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Organization of Course Content
Teaching Philosophy Synopsis
Active Learning Glossary
Goals and Objectives
Required Text
Active Reading
Motivational Mantra
Conceptual Approach to Subject
Academic Honesty
Organization of Course Content
This course is divided into six units, with each providing a different perspective on the nature of the world at the end
of the twentieth century. Each unit relates specifically to a section of the textbook. [See Lesson Plans (LPs), p. 11, for day-to-day details]
Unit One covers background information on which the rest of the course is based. A lengthy
chapter introduces you to the realities of globalization and a somewhat shorter one examines the history and
philosophy of the social sciences and asks what these disciplines can tell us about human behavior on the world stage.
Unit Two relates more to the physical realities of human life on planet earth and the range of ecological dilemmas
currently facing our species. Chapter three spells out geography's contributions to new understandings of how we interface
with the finite realities of spaceship earth. Chapter four confronts the range of global problems resulting from human profligacy
in developing the world around us. In chapter five we ask the difficult question: how might we begin to reverse some of the
ecological disasters which humanity has left in its wake?
In Unit Three we focus on subjective aspects of the human drama. Chapter six helps to conceptualize the world beyond
the borders of the U.S. and muses over the extent to which our species is currently divided or united. Then in chapter
seven we examine questions related to why individual people behave as they do, relying on psychology for insights and
analytical tools. Finally, we explore the realm of human ideas--especially in their ethical, religious, and human rights
contexts--on the world stage in chapter eight.
Socio-cultural influences on the human experience highlight the approach of Unit Four. Anthropology's examination
of humans as bio-cultural beings pervades chapter nine, sociology's take on human social activity comprises chapter ten,
and in chapter eleven we focus on interesting aspects of comparative cultures from around the world.
Unit Five revolves around the pivotal role of the state system as humanity's central means of organizing its public affairs.
Chapter twelve looks at basic concepts of political science such as power and influence. In chapter thirteen, the newer
actors trying to steal the thunder of the state on the world stage are dissected. The changing status of the state is one of the
key factors shaping contemporary global affairs.
One undeniable fact about the modern world is that economic forces are driving it to an unprecedented extent.
Residents of Weirton, WV, can attest to the new reality of global competition from the in steel production.
Herein lies the stuff of Unit Six. Chapter fourteen touches on the basic concepts necessary to talk about economic
affairs, applying them to the prospects for the American economy. The global economy gets highlighted in chapter
fifteen, which in some ways is blending into a seamless web with the U.S. economy (the world's largest and most powerful economy).
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Teaching Philosophy Synopsis
WRITING: We learn best by doing, and writing is no exception. That is why I have students write often,
including daily JOURNALS. I teach the difference between descriptive and analytical writing. The movement
known as Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) influences this course in the JOURNALS and elsewhere.
GLOBALIZATION: A shrinking world makes what happens elsewhere in the world vital to modern Americans.
ACTIVE LEARNING: Pedagogists agree that active learning trumps passive learning. Thus, I embed
student activity into all lesson plans (LPs). Lectures consist of mini-presentations followed by group activities.
In Japanese education a majority of student time is spent in "cooperative-learning group activities."
VARIATION: Student learn differently, so varying teaching styles make sense. My methods cover lecture
& discussion, cooperative-learning groups, daily JOURNALS, case studies, cooperative note-taking, instant
lecture feedback, Internet exercises, games, and film analysis (and breathing life into concepts).
CRITICAL THINKING: The ancient Greek practice of "Socratic questioning" gets at the essence of modern
critical thinking (CT), which refuses to take things at face value and goes beyond common sense. "Socratic questioning"
involves questions that clarify, probe assumptions, probe evidence, probe consequences, and probe alternative
viewpoints.
MEGA SYLLABUS: A good syllabus describes the organization, content, and style of a course. It is a contract between
instructor and student and ought to capture a course's spirit and detail. Syllabi can serve as road maps to explore the
intellectual terrain followed by a course. In a social science course the instructor imparts a
Personal touch to the subject. Taking this syllabus seriously will help to receive a good grade here.
Active Learning + Variation + Globalization + WAC
+ Critical Thinking + Mega Syllabus = My Teaching Philosophy
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JOURNALING: daily writing assignment requiring students to analyze information or defend a position.
Cooperative Note-Taking: Processing mini-lecture in dyads whereby students assist each other's comprehension.
