Dr. Ken Barger
Anthropology, IUPUI
December 28 2004

A104 Cultural Anthropology

COURSE LEARNING REQUIREMENTS

This course will ask you to be responsible for your own learning and to make a dedicated effort in developing your own learning abilities. If you do this, you will learn and develop, and the effort will be worth it for a lifetime. I would like for everyone in the class to make an "A" in the course. But I realize that there are differences in how students are conscientious in class participation, following instructions, preparing for the assignments, and sharing learning.

A primary objective of the learning exercises in the course are to develop our comprehension of the core concepts and our ability to apply these ideas in resolving personal, social, and global events in which we are involved. As indicated in the course web page on What Makes a Good Learner?, these abilities include:

Develop a positive interest in learning
Comprehend concepts and principles that help us understand life issues
Apply understandings in our personal lives and as citizens of our society
Analysis of the influences and systems context in social issues
Synthesis of new insights that explain social issues
Evaluation of outcomes of potential solutions to life issues

Another emphasis in the course is shared learning, and everyone is asked to think about what others have learned and to share what you have learned with others.

Course Requirements

In order to achieve course goals and objectives, several types of assignments are required:

Class Participation: Active involvement in class shared learning is worth 10% of the course grade. (This is based on attendance, preparation for classes, and active participation in the positive learning of everyone in the class.)
Tests: Each of the three online tests is worth 15% of the course grade (for a total of 45%).
Team Learning Reports: Each of the four team reports on learning issues is worth 10% of the course grade (for a total of 40%). Half of each grade for the team projects is based on individual Country Reports, and the other half is based on contributions to the team collective thinking and final report.
Final Survey and Essay: The Final Essay is worth 5% of the course grade.

The following sections explain the course requirements, and provide instructions for completing these assignments.

CLASS PARTICIPATION

10% of the course grade.

Students should be aware that they are expected to be responsible for your own learning and to contribute to a positive learning atmosphere for everyone in the class. Everyone is asked to come to class prepared and to help each other learn, so class attendance and active involvement are important for sharing questions and ideas. These dialogues help develop deeper understandings of the issues, concepts, and materials covered in the course.

Class materials include:

Preparation for Classes: Before coming to class, students are expected to review the ONCOURSE Announcements and to study all assigned materials (online summaries of Core Concepts, relevant Class Notes and text readings, etc.). You are also asked to prepare and type out-of-class learning exercises indicatedin the ONCOURSE Announcements before each class, which are designed to make you think and apply key ideas in preparation for class discussion where we will go to the next levels of thinking. This is where you begin your basic understandings, and you should devote the time and effort to learning the basic information on your own. We will not cover these materials in class, but you will be asked to give examples, to apply the concepts to current issues, and to go to the next level of learning. If you do not come to class prepared, you will only get further behind.
Class Discussions: Classes are devoted to developing the thinking begun in the before-class studying and exercises. In class, take good notes on the ideas and information discussed in class, on examples of cultural behavior, questions to the class, instructions on reports and tests, and the contents of films and guest presentations. Ask good questions for clarification, pose examples when asked to apply understandings. Note that some classes are devoted entirely to discussion and learning from each other, and everyone is expected to be present and involved.
Your Class Notes: Organized and comprehensive notes reinforce learning and serve as a primary resource for studying. Review your notes after class, to make sure you understand the materials. (My class notes are available online for your use, but these should be used to compare the quality of your own notes.)
Films: Films have been selected that illustrate course concepts with concrete cases and materials regarding cultural behavior around the world. Take good notes on these materials, and note that they will be used as examples in test questions.
Class Visitors: Class guests from other cultures provide an excellent opportunity for us to interact with people with other ethnic experiences and views. They also provide and excellent opportunity to practice the core concepts and skills we are developing in the course, particularly recognizing and controlling for biases in order to developed more balanced and comprehensive understandings of others' ethnic behavior. Take good notes and interact with people from other cultural backgrounds who directly share with us their life experiences and orientations. Note Course Policies specify that everyone show proper respect towards class guests, who are taking time from their obligations to share their experiences with us. We do not have to agree with them, of course, but we do have to show respect and make an effort to understand why they view things the way they do. Come to class on time, do not leave in the middle of class, turn off cell phones, do not talk or otherwise distract the guest, etc. Disrespect to class visitors will be reflected in deductions in the course grade.
Note that tests will emphasize in-class materials and discussions.

Humans are social animals, and we learn best together with other people. Students are therefore asked to be active learners in class, sharing what you have learned with others, learning from what others have learned, and contributing to a positive learning atmosphere for everyone. As we learn together about cultural anthropology, we will see where ideas and skills apply broadly (or not), where they can provide depth of understandings (or not), and how we can use our understandings to address social and personal issues in our lives (or not).

Students are expected to attend every class. If you have to miss a class, please coordinate in advance to avoid problems, since students are responsible for all in-class materials and discussions and for making sure they are fully informed about what is covered in class.

