You can use free computers in public libraries as well as at ACC. Even if you do not live in Austin, an ACC ID or a public library card from another town (with the Texshare form, which you also obtain from libraries) will enable you to get a free library card for the Austin Public Libraries. Branches are all over Austin.
The ACC catalogue describes this course as "a study of representative samples of literature, art, and music ["the arts"] of various periods [history] and cultures [as defined by the disciplines called anthropology, cultural studies, economics, political science, sociology]. The study of the interrelationships of the arts and their philosophies emphasizes an understanding of human nature [psychology] and the values of human life [philosophy and religion]." (I supplied the terms in brackets.) There are no course prerequisites for Introduction to the Humanities other than a passing score or the equivalent on the reading portion of the TASP.
The 5 W's of Introduction to the Humanities:
Everything You Need to Know Before You Begin Your Adventure
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Who |
This class is becoming a learning community in which, since we are all human beings, we have no enemies. Your main contribution is to come to every single class and to use the Blackboard course management system and your email account nearly every day to check for announcements and post your work. If you are absent, the learning community is less valuable for everyone. |
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What |
Our textbook, The Western Humanities, 6th ed.,has 22 chapters, and you read one each week. For each you take a quiz and post one more part of your A-level or B-level project in a Discussion Board Forum on Blackboard. While you are in Blackboard doing that, you comment on the chapter and on other students' projects and comments in various Discussion Board Forums. In class you listen, speak, and write a three-minute paper. |
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When |
On four different days each week you need to post comments in Discussion Forums on Blackboard. Class is MW 10:35-11:50. Deadlines for each chapter's quiz and project part are Tuesday midnight and Saturday midnight. Riverside computer labs are open nights and weekends. If you are not making steady progress with your project assignments and Blackboard postings, or with your quizzes, or have three unexcused absences or four of which one is excused, I will drop you. |
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Where |
Riverside Campus Building G, Room 8100, and my office in Annex 400, between Buildings B and S, south of Building A. Also, wherever you can use a computer with high-speed internet access like those on ACC campuses in the learning labs, computer labs, and libraries. Public library branches all over Austin and in most nearby communities where you might be living have computers that you can use (get a TexShare Card from an ACC library). |
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Why |
· It is incredibly important to be informed about what is going on in the world and how issues of human rights, philosophy, history, and the arts both directly and indirectly affect your life. Our learning community is one way of doing this. · It is also important to learn to read a text more accurately, state an opinion that offers a different perspective from that of the author of the text, collaborate, and manage your time so that you can follow through on a project. · Introduction to the Humanities is good for all of this (and more). Employers will be eager to hire you. |
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How (Not a W, but important) |
This project is done in phases, as you may have realized from the "what" and “when” above. By formulating your own statements about what is valuable in the humanities, you will come to experience the humanities in a new way that may change your life. All your assignments are open-book and can be done in collaboration with your fellow students, who are required to post feedback for you in Blackboard Discussion Forums. |
Course Materials
ISBN 007 313 619, The Western Humanities, 6th edition, by Matthews and Platt, is your required textbook. The ISBN may have an additional prefix, 978, and if it does, it will have an additional suffix, 6. Otherwise the suffix will be 0.
Textbooks at Bookstore This link allows you to order books from the Rio Grande bookstore, a block west of Rio Grande Campus, at 817 West 12th Street, (512) 474-2607. The books can be shipped to you at another campus bookstore if that is more convenient. At the bottom of the screen you can click for more store information. The Riverside bookstore is open M-Th 9-5 and F 9-2. The books are currently located at the Rio Grande and Riverside campuses.
If you are told that our textbook is not in stock at the moment, you should ask to speak with the store manager and be prepared to show her the synonym for this course (07594). Other sections of the course may have different books. Clerks are often students who have just been hired and are unfamiliar with the system. They may tell you that if you cannot find the book it must not be there.
