Preparing Your Course for QM Certification:

Four Standards

From left to right: the board game Clue; the book Why Didn't You Tell Me? A Memoir; the documentary video "The Codes of Gender: Identity & Performance in Popular Culture."

Soc 168: Self & Society

Navigation: Technology: Support: Accessibility

Course Description

Sociology 168: Self & Society is an upper-division, asynchronous, writing-intensive (WI) GE course. It has an enrollment of 30 students. Students write three essays, each in a 5-week writing cycle.

The first topic asks students to analyze a children's board game as an agent of socialization. (Socialization is the ongoing, lifelong process of learning how to be a member of society, including learning the norms, values, and expectations that characterize that society). Students summarize articles and chapters about socialization and board games as agents of socialization, analyze a game of their choice for what lessons it teaches players, and write up their analysis.

The second topic is a book review. This semester's book is Why Didn't You Tell Me? A Memoir by Carmen Rita Wong.

The final topic asks students to watch the documentary "The Codes of Gender: Identity & Performance in Popular Culture," directed by Sut Jhally. This documentary addresses sociologist Erving Goffman's book Gender Advertisements and "the codes of gender" that advertisers use to communicate gendered messages. Students then learn how to program an image-generating AI to recreate some of the codes of gender. Finally, they write an essay that summarizes the codes in the documentary, explains the codes in their images, reflects on the project, and shows the methods/prompts they used to program the AI.

**Motivation for Preparing Your Course for QM Certification: 4 Standards Participation**

I have taught this course in person and as a synchronous online course. This semester is the first time I have taught it as an asynchronous course. I wanted to make sure that the course was streamlined for asynchronous learning so that students could easily move from one Canvas page to another in each module and could easily find each module from the home page. This is a benefit to students, as it makes it clear how to get started and makes course navigation easier (GS 1).

I evaluated course technology (GS 6). One change I made recently was to add an assignment for students to use the free program Grammarly to check their essays for issues with grammar and mechanics. My motivation for this was to encourage students to edit their writing. The assignment includes a reflection on the student’s common writing issues. This benefits students in two ways. First, they learn to recognize their common writing errors, such as comma usage or incorrect subject-verb agreement. Second, the readability of their essays is improved.

I updated the module “Student Support Services” (GS 7) which will help students to access different types of support services on campus, including the Disability Access Center (DAC) and Crisis Assistance & Resource Education Support (CARES). There is now a link to the module “Student Support Services” on the homepage. I also put a link to the Reading and Writing Center on the home page. My motivation for this is for students to get the support they need and to encourage them to get help from a writing tutor.

The course has also been evaluated for accessibility and usability (GS 8), which will help all students access and use course content.

Engagement Changes Addressed in Course

Essential SRS 1.1 Instructions make clear how to get started and where to find various course components.

I added links to each module (including the syllabus and student support services modules) using friendly, bright-colored buttons. This will help students to get started and navigate the course. I also added a link to make an appointment with a writing tutor at the Reading and Writing Center. This will make it easier for students to find this important service and hopefully encourage them to make an appointment.

Essential SRS 1.2 Learners are introduced to the purpose and structure of the course.

The structure is clear from the home page, which has links to each module. For each essay, there is a link to a chart describing the 5-week essay cycle. The purpose and structure are included in the syllabus module. However, I plan to add a course description and purpose to the home page for next semester.

Essential SRS 6.2 Course tools promote learner engagement and active learning.

I created an assignment where students use the program Grammarly to check their essay for errors in spelling, grammar, mechanics, wordiness, and so forth. I had the students make a chart of the changes and the reason it needed to be changed. At the end, I had the students write a paragraph reflecting on their writing issues. This promotes learner engagement and active learning in the writing process.

Essential SRS 7.4 Course instructions articulate or link to the institution’s student services and resources.

There is a button on the home page that links to the module “Student Support Resources” with numerous academic and social supports for students. I revised the module to include DAC and CARES, which had previously been listed on the syllabus but not in the module. There is also a link from the home page to the writing tutors at the Reading and Writing Center.

Essential SRS 8.3 Text in the course is accessible.

I used UDOIT and UFIXIT, the new course accessibility checker in Canvas, for the first time. I revised Canvas pages and other materials to comply with accessibility standards. My score went from 84% to 98%.

Evidence of Redesign

Examples of Redesign
Image 1 GS 1. I put a link to each module at the bottom of the home page. I also included a link to the syllabus, the "Student Support Services" module, and tutors at the Reading and Writing Center.	Image 2 GS 6. Students reviewed their essays using the program Grammarly. They made a chart of changes and wrote a paragraph reflecting on their writing issues.	Image 3 GS 7. I revised the "Student Support Services" module. There is now a link to it from the home page. There is also a link to the tutors at the Reading and Writing Center from the homepage.	Image 4 GS 8. I worked on making the course more accessible. The score went from 84% to 98%.

Plan for Redesign

While the essential standards for GS 1, 6, 7, and 8 have been mostly met (except alignment with course technology), this course has a lot of work to be done before a review. Primarily, I need to work on course/module objectives and alignment with those objectives. I have started a course map, and I plan to keep adding to it as I have time.

One specific change that I plan to make for next semester based on this FLC is to put the course description on the homepage and include the purpose of the course there as well.

As for a timeline, unfortunately, the rest of this work will have to wait. I will be teaching a new asynchronous course next semester and I will have to prioritize creating that course over revising this one. However, I will apply the knowledge I have learned in this FLC to create the new class.

Faculty Bio
	Michelle Durden has been working as a lecturer in the department of sociology at Sacramento State since 2008. She regularly teaches Sociology of Gender, Ethnic and Race Relations, and Self & Society, which is a writing-intensive course. She lives in Sacramento with her husband and their two cats, Mister Whiskers and Orange Julius. OJ is a kitten in this picture, but he is now a big kitty.