6 ECTS credits
150 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1021424CER for all students in the 2nd semester
at
a (C) Bachelor - specialised level.
- Semester
- 2nd semester
- Enrollment based on exam contract
- Possible
- Grading method
- Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
- Can retake in second session
- Yes
- Enrollment Requirements
- Students must have taken ‘Critical Thinking in Sociology’, before they can enroll in this course.
- Taught in
- English
- Partnership Agreement
- Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
- Faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
- Department
- Sociology
- External partners
- Universiteit Gent
- Educational team
- Jannick Demanet
(course titular)
- Activities and contact hours
- 39 contact hours Lecture
111 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
- Course Content
This course aims to acquaint students with the dominant classical and contemporary theoretical perspectives that underlie sociological research. Substantive perspectives determine what sociologists will study. Each perspectives has its own postulates in looking at social reality, and they differ alongside two axes: structure-culture, and micro-macro. Methodological perspectives determine how sociologists study reality. While the focus of this course is on the substantive perspectives, also the methodological perspectives (positivism, interpretative sociology, and functionalism) are discussed.
We start with a presentation of the four dominant classical sociological standpoints, namely structuralism, sociology of social action, formal sociology and symbolic interactionism. Thereafter, contemporary sociological standpoints are presented that transcend the classical dividing lines between agency and structure. Each standpoint is first theoretically introduced, after which empirical applications of the standpoints are studied. Important is that students learn to identify the underlying standpoint and to develop an argumentation for this identification. This course predominantly takes on an interactive format, with students bringing their own insights from the texts to class, presenting their theoretical ideas and argumentations, and engaging in moderated classroom discussions.
- Course material
- Digital course material (Required) : Digital reader, specific content to be communicated at the start of classes
- Additional info
Didactic forms
- Lectures and interactive lectures with class discussions and peer-to-peer learning;
- Micro-teaching;
- Flipped classroom techniques;
- Classroom assessment techniques
- Learning Outcomes
-
General competences
Upon completion of this course, students will have learned the following competencies
- To have insight in classical and contemporary sociological approaches to the study of social reality
- To be aware that the chosen standpoint has implications for the found results in empirical research
- To be able to critically compare and integrate different classical and contemporary sociological approaches
- To be able to independently identify the sociological standpoint that underlies empirical research, and develop a sound argumentation for this identification
- To be able to situate classical and contemporary sociological standpoints in their wider temporal and spatial context
- To be able to independently read, process, and present theoretical scientific texts and critically evaluate contemporary theoretical standpoints in their approach to social reality
More specifically, the course addresses the following program objectives:
- LO1: knows and can elaborate on the most important theories, currents and concepts prevailing in the domain of the social sciences.
- LO2: knows the historical developments that have occurred in the fields of sociology, political sciences and communication sciences over time.
- LO5: knows and can explain the multilayered and complex character of social, political and media-related facts and phenomena.
- LO10: can critically position their research against the theories that prevail in the international social sciences literature, including recent developments and innovations in these literatures.
- LO11: can, independently, identify, gather and critically process relevant sources and literature on a specific social sciences research topic.
- LO17: can work in team and collaborate with peers in a relationship of mutual respect.
- LO18: can reflect on and evaluate their learning process and research and can deal with criticism in a constructive manner.
- Grading
-
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 70% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 30% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Oral Exam
with a relative weight of 70
which comprises 70% of the final mark.
Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Micro-teaching
with a relative weight of 30
which comprises 30% of the final mark.
- Additional info regarding evaluation
Formative assessment
- Interactive lectures. Students will process scientific texts before coming to class, and their questions, discussion points, and comments will be used as input for interactive lectures, forming the basis for the group discussion, peer-to-peer learning, and application of the subject matter to everyday examples.
- Micro-teaching (30% of total mark). In a small group, students will independently read contemporary theoretical texts, and develop and give a lecture where the contemporary sociological approach is taught to the rest of the group. Afterwards, the students will moderate a classroom discussion where the theoretical perspective is critically assessed and applied to everyday examples. Important: it is not possible to redo this for the second examination session, so this grade will be taken over from the first examination period.
Summative assessment
- Oral exam (70% total mark). The oral exam assesses whether students can explain the theoretical approaches in their own words, whether they can compare them and discuss them in a critical manner, and apply them to new case studies.
- Allowed unsatisfactory mark
- The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.
Academic context
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Sociology