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CHFD 4610 (UGA)
The Family (3 semester hours)

Web Course Format: ALISSA.

This course can be taken
    -> as a web course
    -> as a print course

Lessons for this course can be submitted and/or be returned
    -> via U.S. mail
    -> via fax return from IDL

Begin the registration process for this course

When registering for this course, be sure to indicate either CHFD 4610 or SOCI 4610, but not both.

Family study utilizing data from the fields of anthropology, individual and social psychology, history, sociology, economics, and psychiatry.

Requirements: Ten lessons, two examinations.

Instructor: Christine Olson, M.A., Ed.S., Part-time Instructor, The University of Georgia.

Text: Eshleman, The Family, 10th ed., Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2003.

CHFD 4610 Introduction to Child Development
The Family
Instructor: Christine Olson, M.A., Ed.S.

Overview of the Course

Introduction

This course examines the study of the family, utilizing data from the fields of anthropology, individual and social psychology, history, sociology, economics, and psychiatry. The major objectives of this course are

1. to present an objective description and analysis of contemporary U.S. families within a world perspective
2. to examine without condemnation or praise nontraditional family and marital life-styles
3. to apply general theoretical schemes and frames
4. to present basic concepts and descriptive materials clearly and intelligibly
5. to suggest questions and supplemental sources to stimulate discussion and reading beyond the text
6. to cultivate an increased awareness of your particular niche in the family and general social order

The study of the family is a scholarly discipline, and this course aims to encourage you toward further thought and reading on the subject. By the time you complete the course, you will have gained tools for observing, understanding, and analyzing marital and family relationships and organizations. Given this foundation, you should be able to compare your personal and familial values and behaviors to differing life-styles and patterns in your own society and others. The course is relatively comprehensive in its coverage of topics. Emphasis is on the family in the United States, but the discussion is supplemented heavily with historical and cross-cultural referents. The textbook, Eshleman’s The Family, is contemporary, including nontraditional marital and family life-styles but maintaining a realistic perspective relative to the more common, traditional family forms.

The Family describes five basic frames of reference (structural-functional, social conflict, symbolic interaction, social exchange, and developmental) and applies them to various topics throughout the text. Each chapter ends with several useful study aids: Summary, Key Terms and Topics, and Further Readings. A glossary and name and subject indexes are provided at the end of the textbook.

You will find the ideas presented in The Family stimulating and clearly explained. The text presents an accurate portrayal of family systems that is flexible, will stimulate thought and introspection, and, perhaps most important, change your behavior by expanding your awareness of and sensitivity to self and others.

Although this course provides a great deal of factual information, it offers few definitive answers and leaves unresolved many theoretical and practical questions about the sources of and solutions to contemporary family development issues. This is not viewed as a shortcoming, however, because a major goal of this course is to encourage you to begin confronting issues that are raised and to think critically about family life, with the aim of facilitating change within families. A final aim of this course is to instill in you an appreciation of the complexity and interrelatedness of many contemporary family problems.

Preparing Assignments

I hope that you will approach this course as a family sociology experience. Relax, enjoy reading the chapters you find most interesting, and do not become too focused on the examinations. All lessons contain reading assignments in your textbook. You should read all the material assigned for each lesson before preparing your written assignment.

This course contains ten written assignments, a midterm, and a final examination. All the written assignments are designed to encourage you to think critically about family sociology and its relation to society and culture. One role of the written assignments is to prepare you for the midterm and final examinations, so your graded assignments will be useful when preparing for the examinations. Keep them for review purposes.

In evaluation of your written assignments, consideration will be given to your ability to grasp, represent, and integrate ideas and information found in the readings and to the completeness and relevance of your answers. The correctness of your answers will be assessed by the logical development of your argument. You should also draw on your own life experiences that lend support to your opinion.

In preparing your written assignments, make certain that you answer the questions directly and do precisely what is requested. Organize your answers carefully. Please write concisely, but be sure to include enough meaningful information in your answers to demonstrate that you understand the question. You are encouraged to raise questions, share experiences, and express your views and/or observations.

It is important that the answers be written in your own words. This will help ensure that you have a personal understanding of the material. A good study strategy is to read the assigned material, then close the text while writing your answers. The use of appropriate quotations is acceptable, provided they are enclosed in quotation marks and properly cited.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have while enrolled in this course. I will be pleased to do anything I can that might clarify the materials or enhance your learning experience in any way possible.

Grading and Examinations

After you have completed Lesson 5, you will take the midterm examination. This examination is closed-book and will serve as a gauge of how well you are progressing. The format of the examination includes true-false, fill-in-the-blank, and essay questions. To be prepared for the examination, you should be able to answer all the written assignment questions adequately without looking in the textbook or at your lessons. The midterm will count for one-fourth of your final course grade. A passing grade on the midterm examination is 65 percent or above.

The final examination is not comprehensive. Like the midterm, it is closed-book and will count for one-fourth of your final course grade, and a passing grade will be 65 percent or above. Please note that IDL policy requires that you pass the final in order to pass the course, regardless of grades earned on lessons or the midterm. You are responsible for knowing and abiding by IDL policies and procedures. See your Student Handbook for detailed information.

You will receive a letter grade for each written assignment. The average grade from the written assignments will account for one-half of your course grade.