FAML 360: Family Stress and Coping 

  Overview

This course involves a study of families under stress, including the many external and internal influences that play a role in determining a family's experience of stress. An ecological model will be used to understand potential risk factors that pose problems for families, along with protective factors that help families to be resilient. Focus will be maintained to learn ways to help families under stress. This course is set for three credit hours.

  Requirements

Prerequisites

This is a 300 level course, usually taken by juniors and seniors. 

You must have earned a minimum of 30 credit hours to enroll.

Required Resources

• No textbook required.
• Webcam and microphone (or smartphone) are required.
• Computer Recommendations and Requirements

 Course Structure

Course Outcomes (CO):

1. Explain how stress affects individuals physically, psychologically, and relationally.
2. Explain family systems theory related to family functioning.
3. Assess the impact of stressors and crises on a family system using the application of theory and models to case studies.
4. Discuss theory and research on family resilience.
5. Apply family stress models to assess and intervene in family functioning.
6. Identify specific empirically-supported stress reduction techniques.
7. Apply gospel principles associated with helping individuals and families to overcome adversity.

Major Assignments

The table below is meant to help you see the relevance of each major assignment as it pertains to the course outcomes (CO).

Weekly Patterns

The table below displays typical weekly activities, due dates, and activity descriptions. 

*Set your time zone within user preferences so the dates and times for course activities will display correctly for your time zone.

Learning Model

BYUI is committed to learning by study and also by faith. Passive learning is ineffective. From both a spiritual and scientific perspective, effective learning requires that we are actively engaged in preparation and study, discussion, and reflection. Acting in faith (hard and prayerful work) invites the Holy Ghost and opens the door to true learning. For more information, see the Defining Aspects of BYU-Idaho.

In this course, you will work with your classmates throughout 14 weeks. Your cohort of online learners will progress together so that you can teach and learn from one another and collaborate on group activities during similar times. You should not plan on working significantly ahead or getting significantly behind. Like any on-campus class, the online course will require steady and sustained work throughout each week of the semester. The three-process steps of the learning model will be incorporated through the following activities:

• Prepare: Students will prepare through study pages and completing weekly activities.
• Teach One Another: Students will teach one another through weekly asynchronous group discussions and three synchronous group discussions.
• Ponder & Prove: Students will prove their knowledge and skills by completing assignments and quizzes.

  Expectations

Feedback

You can expect to receive grades and feedback within seven days of the due date for most assignments. The required papers may take more than seven days to be evaluated.

Workload

Even though this course is an online course, it is not an independent study course. You will be expected to interact with classmates in order to teach one another about what you are learning. Students will be expected to participate in Teach One Another activities where some of the most powerful experiences occur.

This course has an expectation that students spend 3–4 hours each week for every credit earned. Students will need to be able to commit 9–12 hours each week. If you are unable to commit to the time demands of this course then you would be advised to take this course some other time when you will be able to commit to the workload.

Also, be aware that with this course, there is no time off for holidays that might occur during the week. Plan ahead and arrange your study schedule so that any holiday activities do not keep you from completing learning activities by the posted due dates and times.

Students are encouraged to progress sequentially and steadily through the items associated with each week. Set aside time to work on the course regularly. Students are expected to attend three synchronous meetings at a time scheduled with their group.

As you thoughtfully prepare, teach one another, and ponder and prove what you have learned, and as you humbly seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will bless you with a greater knowledge of His mercy and love, and you will receive an increased testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Discussion Boards

Most weeks have an asynchronous discussion assignment; a few weeks have two discussion assignments. You are expected to make your first post by Wednesday. For most of the discussion, you will respond twice; once by Thursday and once by Saturday. 

Group Work

You will be automatically grouped for asynchronous discussions. 

There are two case study assignments and a family therapy simulation which require synchronous participation. 

Late Work

Assignments are due on the day indicated. No late work will be accepted without permission from the instructor. Work that is late hampers your ability to fully participate in the course and will be accepted only at your instructor's discretion. Inform your instructor before the assignment is due. Any late work that is accepted is subject to a penalty as determined by your instructor.

Retries

You have two attempts for course quizzes. However, the attempts will be averaged. You are advised to prepare well before taking the quizzes.

Extra Credit

Extra credit is not a feature of this course.

Turnitin

Turnitin is an electronic text matching system which compares a student assignment against a database of sources and generates an originality report. The report highlights any matched text, calculates a Turnitin Similarity score for the matched text, and provides links for the matched text to the original source document, or a similar document on its database.

