UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
College of Liberal Arts
Department of Sociology, Gerontology, and Substance Abuse Studies
Fall, 2014
SOC 3633, CRN 16217 – Criminology [WWW]
Michael Jenkins M.A.
Office: Lib Room 208F
Office Hours: By appointment.
Ph. 974-5830
Email: mjenkins2@uco.edu
Welcome! My name is Mike Jenkins and I will be your facilitator for this online
presentation of Introduction to Criminology. I will begin by telling you a little about
myself. I am married and have three children, all grown; I have been an adjunct
instructor with UCO for the last six years and have my bachelors and masters in Criminal
Justice and am retired from the Stillwater Police Department after 23 years of service. So
sit back and relax, but pay close attention to the following information about how to
access the course and become familiar with this format. I look forward to getting to
know you.
Course Description and Students Duties/Responsibilities:
This is a course designed to study criminology. Throughout the semester, we will examine
a number of key issues relevant to our topic, including but not limited to (1) a brief history
of criminology, crime, and legal punishment; (2) philosophical and ideological
underpinnings of criminology; (3) key legal issues encountered in criminal justice as well
as the cause, prevention and treatment of crime.
Students’ responsibilities in this course shall consist of three components as follows: (1)
Quizzes: students shall read the main textbook, Criminology The Essentials, and complete
quizzes after each chapter; (2) Class Discussion: students will receive periodic discussion
questions, answer the question as fully as possible and respond to at least one fellow
student before the close of the assignment. (3) News-reporting: students shall participate in
news-reporting during the semester; (4) Students will be required to submit a research
paper by November 15, 2014. See Case Study document for details.
No late work will be accepted. The paper and other assignments must be turned in on time
unless prior arrangements have been made with Mr. Jenkins. Online assignments must be
completed during the schedule time period or by the listed deadlines. Failing to post an
online discussion response, responses to others comments, and responses to assignments by
stated due dates will result in a loss of points.
Students caught cheating on an assignment will forfeit that grade. NO EXCEPTIONS
WILL BE MADE. A zero will automatically be given. Students are advised to refer to the
UCO Student Code of Conduct for more information. Students do not have permission to
sell course lectures or notes.
Prerequisites: None
Text Required: Walsh, Anthony. 2011. Criminology – The Essentials. Sage Publications.
ISBN-13.: 978-1412999434.
Course Objectives: The major goals of this course will include learning current crime
statistics, crime theories, as well as examining the criminal acts themselves. Upon
completion the student will have demonstrated the ability to think critically through the
issues associated with criminal activity and have a deeper appreciation of both the
intended and unintended consequences of criminal acts and societies response.
Online Student Orientation and Technology Requirements: See “Online Student Tutorial”
and “D2L Student Web Site” on the course home page.
Course Policies: All work must be submitted by the posted deadlines. Each week there will
be an online activity for you to engage in. These activities include discussion questions,
weekly quizzes, and News postings. Students are expected to complete each weekly
activity, whether graded or not.
Easy Steps to Follow:
The best way to keep up with your study in this class is to follow the easy steps below each
week, and these easy steps will cover all required components in this class!
Step 1: check the news/message center under D2L each time you log in; I will remind you
constantly what you should do each week;
Step 2: Read textbook and complete quizzes after reading;
Step 3: Answer your discussion question and post your answers and responses to at least
one other student on time;
One additional step here:
Step 4: Think about your news-reporting and post your news in time:
Course Outline (subject to changes)
Weeks
Units
Readings/Contents
Assignments (Due)
Week 1
Unit #1 (8/18-8/23)
Quiz on Chapter 1
Introduction Discussion
Week 2
Week 3
Unit #2 (8/25-8/30)
Unit #3 (9/1-9/6)
Syllabus,
Chapter 1
Discussion Introduction
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Discussion#1
Week 4
Unit #4 (9/8-9/13)
Chapter 4
Quiz on Chapter 2
Quiz on Chapter 3
Discussion#1
Submit Research Topic
Quiz on Chapter 4
Week 5
Unit #5 (9/15-9/20)
Chapter 5
Quiz on Chapter 5
Week 6
Unit #6 (9/22-9/27)
Week 7
Unit #7 (9/29-10/4)
Week 8
Week 9
(10/6-10/11)
Unit #8 (10/1310/18)
Unit #9 (10/2010/25)
Unit #10 (10/2711/1)
Unit #11 (11/3-11/8)
Unit #12 (11/1011/15)
Unit #13 (11/1711/22)
Thanksgiving Beak
Unit #14 (12/1-12/6)
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Chapter 6
Discussion#2
Chapter 7
Discussion #3
News Report
Chapter 8
Quiz on Chapter 6
Discussion#2
Quiz on Chapter 7
Discussion #3
News Report
Quiz on Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Quiz on Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Quiz Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Quiz on Chapter 11
Quiz on Chapter 12
Research Paper Due
Quiz on Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Quiz on Chapter 14
Quizzes:
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Take quizzes after each chapter. Each quiz must be completed during the
corresponding learning unit period: e.g., Quiz#1 (Chapter 1) must be taken during
Aug 18th to 23rd. Official time is set under D2L. Once the official time runs out,
the quiz will be locked automatically and cannot be taken any more: e.g., Quiz#1
will be locked after Aug 23rd. Therefore, it is very important for students to take
quizzes during each learning unit period.
Questions are all graded towards the final grade; the number of questions in each
chapter may vary. Please answer all questions.
All quizzes are timed. The time length of each quiz may vary, depending upon the
total number of questions in each quiz. There should be plenty of time for the
students to work on each quiz.
All quizzes are open book/note quizzes.
Research Paper: Research Paper: Students will be required to submit a research paper by week 13
(November 15, 2014). See Case Study document for details.
Online Class Discussion:
 Students are required to participate online discussion; their participation will be
graded (see below); Note that this discussion is not synchronized, therefore, no need
to log in at the same time!
 Timing: (1) discussion questions will be posted on Mondays; (2) You answers
should be posted by Wednesday night to allow fellow students to reply. All posts
and replies must be completed by the close of the assignment (Saturday Night @
11:30PM).
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Students’ News-reporting: I would expect all students to apply what we learn and
discuss in classroom to real-life situations. This is to ensure that students truly
understand and are able to use and apply what they learn in classroom to the real
world. In order to facilitate this process, all students are expected to pay attention to
current news (both domestic and international) and participate in students’ newsreporting at last once before December 1st.
What to do: To initiate one’s news report, students need to log in and post their
news report under the designated area titled “News-reporting”. Specifically,
students need to do the followings: (1) summarize the news & provide the citation
(summary) for the source of the news (e.g., link to Internet news); (2) discuss the
relevance (relevance) of the news to our reading material and class discussion; and
(3) share one’s thoughts and questions (self-reflection) on the news and/or our
material and discussion. Please limit your news report to a single-page document
(single-spaced, 12-point font). Of course, when you post your news, please give it a
nice title.
For all other students who’d like to respond to the post/news, please do so to further
stimulate our discussion and see how we may better apply (or not) our learning in
classroom to real-life situations. Please limit your reply/comment to a single-page
document (single-spaced, 12-point font), and post your reply before Saturday
midnight. The original news reporter may choose (but is not required) to answer,
reply or comment on other students’ replies and comments.
Grading: the grading of the students’ news report shall follow the rubric below.
Each sub-score shall be a “0”, “1”, “2” or “3” and the total score shall be between
“0” and “9”. There is one (1) free participation point. The total possible point for
news-reporting is 10.
News-reporting, Grading Rubric
Items/Content
Summary
Beginning (0 points)

