Department Programs
Sociology Department Writing Program
The Sociology Department understands writing as a crucial component of the education process. Having revised its writing program in 2002, the department here reaffirms this commitment and further adjusts its program to meet the new curricular goals of the College and to comply with the criteria outlined by the Academic Writing Program's Advisory Board in February 2004. As stated in the 2002 document, the “Department Faculty believe that writing is not only a constructive mechanism for more profound learning, but also a tool for the development of clear thinking and articulate speech.” In light of the Academic Writing Program Advisory Board’s February 2004 document, the sociology department has revised its writing program in order to meet the new college curricular goals. Department faculty remain committed to teaching writing throughout sociology courses and support the addition of oral and visual rhetoric to its considerations. When honed, written, visual, and oral communication skills will improve student’s critical thinking skills, and ultimately make students more effective agents of change and renewal.
Rationale for the writing proposal
The department believes that a standardized writing program will be beneficial to the department and its students in the following ways:
- Faculty will have a complete knowledge of the structure of the departmental writing program and will be better informed as to how individual courses are used to serve those ends/expectations and contribute to a sequencing of writing expectations at the department level.
- Faculty will have a clear sense of the types, length, and frequency of writing that sociology majors are doing in all the sociology courses, and therefore a better understanding of “reasonable” writing requirements.
- Faculty will be aware of the integration of research fluency in the writing process.
- Students will have a clearer sense of departmental writing expectations and research requirements
- Students will follow a comparable progression of writing and research expectations within the major and will have an opportunity to increase writing competence through the program.
- Students will develop skills for writing and research that enhance effective communicating in further academic study or in public service.
I. Compliance with the Goals of the College Academic Writing Program.
Summary of Sociology Department Writing/Rhetoric Program
Course |
Type of Writing |
# of pages |
Location within Semester (by thirds) |
Feedback |
151 |
Book review Essay exams Book review Research project |
5 pages 1 page (x3) 5- 7pages 5-10 pages |
Middle Beginning, middle, end Middle End |
Peer review Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments |
153 |
Interview paper Essay exams |
8-10 pages 8 pages (x2) |
Middle Middle, end |
Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments |
210 |
Group research project Short papers Book review Essay exams |
5-7 pages
3 pages (x3) 5-7 pages 4 pages (x2) |
End
Beginning, middle, end Middle Middle, end |
Instructor grade with comments
Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments |
250 |
6 journal entries Test essays Academic paper |
10 pages 6 pages 5-7 pages |
Beginning, middle, end Middle, end End |
Instructor comments Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments |
252 |
Reading summaries Group project Research Project |
9-18 pages 10-15 pages 10-15 pages |
Beginning, middle, end Middle End |
Written comments Written comments Written comments with revisions |
253 |
Case studies (x2) Oral group presentation Essay exam questions Reading responses |
2-4 pages total 15 minutes
½ page per article (x25) |
Beginning, middle End
Beginning, middle, end |
Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments/peer evaluation Instructor grade with comments Instructor comments |
255 |
Test essays Structured research report |
1 page (x2) 20 pages |
Beginning, middle End |
Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments |
302 |
Literature review Mass transit journal Essay exams Community project reflection |
5 pages 5 pages 10 pages 6 pages |
Middle Middle Middle, end end |
Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments |
303 |
Essay questions
Reading responses Research paper |
3 pages per test (x3)
15 pages |
Middle, end
Beginning, middle, end
|
Instructor grade with comments
|
304 |
Essay questions
Literature review Book review |
3 pages per test (x3) 8-10 pages 5-6 pages |
Middle, end
End Middle |
Instructor grade with comments
Instructor grade with comments |
306 |
3 short papers ethnographic interview/theory integration paper essay exam questions |
3 pages (x3) 8-10 pages
4 pages (x2) |
Beginning, middle, end Middle
Middle, end |
Instructor grade with comments Instructor grade with comments
Instructor grade with comments |
308 |
Reflective writing
Book review Final exam Essay exam Report Research/Presentation |
13 pages total 4-6 pages 8-10 pages 4 pages 4 pages 6-8 pages |
Beginning, middle, end End Beginning Middle End |
Instructor feedback
Instructor feedback Instructor feedback Instructor feedback Instructor feedback |
311 |
Reading responses Research project |
1 page per reading 15 pages |
Beginning, middle, end 15 pages |
Instructor feedback Instructor feedback and grade |
316 |
Weekly journal
|
2 pages (per week)
|
Beginning, middle, end
|
Instructor feedback (check or check-plus) Instructor verbal feedback on annotations handed in during process, instructor feedback on final paper |