If the store manager refuses to locate the book for you in town by calling other bookstores, you should ask her to order the book for you immediately. You cannot wait until you feel that you have enough money, and she should not wait until she has a larger order. For this course, the book is used in class starting in the first week, whether the assignment schedule and Blackboard Calendar mention it for that day or not.
Perhaps you can obtain an emergency loan from some institution (I don't know whether or not ACC does this). In other words, please set obtaining this book as your highest priority right now. You can use it as a reference book for the rest of your life, for example, when you are taking free community college courses as a senior citizen, or with your younger siblings, children, grandchildren, or nieces and nephews as they grow older.
Other Materials: Each day throughout the semester, along with your textbook, bring your class folder with your syllabus and handouts from previous classes, and paper and pen for taking notes and writing your Three-Minute Paper.
If you email me with questions about your assignments, we can find a way to "learn by doing" that fits your individual learning style and feels like both work and play at the same time. In what follows, I am telling you what my methods are by describing the projects that I have designed which allow you some choice about how you will learn by doing.
The Basics: What Each Student in the Class Will Do
Here is the basic plan: Read to find out what humans have done since the beginning of recorded history that goes beyond providing food and shelter, just in order to make life enjoyable or make sense out of life for themselves. That's humanities! Focus and review this information as you write three-minute papers, summarize for the class what you remember on a specific topic, and take quizzes on Blackboard. Repetition with variation helps to save what you have read and heard into your memory. The more sensory modes you use for intake of information, the more likely you are to remember what is presented in the course.
Everyone will post on the Blackboard Discussion Board comments on each chapter in the textbook and helpful feedback on other students' A- and B-level projects, as well as contributions to discussion forums for topics such as history, happiness, heroes, music, and power.
Working together on these discussions in a learning community in which you receive helpful feedback reproduces the human condition. Learning is essentially a social activity, in that what we choose to learn and what we are told to learn are both formed by an entire culture, which is a group of interacting communities carrying on a constant conversation.
B-Level Projects
You may choose by September 12 to"go for the basics" described above and receive a C, or to earn a B by additionally completing 22 brief (maximum 425 word) middle-school lesson plans, one for each of your textbook chapters, through a series of questions about your textbook illustrations, involving comprehension, application, analysis, and evaluation.
The lesson plans for middle school involve two sets of two questions each, comparing and contrasting illustrations from your textbook. At the end of all 22 lesson plans, you write two paragraphs identifying the themes that you seem to have beeen concerned with throughout, to allow you to further reflect on your special areas of interest in the humanities. This is highly recommended for people who might consider doing some substitute teaching in the future, for K-12 education majors, and for people who are just beginning to attempt critical thinking at a college level.
Another alternative for the B-level project is to write 22 précis (critical summaries in a specific format) of short boxed features set off by background color in your textbook or alternate texts specified by me, as well as doing the basics. The B-level précis prepares you for writing other college papers, except that you would weave the information from the table in your précis and the comments in the "So What?" section into logically connected paragraphs instead, in a regular paper. Assignments are 250 - 425 words long. In Microsoft Word, click on Tools in the Menu Bar, then on Word Count.
For the précis you will have a choice between at least two source texts. If you choose one of the original (primary) source texts from outside your textbook that I may be able to offer, you will learn to cite your source and your sample quotations in correct MLA style, as you would for a freshman English research paper or a paper for a literature course.
A-Level Projects
You may even choose to earn an A by completing 12 stages in the development of a highly concentrated, focused personal story about your experiences with some aspect of the humanities, and illustrating and providing a musical background for that story. Sample sources: http://library.austincc.edu/w3/VCD/images.htm . This is the most creative of the three projects, and the humanities is all about creativity. You will post 12 weekly assignments that are stages on the way to the final product. A creative project that you "own" will reproduce for you what people who "do humanities" do.
Summary: Students who want to go beyond the basic C-level work that is described at the beginning of this section will post on the Discussion Board in Blackboard two B-level project assignments or one A-level project assignment (which may take more time than two B-level assignments) per week, in the Discussion Forum that is designed for that project. I estimate that a B-level project takes three additional hours each week and an A-level project takes six additional hours each week, past the three-hour estimate for basic work outside class. This depends largely on your previous background and experience.
