Reading Notes
Before midnight the night before the class indicated on the schedule, upload an image to Canvas of the first page of your reading notes. You say that you don’t usually write notes for reading? Well, you should for this class. They are worth 13% of your class grade!
In-Class Assignments (ICAs) and Attendance Points
We will complete in-class assignments (ICAs) that will help you understand and apply course concepts. Submit hard copies of ICAs at the end of class. They are worth 10 points per class. If a class has no ICA, then attendance is worth 10 points.
News or You Essays (NoY)
These are 6 short essays, each on a topic of your choosing from an indicated chapter. Each essay can be 400 words minimum to 500 words maximum. It should have three paragraphs: (1) briefly describe an EVENT from the news, your personal life, or another source (2) identify then briefly explain one or more concept from the chapter, and then (3) explain/analyze the event using the concept(s) from the chapter. Your goal is to show that you understand the relevant concepts and how they apply to life. Grading is based on accuracy, depth of analysis, appropriateness of the concepts for the event, and writing quality (e.g., organization, spelling, clarity). Each essay is worth 20 points. Submit the News or You essays on Canvas by midnight on the night before the due date for the class indicated on the schedule.
Exams
The four in-class exams are each worth 100 points. The Final Exam is worth 150 points. Exams include multiple-choice and short-answer questions. If your Final Exam percentage is better than your percentage on any other exam score, the worst exam score will be replaced with the percent of your Final Exam.
Grading
Your grade is based on reading notes for each of the 12 chapters and two chapter excerpts (10 points each; 130 total), 22 in-class assignments/attendance (10 points each; 220 total), 6 News or You essays (20 points each; 120 total), 4 mid-semester exams (100 points each), and one final exam (150 points). A total of 1020 points are available, but grades are out of 1000 points, as follows.
93-102% A
90-92% A-
87-89% B+
83-86% B
80-82% B-
77-79% C+
73-76% C
70-72% C-
67-69% D+
63-66% D
60-62% D-
< 60% F