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Relevance


Selfreflection


A poor summary is
provided;
not clear on what
news is reported;
completely
misinterpreted the
original news
Not much relevant to
reading & discussion;
Though relevant,
relevance is not well
presented
Little/no selfreflection;
Self-reflection
superficial, not
Accomplished (3 points)

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

Sub-Score
Good summary;
Clear on the news
content;
Truthfully
represented the
original news
3
Highly relevant to
reading & discussion;
Relevance is well
presented and clearly
explained;
Clear self-reflection;
Self-reflection
stimulating and wellthought
3
3
stimulating
Sub-total
Score
(add up all
sub- scores
above)
Free point
1
Grand Total
10
Other Useful Tools


Under each chapter (under ‘Content’), chapter outline and PPS (power-point slides)
are provided for students’ use. I would recommend that students proceed to the
reading, and follow up with chapter outline and PPS at the end. Nevertheless,
students may use them as they see fit;
Occasionally, additional readings and other audio/video tools are provided in the
study questions to facilitate students’ study.
Final Grading Scale and Appeal Policy:
(1)
(2)
(3)
Quizzes ----- 14 quizzes, a total of 420 points;
Discussions --- 4 discussions, a total of 100 points;
News-reporting ----- 50 points
Research Paper------ 100 points
(Grand total) -------- 670 points
The final grading scale is as follows:
90-100% of the total grade A
80-89% of the total grade
B
70-79% of the total grade
C
60-69% of the total grade
D
59% or below
F
The student may appeal his/her grading directly to the instructor WITHIN one week
after the exam/paper is returned to the student. If the appeal is reasonable, the grade
will be changed.
Other Important Things in this Class:
(1) Keeping up with your READING is very important to this class.
(2) Team-work is highly encouraged. Show your respect and help your classmates.
Make-up Quizzes: Make up quizzes we be allowed at the discretion of the instructor on a
case by case basis. Your reason for missing an exam must be compelling.
Email: Use the email function within D2L to contact Mr. Jenkins.
Plagiarism: All writing assignments that you submit for this course must either be entirely
your own, or properly referenced/cited. Violations constitute plagiarism. Students who
plagiarize may receive a failing grade on the assignment and in the course. A case
involving plagiarism is usually referred to the Discipline Committee, which can
recommend in extreme cases dismissal from the University.
Turnitin.com Plagiarism Syllabus Statement: UCO subscribes to the Turnitin.com
plagiarism prevention service. Students agree that by taking this course, all required
assignments may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com
for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted assignments will be included as source
documents in the Turnitin.com restricted access reference database for the purpose of
detecting plagiarism of such assignments. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to
the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com website. Turnitin.com is
just one of various plagiarism prevention tools and methods which may be utilized by
your faculty instructor during the terms of the semesters. In the UCO Student
Handbook, there is a process for contesting any plagiarism allegations against you.