1. Clear statement of topic for a précis, purpose for a lesson plan (section 1)
2. Careful presentation of rhetorical and/or pedagogical strategies that make the intended point (section 2a). In the case of lesson plans, these are the three questions the teacher asks about each pair of pictures. In the case of a précis, the statement of author's purpose and strategies beginswith "By" or "In order to": "By examining the sources of _________, the author illustrates the consequences of ____________" or "In order to ____________, the text correlates the ________ and ____________ of social behaviors."
3. Information or evidence pattern pertinent to supporting the main idea (section 2b)
· In the case of lesson plans, these are the textbook illustrations with page number that are identified: paragraph 1 compares two related illustrations and paragraph 2 compares a different set of two related illustrations.
· In the case of a précis, this is a table with at least three vertical columns and at least three horizontal rows, so that two examples with page and paragraph number are given for each of the two categories identified and labels for the columns and rows are supplied if possible.
4. Consistency throughout: logic matches information, which matches focus, which matches implications that are presented at the end (section 3 in the précis, Extension or Homework in the lesson plan)
5. Assignments are 250 - 425 words long. In Microsoft Word, click on Tools in the Menu Bar, then on Word Count.
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An important part of studying is writing your questions, or at least penciling in a question mark where you have questions, in the margins of your book. Then you can earn points for class and online discussion by regularly bringing up a question for us to discuss. Also, you will need your book for your open-book quizzes and for posting comments on each chapter on the Discussion Board. You will use it as the basis for précis or lesson plans if you are preparing a B-level project in order to earn a grade of B.
1) Not only respond to the posted questions but carry on a dialogue with your classmates as well. This interaction is crucial to building an online learning community.
2) Read postings from your classmates, not just those from the instructor.
3) If you have questions about the reading material, clarify your questions as soon as possible. These could be either concepts you do not understand, or thoughts or positions you disagree with.
4) When you reply to a post, don't just say "I agree". Say with whom you agree; give a brief (sentence or two) summary of what they said with which you agree, and then expand on their remarks, giving additional perspectives to deepen understanding of key concepts. Please make sure you post this as a reply rather than a new discussion thread.
5) Have your first post completed no later than 8:00 PM on Tuesday and your second by 8 p.m. Thursday of that week. Then you can take your quizzes that have deadlines of Tuesday midnight and Saturday midnight. Posts on 4 different days are expected by the end of each week (Sunday).
6) Keep each post focused on topic.Your comments should be relevant, tied into daily life, and clarify points in the discussion.
7) When you express an opinion, be sure to support it with paraphrased material from our textbook or from other sources that you cite in MLA style, with page number(s). If you quote, be succinct, quoting only enough to illustrate your point--do not just copy from the textbook. This is important! When in doubt about how to quote and paraphrase correctly using MLA style, ask your classmates or a librarian or email me.
8)
If you do not participate in our
online class discussions for more than one week, you may be dropped from the
course for lack of progress. If you cannot participate at least twice most
weeks and be an active part of our online learning community, then you may need
to withdraw from the course if you want to avoid earning an F. Please see
withdrawal policy, recently revised.
Online Discussion Rubric (Criteria) #1
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Points for Weekly Participation in Discussion |
Possible
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Actual |
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Posted 4 out of 7 days actively responding several times to different questions in more than one forum with more than “Me, too.” or “I agree” or personal anecdotes |
2 |
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Provided citations, in MLA style, from assigned readings or other appropriate sources to support your statements (summary statements in your own words are preferred, or succinct quotes that illustrate your point) |
2 |
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Discussion was tied into real world applications; Relevant personal experience was shared and examples were given to clarify points |
3 |
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Scholarly and supportive tone: responded to peers by expanding on their remarks and answering/asking further questions to deepen understanding |
3 |
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Total (should be 4 or higher) |
10 |
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Online Discussion Rubric #2 (Another Way of Looking at the Assignment)
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Course Rationale
The study of the humanities from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective affords the student the opportunity not only to acquire a deeper appreciation of particular works of art but also to gain a larger perspective on the work of art as an expression of the human spirit in a particular time and place.
