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California State University, Dominguez Hills
Latest update: September 20, 2000
E-Mail jeanne.

The "Structured" [sic] Track

Because twice this week I have been told on two separate occasions by two separate students that they "want more structure," meaning that they want to be told "what to read" and "what to recite back in tests," and because I must deal with an unexpected and serious need for surgery, I am forwarding this file to Dean Garry Hart in the College of Arts and Sciences office, at 310-243-3389 with my solution.

I will not have the time during emergency surgery to put up all my lecture notes. In fact, it is not a requirement at all that I put up my lecture notes for you on the Internet. I do not believe the students who made these requests, which I consider adversarial, ill-considered, and disrespectful, had even taken the time to explore the site and to realize that they were the lecture notes for a future week that they were asking for. But I have not had the chance to talk to them and so I do not know what in fact inspired these demands.

For me, however, it is an immediate crisis, because of the pending surgery. Therefore, for this semester, I am officially requesting that my syllabus for this course be changed.

I will offer a "structured" [sic] track within the course. For this track, the following rules must apply, since I will need to tell you "what to read" and "when the tests will be":

  • Required texts:

    • Dowdall, Logio, Babbie and Halley, Adventures in Criminal Justice Research: an SPSS text. This text is in the bookstore, and is required for this track.
    • Fellman, Gordon. Rambo and the Dalai Lama. This text is in the bookstore, and is required for this track. However, I will need to order more copies as soon as I know how many of you elect this track. You will need to read this book in order to be able to discuss with me why I have said that this process is adversarial, and why I have objected to the way in which it was "demanded." Hal Pepinsky's Peacemaking Primer
      will also help you understand my rejection of adversarial approaches. Read it. That will suffice until the Fellman text comes in.

  • Behavioral Objectives for this Track:

    • To provide a specific course guide which students will be expected to follow.
    • To provide a mid-term and a final which students must take for a grade.
    • Other behavioral goals are the same as for the regular track of the course.

  • Course Requirements and Grading:

    • Attendance

      This is a regularly offered class at this university. As such, you are required to attend classes, on time. The teacher will take roll for this track. If you are late to class, by more than five minutes, that will be noted. Three lates will count as one absence. Three absences will cause your grade to be lowered by one letter grade, unless you have some acceptable (Doctor's appointment) and verified excuse for that absence.

      You are required to attend the lab section, as well as the class section. (4 unit class) Roll will be taken. Absences and lates will be treated as they are for the regular class session.

    • Exams

      • Mid-term(40%) and Final(40%) will be in class, and closed book. Dates will not be nnounced until mid-October because of uncertainty of timing of surgery.

    • Computer Literacy

      • Because this course and its text require the use of SPSS, the student must be computer literate. We helped with this during the first weeks of class, and you may go to the SBS computer lab for additional help, if you need it. They even post workshops.

    • Class Discussion and Lab Performance

      • 20 % of your grade will be based on your participation in class discussions, and on the skill you demonstrate in using SPSS in the computer lab.

    • Topics and Assignments

      • These topics reflect the course plan which is available for the planned course on the internet at Weekly Discussion Preparations Recognizing that some of you choose not to follow my weekly plan, I offer this more rigid series, which follows the same progression through our Babbie and Halley text.

      • First four weeks:
        1. Introduction to statistics and to the use of the Internet.
        2. Chapters 1-5. Babbie and Halley.
        3. Assignment. E-Mail preparation of Review Quizzes 1-5.

      • Week 5:
        1. Topics
          Describing a Variable.
          And the nature of the adversarial process of teaching.
        2. Readings
          Chapter 6. Babbie and Halley.

          Hal Pepinsky's Peacemaking Primer
          Online.

        3. Assignments.

          E-Mail preparation of Review Quiz 6, p. 109-110.

          E-Mail a comment (about a parragraph) on why a "structured" [sic] course is adversarial.

      • Week 6:
        1. Working with Variables.
        2. Chapters 7 and 8. Babbie and Halley.
        3. Assignments. E-Mail preparation of Review Quizzes 7 and 8. And do Independent Project A or B for Chapter 7. You will show me your results for Project A in the lab.

      • Week 7:
        1. Multiple Indicators and Composite Measures.
        2. Readings:
          Chapter 9. Babbie and Halley.
          Fellman, pp. 1-67, if text is in.
        3. Assignments:
          Review quiz 9. Independent Project A, Chapter 9, Babbie and Halley. E-Mail that you have prepared the quiz, and show me the project in lab.
          E-mail a paragraph on your reactions to Fellman, pp. 1-67.

      • Additional weeks up later. Will follow Babbie and Halley, as does the planned track for this course.