317 |
Artifact assessment Thesis driven research paper |
5 pages/5-8 minute oral presentation |
Beginning, middle
|
Instructor feedback
|
318 |
Reading responses Research project |
1 page per reading 10 pages |
Beginning, middle, end end |
Instructor feedback Instructor feedback and grade |
319 |
Essay questions Paper |
4 pages per test (x3) 6 pages |
Beginning, middle, end
|
Instructor grade with comments
|
320 |
|
|
|
|
395 |
3 integrative papers weekly reflection papers perspectival paper/presentation |
4-5 pages 2-3 pages 20 pages/presentation 15 minutes |
Beginning, middle, end Beginning, middle, end
|
Written feedback on final product
|
II. Integration throughout the major curriculum.
151 -- In the introductory course, writing methodologies will build off of the knowledge gained from writing and research taught in English 101. Further, informants/interview methodologies and ethnographic writing styles will be introduced.
255 – In this course students are introduced to statistics and computer applications within the social sciences. Students will be introduced to writing styles in empirically based research.
318 – The social theory course assumes a strong background in writing, and uses the semester to further develop literature based research methods through a lengthy, written theoretical paper. (See the “Research Objectives” at the end of this document) In this course requirement the hope is that students will strengthen their ability to integrate theoretical orientations with real world issues.
320 – The social research course further develops the format of scholarly writing styles in both qualitative and quantitative research. Students develop skills in literature reviews, as well as data collection and analysis. Formal oral presentations are given to organizations involved in the research project. (See the “Research Objectives” at the end of this document)
395 - In the sociology capstone, students are provided with an opportunity to understand and analyze the implications of a Reformed worldview with the basic assumptions and concepts of the discipline of sociology. (See the “Research Objectives” at the end of this document) In particular, the perspectival paper requires that students bring together these two large areas of inquiry. This requirement is intentionally open-ended to allow students a wide berth in pursuing an area of concern that is of interest to them personally and/or professionally. Students are required to present their findings through oral and written venues, building from what they have learned about writing in their previous coursework.
III. Consideration of the role of departmental offerings in the core
The department has six courses in the core curriculum: 151 and 210 are placed within the Societal Structures in North America core category. 153 is in the Global and Historical core category. Soc 250 is housed in the Persons and Community category, and 395 is in the Integrative category. The frequency and diversity of rhetoric requirements in Sociology 151, 153 and 210 are well suited for students not majoring in sociology. Sociology 250 has added a more discipline-based approach to rhetoric in sociology, but still maintains a diversity of writing assignments. Sociology 395 reconsiders not only the core themes within the major but also requires written skills developed in students throughout the major.
IV. Faculty Awareness and Development
- The Department’s Rhetoric Document will be incorporated into the faculty packet that is distributed to all new faculty. The assigned mentor for the new faculty member will be responsible to review the document with the new faculty.
- The Department’s Rhetoric document will be available for faculty and students on the department’s web site.
- New majors will be encouraged to refer to the department’s web site and review the rhetoric document.
- The department’s rhetoric liaison will be responsible for reminding faculty of their responsibilities regarding the Rhetoric Document, and in particular the requirement for adequate feedback and the need to save copies of student papers for department assessment.
- The department will review/assess the Rhetoric Document every five years.
- The department will maintain a high profile of the Rhetoric program by using scheduled departmental development meetings to discuss rhetoric program.
- The department’s rhetoric liaison will announce campus-wide development opportunities to the department.
V. Assessment
A Rhetoric Committee will be formed with the rhetoric liaison as the chair of the committee as well as two additional department members. The committee will assess the Department Rhetoric Program every years. Every five years a written report will be prepared by the committee and presented to the department. The report will have two aspects:
- Descriptive Assessment
- Results of alumni and senior exit survey questions regarding the writing program. The senior exit questionnaire will also ask a series of open-ended questions about students’ experiences with writing and rhetoric related to specific assignments. The goal of these questions will be to assess what assignments were most useful to students in learning to write in a discipline-specific manner.
- Results of a survey of department member’s compliance with and observations of the writing program. The survey will include questions that consider changes in course content, and course pedagogy/assignments to the current campus rhetoric standards.
- Outcome Assessment
- Committee review of selected assignments: The committee will assess five freshman student writing assignments from 151. The students will be students likely to declare a sociology major. The five students will be tracked through out the major and have writing examples collected from each required course in the major. These sample portfolios will be used by the committee to determine whether student’s writing skills have improved in the course of the sociology major.
- Grading rubrics will be composed and used for students in these assignments as well as used by the committee in determining improvement.
- A rubric for oral presentations will be used by students in preparing oral presentations. Professors who require oral presentations will be responsible to compose a brief assessment of student’s oral presentations based on their fulfillment of the requirements in the rubric. These brief assessments will be collected by the rhetoric liaison.
