Discussion Responses (22 total)
In each class period, we will engage in discussion topics about the materials we are learning about in the textbook, which includes material from chapter podcasts and ethical dilemmas within certain chapters of the textbook. These discussion topics will provide an opportunity for students to both engage with fellow classmates and practice critical thinking skills on the topics at hand. Think of this also as the "attendance or participation" points for the class.
Sometime during each in-person class period, I’ll distribute a piece of paper that gives students a prompt or situation for them to consider on that week’s topic. At the end of each class period, students will then, physically and individually, write out a legible response to the prompt or situation and turn it into me at the end of class. Students can discuss the prompt with others in the class prior to writing their response and turning it in at the end of class.
Here is the criteria for full credit on these discussion responses:
- Must be legible - If I can’t make out the student’s name and/or what they are saying, either due to poor penmanship or poor spelling/grammar, points will be deducted. Satisfactory penmanship and clear on-the-spot thinking/writing is becoming a lost art in today’s AI-centric society, but these are qualities that should be practiced and modeled more. This is particularly true in management, where managers will have subordinates or other managers randomly show up at their office/location and expect them to quickly have or create the answers needed to move forward, hence why I'm having students to complete these assignments in this manner.
- Must attend class - Because I’m giving these discussion prompts out in class, students must attend class in order to participate and get these points. On that front, I understand life also happens and students may be unable to attend every class due to illness, student-athlete trips, etc. As such, only 22 of these responses will count towards the student’s grade out of the 26 total times we meet F2F during the semester for lecture. Beyond this, I will also post three (3) discussion prompts here within Canvas, on the Discussions tab, which can also serve as "make-up" discussion responses. Within Canvas, I'll post one discussion prompt for January 16 - February 15; one for February 16 - March 15, and; one for March 16 - April 15 that will be open for students to complete within Canvas at various times during the semester. The above options give students some latitude to miss a few days of class (and/or make up a few missed days through the online option) without their absence from class negatively impacting this grade directly.
- Each discussion response must be at least 2-3 sentences or a small paragraph and be devoid of punctuation/spelling/grammar errors, where I can see the student has put some thought in the response. Citing from the textbook as part of their response (example: Textbook, ch. 1.7 or Textbook Podcast, ch. 3) will be viewed favorably as I'm grading these.
Quizzes (16 total; only the 15 chapter quiz scores count towards final grade)
There will be sixteen (16) quizzes for this course: one introductory quiz covering the course syllabus and objectives and fifteen (15) chapter quizzes covering material from each assigned chapter of the textbook. The introductory quiz will not count towards the student's quiz grade, but a passing score of 8/10 or higher is prerequisite to the student getting access to the other modules and course materials (hence why this is part of Module 0).
All 15 chapter quizzes will count towards the student’s grade, as they cover materials that are important for students to comprehend and apply within management. The quiz questions will be similarly formatted to the exams, so quizzes also help prepare students for the exams by serving as “knowledge checks”. Chapter quizzes will consist of six (6) randomly-assigned multiple-choice questions from the chapter, meaning there will be different versions of each chapter quiz and the questions assigned at random per student attempt. Students will have five (5) minutes per quiz attempt and be given three attempts to complete each quiz by the assigned due date (with a 20-minute gap required between each attempt), and the highest score per quiz counting towards the final grade.
Students are encouraged to attempt each quiz the maximum number of times, both to increase their potential score and to use the quiz as preparation for the exam (as the questions with each quiz attempt will vary to a degree). For quizzes, students may use their textbook, personal notes, and Canvas course materials, but students may NOT use other online sources nor communicate with others while taking a quiz.
Giving Voice to Values (GVV) Assignment
This assignment focuses on the combination of ethics from this course (from Chapter 2) and having academic integrity, allowing students to develop their behavioral and communication skills (from Chapters 8 and 14), including how to challenge cheating by “voicing their values.”
In this assignment, students will learn about the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) method by reading a short description and watching two videos.
Students will then read three scenarios about cheating on assignments, and asked to determine at least one rationalization per scenario used to justify cheating, create counterarguments to these rationalizations, and submit a one-page paper that documents these counterarguments or suggestions to persuade the classmate(s) not to cheat. To help assess the effectiveness of the exercise, students will complete two short surveys: one before the readings and videos and one after submitting the paper. More details about this assignment will be included in Canvas, within the Assignments tab.