1. Students identify a variety of significant works of art from various times and places in human history.
2. Students associate works of art with their cultural context.
3. Students discuss the relationship between the arts and human nature and values.
B. Professor's Objectives/Outcomes
1. Students identify (recognize) representative or typical works as belonging to particular periods and cultures.
2. Students analyze the ways in which human nature and values are manifested in the arts and texts of a representative sample of genres and periods.
3. Students explain how particular works are typical of, and/or innovative for, the time and place in which they were created.
4. Students make analogies between what they read for this course and other topics that they find interesting. They share music, art, and poems that they like with the class.
5. Students appreciate the particular ways in which artists and philosophers manifest the ideas of their periods and cultures.
6. Students use email and the Worldwide Web in the context of the course.
7. Students gain a greater understanding of human nature and values through studying the interrelationships of the arts and their philosophies.
8. Students demonstrate respect and humility in class discussion, that is, the ability to hear another person's assumptions as if they were their own, and the ability to hear their own values as if they belonged to someone else. They learn that it never helps to assume that someone is your enemy, and that the first rule of productive problem-solving is to examine the part you yourself have played in the problem.
9. Students exercise active, creative thought in class discussion, coming up with useful answers to challenging and relevant questions. Only through questioning and making mistakes can we learn.
10. Students create artistic projects as a group.
Course Evaluation/Grading System
Part of the grading system is explained above in the Instructional Methodology section. Please read it carefully. I expect C-level students to spend at least three hours outside of class each week. That gives you one hour each to take the two open-book quizzes online, before the deadlines of Tuesday and Saturday midnight, and that is more time than you need for 10 objective questions. At least an hour, spread out over four different days of each week, remains for posting frequently on Blackboard Discussion Board.
If you are not making steady progress with your project assignments and Blackboard postings, or with your quizzes, I may drop you from the course for lack of progress. If I see a need for improvement in anything more specific than doing all the work and following all the instructions, I will email you about it or hand you a note in class, so that you can learn to improve your work while you are still in the course.
What affects your grade most, however, is coming to every class, because you have the chance to earn 10 points maximum in most class meetings: 6 points for the three-minute paper, and usually 4 points for discussion. (Some days we will be talking about course mechanics or watching presentations and videos and may not have time for discussion.) After three unexcused absences, or four of which one is excused, which occur between September 5 and November 27, 2007, you may be dropped from the course. Please keep a record of your absences and of which quizzes you took before the deadline.
Please do not be afraid to walk in late, even if someone is speaking. First turn off any devices such as wristwatches or cell phones that might make a noise during class. They are not allowed to be on during class. Just come in quietly and sit down quietly, without talking to anyone if someone else is speaking.
Don't talk privately, even quietly to the person next to you, when someone else is talking or when a video is on. There will be plenty of time for that while handouts are being passed out or during transitions to the next activity. If another student is talking to the instructor, he is supposed to talk loudly enough for you to hear and you are supposed to listen. Everything that is said in class is for everyone to hear. If I have something to say in private to you, I will ask you to step out into the hall or come to my office after class.
The next most important factor, after coming to class and listening respectfully and participating in group discussion, is taking every quiz before the deadline (because otherwise you will get a 0 for it). This course requires a steady, regular pace of work outside class, because the images, sounds, ideas, and information need time to be mulled over in your mind and discussed so that they will be retained in your long-term memory.
Everything in the course should be done “open-book,” so remember to bring your book and your folder with syllabus and old handouts to each class session and to the computer when you take a quiz. Blackboard does not save any quiz attempt except the most recent, but it saves everything you enter in the Discussion Forum, and I actually grade those entries all at once at the end of the semester with the Blackboard Discussion Grader. However, I read them nearly every day and often follow up on them in class or with an email to you if there is something you need to know.
