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COURSE OUTLINE

Course Title: Challenge and Change in Society
Course Code: HSB4M
Grade: 12
Course Type: University / College Preparation
Credit Value: 1
Prerequisite: Any university, university/college, or college preparation course in Social Sciences and Humanities, English, or Canadian and World Studies
Curriculum Policy Document: Social Science and Humanities, The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12, 2000
Department: Social Sciences and Humanities
Course Developer: Jeff Cummings
Development Date: Winter 2008
Course Revised by: -
Revision Date: -

Course Description:

This course examines the theories and methodologies used in anthropology, psychology, and sociology to investigate and explain shifts in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviour and their impact on society. Students will analyse cultural, social, and biological patterns in human societies, looking at the ways in which those patterns change over time. Students will also explore the ideas of classical and contemporary social theorists, and will apply those ideas to the analysis of contemporary trends.

Unit	Titles and Descriptions	Time and Sequence
Unit 1	Introduction to Social Sciences This unit sets the framework for all the units that follow as students will examine anthropology, psychology and sociology to determine what these disciplines are all about and the major schools of thought held by each discipline in the 21st century. Then students will examine how research is conducted in each discipline. Finally, career opportunities in each discipline will be presented.	14 hours
Unit 2	Theories of Social Change This unit begins with the development of an understanding of social change at both the individual and the societal levels. Alienation and conformity as concepts will be studied. Technological change in our society and its impacts will then be pursued. Finally the pursuit of civil rights as they relate to social change will conclude the unit.	14 hours
Unit 3	Baby Boom This unit examines the baby boom, as a sociological phenomenon as the unit’s starting point but continues with an examination of Generations X.Y and Z their causes and characteristics.	14 hours
Unit 4	Fertility This unit should stimulate student thinking as it begins with a definition of involuntary childlessness and the psychological impacts of it. Reproductive technology will be examined with discussions around ethics of its use. Students will also have a current look at the concepts of cloning and genetic modification. From here the unit pursues the concept of voluntary childlessness and the challenges couples or individuals face with respect to this decision. Birth patterns will conclude the unit topics.	14 hours
Unit 5	Life Cycle The stages and characteristics of the life cycle will be presented in this unit with follow-up topics including gender identity issues, youth culture and the challenges of the aging population on our society.	14 hours
Unit 6	Health Care The behaviors that impact health care and the barriers to its successful delivery will be the initial topics addressed by this unit. The main content of the unit will be an examination of the three models of health care and their strengths and weaknesses.	14 hours
Unit 7	Prejudice During this unit students will develop a clear understanding of prejudice, racism and discrimination and how they manifest themselves in our society.	14 hours
Unit 8	Globalization Students will conclude this course by developing a good understanding of tribalism and how it still occurs in modern society, as well as the concepts of globalization and transnationalism. Global citizenship from a Canadian perspective will challenge the students to think about what roles they wish to play as citizens of the world.	14 hours
	Final Evaluation	3 hours
	Total	110 hours

Teaching / Learning Strategies:

A wide range of teaching and learning strategies are employed including inductive reasoning exercises, reading text and articles, answering questions, completing graphic organizers, research and reporting, essay writing, research skills, interpreting data from tables, graphs, graphing, predicting, pursuing case studies, creating case studies, test writing, creating power point presentations and finding and posting resources. As well students will view some feature films that address topics covered in the content.

Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment is a systematic process of collecting information or evidence about a student’s progress towards meeting the learning expectations. Assessment is embedded in the instructional activities throughout a unit. The expectations for the assessment tasks are clearly articulated and the learning activity is planned to make that demonstration possible. This process of beginning with the end in mind helps to keep focus on the expectations of the course. The purpose of assessment is to gather the data or evidence and to provide meaningful feedback to the student about how to improve or sustain the performance in the course. Scaled criteria designed as rubrics are often used to help the student to recognize their level of achievement and to provide guidance on how to achieve the next level. Although assessment information can be gathered from a number of sources (the student himself, the student’s course mates, the teacher), evaluation is the responsibility of only the teacher. For evaluation is the process of making a judgment about the assessment information and determining the percentage grade or level.

Assessment is embedded within the instructional process throughout each unit rather than being an isolated event at the end. Often, the learning and assessment tasks are the same, with formative assessment provided throughout the unit. In every case, the desired demonstration of learning is articulated clearly and the learning activity is planned to make that demonstration possible. This process of beginning with the end in mind helps to keep focus on the expectations of the course as stated in the course guideline. The evaluations are expressed as a percentage based upon the levels of achievement.

