Overview
SOCI 300 has been designed for students who have already taken introductory courses in Sociology and who are, therefore, familiar with the basic concepts, theories, and methods of the discipline. This course introduces the representative concepts, definitions, typologies, and theories associated with the study of organizations, and shows how these conceptual tools may be used to analyze particular social organizations. This course also provides students with the opportunity to examine case studies in a number of areas, including public and private sector bureaucracies, total institutions, such as prisons, mental hospitals, the military, detention centres, and even residential schools for indigenous children. This course will also examine the rise of post-bureaucratic organizations and virtual organizations, all made possible through the revolutions in information technology, micro-electronics, and mobile telecommunications.
Evaluation
To receive credit for Sociology 300, you must achieve a grade of 60 percent or better on the final examination and an overall course composite grade of at least C- (60 percent). Should you obtain less than the required grade on the final examination, or if you wish to attempt to increase your overall grade, you may write a supplemental final examination. A passing grade of 60 percent is also required for the supplemental examination.
There are four written assignments in SOCI 300; however, only the grades for three (3) of them will be applied toward your final composite grade for the course. You may, therefore, choose to complete only three written assignments. Alternatively, you may decide to complete all four, in which case only the three highest grades will be used to determine your final composite grade. The three written assignments each count for twenty per cent of the final course grade.
Please refer to your Assignment and Examination Manual on your course home page.
| Activity | Weight | Complete by |
| Assignment 1 | 20% | After Unit 3 |
| Assignment 2 | 20% | After Unit 5 |
| Assignment 3 | 20% | After Unit 8 |
| Assignment 4 | | After Unit 10 |
| Online Quiz | 10% | After Unit 10 |
| Final Exam | 30% | After Unit 10 |
| Total | 100% | |
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of Society, 10th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Shirky, Clay 2009. Here Comes Everybody: The Power Of Organizing Without Organizations. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Bakan, Joel. 2004. The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power. Penguin
Goffman, Erving. 1961. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. New York: Random House.
Mills, Albert J., Tony Simmons, and Jean Helms Mills. 2005. Reading Organization Theory: A Critical Approach to the Study of Organizational Behaviour and Structure. 3rd ed. Aurora, ON: Garamond.
Online materials
Athabasca University Materials
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the SOCI 300 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least C- (60 percent) on the challenge examination. The two parts of the exam must be written on the same day.
Challenge for credit course registration form