You may retake quizzes and tests as often as you like before the deadline, but if you stop in the middle, you will not be able to return to the same quiz or test you were taking, but only to a different version. If you leave the testing session in the middle, you may see a padlock icon in the gradebook, but it does not prevent you from starting all over again by clicking on the test in Assignments. The computer automatically gives you a new version of the quiz or test if you click on the link.
Only the most recently taken quiz is recorded in the computer gradebook (each retake replaces the previous score). Looking at “Student Gradebook” or “My Grades” on the left-hand menu on the Course Home Page will be an unreliable source of information about your progress toward your final grade, if you have (re)taken the quiz since I printed out the grades at the Tuesday or Saturday midnight deadline. In fact, the computer does not keep the record of the quiz that you took before the deadline if you attempted the quiz again after the deadline. It keeps only the most recent grade. You and I may not be looking at the same information, nor will the computer total of your points be the one I am using to calculate your grade.
At the end of the semester I will compare the score you made before the deadline and the last score for that quiz that is in the computer on the last day of class. You will get credit for whichever is higher, unless you did not attempt the test before the deadline, in which case your score will be 0 no matter what. You need to keep your own records, then, of the days when you came to class, the quizzes that you took before the deadline, and the dates on which you turned in stages of your A-level or B-level project. Review your records periodically to see if you need to be giving the course more attention, and don't forget about posting on Blackboard Discussion Forums on four different days of the week, not including your A- or B-level project posts.
Coursework includes many different input and output modes: reading and listening silently and aloud with expression; listening and showing orally or in writing that you understand; viewing and responding to videos and DVDs; speaking in discussions and presentations; writing class notes and your three-minute paper by hand; and typing comments for the Discussion Board and emails to me and other students.
Course work falls into several areas:
class discussion, maximum 108 points, 4 points maximum for each of 27 out of a possible 31 class discussions, conducted open-book, assuming sometimes we will be discussing course mechanics or viewing films or presentations for the entire class period, and therefore should not be planning for a discussion grade
three-minute papers, maximum 186 points: written open-book, handed in on a class day when you were present, one each of 31 class days, maximum 6 points each, 1 point for each of the 6 prompts if done according to instructions
quizzes, maximum 220 points for 22 ten-item multiple-choice and true-false chapter quizzes on the textbook, taken open-book on Blackboard
Blackboard Discussion Board Forum postings, maximum 256 points: 4 points maximum for each of 4 posts made open-book weekly for 16 weeks of the semester, not counting posts that are part of your own A-level or B-level project
= maximum 770 points (C+)
plus an A-level or B-level project for those who want to do the additional work
0-599 = F (F means that although your work was steady enough that I did not drop you for lack of progress in the course, and you did not have more than two unexcused absences, and not more than three total absences, nevertheless, when I added your points at the end of the semester, you did not have more than 599 points. You may need to rearrange your schedule so that you can put more time in on the next course you take, or you may need to become more comfortable with using computers. You may need a course in study skills. ACC has the resources necessary to help you.)
600-639 = D- (D- means that your work was steady enough that I did not drop you for lack of progress in the course, and that you did not have more than two unexcused absences, and not more than three total absences. You may need to rearrange your schedule so that you can put more time in on the next course you take, or you may need to become more comfortable with using computers. You may need a course in study skills. ACC has the resources necessary to help you.You might also be the nicest and most responsible person in the class, if we look at your life overall and not just at your performance in this class. This is important to remember.)
640-669 = D (D means that you did some of the work that was required of everyone and that your attendance met the requirements.)
670-699 = D+ (D+ means that you did most of the work that was required of everyone and that your attendance met the requirements.)
700-739 = C-(C- means that you earned at least 700 points in the work that is required of everyone and that your attendance met the requirements.)
740-769= C (C means that you did a reasonable amount of work. That is, you earned 750-770 points in the work that is required of everyone, and your attendance also met the requirements. If you did any parts of an A-level or B-level project other than the ungraded sample lesson plan, précis, and story required of all students at the beginning of the course, it was not enough to earn you a C+.)