Turnitin also identifies AI-written text.

Turnitin scores and information are automatically generated and available to your instructor for every assignment in this course.

Grading Scale

  Synchronous Group Meetings

During the semester, you will have three opportunities to meet with classmates for live discussions. These meetings will be conducted via Zoom. In Week 02, you will choose a meeting time based on your availability. Failure to attend and participate fully in these meetings will result in a zero for that assignment.

You are required to have a working webcam and microphone for these meetings (a smartphone will work).

Zoom Assignments

Zoom is a free web conferencing tool required in this course. The main use of Zoom is to hold a virtual meeting on the web. You can also share your desktop display and record a Zoom session. All BYU-Idaho students may obtain their own Zoom account. You will log in with your BYUI credentials.

If you are the discussion leader, you will invite group members to join a meeting by providing them with a URL. 

Zoom will be used three times during the semester to facilitate synchronous meetings in small groups. Each meeting must be recorded so that the instructor can review student preparation and participation, and grade each group and group member accordingly.

Please understand that there is no alternative to these Zoom assignments, and that failing to attend a Zoom meeting will make it impossible for you to complete these assignments. You are encouraged to become familiar and play around with Zoom ahead of your first assignment that requires its use. Tutorials are provided in the course as well as through Zoom's Help Guide.

  Technical Support

If you need technical assistance, use the I-Learn Help button located on the left side of your screen to contact the appropriate support center (either BYU-Idaho Help or BYU-Pathway Help). 

  Program Statement for Marriage and Family Studies

March 2021

As the world is becoming more diverse in its values and perspectives on marriage and the family, it becomes increasingly important that students and faculty understand our mission as a major in Marriage and Family Studies at BYU-Idaho. Consistent with the BYU-Idaho Mission Statement, our mission is to prepare family life professionals to strengthen families throughout the world as true disciples of Jesus Christ, as outlined in the doctrines and teachings of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Regardless of current or future philosophies or practices related to the family unit, the major of Marriage and Family Studies at BYU-Idaho is built upon The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Although this program will explore a variety of views and perspectives on the family, and each student is entitled to his or her own beliefs, it will emphasize research and theory and be guided by eternal truths as taught by the Lord’s prophets. In short, our major strives to follow the admonition from President Dallin H. Oaks that “every generation has its tests and its chance to stand and prove itself. I believe our attitude toward and use of the family proclamation is one of those tests for this generation. I pray for all Latter-day Saints to stand firm in that test” ("The Plan and the Proclamation,” October 2017 General Conference).

  Department Policy Regarding Intellectual Property and Course Materials

All of the materials in this course are covered by fair use and copyright law and are proprietary (intellectual property). Students are not permitted to sell, post, trade, share, distribute, or send any information contained in this course (including outlines, handouts, syllabi, exams, quizzes, PowerPoint presentations, lectures, audio and video recordings, or images of the same, and so on, including your own work for this course) to any parties outside of this course (for example, Course Hero, Quizlet, Google Docs, and so on) by any means without the expressed written permission from the creator of these works and the department chair. Any of these actions violate the Academic Honesty Policies of Brigham Young University-Idaho and will be dealt with as such.

The materials in this course are also intellectual property and taking any materials from the course and posting them outside of this course in any manner will be construed as theft and distribution of intellectual property. If you engage in any of these actions, or use any of these materials without authorization, the instructor has the right to impose an appropriate academic sanction (in other words, give you a failing grade for the assignment and/or fail you from the course). Additionally, the respective Course Lead, Program Lead, and/or department chair also reserve the right to impose appropriate academic sanctions regardless of any imposed by the instructor.

  University Policies

Students with Disabilities

Brigham Young University-Idaho is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have a disability and require accommodations, please contact the Accessibility Services Office at (208) 496-9210 or visit their website and follow the Steps to Receiving Accommodations. Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with students and instructors by the Accessibility Services Office.

This course requires synchronous meetings. If you are currently registered with the Accessibility Services Office and need an interpreter or transcriber for these meetings, please contact the deaf and hard of hearing coordinator at (208) 496-9219.

Other University Policies

Please read through the document called University Policies. It gives important information about the following topics:

• Student Honor
  • Academic Honesty
  • Student Conduct
    • Sexual Harassment
• Student with Disabilities
• Complaints and Grievances
• Copyright Notice

Go to the Student Resources module to review further resources and information.