Exams (5 total)
To demonstrate student understanding and mastery of the management principles that we’ll be studying, there will be five exams for the course. The first four exams will each cover three chapters from the textbook:
- Exam #1 covers Chapters 1 - 3
- Exam #2 covers Chapters 4 - 6
- Exam #3 covers Chapters 7 - 9
- Exam #4 covers Chapters 10 - 12
Exam #5 will be the final exam, consisting of 80% questions covering Chapters 13 - 15 and 20% questions reviewing Chapters 1 - 12, so what I call a “comprehensive-lite” final exam.
The first four exams will each consist of 20 true-false questions (worth 1 point each) and 40 multiple-choice questions (worth 2 points each). Students will have 60 minutes and one attempt to complete each of these four exams. The final exam will consist of 25 true-false questions (worth 1 point each) and 50 multiple-choice questions (worth 2 points each). Students will have 75 minutes and one attempt to complete the final exam. I will provide study guides for all exams that students can use to study and prepare for the exams, within the Files menu in Canvas.
The first four exams will take place through Canvas, and my face-to-face classes are required to take these exams within the SUU Testing Center, so students should familiarize themselves with the Testing Center's hours of operation so that they can plan accordingly in the weeks when exams will be available. Unlike quizzes, students are NOT allowed to use their textbook, notes, or outside resources of any kind while completing exams. This is why the quizzes and study guides are in place - to best help students learn and allow retention of information so they can then demonstrate comprehension of the materials by performing well on these exams.
The final exam will take place in-class on our scheduled final exams day and time. Please bring a scantron sheet and No. 2 pencil with you as you will need these in order to complete the final exam. As the final exam is closed-book, notes, outside resources, etc. like the other exams, just the scantron sheet and No. 2 pencil are required for class that day.
Late exams will not be accepted and makeup exams are not usually permitted, except in extraordinary circumstances, and only if arrangements are made in advance. If arrangements are not made in advance, students will receive a 0 for a missed exam. Knowing that students may sometimes have an "off-day" taking an exam, test anxiety, etc., I allow the following compromise: after the fourth exam, I will drop each student’s lowest exam score from consideration towards their final grade, meaning only their top three exam scores between Exams #1 - #4 will count towards their grade, plus whatever students score on the final exam.
In-Class Group Presentation (1 per student)
At the end of Module 1, I will randomly assign a specific chapter of the textbook to a group of students, who will prepare a 20-minute presentation (not including Q&A from the class afterwards) that they will give in class on that chapter. As these presentations will be shared with their classmates, they will also be used to assist in student’s individual study towards exams (beyond the quizzes and study guides I have provided, plus these presentations allow a different way to learn). Thus, for the sake of me (grading) and their classmates (using these as study resources), please put good thought and effort into this. This assignment also provides students with a formal presentation opportunity, with typical guidelines students will find in the business/corporate world when being allowed to present to the C-Suite or comparable, which is a skill and experience all managers and employees need.
Students can go to this Assignment in Canvas to see the instructions and deadlines associated (which involve each student uploading their group’s presentation slides by the same due date, even though each group will present on different class days), the specific chapter from the textbook that has been assigned per group, and each group’s membership. I provide students with a PowerPoint template they can use on the Assignment page so they know what the expectations are. Students can supplement the PowerPoint with other resources beyond the textbook (e.g. examples of the principle in modern business, etc.) to help the student and other students in the class understand the assigned presentation material from the textbook.
My basic grading rubric for each group presentation consists of the following categories:
- Content coverage: Did the group stay focused on the topic and create an in-depth learning experience? (meaning each student in the group presented at least one slide in full, each appropriately researched the topic from the textbook, each covered the topic well, etc.)
- Slide presentation: Did the group use and follow the PowerPoint rubric provided, as well as stay within the allotted time frame as a group, with each student speaking for at least three minutes?