770-799 = C+ (If you try for an A or a B and complete most but not all the stages of your project, but earn at least 750 points in your other work and meet the attendance requirements, you will receive a C+.)
B definitely means "good." It is a good grade, and nothing to complain about. This semester it means that you completed all the stages of a B-level project, earned at least 700 points in your other work, and met the attendance requirements. You decided in which project you wanted to invest your time, and how much time you had to invest.
A in one of my classes usually means that you not only did the assigned work thoroughly and well, but that you also did unusual and original work that taught me something. This semester it means, in addition, that you completed all the stages of an A-level project, earned at least 700 points in your other work, and met the attendance requirements.
In accordance with ACC policy, final grades will not be posted anywhere except in your private area of the ACC computer system that you access with your login name and password. I do not notify students of final course grades by telephone or email. When you log in to the ACC main website and go to "Student Resources," then from there to "Student Online Services", then from there to "Transcript--Unofficial" or to "Grades by Term," starting approximately a week after the last day of class, you can find out your course grade.
At that time, if you are surprised by your course grade and want to discuss it with me, you should first reread the entire syllabus, which you testified that you understood and agreed with when you read it and the FAQs on line and signed the First Assignment form that you turned in on the second day of class. If you are still puzzled about your grade after checking everything I mentioned above, feel free to email me and set up an appointment to meet me on campus starting January 3, 2008, and go over your records.
If you want whichever three-minute papers have not yet been returned to you, I can return them to you at a post-course appointment. Otherwise, please mail me or give me (at any time before the last day of class) a self-addressed, stamped envelope large enough to hold 31 sheets of paper and stamped with the correct first-class postage for that much paper. (You can go to the post office and weigh the envelope with 31 pieces of scratch paper in it, then calculate based on the first-class postage rate for a letter with that weight. Often machines for weighing and buying stamps are available in the lobby of the post office even after the main entrance to the desk is closed.)
Course Policies
I may withdraw students for excessive absences starting Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007 (on the same day that I determine that the student has three unexcused absences (or four absences if at least one of them is excused) or for failure to make progress in their coursework, but I do not promise to do this for the student. I may not be able to complete the withdrawal until a later date because of computer malfunction, etc. After the final withdrawal date, Monday, Nov. 26, 2007, neither the student nor the instructor is able to initiate a withdrawal.
An excused absence must have been requested in advance of the class session missed by a voice mail message or an email message which attaches in a Word file or a PDF file documentation by a doctor or nurse of a severe illness or accident of the student or someone who lives in the same household. This documentation can be handed to the teacher in person in class before the proposed absence, but the student should wait for acknowledgment before assuming that the documentation has been received, since papers can be misplaced in the classroom.
If you are not making steady progress with your project assignments and Blackboard postings, or with your quizzes, I will drop you from the course for lack of progress. I also reserve the right to initiate withdrawal procedures for students who misbehave or disrupt class more than once. But college students are not expected to do that. If you feel unable to complete the course with a grade that you find acceptable, you may fill out a form from Admissions to withdraw officially from the course so you will not receive a lower grade than you want at the end of the semester, based on your performance.
Withdrawal:
Students are responsible for understanding the impact withdrawing from a course may have on their financial aid, veterans’ benefits, international student status, and academic standing. They are responsible for initiating any course withdrawal that they desire. Students are urged to consult with an advisor or counselor before making schedule changes. It is my understanding that a withdrawal starting on our first and ending on our second class day, August 27 - 29, which is an official Add and Drop period, does not count against your limit of six acceptable withdrawals. Please read the syllabus carefully, and if you do not think you can meet the attendance standards for this class, please drop between August 27 and 29.
Per state law, students enrolling for the first time in fall 2007 or later at any Texas college or university may not withdraw (receive a W) from more than six courses during their undergraduate college career. Some exemptions for good cause could allow a student to withdraw from a course without having it count toward this limit. These exemptions would not be granted by the instructor. Students are encouraged to contact an advisor or counselor for assistance as soon as posssible if they are considering course changes or think that they might not be able to meet the attendance standards for a class.
