SOCIOL 1
Introductory Sociology
Description: Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour. Survey of characteristics of social life, processes of social interaction, and tools of sociological investigation. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - First of all, Dr.Anderson's lectures were so easy to follow along. Since this class was set up to be asynchronous the lectures were recorded and discussion was not mandatory (which is nice). Anderson seemed incredibly concerned about students and reminded us to inform her of any mishaps or such that interfered with our work. That said, the workload for this class is not light for a GE. Usually a week consisted of maybe two lectures, chapter readings from the sociology book required, additional readings (some of which were like 20+ pages yikes), and towards the end of the class , some films. This material would then be used to form a discussion post due on Thursday and responses to peers due on Sunday. All of that said, the material was usually very interesting, but still a lot. HOWEVER, all of this eventually helps make the final 7-8 page paper pretty easy. Essentially, your discussion posts are preparing you for that paper. This is reinforced by the huge weight participation (the discussion posts) has on your grade.
Winter 2020 - First of all, Dr.Anderson's lectures were so easy to follow along. Since this class was set up to be asynchronous the lectures were recorded and discussion was not mandatory (which is nice). Anderson seemed incredibly concerned about students and reminded us to inform her of any mishaps or such that interfered with our work. That said, the workload for this class is not light for a GE. Usually a week consisted of maybe two lectures, chapter readings from the sociology book required, additional readings (some of which were like 20+ pages yikes), and towards the end of the class , some films. This material would then be used to form a discussion post due on Thursday and responses to peers due on Sunday. All of that said, the material was usually very interesting, but still a lot. HOWEVER, all of this eventually helps make the final 7-8 page paper pretty easy. Essentially, your discussion posts are preparing you for that paper. This is reinforced by the huge weight participation (the discussion posts) has on your grade.
Most Helpful Review
Took Soc 1 with Professor Black. She is a decent lecturer and always uses film clips and youtube videos to engage her students and to help them apply new concepts. I thought this class was beyond easy, even for a North campus class... Yes, you do have to do the readings for discussion but they're important for the tests. The multiple choice part of the midterm was really easy. Overall she's decent and seems pretty friendly.
Took Soc 1 with Professor Black. She is a decent lecturer and always uses film clips and youtube videos to engage her students and to help them apply new concepts. I thought this class was beyond easy, even for a North campus class... Yes, you do have to do the readings for discussion but they're important for the tests. The multiple choice part of the midterm was really easy. Overall she's decent and seems pretty friendly.
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Most Helpful Review
He's a great professor! He is so passionate about the material that it makes you want to learn it better. Lectures were always interesting and overall, the course was pretty easy. The midterm and final were both very straightforward - he gives out a study guide with questions beforehand and all of the questions come straight off of that study guide. So as long as you have answers for all of them, you'll be set! Definitely take the class with Brubaker if you need Soc 1!
He's a great professor! He is so passionate about the material that it makes you want to learn it better. Lectures were always interesting and overall, the course was pretty easy. The midterm and final were both very straightforward - he gives out a study guide with questions beforehand and all of the questions come straight off of that study guide. So as long as you have answers for all of them, you'll be set! Definitely take the class with Brubaker if you need Soc 1!
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2020 - Professor Calderon is one of the chillest professors I have ever encountered. He is really receptive to accommodation requests and goes above and beyond to make sure students are not swamped with work and learn the information. Because he is more concerned about students learning, the course is not that hard. I took this class during quarantine and the work was this: Weekly Reflection Paper ~ 1.5 pages graded fairly easily as long as you write more than 1 page Weekly Quizzes 6MC / 2SA~ Very easy if you watch lecture, some readings are needed on the quizzes Final: 3-5 page paper on determining your own social location Professor Calderon offered extra credit which was very easy to finish. Honestly very easy class which made it very easy to focus on actually learning the material. His lectures were really interesting and actually covered things that were directly applicable to the world right now. If you have the chance to take this class with this professor, DO IT.
