1. Welcome to Survey of Social Problems! “When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.” (Anthony J. D’Angelo) There is Audio! It will be turned on at 7:00p.m ET

2. Seminars Wednesday, 7:00p.m. ET Thursday, 7:00p.m. ET – You can choose either one and it does not matter if one week you attend on Wednesday and then the next week you attend on Thursday. – I am doing BOTH seminars. The information presented will be EXACTLY the same on both nights.

3. Please be sure you read the syllabus and announcements! Please be sure you review the projects (Unit 3, Unit 6 and Final Project)! The material that we will be discussing in our seminars will be very beneficial to you in regards to putting your projects together. Understanding what is expected in the projects will also help you connect everything together in this course. These projects are worth a lot of points and can make or break your grade. Please be sure you review the grading rubrics! There is a grading rubric for the discussion board, seminars and the projects. Be sure to note things like total replies to your peers, expectations for participation during seminars, and even the little things like total word count. Have you checked out the writing center? If not, please be sure to do so. This is a very valuable resource!! Please keep in mind that I understand it takes a while to master APA formatting, however I expect that in ALL of your work I see APA attempted. The majority of your work should be cited and referenced. Unless it is 100% your idea, thought and/or criticism then don’t forget to cite and reference your work! –In the Course Room there is a link APA Quick Reference

4. Discussion Questions Grading Rubric Makes one primary post for each discussion thread (there may be more than one thread) answering each of the questions correctly, and fully with substance meeting length requirements (100 word minimum for each primary post). 0-20 Makes two or more thoughtful responses to other students on each thread contributing to the quality of the discussion and meets length requirements (50-100 words for each peer response). 0 – 8 Primary responses make at least 1 reference to the unit material, text, or other academic source. 0 – 4 Responses are clearly written and are original ideas rather than a recap of what others contribute. 0-8 TOTAL: 40 (In units 4 & 7 the discussion boards are worth 50pts. Unit 4 has TWO discussion questions)

5. Seminar Option 1 Grading Rubric Frequent and thoughtful interaction on concepts being discussed by students and instructor. 0-2 Posts are on topic and contribute to the quality of the seminar. 0-2 Student arrives on time and stays the entire seminar. 0-1 TOTAL: 5

6. Kaplan’s week begins on Wednesday and ends Tuesday at midnight. ALL assignments must be turned in by Tues at midnight. I completely understand that “life” happens so if an emergency comes up and you need more time to finish an assignment or can’t attend seminar, please let me know as soon as possible (via email or AIM) and we will work it out. You will see that I am very flexible and I have no problem working with students as long as you are doing your part

7. Kaplan does a GREAT job of clearly spelling out for you what you need to do in each unit. If you read ALL of the material in each unit and follow the instructions you should do just fine in this class. Have you been able to look at the classroom yet? If not, please do so as soon as you can. If you have questions, please ask so that we can make sure that you get off to a good start.

8. We have a lot of material to cover in each seminar and a short amount of time to do it. Please save personal questions (make up work, grades, etc.) for email or AIM. I try to log-on each time 30 minutes before and then I always will stay after as long as needed. If you come to seminar late, please just log in and follow along with us. You will need to go back later and review what you missed in the seminar transcripts.

9. If you miss a seminar the make-up instructions are found under each unit. To earn Seminar credit for each unit, complete one of the following options below: –Option 1: Participate in a synchronous Seminar. –Option 2: Respond to the seminar discussion questions. Each response will be graded individually and posted to the grade book. Responses to the questions should be composed in complete sentences and paragraphs and be 200-250 words in length. Please be sure to make reference to the unit material.

10. Grades: Typically, I am able to grade assignments within a few days of when they are submitted. However, it may take up to 5 days so please be patient. If after 5 days from the day you submitted the assignment you still don’t have a grade please feel free to email me about it.

11. Grade comments: Before you email me to ask why you earned a certain grade please make sure you read the COMMENTS section of the grade book as I will post an explanation there. If after reading my explanation you still have questions, please feel free to email or AIM me.

12. The discussion questions are due by Tuesday 11:59 p.m. If you have an emergency and do not think you’ll be able to post, please contact me ASAP. However, please note you have a FULL week to complete the DQ. You can post as early as Wednesday when the new unit begins. The point of the these activities are to foster discussion about the material we are covering in the current unit. Please always keep in mind that these are graded. Be sure to answer the questions completely and be sure to use spelling and grammar check. Make sure you are following the grading rubric! Please make sure you “check in” to the discussion board throughout the week. It is important not to wait until the last minute to post. If everyone does this there will be nothing to discuss! Also, as I said earlier, life happens. Something may come up that keeps you from posting before the deadline.

13. If you have ANY technical issues, before you do this PLEASE contact tech support and make sure you get a ticket number. TechSupport@Kaplan.edu TechSupport@Kaplan.edu

14. Unit One How do YOU define a Social Problem? How is each of us affected by social problems? –Personally –Professionally –Politically –Financially What in your mind contributes to social problems? –This is a loaded question! This is also an emotionally laden question. During this course it is my hope that you each will gain a deeper understanding of this issue so that you may be able to react with education as your foundation versus just personal feelings.

15. Theoretical Perspectives on Social Problems These are very important to understand as you will apply this information in your Final Project and can also apply them in Units 3 & 6 Projects. –The Functionalist Perspective Based on the idea that society is a system made up of a number of interrelated elements, each performing a function that contributes to the operation of the whole. –The Conflict Perspective Centered on the idea that society consists of different groups who struggle with one another to attain the scarce societal resources that are considered valuable, be they money, power, prestige, or the authority to impose one’s values on society. –The Interactionist Perspective Focuses on everyday social interaction among individuals rather than on large societal structures such as politics, education, and the like.

16. How To Contact Amy! Email: arichie@kaplan.eduarichie@kaplan.edu Aim: AmyRichie4 Phone: 641.750.0908 "Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." - W B Yeats