Please read the announcement in Blackboard on the new withdrawal policy of the State of Texas. Students may withdraw from one or more courses through the withdrawal deadline of Monday, November 26, 2007, by submitting a request form to Admissions and Records. Withdrawal deadlines are published in the academic calendar. Withdrawal courses appear on the student’s record with a grade of W. Until a student is officially withdrawn, the student remains on the class roll and may receive a grade of F for the course.
The instructor may withdraw students for excessive absences starting Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007 (3 unexcused, 4 if at least one of them is excused for severe illness or accident if applied for in advance with documentation) or for failure to make progress in their coursework or disruptive behavior in the classroom. The instructor makes no commitment to do this for the student. After the final withdrawal date, Monday, Nov. 26, 2007, neither the student nor the instructor is allowed to initiate a withdrawal.
An excused absence must have been requested in advance of the class session missed by a voice mail message or an email message which attaches in a Word file or a PDF file documentation by a doctor or nurse of a severe illness or accident of the student or someone who lives in the same household, or a communicable disease that would endanger the health of other class members. This documentation can be handed to the teacher in person in class before the proposed absence, but the student should wait for acknowledgment before assuming that the documentation has been received, since papers can be misplaced in the classroom.
Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.
From the Student Handbook on the ACC web: "Student Discipline Policy....1. Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their own thought, research, or self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to exams and quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations; papers; and homework. 2. When students borrow ideas, wording, or organization from another source, they shall reference that information in an appropriate manner."
Cases of scholastic dishonesty will be pursued according to the procedure set forth in the Student Handbook, "Student Discipline Policy, Section J. Academic Dishonesty Process."
[Plagiarism
Students have the right to believe whatever they happen to believe and, within the appropriate constraints that follow from the organization of a course and its class meetings, to express those beliefs. Grades will never be based on the beliefs that a student maintains, but only on the quality of the philosophical work performed by a student in conjunction with the course. Each student is strongly encouraged to participate in class.
In any classroom situation that includes discussion and critical thinking, there are bound to be many differing viewpoints. These differences enhance the learning experience and create an atmosphere where students and instructors alike will be encouraged to think and learn. On sensitive and volatile topics, students may sometimes disagree not only with each other but also with the instructor. It is expected that faculty and students will respect the views of others at all times.
It is my philosophy that human beings do not really have any other human beings as enemies, and I expect us to form a learning community, of which I am a member, without our needing to believe that someone is our enemy in order to make our bonding easier. If only because of this, you will probably perceive me to be quirky, not like anyone you have ever known. Please keep an open mind, because I expect to show unconditional positive regard for everyone in the class and we will probably like each other.
Student Discipline
Other Course Policies
I will definitely appreciate your helping me operate media machines, so that things will go more smoothly for the entire class; not talking when I find it disruptive (which is when I or someone else is talking or music, a film, etc., is playing); but talking when I ask for comments and questions; and bringing required materials ( get them out at the beginning of class, turn to whatever pages I ask you to look at; and turn off your cell phones, pagers, or other electronic media that make noise when someone is trying to reach you or set off alarms at regular intervals). Please do not make it necessary for me to come over and ask you individually to do these things.
Tentative Schedule (Course Calendar)
Assignments are always subject to change if the educational needs of the students seem to call for that. All work in my classes is open-book. Quizzes are taken at the Blackboard web site, and you may retake these as many times as you like; you may even improve your grade by retaking them if you took the test at least once before the deadline. After midnight on the deadline for a given quiz I will print out Blackboard's records to show me who met the deadline. If you did not meet the deadline, your grade will remain 0 on that particular quiz, no matter what the online gradebook says. It will give you your most recent score, which may not count at all.
If your retake of the quiz produces a lower score, and you want to raise your score, all you need to do is retake the quiz again and again until you have the score you want. The score that I will use in my end-of-semester calculations will be the one that appears in your and my Blackboard Gradebook on the last day of class, unless you did not meet the original deadline, in which case your grade will be counted as 0.