Summer 2020 - Professor Calderon is one of the chillest professors I have ever encountered. He is really receptive to accommodation requests and goes above and beyond to make sure students are not swamped with work and learn the information. Because he is more concerned about students learning, the course is not that hard. I took this class during quarantine and the work was this: Weekly Reflection Paper ~ 1.5 pages graded fairly easily as long as you write more than 1 page Weekly Quizzes 6MC / 2SA~ Very easy if you watch lecture, some readings are needed on the quizzes Final: 3-5 page paper on determining your own social location Professor Calderon offered extra credit which was very easy to finish. Honestly very easy class which made it very easy to focus on actually learning the material. His lectures were really interesting and actually covered things that were directly applicable to the world right now. If you have the chance to take this class with this professor, DO IT.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - I don't know why everyone gave such a high rating for this class. I personally think the workload for this class is not light. We have 3-4 short lectures, about 50+ pages of reading, 2-3 reading quizzes, 2 discussion posts, and sometimes an essay homework EACH WEEK. This is a lot. Also, the reading quizzed are timed to be 5 mins, so even if she says "open book quizzes", there is absolutely no time for you to search through the book. The exams are also somewhat hard. Also, if you are someone that is a little socially awkward, this class has many group discussions and group homework that makes you super awkward. Anyways, the professor is clear in her lectures, but I just don't like this class overall.
Fall 2020 - I don't know why everyone gave such a high rating for this class. I personally think the workload for this class is not light. We have 3-4 short lectures, about 50+ pages of reading, 2-3 reading quizzes, 2 discussion posts, and sometimes an essay homework EACH WEEK. This is a lot. Also, the reading quizzed are timed to be 5 mins, so even if she says "open book quizzes", there is absolutely no time for you to search through the book. The exams are also somewhat hard. Also, if you are someone that is a little socially awkward, this class has many group discussions and group homework that makes you super awkward. Anyways, the professor is clear in her lectures, but I just don't like this class overall.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2021 - Took this virtually over the summer and I think the content itself is pretty interesting but I'm not a huge fan of how the class is weighted. I don't know if other students felt the same but your entire grade is based on 5 things essentially: 3 discussion posts (30%), midterm (30%), and final (40%). That leaves very little room for error and kinda sucks in the earlier weeks when you're not sure what the expectations are/still adjusting to the class. I've taken other asynchronous classes before and there are usually more opportunities to earn points which I would've liked. I felt that the exams were always a little bit confusing too. They were like 20-30 multiple choice and had 1 short answer. The multiple choice portions would have like 4 options that all sounded very similar and were in the style of: a) ethnicity b) ethnicity AND race c) ethnicity, race AND identity d) culture e) all of the above. I don't know about anyone else but I kinda hate these and there's a lot of overthinking that happens. Otherwise, the professor is really nice and passionate about the content.
Summer 2021 - Took this virtually over the summer and I think the content itself is pretty interesting but I'm not a huge fan of how the class is weighted. I don't know if other students felt the same but your entire grade is based on 5 things essentially: 3 discussion posts (30%), midterm (30%), and final (40%). That leaves very little room for error and kinda sucks in the earlier weeks when you're not sure what the expectations are/still adjusting to the class. I've taken other asynchronous classes before and there are usually more opportunities to earn points which I would've liked. I felt that the exams were always a little bit confusing too. They were like 20-30 multiple choice and had 1 short answer. The multiple choice portions would have like 4 options that all sounded very similar and were in the style of: a) ethnicity b) ethnicity AND race c) ethnicity, race AND identity d) culture e) all of the above. I don't know about anyone else but I kinda hate these and there's a lot of overthinking that happens. Otherwise, the professor is really nice and passionate about the content.