Instant Lecture Feedback: Rapid communication whereby prof collects brief responses to the question: "What puzzles you
about the lecture?" Can either respond to common difficulties immediately; or, save for next class. [also called 1-minute papers]
Games: Lighter treatments of concepts or themes such as Voting With Your Feet (students express views on dichotomous
pairs of choices) or Alligator River (a hypothetical moral dilemma where students rank-order a cast of flawed characters).
Documentary and Feature Films: Both are used to dramatize key concepts.
(Jossey-Bass, 1996).
Goals and Objectives
The general goal of this course is to provide you with the tools needed to understand the nature of the rapidly
changing and shrinking world in which we live; and, how these changes affect us in ways which did not exist for
previous generations. The importance of global issues such as environment, population, human rights, the nuclear
dilemma, energy, and food as contributors to global interdependence will be studied. We explore whether the idea
of an emerging global community of shared interests constitutes a genuine reality, or, merely an illusion. Within this
analytical framework, more specific objectives exist. Through the use of mini-lecture/discussion, text readings,
cooperative-learning groups, daily JOURNALING, Internet exercises, films, cooperative note-taking, instant lecture
feedback, and a term paper; you will be expected to comprehend:
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Required Text
Through the Global Lens: An Introduction to the Social Sciences (Prentice Hall, 2003), 461 pgs. Available in
bookstore - @$74.00 (new); $54 (used). Please keep the syllabus in your book and bring both to all
class meetings, because we will use them often. Since the content of this course follows the textbook closely,
you do not need to take copious class notes. Illustrative cases are included in each chapter and will be discussed in class.
The Instructor's Manual for this text is also provided for quiz preparation. Also provided free with your textbook
is a resource manual which you will use in preparing your term paper, as well as for several JOURNAL entries.
It represents a concise, practical, and up-to-date tool for finding, assessing, and using effectively online sources
of information. Beyond this course, few skills match the ability to distinguish the "gravel from the gold" found
online as critical to lifelong learning. Therefore, we will also use: Melissa Payton, Evaluating Online Resources
With Research Navigator (Prentice Hall, 2004), 79 pgs.
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Active Reading
If you read a mystery novel at the beach last summer, that was an example of passive reading. A more aggressive
kind of reading -- active reading -- is required when reading a textbook, which is dense with facts and concepts.
You should attack each chapter of the textbook by writing in the book, thus reacting to what you read. A pen
should be permanently attached to your phalanges. Make notes in the margins that capture the essence of
each section and jot down ideas that come to you. Circle or use a squiggly lines to identify themes. Learn new
words from the glossary. Underline and highlight selectively (if you highlight everything, you have done little to
help yourself at exam time). Make a few notes at the end of the chapter about what you have learned. Above
all, read the current chapter before we discuss it in class. For help with study skills, someone to proofread papers,
or a tutor to assist in test preparation, please call Michele Straub (8215) at the WLSC Student Enrichment Center.
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Motivational Mantra
I attended a teaching seminar one summer. Among the things I remember is something called the "motivational mantra,"
which you should repeat three times whenever you do not feel like concentrating on your studies. It goes like this:
"Would you like fries with that order?"
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Conceptual Approach to the Subject
There can be little doubt that we live in a rapidly-changing world characterized by globalization; this means that
our fate as Americans is more intimately tied to that of others in ways only dreamed about thirty years ago.
Since what happens elsewhere affects us, we must improve our understanding of the complex world around us.
While numerous scholars have described this web of interdependence and advocated human cooperation, our
history is filled with massive conflict (wars have been present during 92% of recorded human history and 111
million people died in wars during the 20th century). There is no guarantee that humans will be able to overcome
temptations for conflict in order to cooperate more effectively in the future, even though survival of our species
could depend upon it. One of the basic questions addressed here relates to the need for better solutions to the
great global issues (environment, population, human rights, the nuclear dilemma, energy, and food)
confronting us in a shrinking world.
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Academic Honesty
Please familiarize yourself with the College's policy on academic honesty on page 47 of the Catalog. It states
"Individuals who commit acts of academic dishonesty violate the principles that support the search for knowledge
and truth." Five types of academic dishonesty are described: cheating, fabrication, collaboration, destruction
of reference sources, and plagiarism. Plagiarism is not easy to define precisely. The Catalog describes it as
"representing the words or ideas of another as one's own." This does not mean that you cannot use ideas or
information from other sources.
Chapter Three (pgs. 23-27) of Evaluating Online Resources With Research Navigator delves more deeply
into plagiarism and you will be using it in your term paper and in at least one JOURNAL entry. The
dubious nature of many online sources of information underscores the ethical need for responsibly
reporting the work of others.
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