Instructor's policies on grading, late assignments and/or makeup work, and other related expectations
Preparation. Students are expected to have prepared that day’s readings ahead of time. Besides reading, preparation includes anticipatory questions, discussion topics, important themes, and possible connections with other units of the course.
Participation. Students are expected to participate in class with meaningful comments, questions, answers, and other engaging activities. Some students have difficulty speaking up in a group of people. This class is a good opportunity to practice this important skill.
Professionalism. Among other things, one of the principal goals of university education is to prepare students for professional careers. As part of this transition to professional life, personal demeanor and conduct will play an important role in creating a suitable atmosphere for teaching and learning. All members of this class – instructors and students alike – should use courteous and respectful language in all communications, written and oral, as befits professional interaction. This is especially necessary in this digital age where communication is virtually instantaneous. Informality in e-mail messages (content and format), slangy abbreviations, “SMS” language/“textese,” and disregard for fundamental grammar are inappropriate in a professional context.
In addition, please refrain from disrespectful activities while in class, since they can distract both the instructor and other students. These activities include but are not limited to, chronic tardiness, eating, sleeping, excessive activity on an electronic device, etc. Engaging in such activities will negatively impact the student’s participation grade. Obviously, there is no tolerance for abusive or harassing language and behavior.
Grading/Late Work
This course is graded. You will be assigned (created as a class) grading rubrics for all course assignments. All grades will be updated regularly and recorded in the course Canvas shell. Typically, late work is not accepted without prior communication to the instructor. Please communicate with the instructor as soon as possible if you need more time or if you are having a medical situation keeping you from turning in your work. I am here to help you succeed, please try your best to keep in touch with me if you miss more than one class.
Technology in the Classroom
We meet each week to learn, discuss, and share ideas. Please turn cell phones to silent mode and put them away during class. If I see you texting during class, I will ask you to turn your phone off and put it away. If there is an emergency and you must answer your phone, please take the call outside the classroom. You are welcome to bring laptops/tablets to class for taking notes and assisting with in-class activities. In fact, for each class, all students should be taking notes. Even if you think you already know the information, you should actively take notes, write questions, make connections to other courses you’re enrolled in, and so on. As a courtesy to your classmates and to me, please refrain from checking email, Facebook, Twitter, celebrity gossip sites, playing games, or doing anything not related to our class discussion (including work for other classes) during class. Also, note that studies have shown that taking handwritten notes results in better comprehension and performance than taking notes electronically (
http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/08/18/taking-notes-is-the-pen-still-mightier-than-the-keyboard/).
Writing and Grammar
Competent writing skills are imperative in nearly every sector of the working world (
http://www.inc.com/kaleigh-moore/study-poor-writing-skills-are-costing-businesses-billions.html). Consequently, written work and communication are expected to be concise, well organized, and with minimal errors (please proofread and use spell check!). Grammar and professionalism will be the criteria for grading on all assigned written material.
The SUU Undergraduate Writing Center invites all students to the writing center in Braithwaite Center 101 where qualified peer tutors are ready to help with any stage of the writing process. All appointments are free, and both in-person and zoom appointments are available. To schedule, visit our website:
https://www.suu.edu/hss/writingcenter/. For additional writing resources and assistance, visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) (
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/). I will return your work if your writing skills are lacking.
Use of AI Tools in Honors Courses
You can choose to use AI tools to help brainstorm assignments or projects or to revise existing work you have written. When you submit your assignment, I expect you to clearly attribute what text was generated by the AI tool (e.g., AI-generated text appears in a different colored font, quoted directly in the text, or use an in-text parenthetical citation). Failure to do so will result in a 0.
Questions/Concerns
I will always find time to assist students outside of class and generally have an open-door policy. Please talk to me during the semester if you’re feeling stuck, unclear about a topic, concerned about your grade, unhappy about an aspect of the class, dreaming about your next outdoor adventure, or can’t find someone else to talk to about your love of photography, etc. Don’t wait until the end of the semester to see me if you’re having difficulties early on, and please bring concerns to my attention in a timely manner so I may make a reasonable effort to address them. Additionally, you can always go to the Library Department Chair, Anne Diekema (annediekema@suu.edu) or the Library Director, Phil Roche (
roche@suu.edu), if you feel uncomfortable coming to me. We want to make sure you are getting the answers you need to any questions or concerns you are having within the Honors program.
Extra credit
Students may receive extra credit for each A.P.E.X. event, Pizza and Politics, or Entrepreneurship Speaker Series they attend throughout the semester.
To receive extra credit, submit to Canvas your notes on the event and a 1-page summary of the event you attended. Students should acknowledge how this information is relevant to their lives and education. These are due one week after the event you attended, no exceptions.
Some tips for succeeding in this (and every) class:
1. Attend. This is a seminar-style class and the experience cannot be replicated outside of the classroom. In addition, it is difficult to demonstrate preparation and participation while absent.
2. Take notes. Listening is good, but writing (or typing) while listening is better. Active learning is much more effective than passive listening for promoting long-term retention, information synthesis, and deep understanding. This will be helpful in composing journal entries.
3. Put in the time. (Study!) Typically, based on the Carnegie credit-hour model, college students should plan to spend 2 hours in study for every 1 hour spent in class. The SUU Catalog notes that one semester credit-hour “could require up to three hours effort per week.” (
http://catalog.suu.edu/content.php?catoid=12&navoid=1984)
As this is a 3-credit course, it is not unreasonable for students to plan on about 6 hours of effort outside of class every week (assignments, CANVAS readings, Projects). This breaks down to less than an hour per day per week.
4. Read. The readings have been chosen to reinforce and augment the overall themes of the course, and are vital to understanding both this course’s content and its historiographical themes. The assignments and exams have been designed to reward those who have assimilated the reading material.
5. Mono-task. Research-based evidence continues to mount that indicates multi-tasking is less effective than serial mono-tasking. So, put down the phone, stow the math homework, and focus on the current task.
6. Ditch the technology. Research indicates that using technology during class negatively impacts learning – and grades. One recent study found that “increased cell phone use was associated with decreased academic performance” (Lepp
et alia, 2015;
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015573169).