Overview
How can research inform the work, decisions, activism, and lives of others? Since the inception of sociology as a discipline, sociologists have been engaged with the world around them, seeking not only to know about it, but also to influence and change it. Knowledge mobilization, the process of creating and sharing knowledge to increase uptake and to inform decisions, is an important part of the research process. More and more it is recognized that research findings should be shared more broadly than just the academic community; this may mean sharing with community members, activists, participants, decision-makers, policy-writers, and other stakeholders.
In this course, students will learn about knowledge mobilization practices and debates. Students will learn about various knowledge mobilization theories, including how to engage with communities for social change. Students will select a topic they have learned about in their previous studies that is of interest to them and which relates to the social world. Following a critical literature review on this topic, students will engage in knowledge mobilization. They will identify three audiences who may be interested in their findings and, drawing on what they know about knowledge mobilization, create three artifacts of knowledge mobilization sharing what they learned in their critical literature review. These artifacts could include, but are not limited to, a policy brief, an infographic, a lesson plan, TikToks, a series of Tweets, or a podcast episode.
Outline
SOCI 426 is divided into five units:
- Unit 1 – Knowledge Mobilization: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
- Unit 2 – Knowledge Mobilization: Challenges and Critiques
- Unit 3 – Best Practices for Knowledge Mobilization
- Unit 4 – Writing Your Literature Review
- Unit 5 – Planning Your Knowledge Mobilization
Evaluation
To receive credit for SOCI 426, you must complete all five assignments and obtain a minimum composite course grade of at least D (50 percent).
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1: Learning Reflection | 20% |
| Assignment 2: Topic Proposal | 10% |
| Assignment 3: Critical Literature Review | 25% |
| Assignment 4: Artifact Proposal | 10% |
| Assignment 5: Artifacts | 35% |
| Total | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
This course either does not have a course package or the textbooks are open-source material and available to students at no cost. This course has a Course Administration and Technology Fee of $146, but students are not charged the Course Materials Fee.
All course materials are available online.