Saturday, November 13, 2010

COURSE OUTLINE



Modules (one week long – excluding holidays):

Orientation Module:
o      Introduction to course layout
o      Introductory discussion
o      Introductory assignment (un-graded)
o      Feedback

Module One:  Defining Culture
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 1 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Two: Understanding Population Issues
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 2 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Three: Analyzing the Importance of Migration
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 3 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Four: Distinguishing between Folk and Popular Cultures
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 4 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Five: Understanding Ethnicity
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 7 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Six: Understanding Political Geography
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 8 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment

o      Assessment (Modules 1 to 6)


Module Seven:  Analyzing the importance of Religion
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 6 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Eight:  Understanding the Development of Languages
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 5 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Nine: Analyzing Industrial Activities                        
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 11 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Research Week:
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Research Assignment, including topic, format and submission options
o      Feedback

Module Ten: Analyzing Agricultural Systems
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 10 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Eleven: Understanding the importance of the Service Sector

o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 12 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
  • Feedback

Module Twelve:  Analyzing Development Theories
o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 9 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment
o      Vocabulary Quiz
o      Feedback

Module Thirteen:  Understanding Urban Patterns                             

o      Objective and Introduction to Module
o      Link to Readings, including chapter 13 textbook
o      Discussion Assignment

Assessment (Modules 7 to 13)

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GRADING RUBRIC AND SCALE

GRADING SCALE:
Students will be graded using the scale shown below. 

600-540=A                             
539-480=B                             
479-420=C                             
419-360=D                             
359 and below =F                              
                                               

GRADING RUBRICS:
Exam 1                                                90 points (15%)
Exam 2                                                90 points (15%)
Quizzes 10 (10 points each)                100 points (16.7 %)
Research Assignment                          60 points (10%)
Discussion Assignments 13 x 20         260 points (43.3%)
Total                                                    600 points (100%
Grading Components:
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GRADING METHODOLOGY


Exams:
Exam 1 will contain 90 multiple choice questions from materials covered in modules one through six. 

Exam 2 will contain 90 multiple choice questions from materials covered in modules seven through thirteen. 

Exam Completion Rules:
Ø     Students will be allocated one and half hours to complete the exam.
Ø     The exam must be completed in one sitting. 
Ø     Questions will appear on the screen one at a time. 
Ø     Students can only move through the questions in a forward direction.
Ø     Students will only have one attempt to answer each question.
Ø     Once a question has been submitted, it can not be changed or accessed again.
Ø     Upon completion of the exam, students will be provided with their final score and the correct answers to any wrong responses.   

Quizzes:

Students will be required to complete 10 quizzes.  Each quiz will consist of 20 multiple choice questions on the vocabulary words contained within the current module. 

Quiz Completion Rules: 
Ø     Students will be allocated 30 minutes to complete each quiz.
Ø     Each quiz must be completed in one sitting. 
Ø     Questions will appear on the screen one at a time. 
Ø     Students can only move through the questions in a forward direction.
Ø     Students will have one attempt to answer each question.
Ø     Once a question has been submitted, it can not be changed or accessed again in that sitting.
Ø     Upon completion of the exam, students will be provided with their score on the exam and the correct answers to any wrong responses.   
Ø     Students may take the quiz a maximum of four times.
Ø     Each time, the questions on the quiz will be shuffled or re-organized.
Ø     The highest score will be accepted as the final grade on the quiz.

Discussion Assignments:

Students will be provided with a list of questions related to the current module.  Each student will either pick one of the pre-constructed questions or create his/her own question (with instructor’s approval only) and provide a written response of at least 200 words.  Students will post their responses into the discussion forum.  Each student must read and reply back to at least two responses from his/her classmates. 

Research Assignment:

Students will be required to conduct research on a pre-approved topic of their choosing.   They will submit a final display of their research findings in one of several pre-selected formats. 
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COURSE POLICIES

Academic Honesty (Cheating and Plagiarism):
The Joliet Junior College Student Handbook states that plagiarism "includes but is not limited to the use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work of another person, without full and clear acknowledgement, or the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency, engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials" (29).  The minimum penalty for students who plagiarize will be a zero on the assignment. More severe penalties may be implemented by the instructor, including failure of the course, and a referral to the Dean of Student Development for academic misconduct.

Student Conduct:
Students are accountable for their own conduct.  Sanctions for violations of college rules and regulations for conduct will be dealt with according to the “Student Code of Conduct” as stated in the college catalog.

Impairment Cautionary Statement:
Students are responsible for reporting to their instructor any condition that would impair their abilities within the class environment.  Failure to notify your instructor of this issue may be a violation of the Code of Student Conduct. 

