The Sociology Majors Project

Abstract

Sociology programs, like West Chester University (WCU), are concerned by progressively lower student enrollment in the major. This is partly because a sociology degree is not analogous to a specific profession or job industry like professional degrees in business management or education. The first goal of the Sociology Majors Project (SMP), a class-wide...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Work and Labor Markets

Resource Type(s):

Assignment

Class Level(s):

College 300

Class Size(s):

Small

Usage Notes

Within the semester, a distinctive work time frame is given each of the student groups. Data collection begins and runs their part of the research process with faculty support (about three weeks), next is data analysis group with direct faculty support (about two weeks), and marketing, media, and alumni development group begins mid-point in the semester...

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Student will recall important policy information and considerations in human subject research.
2. Students will demonstrate skills in social and behavioral sciences.
3. Students will describe the understandings they gained from sociology alumni about actualities in professional work, careers, and ongoing education today.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Students will pass each of the 15 modules in the Collaborative Institute Training Initiative (CITI) Social & Behavioral Research - basic/refresher course at 80% or above.
2. Students will conduct phone interviews of alumni and collect and analyze LinkedIn data. Students will prepare the data for analysis (data entry, clean data, construct variables) and produce descriptive statistics with charts and graphs for posting.
3. Student groups will give an informal in-class presentation and, individually, complete a "peer assessment and human capital report."