Grading Scale
A 94% - 100% B- 80% - 82% D+ 67% - 69%
A- 90% - 94% C+ 77% - 79% D 63% - 66%
B+ 87% - 89% C 73% - 76% D- 60% - 62%
B 83% - 86% C- 70% - 72% F 59% and below
Grading
Because I want your focus to be on learning and not on how skilled you are or aren’t at earning high grades, there are very few points associated with assignments in this course. Instead, you will earn a “Complete” or “Incomplete” on them. Assignments have clear expectations for what you need to do to earn a “Complete”. If I have missed something, or it’s not as clear as I think it is, please let me know so I can clarify.
If you earn an “Incomplete” on an assignment, you will have 7 days from the time your assignment was graded to revise your assignment and turn it in for a “Complete”. You can do this as many times as you want/need to. The closer it is to the end of the semester, the less time you will have to redo “Incomplete” assignments due to deadlines I have for submitting grades.
Because I have to give you a letter grade at both mid-term and the end of the semester, at these times, I will average the number of “Complete” assignments you have for each assignment category and then average the assignment categories in order to calculate your grade. Assignment categories are: General Assignments, Family and Community Engagement Project and Movie Analysis.
Some assignments are designed to support your learning process and others are designed to demonstrate your understanding of the content curriculum. Earning a specific grade means you have a certain level of participation in and understanding of the course content. Because of this, if you have an “Incomplete” for the following assignments, your final grade will be dropped by ⅓ of a letter grade for each assignment you have an “Incomplete” for. These assignments are: Family and Community Engagement Project, Family and Community Engagement Project Reflection,Family and Community Engagement Project Final Checklist, and Confirmation and Log of Hours. In order to earn a C or better for the class, you MUST earn at least 70% for the Family & Community Engagement Project Category and a “Complete” for at least one Application of Content Assignment.
An example of how I will be calculating grades is if you have completed: 89% of general assignments, 90% of Family & Community Engagement Project assignments and 93% for the Movie Analysis, your final grade will be A- (89+90+93/3=91%). If you had the same numbers but did not have a “Complete” for the Project Reflection Paper, your grade will be dropped to a B+. If you had the same numbers but had an “Incomplete” for Application of Content 1, 2 & 3, your final grade would be a C-.
Course Requirements and Assignments
1. DISCLAIMER: Please know I want to be a support to you and because I am operating
within a system, I am limited in what I can and can’t do to support you. If you are in need of accommodations, please reach out to the Disability Resource Center on campus who can help you access short-term and long-term accommodations. If you have a complaint about any professor or course on campus, please take the following steps:
- Talk to the professor
- If you feel like you can’t talk to the professor, please go to the chair of the department, contact information for this person can be found on the department’s website.
- Other resources include:
- Dean of the college where the course is housed
- Provost’s office
- Dean of Students
- Regardless of the steps you take, leaving feedback in your end of semester course evaluations is important. These are anonymous; instructors do not have access to them until after grades are posted.
2. Emotional Safety - Emotional Safety - Emotional Safety - Emotional Safety - Due to the
emotionally and psychologically vulnerable content that will be discussed throughout this course, it is essential that all participants contribute to an environment of emotional safety. In the event of a student participating in emotionally unsafe comments/behavior, the instructor will provide feedback which will serve as a warning. At that time, the student will be invited to converse with the instructor about what made their comments/behavior emotionally unsafe. If the behavior is repeated, students will be referred to campus services. If you find you are emotionally overwhelmed by content in this or any other course, the University Counseling and Psychological Services Center (CAPS) is a resource available to you. The phone number for CAPS is: 435.865.8621.
3. As a student in this course, you are responsible for the content presented in this
course and for your own learning. If you need help, please ask. If you have questions about the material that you are interested in or curious about that is not addressed in the course, please ask. If you have questions about expectations for an assignment, please ask. If you do not understand a concept being taught/discussed, please ask. The instructor is a resource to you; however, if you do not communicate that you need help, the instructor cannot help you.
4. All assignments are due at midnight on the due date unless otherwise noted and should be
turned in via Canvas. The instructor will not accept assignments turned in any other way.
5. Assignments may be turned in early. You may turn in up to 3 assignments up to 3 days
late without questions or penalty. Any late work beyond this will only be accepted if you have formal accommodations in place through the
Disability Resource Center or support through the Office of Student Outreach and Support. This applies to all assignments that will receive a grade. Please do not rely on Canvas to remind you of when assignments are due; please be proactive and know when assignments are due. All assignments for the semester are already entered into Canvas.
6. All documentation must be done in APA 7th Edition format. For this course, abstracts,
cover pages and headings are not necessary. You will not be docked for using these. When required to use outside sources, students are expected to use credible sources; wikipedia is not allowed for use as a reference in this course. OWL at Purdue is a great resource! Please do not rely on any automatic reference/citation formatting tools/engines as these often produce incorrect citations/references. If you are going to pursue your education in the social sciences field, you may find it useful to purchase an APA manual. If it is discovered that you used a false source, generated by AI or any other source, this will be considered academic dishonesty and SUU Policy 6.33 will be followed.
