Sample SCO

Here, as a recent example, is the SCO for Dance 107, Introduction to Hip Hop Dance:

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Department of Dance
DANC 107: Introduction to Hip Hop Dance

Standard Course Outline

I General Information

a. Course Number: DANC 107
b. Title: Introduction to Hip Hop Dance
c. Units: 3, classification C-2
d. Prerequisites: Any GE Foundations Course
e. Responsible Faculty: Colleen Dunagan
f. SCO Prepared by: Colleen Dunagan, Julio Medina, and Andrew Vaca
g. Date Prepared: 09/09/16

II. Catalogue Description

Prerequisite: GE Foundation requirements.
Exploration of the development of hip hop dance through study of aesthetic principles and social context. Lectures, screenings, and movement sessions.

III. Curriculum Justification

DANC 107 is a lower-division, introductory level course in hip hop dance as a creative, social, and artistic practice. While the focus is on teaching the basic skills and techniques of hip hop dance styles, the course also contextualizes the physical practice through lectures and discussions of readings and films.
The course will be taught under the GE Category Classification of Explorations (Category C-1, The Arts) and will therefore focus on skill building and assessment primarily in the following GE skill areas: creativity and discovery, intercultural knowledge, and written communication.
This course meets the criteria for a C-1 (The Arts) designation in its cultivation of the intellect, imagination, and sensitivity through both the study of and active participation in a dance form. Students will respond objectively and subjectively to hip hop dance and its culture in order to gain a better intellectual and affective understanding of the dance practice as a social, concert, and commercial form. Extended physical practice will facilitate students understanding from an embodied level and will engage them in creative problem solving, embodied innovation, and the discovery of new forms of expression. This course presents a history of hip hop dance styles primarily within the context of the historical conditions of the Bronx, Chicago, and Southern California (1970s to today), but instructors may also address more recent forms such as jookin’ and other regional developments. Readings, lectures, and film/performance viewings will facilitate students’ intercultural knowledge and the role of the dance styles within their social context. The course will facilitate cultural self-awareness, knowledge of cultural frameworks, curiosity and openness by considering issues of race, sexuality, class, authenticity, violence, gender, and censorship within hip hop. The course will address hip hop in terms of both verbal and nonverbal communication.
While there is currently a lower-division General Education course in hip hop history and culture (Africana Studies 255), the existing course stresses the intellectual study of hip hop culture as a whole without the benefit of an ongoing embodied investigation and practice.
Currently, the Department of Dance offers similar lower-division general education introductory dance courses that satisfy a C-1 GE Arts Category, but none of these offer information on the development of hip hop in the American context. The Department also offers a beginning level technique course in hip hop; however, that course does not stress intercultural knowledge, historical and cultural developments, or the development of written communication skills. The widespread popularity of hip hop dance in the U.S. and the impact globalization has had on the form call for greater attention to the form in higher education. To that end, the Department of dance is undergoing a search for a new tenure-track faculty position in Africana and hip hop dance forms, an addition to our faculty that would lead to the enrichment and expansion of our present curriculum.

IV. Measurable Student Learning Outcomes, Evaluation Instruments, and Instructional Strategies for Skill Development

The following content-based, skill-based, and essential GE skills student learning outcomes will appear on all course syllabi:

At the end of the course students will be demonstrate the ability to:

1. Analyze and articulate in writing important developments related to the history of hip hop, including applying relevant content in regards to its codes and conventions, and to synthesize and apply examples from this history in the analysis of hip hop choreography in social, concert, and mass media forms. (content-based, Written Communication).

2. Perform the basic movement fundamentals of various styles of hip hop dance (for example breaking, stepping, locking, popping, and house) and to freestyle (improvise with the form’s vocabulary) during cyphers (social practice that emphasizes participant-observation and signifying). (content-based, Creativity and Discovery)

3. Describe how issues such as race, sexuality, class, and gender have informed the development of hip hop dance and/in its cultural framework(s). (content-based, Intercultural Knowledge)

4. Demonstrate the evolution of hip hop culture through competency in techniques and synthesize basic knowledge of urban dance and music in the analysis and creation (innovation) of new material. (content-based, Creativity and Discovery, Written Communication)

Student Performance Benchmarks, Evaluation Instruments, and Instructional Strategies for Skill Development for each outcome include the following:

1. Analyze and articulate in writing important developments related to the history of hip hop, including applying relevant content in regards to its codes and conventions, and to synthesize and apply examples from this history in the analysis of hip hop choreography in social, concert, and mass media forms. (content-based, Written Communication).

   a. Measurable Benchmark: Students will clearly and convincingly articulate ideas pertaining to relevant course content through written assignments.

   b. Evaluation Instruments: Blog posts, performance/viewing and reading responses and/or essays.

   c. Strategies for Skill Development: The instructor will provide readings, lectures and in-class group assignments on appropriate methods and strategies to be used in order to convey clear ideas and relevant content through writing. More than one writing component will be included in order to provide the opportunity for feedback and improvement in student writing.