Students are asked to respect and support an active and positive learning atmosphere for all members of the class. Expectations include:

Come to class on time and do not leave in the middle of class.
Turn off cell phones!
Do not carry on side conversations, or otherwise distract from others' learning.
Be respectul of others' views. We do not have to agree with others, but we do have to show respect for others' experiences.

I enjoy working with those who make an effort and show responsibility in their own learning, both in discussing course materials and in developing learning skills. If you have to miss a class, coordinate with me in advance, and we will work out how to cover missed materials. Students should realize that an instructor cannot teach the class over again to one individual, and that students are responsible for all class materials, including in-class instructions for assignments and class emphases that will be the bases for graded work. Late work will generally not be accepted and missing work cannot be made up without prior coordination.

CLASS SURVEY

In order to help me start the semester with basic information on the class, the first assignment is to complete the Class Survey on the first day of class:

Go to the TOOLS section in ONCOURSE, ONCOURSE TESTS AND SURVEYS, and then to TAKE A TEST OR SURVEY, then to A104 CLASS SURVEY.
After completing the Class Survey, look over your responses. Notice that the survey emphasizes the main course concepts and skills. At this point, you are not expected to know these, but how did you do? More important, how will you do as you go through the course? These are the ideas and abilities that you will be expected to understand and use, so prepare now to learn and apply these as we go on in the course.

TEAM LEARNING PROJECTS

(Also see course web page on Learning Teams)

40% of the course grade (10% for each Learning Issue Report).

Group learning is one emphasis in the course. Humans are social animals, and we learn most of our behaviors in a group setting. So part of the course work will be devoted to team learning. These exercises are designed to develop our abilities to understand and resolve current issues, particularly the process involved in critical thinking and problem solving skills. In this process, we will apply course concepts to address contemporary issues. (See the IUPUI Principles for Undergraduate Learning and the course web page on Learning.)

The class will be divided into teams of about 5-6 people each, and over the semester each team will investigate four issues:

Team roles and team communications are explained in the course web page on Learning Teams. In order to facilitate group sharing and discussions, each team has been provided with an Team Mail feature and an online Team Forum space in the InTouch section of ONCOURSE. All major work should utilize these facilities to keep team information together. I monitor these regularly to keep track of team progress and to provide feedback.

Instructions and initial research materials on these issues are available in separate web pages by clicking on the each of the above issues. Additional resources are available in the Tools section of ONCOURSE. Teams are expected to use these materials in their reports, and how they are used will affect grades.

In investigating these issues, each team member will gather information on a different case country, and the whole team will compare the issue across the different countries they are investigating. Eight countries have been selected to help the teams develop an understanding of the issues around the world:

If anyone is interested in investigating a particular country other than those indicated above, please check with me for approval so we can dicuss the standards and contents involved.

Initial research materials on these countries are available in separate web pages by clicking on the each of the above issues. Additional resources are also available in the Tools section of ONCOURSE. Teams are expected to use these materials in their reports, and how they are used will affect grades.

Some in-class time will also be devoted to team sharing and discussions, but the learning exercises expect you to gather basic ideas and information on your own outside class, including:

Reviewing Class Notes, Course Web Pages, and the textbook
Reviewing the linked materials in the issue and country web pages and in the ONCOURSE Tools, and searching for other relevant resources in the Library and on the Web
Bringing in understandings from life experience, other courses, and other relevant sources

Teams are expected to utilize a range of materials on each country in their reports, and the quality and range of sources used will affect grades.

The four team Learning Issue Reports should be submitted in the designated ONCOURSE Forum by the times specified in the Schedule and in-class instructions.

In order to share our learning and broaden our understanding of the learning issues, each student should read all other team reports, and reply to at least two of these reports no later than the final deadline:

Discuss at least one principle in the other team's report about how integrated systems are involved in teh issue that was not considered in your own team project.
Discuss at least one principle you learned in your own team project about how integrated systems are involved in the issue that was not mentioned in the other team's report.

Remember that the classes in which we will discuss the learning issue reports are required, so we can learn from each other to reinforce learning.

Individual grades for the team reports are explained in the course web page on Learning Teams. The overall quality of the team report utilizing the grading guidelines for each project is used as the starting point, and individual grades are assigned on the basis of peer evaluations, my observations of contributions to the team project, and responses to other team reports.

If you have questions about the reports, would like to discuss your ideas for the different sections of the report, or would like me to review a draft before preparing your final report, please let me know. I will be happy to talk over your ideas, if you want to catch me after class, set up an appointment, or e-mail me.

TESTS

45% of the course grade (15% for each Test).

The focus of this course is Cultural Anthropology, which emphasizes the diversity of the human experience in its many variations around the world. The primary goal of the course is to develop our abilities to understand the human cultural experience, both of others and ourselves. In the first part of the course, we have emphasized core concepts that can help us in understanding the human cultural experience, as well as developing our skills to apply these concepts to understanding behavior and events as we encounter them. (Each exam is worth 20% of the course grade, and includes 15% from open-ended and content questions and 5% from an essay issue.)