Your project assignments and quiz schedule are on the Calendar in Blackboard as well as in the syllabus. Click on Calendar in the Course Menu, and use the Quick-Jump link to choose whether you want to see a day, a week, or a month at a time. Click on the assignment for a particular day in the calendar, and a longer explanation of the assignment will appear if necessary. Detailed instructions are likely to be in the syllabus or another Blackboard module, depending on what the assignment is. If you are not making steady progress with your project assignments and Blackboard postings, or with your quizzes, I will drop you from the course for lack of progress.
August 27 - September 4: Drop the course before the end of the day on Aug. 29 if you need to, buy textbook, get an email account and make it available to me on Blackboard, log in to Blackboard and read the FAQs and print your First Assignment to hand in, practice using a computer if necessary
September 5-8: Read the textbook Introduction and Humanities Primer as well as Chapter 1, take your Chapter 1 Quiz, hand in your First Assignment if you have not done so yet, post your practice lesson plan for Chapter 1 in the appropriate Discussion Forum on the Discussion Board in Blackboard, look around in our course's Blackboard site and become familiar with it
September 9-15: Do the two-part assignment about yourself described in the Blackboard Calendar (part is a Blackboard posting and part is an email to me); participate in class discussion of Chapter 1 and class practice of writing a précis; post your practice précis for Chapter 1 on the appropriate Discussion Forum on the Discussion Board; begin reading Chapter 2
September 17-22: Email me with your decision about whether to try for an A, B, or C, giving your reasons; participate in class discussion of Chapter 2; take your Chapter 2 Quiz, and if you are trying for an A or B, post the appropriate part of your project in the appropriate Discussion Forum on Blackboard; see Calendar for all A-level project assignments for specific weeks; begin reading Chapter 3
September 23-29: Post both Buildings Discussion Forum assignments, participate in class discussion of Chapter 3, take your Chapter 3 Quiz, post on Discussion Board as indicated by your choice of A-, B-, or C-level projects
From now on, the tentative schedule will use fewer words because the procedures are routine and resemble what was described for September; everything is explained in detail somewhere on our Blackboard course site, or email me if you have questions
September 30 - October 6, Chapters 4-5
Oct. 7-13, Chapters 6-7
Oct. 14-20, Chapters 8-9
Oct. 21-27, Chapters 10-11
Oct. 28 - Nov. 3, Chapterss 12-13
Nov. 4-10, Chapters 14-15
Nov. 11-17, Chapters 16-17
Nov. 18-24, Chapter 18 discussion both Monday and Wednesday, because it is an important chapter. The college is closed Nov. 22-25, so please plan ahead to get your Chapter 18 Quiz completed before 5 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 21, as well as your Chapter 18 project posts and your regular four weekly Blackboard Discussion Board posts. Our class does not have a holiday this week: we must meet both Monday and Wednesday. ACC has an official policy that instructors must meet all scheduled classes, and I always follow it. You know that all your work will not prevent you from being dropped if you have a third unexcused absence or a fourth absence of which at least one is excused. If you miss a class this week, and you have already used up your limit of absences, I will drop you on Wed., Nov. 21, before I leave for the day.
Nov. 25 - Dec. 1, Chapters 19-20. If you miss class on Mon., Nov. 25, and you have used up your limit of absences, I will drop you before I leave for the day.
Dec. 1-8, Chapters and Chapter Quizzes 21-22; final posts due from all students who are doing A-level and B-level projects, with an additional one next week from students who are doing lesson plans
Dec. 9-12, Either student project presentations or a film that summarizes the essence of the humanities shown half Monday, half Wednesday; Dec. 11 students who are doing the lesson plan version of Project B post a two-paragraph reflection on the themes and issues that they brought up in their own lesson plans 1-22. Dec. 12 is the last day of class. I hope you will enjoy your holidays.
Dec. 21, Course grade should be available through the ACC main web site.