7. It is expected that all work you turn in is created and developed by you. If you use AI,
the expectation for this course is that you use it as a resource and not a robot. You must properly cite it if you use it. If it is discovered that you are using AI without properly citing it or you use AI to generate work that you turn in as your own,
SUU Policy 6.33 for Academic Integrity will be followed.
8. All papers must be typed in either Arial or Times New Roman with a 12 point font, 1
inch margins and double spaced.
9. Grammar and following instructions matters! Your grade will be affected by these
things. Please pay attention to page requirements - both minimums and limitations. Once the page limit is reached, I will stop reading and any information included after that point will not be considered in your grade. While your grade will be impacted according to assignment rubrics for incorrect grammar and poor writing mechanics, because of the amount of time it takes to do so, I will not be editing your papers as I grade them.
10. Attendance - Being in class matters and your attendance will significantly impact your
grade. The exchange of ideas is an essential learning element for this course. You are allowed 2 absences without any impact to your overall grade. This is the equivalent of 1 week of class. After the first 2 absences, each unexcused absence will drop your final grade by 1%. Excused absences will only be granted for school excused activities,
DRC Accommodations, or as supported by the Office of Student Outreach and Support. You are responsible for providing/facilitating documentation for school excused absences. Please use your 2 free absences wisely. If you have extenuating circumstances that arise such as emergency surgery, a long term illness, or a death in the family, please be aware you may be eligible for temporary accommodations through the DRC or support through the Office of Student Outreach and Support.
11. Syllabus Quiz (25 points) - This will count as your commenced attendance assignment. If
you want full points for this assignment, it needs to be done by the due datet. You will have the option to complete it until the deadline for commencing attendance. If you do not complete it by this deadline, you will be at risk of being dropped from the course. Please review the syllabus prior to taking the quiz. It is open note. Please see Canvas for the due date.
12. Pre and Post Course Reflection Papers. Specific instructions for these
assignments can be found in the Canvas assignment shells. Please see Canvas for the due date.
13. Application of Content. My goal for this class in general is to prepare you for
professional work and application of class content. These assignments are in lieu of tests/quizzes. Three times throughout the semester, you will submit a plan for applying the content from the course to whatever career path you are considering at the time the assignment is due. The only requirements for this assignment are to:
- Incorporate both assigned reading and online learning content/activities
- Specify a minimum of 3 takeaways from the course content
- Incorporate contextual factors
- Explain how your completion of this assignment helps you plan to implement course content in the future
Please refer to the assignment shells for what content is to be applied in each assignment. For this assignment, you might write an essay explaining your thought processes, create a work of art expressing yourself, write a lesson plan, prepare a presentation for peers, or design a bulletin board for your professional space. If the required content is not obvious (such as in a work of art), you will need to submit a brief explanation so that the grader can assess whether or not you included the required components. You will earn an “Incomplete” if it is not clear to the grader that you incorporated both assigned reading and class lessons/activities.
This is important: There is no right or wrong way to complete the assignment as long as you include the required components. It is the expectation of the professor that you practice autonomy with this assignment; it’s great real-world experience! Please see Canvas for the due dates
14. Movie Analysis.. For this assignment, you will watch 3 consecutive episodes
of a fictional or based on a true story TV show OR a movie in which a significant portion of the content takes place in a K-12 classroom or academic setting; documentaries won’t work for this assignment. Please think of this assignment as your final exam. As you watch the film or episodes, please view it through the triple lens of being: a) trauma informed, b) human development informed; and c) culturally competent. Then, write a 3 - 5 page paper about your observations in which you are specific about the application of content from class. The specific criteria you should be addressing can be found in the assignment shell. While it is possible to complete this assignment in 3 pages, you will need to be very articulate and thorough in order to do so and receive full credit. A list of possible movies is included in the assignment shell within Canvas; you are not limited to the movies/TV shows on this list. Please attend the writing center or have 2 peers review your paper for grammatical and structural correctness. For full credit, you must submit proof of this, beyond the names of who reviewed your paper, in whatever way you would like. Please see Canvas for the due date and additional details.
15. Family and Community Engagement Project. For this assignment, you will work
with a community partner such as a school, shelter, medical clinic or after school program and complete a family and community engagement project of your choosing with approval from the instructor. The purpose of this assignment is to practice family and community engagement not to provide community service; therefore, your project focus needs to be on family and community engagement not just on providing community service/accruing volunteer hours.
For a “Complete” grade, you will be required to contribute 10 hours of hands-on time with the organization. Hands on means time spent preparing and executing your project and does not include time spent completing assignments related to the project such as the outline or preparation for your presentation. While it is strongly preferred that you work as a group, for a variety of reasons, you may choose to work individually. You will get much more out of this assignment if you work in a group. Each student is expected to log 10 hours. For example, if you are working in a group of 4, the total amount of hands on hours should be 40. There are portions of the project due throughout the semester, so please pay attention to due dates listed in both the syllabus and Canvas.
16. Presentation of Family and Community Engagement Project. For this assignment, you
and/or your group will create a presentation of no more than 20 minutes for the class about what you did for your Family and Community Engagement Project. While there is not a minimum length of time, it is expected that you are thorough in your explanation of your project. Presentations will be done in class at a time TBD Detailed instructions are included in Canvas.