SOCIOL 260 Course Page
In Fall 2023 Noelle Chelsey taught Blood, Sex, Money, Power: The Family and Intimate Relationships (SOCIOL 260) as an asynchronous, fully online course. This course is also designated as a social science GER course and typically attracts a diverse range of students across colleges and majors, making it a potentially high-impact course for improving career readiness. As a 2023-24 Experiential Learning Fellow, Noelle used the fellowship to refine a key assignment in this class and assess its contribution to two learning goals:
- Students’ ability to apply sociological knowledge to real-world problems and situations
- Students’ ability to develop a series of seven transferrable skills (Analytical Thinking, Leadership, Teamwork, Problem-Solving, Written Communication, Flexibility/Adaptability, Understanding/Appreciation of Diversity).
Course Characteristics
- Key Experiential Learning Activity
- Final Course Portfolio
- Learning Outcomes
- Apply sociological ideas to real-world problems, transferrable skills
- Assessment Methods
- Pre- and post-class surveys, Final Course Portfolio
- Challenges and Solutions
- Meeting needs of diverse student body
- Advice for Other Instructors
- Emphasize real-world applicability
Assignment
Final Portfolio Assignment
The final course portfolio project was designed to help students reflect upon how participation and efforts in this class have contributed to their ability to develop content-specific knowledge in family sociology and transferrable skills. Noelle believes the course portfolio is a strong and holistic assessment tool to measure student learning and growth over the course of the semester. However, there is also some evidence that a course portfolio can benefit you beyond this class as it further documents your college experience for future employers or other professional opportunities.