2. Perform the basic movement fundamentals of various styles of hip hop dance (for example breaking, stepping, locking, popping, and house) and to freestyle (improvise with the form’s vocabulary) during cyphers (social practice that emphasizes participant-observation and signifying). (content-based, Creativity and Discovery)

   a. Measurable Benchmark: Students will demonstrate embodiment of movement fundamentals in two or more styles of hip hop dance.

   b. Evaluation Instruments: In-class movement acquisition, movement exams, and a group creative project.

   c. Strategies for Skill Development: The instructor will provide movement demonstrations, instruction in various fundamentals, group assignments, and lead students in class cyphers.

3. Describe how issues such as race, sexuality, class, and gender have informed the development of hip hop dance and its cultural framework(s). (content-based, Intercultural Knowledge)

   a. Measurable Benchmark: Students will be able to discuss and analyze the role of social identity in the development of hip hop culture and in relation to themselves.

   b. Evaluation Instruments: Blog posts and essays written in response to readings, listening, and viewing assignments.

   c. Strategies for Skill Development: The instructor will provide readings, film viewings, and listening assignments along with class discussions and lectures that address these issues.

4. Demonstrate the evolution of hip hop culture through competency in techniques and synthesize basic knowledge of urban dance and music in the analysis and creation (innovation) of new material. (content-based, Creativity and Discovery, Written Communication)

   a. Measurable Benchmark: Students will clearly articulate and demonstrate their understanding of hip hop forms through choreography and written assessment of its composition.

   b. Evaluation Instruments: Creative project (composition), cyphers, and written assignments.

   c. Strategies for Skill Development: The instructor will provide instruction in movement, composition and improvisation, as well as through film viewings, reading and listening assignments.

V. Outline of Subject Matter:

This is a broad outline of topics to be covered. Subject matter and sequence of topics may vary by instructor.

Weeks 1-4: General discussion on the accepted norms/traditions/aesthetic qualities of hip hop dance styles; introduction and skill instruction in breaking; instruction on entering the cypher; relevant reading, viewing, and listening assignments. Lecture on rise of hip hop in 1970s. Lecture on cross-cultural influences on improvisation in urban dance practices. Class discussion of best practices in blog writing. Writing Assignment #1: Writing blog posts in response to reading, viewing, and listening.

Weeks 5: Cypher 1 and Breaking Movement Exam.

Weeks 6-7: Introduction and skill instruction in stepping; writing instruction for performance response essay; relevant reading, viewing, and listening assignments. Lecture(s) on historical developments and social context of stepping. Lecture(s) on compositional structures in hip hop and concert forms. Writing Assignment #2: performance response essay.

Week 8: Cypher 2 and Stepping Movement Exam

Weeks 9-12: Introduction and skill instruction in house dancing; relevant reading, viewing, and listening assignments. Lecture(s) on developments and social context of house dancing. Writing Assignment #3: Blog posts.

Week 13: Cypher 3 and House Movement Exam. Writing Assignment #4: Performance response paper.

Weeks 14: Creative embodiment and crafting personal and group choreographies; group final project work time; and additional listening assignments. Writing Assignment #5: Blog posts.

Week 15: Creative embodiment and crafting personal and group choreographies; group final project work time; and additional listening assignments. Writing Assignment #6: Blog posts. Performance of final project.

Final Exam: Multiple choice short answer exam on historical foundations of hip hop.

VI. Methods of Instruction

Movement instruction and demonstration by instructor. Student-driven discussions in combination with instructor lectures and screenings of visual materials will form a part of the instruction for the course. Lectures will provide historical background, supplemented by theoretical perspectives as appropriate for lower-division course work. Class time will also include instruction in written communication and dance composition.

VII. Extent and Nature of Technology Use:

Specific uses of technology will vary by instructor may include the use of Beachboard, library databases, the Internet, audiovisual materials and digital presentations. Students will be expected to engage with Beachboard, the Internet, and possibly other forms of technology, such as digital presentations, audio/interviews, blogs and/or video.

VIII. Information on Textbooks/Readings:

The textbooks selected will vary year to year depending on the instructor. The following are examples of appropriate texts:

Sommer, Sally. “‘C’mon to My House’: Underground-House Dancing” Dance Research Journal

33 no. 2 (Winter 2001): 72-86.

Schloss, Joseph Glenn. Foundation: B-boys, B-girls, and Hip-hop Culture in New York. New

York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Forman, Murray and Mark Anthony Neal. That’s the Joint: the hip-hop studies reader. New

York: Routledge, 2012.