Sexual Harassment:
JJC has a strong policy prohibiting the sexual harassment of one member of the college community by another. Sexual harassment includes any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other conduct of a sexual nature when: (1) the student's scholastic program, extracurricular activities or participation in other JJC programs are, or will be, affected by the student's decision to accept or reject the sexual conduct; or (2) the sexual conduct creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive learning environment.

College Documentation Styles:
MLA and APA have been adopted as the official documentation styles of the college.  The selected documentation style for this class is MLA.

Withdrawal Policy and Grades of “F”:
A student who does not withdraw from a course may receive a grade of ‘F’, depending on course progress or course attendance, which will become part of the student’s permanent record.  The withdrawal date will be provided in class.   

Incomplete Grade Policy:
No incomplete grade will be given for this class.

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ENABLING OBJECTIVES

Module One:  Defining Culture
o      Define and use geographic concepts related to cultural systems
o      Discuss eight principles of culture
o      Explain the three types of cultural regions
o      Show an understanding of how cultural ideals develop and spread
o      Show an understanding of globalization and the impact of transnational corporations
o      Explain the three main properties of distribution

Module Two: Understanding Population Issues
o      Define and use geographic concepts related to population growth and change
o      Explain the five stages of the Demographic Transition Model
o      Show an understanding of how gender, age and medical issues impact a population
o      Discuss strategies designed to manage the size of a population

Module Three: Analyzing the Importance of Migration
o      Discuss the importance of immigration to a countries development
o      Explain the phases of immigration into the U.S.
o      Identify different immigration patterns within less developed societies

Module Four: Distinguishing between Folk and Popular Cultures
o      Show an understanding of the importance of globalization and colonialism in forming cultural systems
o      Explain the difference between folk and popular culture
o      Discuss the impact of popular culture on global societies


Module Five: Understanding Ethnicity
o      Define and use geographic concepts related to race and ethnicity
o      Explain how the term ‘Balkanization’ originated
o      Show an understanding of the historical and political implications of genocide
o      Discuss the devastating impact of social stratification systems based on ascribed characteristics like race
                       
Module Six: Understanding Political Geography
o      Define and use geographic concepts related to political geography                           
o      Show an understanding of the two modern trends in geopolitics, micro-nationalism and supra-nationalism
o      Identify the five basic shapes of countries
o      Discuss the ‘heartland theory’ and its impact on U.S. political policies during the Cold War era

Module Seven:  Analyzing the importance of Religion
o      Discuss methods for classifying religions
o      Explain the connection between secularization and fundamentalism
o      Identify and discuss the connection between the three Abrahamic religions

Module Eight:  Understanding the Development of Languages
o      Discuss the importance of Language Families and Linguistic Family Trees
o      Explain why indigenous languages are in decline and ways to protect them
o      Explain the benefits of bilingualism
o      Show an understanding of how languages develop and change overtime

Module Nine: Analyzing Industrial Activities                        
o      Discuss the variety of factors that are important in determining the location of companies
o      Identify the three main site factors
o      Show an understanding of how McDonald’s growth strategies impact its workers, consumers and global economies

Module Ten: Analyzing Agricultural Systems

o      Identify the differences between the three major agriculture styles on a global scale i.e. Industrial, Traditional and Subsistence

  • Show an understanding of the connection between climatic factors and agricultural production regions on a global scale

o      Discuss the importance of the Columbian exchange in modern economies

  • Discuss the three interconnected processes of the Green Revolution and their importance in modern agriculture
  • Discuss the benefits and problems of factory farms

Module Eleven: Understanding the importance of the Service Sector

  • Explain locational factors in reference to service based businesses
  • Discuss the
    Central Place
     theory

Module Twelve:  Analyzing Development Theories
  • Discuss the methods used by international organizations to measure, monitor and foster economic development on a global scale
  • Explain the Core-Periphery model and its relevance in a global economy
  • Identify the policies differences between Neoliberalism, Self-Sufficiency, Dependency and Rostow’s development models
  • Discuss the importance of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in global development levels

Module Thirteen:  Understanding Urban Patterns                             

  • Define and use geographic concepts related to urban development
  • Show an understanding of how, why and where urban centers have developed and expanded overtime
  • Discuss the three major models of city development i.e. Concentric-zones, Sectors, and Multiple-Nuclei
  • Discuss urban morphology and how individuals navigate thru modern urban centers
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TERMINAL OBJECTIVES

1.     Identify important place-names and define/use various geographic concepts.
2.     Construct accurate mental maps of regions covered.
3.     Show an awareness of the diversity found within and between cultural systems.
4.     Show an appreciation for non-American ideals, goals, philosophies, and viewpoints.
5.     Describe the nature of global interconnectedness.
6.     Describe and explain the symbiotic interplay of a variety of natural and social factors, particularly in producing a given regional landscape.
7.     Show an understanding of specific regions' physical layout, political systems, economic production, and socio-cultural characteristics.
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