SOCY 100

If the question is looking for a concept definition you should be paraphrasing from the course materials in your own words to show understanding, citing in text, and placing a citation at the bottom of the question as to your sources.

If the question is more complex and is asking you to apply a concept you may want to include a direct definition or evidence from the course material- in that case you will need to quote and have an in text citation as well as a citation at the bottom of the question. In complex questions you will often need more than a definition, you will need backing of evidence from class sources, Don't use long quotes, use paraphrasing and shorter quotes. In complex questions I am looking for your ability to analyze, use your own thought and then back those thoughts with class sources. 

Make yourself a document with the class citations that way you can cut and paste them and save time retyping them- make sure to make an in text and at the bottom of the question version (you may need to add page numbers or chapters afterwords depending on what you need your citation for).

The recommendation for in class sociology 100 finals is  7-10 hours for a take home  exam- so expect to  spend that amount of time. This assumes you studied and are not trying to learn the material as you take the test, so use the guide to study in advance. 

Everything you need is in the class assigned sources- do not use citations from outside sources.

At this point you should have studied the in class material- I am not looking for your ability to google terms I want to see your thoughts and your understanding.

Use of cited outside sources will result in a point deduction, use of uncited outside sources will be considered plagiarism and will result in a 0 for the question or the entire exam. I know what is in all of the sources and I know the commonly used outside sources so don't use this as a shortcut. 

There are questions from all of the sources- some can only be answered by using the videos other from the book or the modules. any class information can be used to help you in your answers including information I posted in the announcements or in discussions to clarify concepts (cited of course)

There is a big difference between using course materials to back your point or provide background for your own critical thinking and using the course material to take the place of doing any analytical or critical thinking. A few of the exam questions are definitional- they are looking for how well you understand a definition- or in other words how well you paraphrase from given definitions. In this case you should not be using a quote you should put the information in your own words. However most questions are more critical thinking and application- they expect you to not just rephrase a definition - you need to apply the definition. In these types of questions most of what you will be writing will be your own and then using the course materials as back up. In these questions just rephrasing definitions will not help you - you need to understand how the concepts work. So this is more in line with the exercises we did in the week 7 discussions which requires you to analyze and apply theory.

In a long exam fatigue is a reality. To help combat this - start earlier than you think you need to, plan time for breaks, start with the questions you find the most difficult (then you can answer them while your brain is fresh and leave the easier questions for when you are tired), start with longer analytical and critical thought questions and leave definition questions for last. 

Good luck on your finals and on your future classes!