
the weekly objectives. This assignment can be related to any
and all of the TCOs.
The socioautobiography is a reflective paper that allows you the
opportunity to explore the interconnections between biography
(a slice of your life), the social structure, and culture. In
preparation for this paper, please read this document,
Socioautobiography Assignment Guideline. At the end of the
paragraph where a concept is used, indicate which TCOs your
sociological concept refers. This should be done using
parenthetical citation. An example of how to do this is provided
below.
The final paper will be due at the end of Week 5. It should be

5. three-to-four pages in length and may be in any format you
choose. Feel free to get creative. You may choose to do a
standard APA style paper or you can do your
socioautobiography as a news story, movie review of your life,
letter home to family, obituary, poem, lyrics, dialogue, old time
radio program, or Shakespearean play, whatever format you
choose. Be sure to identify your format, double-space your
paper, and correctly use a minimum of six sociological concepts
covered in the weekly readings or lecture. Your six concepts
should be in boldface and underlined. Consider the following
example.
As I think about my experience growing up, I realized that I was
at an advantage compared with some of the other students. I
came from a middle-class family. In my family gender didn’t
matter, boys and girls were raised with the same expectation
that they would be going off to college right after high school.
As such, writing and speaking properly was considered a high
priority. (TCO 3 and TCO 6).
Note how, in this mini-socioautobiography, there are references
to social class and gender.Below are guidelines to follow as you
work on your socioautobiography assignment.
· Papers should contain 3-to 4-pages of text, double-spaced (this
does not include the title page).
· Refer to and properly use at least six sociological concepts
covered in the lectures or textbook reading.
· Underline and boldface these concepts.
· Connect your concepts to the TCOs. Indicate the TCOs
covered in parentheses, as demonstrated in the assignment
instructions.
· Cite the textbook and/or lecture for the concepts and the
Syllabus or course objectives for the TCOs in addition to any
outside source material used both in body and on your reference
page.
Grading:
Component

6. Points
Submission refers to at least six sociological concepts covered
in the lectures or textbook reading and uses them correctly.
60
Submission underlines each concept and puts them in boldface
and relates them to the appropriate TCO.
60
Submission meets minimum length requirement of three-to-four
pages of text not including title page or reference page.
10
Submission is well-written and well-organized and free from
mechanical errors (errors in spelling, punctuation, word choice,
and grammar).
10
Submission properly referenced course lecture and/or text for
the sociological concepts and the Syllabus and/or course
objectives for the TCOs in the body of the paper and on a
reference page.
10
Total
150You might find the following excerpt on a
socioautobiography helpful as you are thinking about what a
socioautobiography is. It is taken directly from: Kanagy, C. L.,
& Kraybill, D. B., (1999). The Riddles of Human Society.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. (pp. 287–
289).Socioautobiography
“The purpose of the socioautobiography is to use the insights
from sociology to better understand your own story; it is a way
of using the concepts of sociology to explore our personal
riddle. But the socioautobiography is not a diary or a point-by-
point account of your life since infancy. It is rather a reflective
exercise in which you step outside of yourself and employ
sociological concepts to interpret your experiences . . . it uses
the concepts of the discipline to interpret our life in its social
context.” (p. 287)

7. “The socioautobiography follows the tradition of C. Wright
Mills, a sociologist who emphasized the influence of society on
the individual. He argued that personal troubles are typically
rooted in larger social forces—that is public issues.” (p. 287)
The socioautobiography invites you to consider, in the tradition
of C. Wright Mills, how social influences have shaped you. As
you contemplate your socioautobiography, you might ask, what
were the social forces that constructed the riddle of my life?
How did I negotiate the crisscrossing pressures of autonomy and
conformity? The connection between the micro and macro
realms is an important area to address in your
socioautobiography.
The socioautobiography also gives you the opportunity to place
your life under the sociological microscope and apply the skills
of sociological analysis. Try to understand who you are in your
social context using a sociological perspective. As you write
your story, use sociological concepts—such as social class,
reference group, conformity, norm, role, deviance, subculture,
and any others that are helpful—to interpret your life
experiences.
You may want to focus on several events, special moments, or
important relationships in your life that have impacted you in
significant ways. Recall key themes, events, or circumstances
that have contributed to the construction of your identity. You
may want to discuss the importance of some of the following
influences: significant others, family structure, residence
(urban, suburban, rural), ethnicity, religion, social status, group
memberships, economic status, leisure, work, death, and crisis.
Regardless of which themes you discuss, be sure to interpret
them with some of the sociological concepts that have been
introduced throughout the book.
Questions like the following may be appropriate: How have

8. social forces—groups, larger social trends, and cultural
values—molded my behavior and world view? In what sense am
I both a produce and producers of culture? How has my family
background expanded or restricted my opportunities and life
chances? How might I be different had I been born into another
culture? What have been the most influential social forces in my
life?
In crafting a socioautobiography, we have the opportunity to
reflect on the construction of our self-identity. Only as we
begin to understand how we have been socially created can we
become fully empowered to act. Many of us go through life
repeating patterns given to us by the faces in our mirror without
realizing that we have the power to change those patterns in our
own lives. As we begin to understand how we have been
created, we have greater freedom to control how we shape and
produce the culture around us. (pp. 288-289)
3Socioautobiography Assignment Guidelines