Assigned Readings:
Please read the chapters assigned by the date listed on the Assignments page of
the course web site. I may also post additional readings from time to time.
You are responsible for these readings as well.
Seat
Assignments:
I run an interactive class. I
want to learn your names early on
(and I want all of you to get to
know each other as well).
Therefore, I will create a seating
chart. Once the seating
chart has been established that is your spot for the semester. Since the
seating chart will be used to grade participation, it is important that you use
your selected seat for each class. I will pass a copy of the seating chart to
everyone so you can get to know each other as well.
Semester
Schedule:
As your instructor, I reserve the right to make adjustments to the syllabus at any time during the semester.
It is your responsibility to keep track of scheduled examinations/project dates,
any changes in these dates, material covered in the class, and all other
announcements made in the class. I will also post changes to my web site.
Attendance
Policy:
You are adults and I expect you to attend class. However, illnesses, interviews
and other things occur that may cause an occasional absence. I will not grade
attendance. You should note, however, that because participation is a component
of your grade, you cannot participate if you do not attend class (obviously
there is a correlation here). I will record attendance for my class
recordkeeping. You should also understand that if you miss an in-class
assignment, you will be unable to make it up for credit. Please note the following times when attendance is MANDATORY
(no excuses excepted) -- there will be penalties for non-compliance:
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You must be in class on
Wednesday, January 17th for the formation of your group project teams. |
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You must be in class for the three in-class exams
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You must attend the
end of the semester team
presentations (that means
you must be present for your
team’s presentation as well
as all of the other team
presentations). These
presentations will occur
during the last week of
class. You
must be present for your group's presentation as well as all
other groups' presentations. If you miss any group's
presentation, your final project grade will be lowered by
one full letter grade. This policy will be strictly enforced. |
Professional Behavior:
During class you are expected to be attentive. This means the following
behaviors are inappropriate: talking while I am presenting material in class,
talking while other students are presenting or participating in class
discussions, interrupting me and your fellow students by arriving late for
class, using your cell phone, pager or other wireless device for communication
(voice or electronic), doing outside work, reading non-class material, studying
for another class, sleeping, etc. Additionally, I expect you to respect
the opinions of others. Thus, disagreements in points of view should not be made
in a combative or downgrading manner. I also expect you to be in class on time
and to not leave before class is over. Doing so is disrespectful to both
me and your student colleagues.
I take this seriously. I will
warn you once if you are being
unprofessional. If there is a
second incident, you will be asked
to leave class and will be unable to
make up the work. If you are
asked to leave three times or more,
I will deduct 10 points from your
final class average for each
occurrence.
Questions:
When you don’t know something or are confused about a particular topic, please
don’t hesitate to ask me in class. There are probably others in the same
situation. There are no dumb questions in this class. If I am going over
something and I am speaking too quickly, ask me to slow down. I love what I do
and I sometimes get so excited about what I’m teaching that I may begin to talk
too quickly. I won’t know if I’m doing this unless you tell me.
Missed
Examinations:
Make-up exams will be given at my discretion at the end of the semester.
Only under the most serious, extenuating circumstances will a make-up exam be
considered. Unless the excuse is serious, a zero will be given for the missed
exam. Problems should be discussed with me before the exam, not after the exam.
If you are unable to take an exam on the scheduled date, you may be allowed to
take it early provided you have a valid reason (e.g., university
excused absence, etc.). If you miss an exam, I will need written proof
documenting the reason for the absence (if you are sick, you will need a
physician’s written notice -- telling me you were sick will not be sufficient). Only a valid excuse (and this is at my complete
discretion) will allow you to take a make-up exam (this exam will be different
than what was given to the rest of the class). Otherwise, a zero will be given
for the missed exam. All take home exams (if assigned) are due on the date
assigned. No excuses!
Lecture
Content:
I do not lecture straight from the assigned text readings. Although my lectures
will sometimes parallel the readings closely, at other times they will deviate
substantially (where I might use an exercise or discussion to emphasize course
content). You are responsible for all materials covered. All text chapters and
articles should be read when assigned on the course schedule.
Withdrawals:
If you choose to withdraw from class
without receiving a W on your
transcript, you must do so before midnight (12 a.m.) Sunday,
January 14, 2007. You have until Friday,
April 6, 2007 to withdraw with a grade
of W.
Incomplete
Grades:
I do not give incompletes (Is) except in unusual circumstances. You must have my
approval before a grade of "I" will be assigned.
Exam
Contents:
Students will be held responsible for all reading assignments, whether or not a
particular reading is fully covered during the lectures. Questions on exams will
be taken from the reading assignments, handouts distributed or placed on the
web, instructor or guest lectures, in and out of class exercises and class
discussions.
Student
Progress:
You will be able to access all of your grades in the course via WebCT (http://webct6.radford.edu/webct/logonDisplay.dowebct).
No extra credit work will be given, which increases the importance of not
waiting until the last minute to complete assignments and submitting all work
when it is due.
Student
Portfolio:
As the professor for this course, I reserve the right to retain for pedagogical
reasons either the original or a copy of any student's test, written assignment,
paper, video, or similar work submitted by the student, either individually or
as a group project, for this class.
Special
Needs:
If you are a student with special needs, as addressed by the Americans with
Disabilities Act, and need any course materials provided in an alternative
format or have special testing requirements, you are required to register with
the Disability Resource Office (DRO). The DRO is located in Room 32, Tyler Hall
(telephone is 831-6350). To receive academic accommodations for this class,
please obtain the proper DRO forms and meet with me at the beginning of the
semester.
Deadlines:
The failure to complete any assignment at the specified time represents a
failure to meet your responsibilities. Any assignment, which is not submitted at
the specified time, will receive a grade of zero (0).
Written
Assignments:
Written work must be prepared in a professional manner. It is to be clearly
written, with proper grammatical construction and correct spelling. Work which
is not presented in a professional manner will be returned as unacceptable. The
grade assigned to written work will reflect its analytical soundness. In
addition, improper grammar, sentence construction and misspellings may result in
a grade reduction.
Contact:
Please feel free to call me at home or e-mail me if you have any questions. I
generally respond to e-mail the same day (if I’m away and have no e-mail access,
I will let you know in advance). So that I can have some uninterrupted time
with my family, I ask that you not call me after 8 p.m. (unless of course you
have an emergency situation that you need to alert me of – and no a question
about tomorrow’s assignment is not an emergency).
Honor Code:
The Radford University Honor Code applies to all aspects of this course. It is
your responsibility to become familiar with and understand the provisions of the
University’s Honor Code and System. Please keep in mind that consulting with
other students on individual assignments or exams is a violation of the Honor
Code. You have also violated the Honor Code if you attempt to represent the work
of others as your own (this includes paraphrasing without references, whether it
be from a traditional paper source or an on-line source). This is plagiarism.
You must reference (i.e., give credit to) the works of others through an
appropriate form of citation. All violations of university policies and
procedures will be dealt with on an individual basis in a manner consistent with
the university guidelines.
Agreement to the Terms of the
Syllabus:
If you are uncomfortable with or do not wish to abide by the requirements listed
in this syllabus, you should make arrangements to drop the class. Your continued
enrollment in the class assumes that you have agreed to all of the terms listed
herein.
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