The Final Grade:

The evaluation for this course is based on the student's achievement of curriculum expectations and the demonstrated skills required for effective learning. The percentage grade represents the quality of the student's overall achievement of the expectations for the course and reflects the corresponding level of achievement as described in the achievement chart for the discipline.

A credit is granted and recorded for this course if the student's grade is 50% or higher. The final grade for this course will be determined as follows:

• 70% of the grade will be based upon assessment tasks completed throughout the course. This portion of the grade will reflect the student’s most consistent level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration will be given to the most recent evidence of achievement.



• 30% of the grade will be based on a final assessment task that occurs at or near the end of the course. In the case of this course, this final assessment task will take the form of a final examination which will be completed online under the supervision of a pre-approved proctor.

The Report Card:

The report card will focus on two distinct but related components of student achievement: the achievement of curriculum expectations and the development of learning skills. The report card will contain separate sections for the reporting of these two aspects.

A Summary Description of Achievement in Each Percentage Grade Range and Corresponding Level of Achievement
Percentage Grade Range	Achievement Level	Summary Description
80-100%	Level 4	A very high to outstanding level of achievement. Achievement is above the provincial standard.
70-79%	Level 3	A high level of achievement. Achievement is at the provincial standard.
60-69%	Level 2	A moderate level of achievement. Achievement is below, but approaching, the provincial standard.
50-59%	Level 1	A passable level of achievement. Achievement is below the provincial standard.
below 50%	Level R	Insufficient achievement of curriculum expectations. A credit will not be granted.

Achievement Chart: Social Sciences and the Humanities, Grades 9-12

Categories	50-59% (Level 1)	60-69% (Level 2)	70-79% (Level 3)	80-100% (Level 4)
Knowledge and Understanding - Subject-specific content acquired in each course (knowledge), and the comprehension of its meaning and significance (understanding)
	The student:
knowledge of facts and terms	demonstrates limited understanding of facts and terms	demonstrates some understanding of facts and terms	demonstrates considerable understanding of facts and terms	demonstrates thorough understanding of facts and terms
understanding of concepts, principles, and theories	demonstrates limited knowledge of concepts, principles, and theories	demonstrates some knowledge of concepts, principles, and theories	demonstrates considerable knowledge of concepts, principles, and theories	demonstrates thorough knowledge of concepts, principles, and theories
understanding of relationships among concepts, principles, and theories	demonstrates limited understanding of relationships among concepts, principles, and theories	demonstrates some understanding of relationships among concepts, principles, and theories	demonstrates considerable understanding of relationships among concepts, principles, and theories	demonstrates thorough and insightful understanding of relationships among concepts, principles, and theories
Thinking and Inquiry - The use of critical and creative thinking and inquiry skills and/or processes
	The student:
critical and creative thinking skills (e.g., decision-making skills, problem-solving skills)	uses critical and creative thinking skills with limited effectiveness	uses critical and creative thinking skills with moderate effectiveness	uses critical and creative thinking skills with considerable effectiveness	uses critical and creative thinking skills with a high degree of effectiveness
research and inquiry skills (e.g., formulating questions; selecting strategies and resources; analysing and evaluating information; forming conclusions)	applies few of the skills involved in an inquiry process	applies some of the skills involved in an inquiry process	applies most of the skills involved in an inquiry process	applies all or almost all of the skills involved in an inquiry process
Communication - The conveying of meaning through various forms
	The student:
communication of information and ideas	communicates information and ideas with limited clarity	communicates information and ideas with some clarity	communicates information and ideas with considerable clarity	communicates information and ideas with a high degree of clarity, and with confidence
use of language, symbols, and visuals	uses language, symbols, and visuals with limited accuracy and effectiveness	uses language, symbols, and visuals with some accuracy and effectiveness	uses language, symbols, and visuals with considerable accuracy and effectiveness	uses language, symbols, and visuals with a high degree of accuracy and effectiveness
communication for different audiences and purpose	communicates with a limited sense of audience and purpose	communicates with some sense of audience and purpose	communicates with a clear sense of audience and purpose	communicates with a strong sense of audience and purpose
use of various forms of communication (e.g., reports, interviews)	demonstrates limited command of the various forms	demonstrates moderate command of the various forms	demonstrates considerable command of the various forms	demonstrates extensive command of the various forms
Application - The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts
	The student:
application of ideas and skills in familiar contexts	applies ideas and skills in familiar contexts with limited effectiveness	applies ideas and skills in familiar contexts with moderate effectiveness	applies ideas and skills in familiar contexts with considerable effectiveness	applies ideas and skills in familiar contexts with a high degree of effectiveness
transfer of concepts, skills, and procedures to new contexts	transfers concepts, skills, and procedures to new contexts with limited effectiveness	transfers concepts, skills, and procedures to new contexts with moderate effectiveness	transfers concepts, skills, and procedures to new contexts with considerable effectiveness	transfers concepts, skills, and procedures to new contexts with a high degree of effectiveness
application of procedures, equipment, and technology	uses procedures, equipment, and technology safely and correctly only with supervision	uses procedures, equipment, and technology safely and correctly with some supervision	uses procedures, equipment, and technology safely and correctly	demonstrates and promotes the safe and correct use of procedures, equipment, and technology
making connections (e.g., between personal experiences and the subject, between subjects, between the subject and the world outside the school)	makes connections with limited effectiveness	makes connections with moderate effectiveness	makes connections with considerable effectiveness	makes connections with a high degree of effectiveness

