Announcement posted December 12:
The final exam is now posted. Note that it is very important that you follow through with our course communication policies. If you don't receive a reply within 48 hours of sending an assignment, you need to follow those policies that are listed below. When you send your final exam I should send a reply within a day.
Note that the course grade that shows is not necessarily how the point totals will add up to at the end of the semester. The syllabus point totals still ultimately determine your final grade, although I think the Blackboard gradebook grade should come out close. The final participation point total will be determined by the formula listed below (percentage of total possible points). So if you have 90% on your participation total, you will receive 27 points in that category. Just add your total essay points and participation points and compare with the grade scale to know your final grade.
Listed below is more information on grades.
You receive an essay score and discussion board posting update after I receive your essay. This week, you should have your score by Wednesday, but most weeks essays will be due on Thursday. You should have your score by Friday afternoon for essays sent on Thursday. The essay scores are based on 10 points and are roughly equal to the following grades:
10-9 = A, 8 = B, 7 = C, 6 = D
Keep track of your point totals and match them with the syllabus grade scale. I recommend having a class folder in your email client and keeping all the assessments and scores I send you there.
Discussion board postings are based on credit points. Note that "Major Postings" are worth double credit. I might be a bit off on this, but I believe we will have 20 possible credits for postings. The number of points you receive will be based on the percentage of credits earned. For example, if you earn 18 out of 20 credits (90%), you would then get 90% of participation points (27).
Brian Waddington
bwaddington@citruscollege.edu
Course Policies If you are struggling with the readings or writings, please take time to ask questions and give an update if you are not able to send in an assignment during the week. If you don't receive a reply from me on an assignment or question within 48 hours, please send a follow-up message. If you don't receive a reply to your follow-up e-mail, then definitely use my voice mail. This can be found on our syllabus. If you have not received a score, than assume that you have no credit for the assignment and make sure to take the initiative to find out why.
Plagiarism is a common problem in academics and seems especially so in on-line classes. Some students copy directly from Internet sites, other texts or even other students' papers and fail to include quotation marks and citation. I run into numerous incidents of this each semester and am becoming increasingly less tolerant of this problem. I will approach incidents of plagiarism on a case by case basis. However, at the minimum, expect a failing grade in the paper if plagiarism is found. Also expect that I will file an incident report with Citrus College's Dean of Students. At the maximum, you will also receive an F in the course. Don't use any sources other than the readings I assign to you. Students who go off and do independent "research" are usually the students who wind up having plagiarism in their papers. Any questions? If so, please send them via email so we can make sure this doesn't happen to you.