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2021 - I took the 6-week online version of this course during CSI. The professor goes by MJ Hill now. Saying this course is an easy A isn’t accurate. This course is a GUARANTEED A. That's because MJ uses a method called Ungrading, which means that as long as everything is handed in on time, you get an A. It’s that simple. The theory is that this is conducive to learning, but I didn’t attend a single lecture nor did I watch them on my own time, therefore I didn't learn much. The quiz questions are copied and pasted from the lecture slides and you can take them as many times as you want. You’re even allowed to collaborate on them. The workload for this class isn’t necessarily light, but you don’t have to do it to get a good grade so that doesn’t matter. MJ is a very nice person and they really care about what they are teaching and they care about their students although they can be a little disorganized at times. I can’t comment on how interesting the material is because, frankly, I didn’t cover any of it. My GPA is thankful though.
Summer 2021 - I took the 6-week online version of this course during CSI. The professor goes by MJ Hill now. Saying this course is an easy A isn’t accurate. This course is a GUARANTEED A. That's because MJ uses a method called Ungrading, which means that as long as everything is handed in on time, you get an A. It’s that simple. The theory is that this is conducive to learning, but I didn’t attend a single lecture nor did I watch them on my own time, therefore I didn't learn much. The quiz questions are copied and pasted from the lecture slides and you can take them as many times as you want. You’re even allowed to collaborate on them. The workload for this class isn’t necessarily light, but you don’t have to do it to get a good grade so that doesn’t matter. MJ is a very nice person and they really care about what they are teaching and they care about their students although they can be a little disorganized at times. I can’t comment on how interesting the material is because, frankly, I didn’t cover any of it. My GPA is thankful though.
Most Helpful Review
Sociology 1, Winter 2012, Grade: A Professor's a nice guy, especially if you go to his office hours. He's late coming to class's (not always bad) and he's also late at posting grades (well, it was a lot of grading). Lecture is just popping out terms, one after another. Get those terms down for midterms and finals, or have get them for you. Sadly, because the class is just terms, the professor doesn't have a lot of time to get into interesting concepts. Skim through the textbook before class if you want to have an idea of what you'll hear in lecture, but not everything in the textbook will come up in lecture, and thus not in the midterm/finals. There was a supplemental book, but it only came up in discussions and references in lecture, but its content did not come up in the midterm/finals, so I would say skim that as well. Oh, and discussion is mandatory, so go there and please don't be one of those silent, dead students. Midterm and finals consisted of 15 multiple choice, 5 short response, and one essay prompt (out of two). One or two of the multiple choice questions do come from the textbook, but if you study the lecture well, you have a good chance to get them. Essays are graded leniently I think. Now, the 12 page research paper wasn't as bad as it first came up to be. I did write the paper overnight, but I started gathering data (online surveys) 2-3 weeks before hand. The research paper is not that hard if you choose a topic that interests you, and you can pretty much choose anything. Grading on the papers depend on your T.A., and I'm sure they graded leniently because it's only Sociology 1. Overall, it's a doable G.E.
Sociology 1, Winter 2012, Grade: A Professor's a nice guy, especially if you go to his office hours. He's late coming to class's (not always bad) and he's also late at posting grades (well, it was a lot of grading). Lecture is just popping out terms, one after another. Get those terms down for midterms and finals, or have get them for you. Sadly, because the class is just terms, the professor doesn't have a lot of time to get into interesting concepts. Skim through the textbook before class if you want to have an idea of what you'll hear in lecture, but not everything in the textbook will come up in lecture, and thus not in the midterm/finals. There was a supplemental book, but it only came up in discussions and references in lecture, but its content did not come up in the midterm/finals, so I would say skim that as well. Oh, and discussion is mandatory, so go there and please don't be one of those silent, dead students. Midterm and finals consisted of 15 multiple choice, 5 short response, and one essay prompt (out of two). One or two of the multiple choice questions do come from the textbook, but if you study the lecture well, you have a good chance to get them. Essays are graded leniently I think. Now, the 12 page research paper wasn't as bad as it first came up to be. I did write the paper overnight, but I started gathering data (online surveys) 2-3 weeks before hand. The research paper is not that hard if you choose a topic that interests you, and you can pretty much choose anything. Grading on the papers depend on your T.A., and I'm sure they graded leniently because it's only Sociology 1. Overall, it's a doable G.E.
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