Three tests are given during the course:

Key Concepts for Understanding the Human Experience, covering the first section of the course.
The Cultural Context of the Human Experience, covering Subsistence, Social Organization, and World View.
And the Final Understanding the Human Experience, a comprehensive exam covering Cultural Change and emphasizing our abilities to understand contemporary social and international events.

These tests are composed of two types of questions:

Open Answer Questions: Explanations and fill-in-the-blanks that focus on understanding key concepts and principles that you are expected to take with you beyond the course, and which emphasize your ability to understand and explain ideas
- Can you explain key ideas in a way that shows comprehension of concepts and principles in understanding the human experience?
- Can you give valid examples that apply and illustrate these ideas?
Content Questions: Matching and multiple-choice questions using materials covered in class discussions, films, texts, and Navajo and American cultures, which focus on general ideas and information and an ability to recognize and use ideas
- Can you recognize examples that apply these ideas?
- Can you recognize misapplication of these ideas?

The tests are open online exercises, taken in ONCOURSE. They will be available to review and to take up a week in advance of the deadline specified in the Class Schedule.

I will grade the open answer items individually. The ONCOURSE Quiz program allows me to grade all responses to a particular question as a group, and scrambles the order of the responses, so I do not know whose answer is being graded. I like this, because it ensures one standard for grading all responses.

After I have graded all tests, I will open them up for you check which items you got correct and which you missed. The correct answers will be indicated, and the grades for the exam and essay will be entered into the Gradebook in ONCOURSE.

You should check the results of your test before coming to class.

Instructions for taking the tests online:

You are on your honor that the responses on this exam are your work only, that you have not received any help from anyone else in taking this exam, and that you have not given help to and have not received help from anyone else in taking this exam. Taking this exam constitutes your promise that you agree to these terms.
The exam is to be taken on ONCOURSE. Go to the TOOLS section, then to ONCOURSE TOOLS, ONCOURSE TESTS AND SURVEYS, and then to TAKE A TEST OR SURVEY, then the appropriate exam.
You have only one try in taking this test. Be sure that you are on a secure line, where you will not lose your connection and your exam responses. I recommend that you take the exam in one of the campus computer labs, since this is the most secure connection to ONCOURSE and there are consultants there who can help with technical problems. You can take as much time as needed to complete the exam.
You may use all resources available for the course in responding to the exam questions. However, keep in mind that the exam emphasizes class materials.
Be sure to read all instructions and read each question carefully before answering. (Be sure you understand what is being asked before responding.)
When responding to open answer questions, be careful to use the terms and ideas emphasized in the course materials, to make sure that your understanding is clear.
Go back through all questions and review your responses before submitting your exam, since one part of the exam may help in your understandings in another part of the exam.
Note that all ethnic examples should be taken as true (based on current evidence), and are not related to the truth or falseness of the answer.
I recommend doing the discussion questions in a word processor file in advance, then pasting it into the exam essay text box. This will save time online, and will allow for a more thoughtful response.

Preparing for the Tests

The tests will be available online in ONCOURSE a week before they are due, and may be reviewed in advance. Each test must be submitted no later than the date specified. This will allow you time to review the questions and study the course materials before responding.

Remember, tests are not so much a measure of what you know, but of how well can you learn. (See the Course Web Page on Learning, and also the IUPUI Principles on Undergraduate Education):

What are your goals in learning?
How well is your approach to learning helping you to meet these goals?
Learning styles and temperament are strong influences in learning, but over my years of teaching I have observed that one of the most important learning abilities is committing sufficient time and energy to studying. Do you allot sufficient time to go over course materials to prepare for the postings and for class? After class, to go over what was covered in class? Educational psychologists tell us one of the best ways to learn is in small packages on an ongoing basis. Do you know the general accepted formula for studying is three hours out of class for every hour in class? How much effort do you put into your studies?

FINAL CLASS SURVEY AND ESSAY

5% of the course grade.

In order to help me understand how students have developed their learning abilities in this course, everyone is asked at the end of the semester to complete the Final Class Survey and Essay:

Go to the TOOLS section in ONCOURSE, ONCOURSE TESTS AND SURVEYS, and then to TAKE A TEST OR SURVEY, then to A104 FINAL CLASS SURVEY.
Complete and submit the Final Class Survey and Essay.

Be sure to check the dates at the top of the web pages to keep track of corrections and updates. These instructions may be printed as desired to help you prepare for the different learning assignments in the course.

I hope these exercises are a positive learning experience for everyone. In the long run, everyone is responsible for their own learning and has to be their own judge of how much they have developed their abilities to learn in this course. It is my hope that everyone will go on beyond the course with a sense of success that they are more prepared for understanding and addressing issues in life.