IX. Instructional Policies Requirements:

Instructors may specify their own policies with regard to plagiarism, withdrawal, absences, etc., as long as the policies are consistent with the University policies published in the CSULB Catalog. It is expected that every course will follow University policies on Attendance (PS 01-01), Course Syllabi (PS 04-05), Final Course Grades, Grading Procedures, and Final Assessments (PS 05-07), and Withdrawals (PS 02-02 rev).

All sections of the course will have a syllabus that includes the information required by the syllabus policy adopted by the Academic Senate. Instructors will include information on how students may make up work for excused absences. When class participation is a required part of the course, syllabi will include information on how participation is assessed. When improvement in oral communication is an objective of the course, syllabi will include a rubric for how oral communication is to be evaluated. Each syllabus must also contain the following statement: It is the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor in advance of the need for accommodation of a university-verified disability.

X. Distance Learning/Hybrid Courses:

This course is not being designated as a distance learning and/or hybrid course at this time.

XI. Bibliography: This list is not exhaustive and is a sampling of resources.

The Technology of Hip Hop and Street Dance. Blackpool, UK: UKA Dance.

Chang, Jeff. Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: a history of the hip-hop generation. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005.

Condry, Ian. Hip-Hop Japan: rap and the paths of cultural globalization. Durham, NC: Duke

University Press, 2006.

Huntington, Carla Stalling. Hip Hop Dance: Meanings and Messages. Jefferson, NC: McFarland

& Company, Inc., 2007.

Kitwana, Bakari. Why White Kids Love Hip-hop: wankstas, wiggers, wannabes, and the new reality of race in America. New York: Basic Civitas Books 2005.

Lepecki, Andre, ed. Of the Presence of the Body: essays on dance and performance theory. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, 2004.

McCarren, Felicia M. French Moves: the cultural politics of le hip hop. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Mitchell, Tony, ed. Global Noise: rap and hip-hop outside the USA. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.

Oliver, Wendy R. Writing About Dance. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2010.

Rabaka, Reiland. The Hip Hop Movement: from R&B and the Civil Rights Movement to Rap and the Hip Hop Generation. Langham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2013.

Rose, Tricia. The Hip Hop Wars: what we talk about when we talk about hip hop and why it

matters. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2008.

Watkins, Craig S. Hip Hop Matters: politics, pop culture, and the struggle for the soul of a movement. Boston: Beacon Press, 2005.

Williams, Justin A., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Hip Hop. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015.

William, Justin A. Rhymin’ and Stealin’: musical borrowing in hip-hop. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2014.

XII. Student-level Assessment:

The exact set of course assignments will vary depending on instructor. University policy requires that no single evaluation of student achievement may count for more than one-third of the final grade. Appropriate assignments and percentages may include the following:

Grading:
Assignment Linked to SLO % of Course Grade

Final Project SLO 2 20%
Blog Posts SLO 1, 3, 4 15%
Cyphers (3) SLO 2, 4 15%
Movement Exams (3) SLO 2, 4 20%
Performance Response Papers SLO 1, 3, 4 15%
Final Exam SLO 1, 3, 4 15%
Total 100%

XIII. Course-level Assessment Plan

Assessment work for the GE course will be conducted throughout the (usually five-year) cycle prior to its recertification due date. The Department of Dance has chosen the Single-course Track option for recertification (see S.A.G.E. Track Selection Form, attached.)

The Essential GE Skills to be assessed for the course:

” Written Communication

” Intercultural Knowledge

” Creativity and Discovery

Student Performance Benchmarks:

” Written Communication: Students will clearly and convincingly articulate ideas pertaining to relevant course content through written assignments and will accurately define information from the course in written exams.

” Creativity and Discovery: Student will perform the basic movement fundamentals of various styles of hip hop dance (for example breaking, stepping, locking, popping, and house) and to freestyle (improvise with the form’s vocabulary) during cyphers (social practice that emphasizes participant-observation and signifying).

” Intercultural Knowledge: Students will describe how issues such as race, sexuality, class, and gender have informed the development of hip hop dance and culture.

” Written Communication and Creativity and Discovery: Students will describe the evolution of hip hop culture and synthesize basic knowledge of the urban dance and music in the analysis of new material.

Student performance of these benchmarks will be assessed through a random pool of student work in specific course assignments. The Department of Dance will create and utilize rubrics to be developed in conjunction with GEGC rubrics to appropriately assess the learning of the Essential GE Skills, in relation to the instructor’s specific assignments for skill development in these areas.

XIV. Consistency of SCO Standards Across Sections:

This course is not currently offered as a multi-section course. If the Department were to offer multiple sections, consistency would be monitored through the Department Curriculum Committee and the course coordinator will review the SCO and offer advice and/or materials to each faculty member new to teaching the course. All future syllabi will conform to the SCO. The course coordinator may offer regular review of instructors’ course materials as well as anonymous samples of student work.

XV. Additional Resources for Development of Syllabus:

All syllabi will conform to University policy on required content for syllabi and will confirm to the SCO.