4 Course Requirements and Grading

For each Module you will do the following:

• Regular homework assignments:
  • most of these will involve answering reading questions or doing a set of critical thinking exercises. For each, you will
    1. do an initial attempt, then
    2. correct your answers against a key.
    3. submit (a) the corrected assignment and (b) a short paragraph self-analyzing any mistakes you made and asking any questions you have.
  • (b) must be completed with some thought and effort in order to get credit.
  • If you just copy the answer key, it will be obvious, you won’t learn anything, and you won’t get points for completion.
  • I will give feedback based on your self-analysis in part (b).
  • These are worth 10 course points each, and they are graded as complete/incomplete. You get full points if you complete the assignment satisfactorily (that is, points are not based on correct answers, but rather on whether you’ve done the work and the self-analysis).
  • You will be able to resubmit any that are initially marked as incomplete.
  • You may turn work in ahead of time.
  • You will not be penalized for late assignments. I would rather get an assignment that is done well a day late than one that is done hastily just to meet a deadline. (But make sure you don’t turn in late work very often — it’s easy to fall behind!)
• A Quiz:
  • You will get a timed practice quiz which isn’t worth any points. This you may take as many times as you like, but you should take it several times, as that will greatly improve your grade on the graded quiz.
  • A timed graded quiz, which you may take only once. These are each worth 40-80 course points.
  • Note that each Module’s graded quiz will contain a few questions from previous quizzes. This is to help you reinforce previous things you have learned.
• Three short Group Discussions
  • Each will be worth 20 course points.

In addition to the work on the Modules, you will have the following work:

• A two-part short project.
  • The first part will require you to identify an issue and different perspectives on it. It will be worth 25 course points.
  • In most cases, you will make an initial submission and then be required to revise it.
  • The second part will require you to outline arguments for these two perspectives, incorporating some analysis based on concepts covered during the course. This will be worth 75 course points.
  • If this is submitted on time, you will have the opportunity to revise it.
• A timed final exam, which will have questions taken from the quizzes. This will be worth 100 course points.
• A reflection essay about your experience in the class. This will be worth 50 course points. (It’s basically a complete/incomplete assignment — as long as you put reasonable effort into satisfying the prompt, you get full points.)

NOTE 1: The TWO-PART PROJECT and the FINAL EXAM must be completed in order to pass the course, regardless of how many points you have earned on other work.

NOTE 2: No late work can be accepted after May 5th, as grades will be due on Monday the 7th.

NOTE 3: I do not penalize for late work. I’d rather you do a better job and get an assignment in a day late than rush to get it in by the posted due date. However, if you don’t get most of your work in on time, you will quickly fall behind.

NOTE 4: I often send work back as incomplete. When this happens, you may revise it until it is satisfactory.

The grading scale is the standard 90-100%=A range, 80-89%=B range, etc.

EXTRA CREDIT BULLETIN BOARDS

Each week there will be a Bulletin Board open for you to post questions or comments about the class. This is a place where you can ask for help from your classmates and give it to those who are asking. For the most part, I will not respond to posts here — this is for you to help each other. (Though I will monitor for relevance and civility.)

These are due on FRIDAY, so that there is time for responses before you take your quizzes on Monday.

For a substantive and relevant post you will get up to 5 bonus points (max 5/week, i.e., multiple posts won’t get you additional points).

Substantive and relevant posts are ones that do one of the following:

• ask a question about the week’s material (if you’re confused about something, chances are one of your classmate’s can help)
• answer a classmate’s question (this needs to be done in a timely way — so, it has to be within a day of the question being posted)
• offers to the class something that you found that might be of help to them (for example, some students have discovered YouTube videos that they have found helpful for some topics)
• shares something from the news that helps illuminate the week’s topic
• other (if you have something else to contribute that is clearly related to the course, post it — I’ll be openminded in assessing it)

These Bulletin Boards will close at midnight on the Monday that the week’s quiz is due. But don’t forget, if you have a question you can always contact me, Prof. Shockey, at any time, even after a Bulletin Board has closed.