- Each student’s individual presentation/speaking qualities: As any student who has sat through a presentation - especially a slide presentation - will know, simply reading off the slides word-for-word is not an effective way to teach or present. Presenters should use more of an extemporaneous presentation approach if they want a good grade, meaning minimal words on the slides themselves, and the presenter defining and/or teaching what the few words on the slides mean and their applicability to the topic. This also means, on presentation day, the group wears non-casual attire and treats the presentation as if they are the "instructor for the day" in a college-level business class (or presenting in front of top leaders at their company). Having notecards available separately to refer to is okay, if students need to reference these while presenting.
- Team member assessment: After each group delivers their presentation, each team member will confidentially provide the instructor feedback and assessment on the level of participation by each team member in their group on the development of the presentation slide deck and preparation for presentation day. This will tell me whether each student attended meeting(s) to review the topic with their group, helped create the presentation slide deck, and participated with the group in coordinating/practicing the presentation before presentation day.
- Groups will receive an additional/bonus 5 points if they utilize the SUU Public Speaking Center at least once while preparing for presentation day. These points are earned when the Center reports the appointment date/time/student names to me, the instructor, via email within 5 business days of their in-class presentation. As such, be sure to have the Center send this information to me or no bonus points.
Writing Assignment on Establishing a Family Culture Using Our Management Text
Over time, educated people begin to realize that true principles and effective practices are often transferable from one field of study to another. For example, what could NASA - an organization that takes individuals into outer space - teach business people about starting a new business venture? What could a successful business leader teach a new high school basketball coaching staff about leadership? What do gardening and forging a specific corporate culture have in common?
Assignment instructions: Each student will write a 5+ page paper (double-spaced, Calibri (PC) or Aptos (Mac) size 11 font, with one-inch margins) explaining how they would use our textbook - Principles of Management (6th edition) - to build a strong family culture. Paper quality is more important than length, though a paper less than 5 full pages should impress me with how well it's written to avoid point reduction.
Students can define "family" in just about any way they want to - the only rule is that the term “family” must involve more people than just the student. As students think about the culture they might want to establish, whether personally or through business, they should probably first think about some values they'd like to target - things like education, service/charity, work ethic, problem-solving/making decisions and counseling with others, health practices and physical activity, art appreciation, faith and/or spirituality, responsible citizenship, integrity and other virtues, etc. Having a long list of specific cultural elements is not essential for this paper, but may give students some good direction about how to structure the paper and what values/virtues they want to include.
Multiple astute observations as to how students would apply the culture-shaping principles from our textbook are essential to getting a good grade on this assignment. These papers should be loaded with the vocabulary and probably some quotes from the textbook. Where appropriate, make sure to use the proper textbook vocabulary from the appropriate chapters. Throughout the paper, the student should clearly demonstrate that they understand the principles and practices explained in the textbook and/or articles they may choose to cite. In the paper, students do not need to use the exact practices listed in Principles of Management, but they should discuss how the practices found in the text inspired them. In other words, feel free to tweak the basic ideas found in our textbook.
A specific citation and writing format is not required (MLA, APA, etc.), but students should be consistent in their citation formatting throughout the paper. Students are welcome to cite other sources (e.g., articles about family culture they find in the Wall Street Journal, a business or self-help book, or other credible sources), though students should cite these sources (as well as the textbook) appropriately throughout their paper. Please note that if Principles of Management is the student’s only source, that's fine - students are not required to use sources beyond the textbook, if they don’t want or feel the need to.
Each paper should be well-written, interesting and easy to understand and follow. Please remember, however, our policy on Academic Integrity and Misconduct listed within the syllabus - all assignments should be fully prepared and completed by the student. Because THE STUDENT is the one building their own strong family culture, and defining what that means to them based on their knowledge and unique background, generative AI is not going to help students personalize this paper to their unique background and/or experiences with work and what they inspire to create as a future manager, so students should avoid this temptation.
Grammar, spelling and punctuation are important on all writing assignments. To avoid concerns with academic integrity and misconduct regarding quality writing, students may use the SUU Writing Center to help them with citation guidance, reviewing their paper for grammar, etc. once it is drafted. Students who utilize the Writing Center as part of this assignment will receive an additional/bonus 5 points, if the Center reports the appointment date/time/student name via email to me as the instructor within 5 business days of the assignment due date.