Resources:

In addition to the resources provided by the course, students will need access to the internet as well as to some feature films that they should be able to find easily in local video stores. Students will conduct some brief primary research on friends and relatives at various points as they practice the research methods of the disciplines being studied.

Reference Material:

• Transitions in Society: The Challenge of Change; Bain, Colin, Jill Colyer, Dennis DesRivieres et al.; Oxford University Press Canada, 2002

Program Planning Considerations for Social Studies and Humanities:

All four of the subject areas encompassed by the secondary program in social sciences and humanities – family studies, general social science, philosophy, and world religions – are concerned with how students view themselves, their families, their communities, and society as they seek to find meaning in the world around them. Through practical experiences, discussions, debates, research, study and reflection, and other vehicles for developing critical and creative thinking skills, social science and humanities courses help students become self- motivated problem-solvers equipped with the skills and knowledge that will allow them to face their changing world with confidence.

Teachers who are planning a program in Social Sciences and Humanities must take into account considerations in a number of important areas. Essential information that pertains to all disciplines is provided in the companion piece to this document, The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12: Program Planning and Assessment, 2000. The areas of concern to all teachers that are outlined there include the following:

• types of secondary school courses
• education for exceptional students
• the role of technology in the curriculum
• English as a second language (ESL) and English literacy development (ELD)
• career education
• cooperative education and other workplace experiences
• health and safety

Considerations relating to the areas listed above that have particular relevance for program planning in Social Sciences and Humanities are noted here.

Education for Exceptional Students. In planning courses in Social Sciences and Humanities, teachers should take into account the needs of exceptional students as set out in their Individual Education Plan. Social Sciences and Humanities courses reflect the creative part of our religious world, which offers a vast array of opportunities for exceptional students. Students who use alternative techniques for communication may find a venue for their talents. Just as Social Sciences and Humanities responds to the needs and demands of the greater world of work, Social Sciences and Humanities courses are largely shaped by the needs and demands of students who will all eventually end up in this greater world.

The Role of Technology in the Curriculum. Information technology is considered a learning tool that must be accessed by Social Sciences and Humanities students when the situation is appropriate. As a result, students will develop transferable skills through their experience with word processing, internet research, presentation software, and telecommunication tools, as would be expected in any business environment.

English As a Second Language and English Literacy Development (ESL/ELD). This Social Sciences and Humanities course can provide a wide range of options to address the needs of ESL/ELD students. Detailed analysis of the the various writings will help ESL students in mastering the English language and all of its idiosyncrasies. In addition, since all occupations require employees with a wide range of English skills and abilities, many students will learn how their backgrounds and language skills can contribute to their success in the larger world.

Career Education. Social Sciences and Humanities definitely helps prepare students for employment in a huge number of diverse areas. The skills, knowledge and creativity that students acquire through this Social Sciences and Humanities course are essential for a wide range of careers. Being able to express oneself in a clear concise manner and without ambiguity would be an overall intention of this Social Sciences and Humanities course, as it helps students prepare for success in their working lives.

Cooperative Education and Other Workplace Experiences. By applying the skills they have developed, students will readily connect their classroom learning to real-life activities in the world in which they live. Cooperative education and other workplace experiences will broaden their knowledge of employment opportunities in a wide range of fields. In addition, students will increase their understanding of workplace practices and the nature of the employer-employee relationship. Teachers of Social Sciences and Humanities should maintain links with community-based businesses to ensure that students have access to hands-on experiences that will reinforce the knowledge they have gained in school.

Health and Safety. The Social Sciences and Humanities program provides the reading skills for the student to be able to explore the variety of concepts relating to health and safety in the workplace. Teachers who provide support for students in workplace learning placements need to assess placements for safety and ensure that students can read and understand the importance of issues relating to health and safety in the workplace.