7400.440/540 - Family Crisis School of Family and Consumer
Sciences http://www3.uakron.edu/witt/fc/fc.htm Fall Semester - Tuesday 5:20-7:55pm in 220
Schrank Hall South Instructor: David D. Witt, Ph.D. Office Hours: 30 minutes before class and by appointment.
Phone: 972-6044 215f SHS This syllabus has clickable hyperlinks! Note: The Provost's Office requires that all students
taking this class must be registered by the 14th day of classes.
PURPOSE OF THE COURSE: This course is designed for the professional
who will work with families, and who will have the opportunity to assist
families in effectively coping with stress and crisis, through educational
strategies. We will be studying family stress and crisis from a theoretical
and practical point of view - including major theory groups, research and
application of findings, and discussion of the effects on families of changing
political climate.
Students receiving an "A" in the course will be able to:
Identify theoretical models of family development and family crisis.
Identify sources of stress and resources for coping in times of crisis.
Describe stages of the family life cycle and crises associated with those
stages.
Recognize unique elements of crises experienced by culturally diverse families.
Recognize the importance of maintaining a knowledge base of changes in
political policy, legislation, and political climate.
GROUND RULES: Understanding the material in this course will take
great effort on your part. Your attendance, attention to your
readings, and your performance in class is critical. As students
in an upper level course, you need not be reminded of the importance of
regular class attendance. However, the choice to attend class or not is
strictly up to each individual. But be forewarned that actions,
as they say, have consequences. Lecture material will definitely
appear on in-class examinations, and only one comprehensive make-up exam
will be given during finals week for anyone who missed the midterm. We
will be discussing the text material in class, which means students must
read the text assignments before classtime.
GRADES: Your final grade will consist of the following:
References for the course - you might find these
helpful with exams and papers.
Examinations: I will give you a list of 30 questions, ranging in
point value from 5 to 40 points each. These are the questions we will be
discussing prior to the each exam. Each examination will consist of approximately
10 of the 30 questions, therefore it is in your interest to take good notes
and read your assignments. All examinations will be held in class (see
the course outline).
Term Paper Instructions (traditional): I expect your work to
be a polished piece that reviews a single aspect of family crisis, or a
theoretical point of view as it relates to families in crisis. It should
be complete with: - An outline (write this after getting your sources in
order).
Introduction (write this section last)
Main Body (containing comparisons and contrasts, or showing growth in the
research area)
This is where you cite your sources in the text.
Conclusion (in which you evaluate your resources as a whole)
References Section Undergraduates have a minimum length of 10 pages with
10 references.
Outline (see above)
Graduate students should speak to me individually about their projects.
Generally Grad. Students have a 20 page minimum with 20 references. Papers
should be carefully written to make a point, be double spaced, typewritten.
The grading criteria for term papers are attached to the back of the syllabus.