Student Demographics for SOC 368, Criminology, AY 2015-2016

The charts below divide up the demographics by in-person sections (shown in blue) and online sections (shown in red).

Majors enrolled

In both online and in-person sections, Criminal Justice Administration (CJA) majors outnumber Sociology majors and other majors.

Class years enrolled

As is typical for a 300-level class, the vast majority of students enrolled are juniors or seniors by units completed, with seniors outnumbering juniors.

Genders Enrolled

In both online and in-person sections, women are more likely to be enrolled than men.

Race/Ethnicity Enrolled

Latinos are the largest group enrolled in this course, followed by Black/African-American and “other” ethnicity students.

URM Status

URM students make up over 90% of both online and in-person sections.

DFWI Information

The rate of Fs given is far higher in in-person sections, while the rate of Ws is higher in online sections. The rate of Ds given is approximately the same, regardless of section type.

Student Demographics for SOC 368 Section 41, Fall 2016 (Comparator Class)

Each demographic in this section shows a visual chart for the above-indicated section (SOC 368-41, 40690).

Majors enrolled

This class differs from the overall average from AY 2015-16, with Sociology majors outnumbering other majors. CJA students are the next largest group after Sociology majors.

Class years enrolled

This class also differs somewhat from the overall average for AY 2015-16; the largest group of students enrolled were juniors.

Genders enrolled

Although this section matches the overall pattern of female students outnumbering male students, the division in this particular section is even more pronounced.

Race/ethnicity enrolled

This section’s race/ethnicity breakdown is roughly equivalent to the overall 2015-16 AY averages, with Latinos being the largest group, followed by Black/African-American and “other” ethnicity students.

URM Status

This section’s URM proportions are roughly equivalent to the URM proportions of the overall 2015-16 averages for this course.

DFWI Information

This course also roughly correlates to the overall averages for AY 2015-16, with the largest issue in the DFWIs being Ws.

It should be noted that in the class above, most of the Ws were “WUs,” or “unauthorized withdrawals.” This meant that the students who received this grade had not completed enough of the class to be evaluated even for an “F.” Online classes tend to have higher WU rates than in-person classes. This is one of the issues the redesign is meant to address.

Numerical Charts, AY 2015-16 and Section 41 (Fall 2016)

The charts below are provided for comparison of enrollment across these categories and across online and in-person sections.

Majors Enrolled

Class Years Enrolled

Genders enrolled

Race/ethnicity enrolled

URM enrolled

DFWI information

Student Demographics for SOC 368, Criminology, Spring 2018 (Redesigned Class)

This section will be updated by early February, 2018, after add-drop is complete for Spring 2018 registrations. Planned demographic items are:
Majors enrolled
Class years enrolled
Gender, race/ethnicity, and URM status of all students enrolled

Student Learning Outcomes

Course Content

Basic Knowledge

• Students will recognize, identify, and explain the theoretical perspectives, main concepts, trends, and historical contexts of the sociological investigation of crime
• Students will describe the changing roles of policing, corrections and courts in the management of crime

Analysis

• Students will analyze the influence of crime on communities and communities on crime
• Students will analyze and critique the effectiveness of crime prevention policies

Application

• Students will apply theoretical perspectives to explain current events and crime data

Core Skills

Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving

• Students will draw connections between course content and the world they live in, and propose solutions for social issues relating to crime and policing

Independent Learning

• Students will learn about their own learning process, and apply this knowledge in effective ways to increase their ability to absorb, retain, recall, and apply information

Information Literacy

• Students will be able to identify and differentiate between valid and invalid information sources for use in research and analysis of crime trends and other criminological data

Alignment of SLOs with Course Redesign

Accessibility, Diversity, and Affordability Considerations

Accessibility

To accommodate students who need extended time on tests, an “Accommodations” group will be created on Blackboard, and any students with this need will be added to the group. This group will be hidden from the students, but will include a double-time condition on any quizzes, exams, etc. in the course using Blackboard’s programming.

To accommodate visually impaired students, all assignment instructions will be provided as screen-readable text-only PDFs without images.

To accommodate hearing-impaired students, all course lecture videos will be closed-captioned.

Diversity

The students in this class are part of a campus that is majority URM. Assignments will include questions and topics that ensure the inclusion of the concerns of marginalized and minority groups.

Affordability

The textbook for this course is Hagan, Frank E. Introduction to Criminology. 8th ed. Sage Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-4522-4234-7.

This text is available both as a rentable text from Amazon for under $20, as well as used for around $20-25 from several online booksellers.

Advice Given to Students

1. Plan your work. Make a checklist of every assignment, due date, and target score you need to get the grade you want in this course. Sort it by the due date, and do your best to get each assignment done at least one day ahead of the due date. This is important because, otherwise, you will set a vague goal without any defined steps to get to the goal. Set yourself up for success, not failure.

2. Plan your time. Schedule the same amount of time for this class every week as you would schedule for any in-person class (both time in the classroom and time outside of it). This is critical. Make it a regular obligation to be online between, for example, 6 and 7:30 PM on Monday and Thursday every week so you can focus on this class. This is not a class you can take in your spare time.

3. Check your email every day. Email is an essential method of communication in an online class. Schedule an “email time” each day to check your email and make sure you’re aware of any changes, announcements, or other information that the professor has sent to you.

4. Make use of office hours. Even though they’re online, you can still meet with me and ask questions – and I would rather have you ask questions as soon as you run into a problem than wait until the last week of class, when I can’t do anything about it.

5. Read the directions for any assignment at least three times. The first time, read them to get a general sense of what you need to do. The second time, read them closely (one sentence at a time) and make a list of steps that you will need to take to complete that assignment. The third time, read them to make sure you didn’t leave anything off of your list, and make notes of anything that seems unclear. Clarify these things with the professor in office hours or through email.

About the Instructor

I am a graduate of the California public education system, from grade school through grad school. I received my BS, MA and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Riverside, and I am currently a lecturer in the CSU Dominguez Hills Sociology department. I have a lifelong interest in how learning works and strive to provide my students with learning skills and tools that will serve them not just in my courses, but throughout their college career. Outside of my work with the CSU, I am an academic life skills coach, focusing on making studying both easier and more effective for my clients.