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 take pictures and
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 provide
a copy of the seating chart to
everyone after the drop/add period
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, 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. Although I will not grade
attendance, you should realize that
if you miss class, you will receive
a 0 for that day’s quiz (if a quiz
is scheduled) and will also not be
able to earn participation/in-class
assignment points for that day. 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:
·
You must be in class on Thursday,
January 29th for the
formation of your group project
teams.
·
You must be in class for the four
in-class exams.
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, blackberry or other wireless
device for communication
(voice
or electronic – this includes
texting), using your Ipod or other
MP3-type player, doing outside work,
reading non-class material, studying
for another class, sleeping, etc.
While you may use your laptop to
take notes in class, if I find that
you are IMing, using e-mail,
browsing the Internet, viewing or
posting to Facebook/MySpace/other
social networking sites, doing work
for other classes, etc. (basically
doing things unrelated to this
class), I will ask you to turn off
your computer and not allow you to
use it in any subsequent classes.
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 not leaving 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 Quizzes:
If you miss a quiz, you will not be
able to make it up unless I have
made arrangements with you in
ADVANCE of the quiz date. Only a
valid reason (and what I determine
to be valid is completely at my
discretion) will allow you to make
up a quiz. Otherwise, all missed
quizzes will result in a score of
0.
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. 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 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 by
Sunday, January 25,
2009. You have until Tuesday,
April 14, 2009 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, videos, in- class
exercises and class discussions.
Student Progress:
You will be able to access all of
your grades in the course via WebCT
(webct.radford.edu). 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 Submissions:
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 no later
than the second week of class.
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).
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.
|