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This page will provide more detailed information and guidelines on forum postings, quizzes, homework, tests, writing assignments, and extra credit. You can click the links below to jump to any one section of this page.

General Information

As a general rule for all college courses, you should plan to spend an additional 3 hours of study time (outside of class time) for every one credit hour you are taking. That means, for a 3-credit course like this one, offered in the summer, you should realistically plan to spend at least 12-15 hours per week reading, reviewing modules, and studying for and completing assessments. The course has been designed with these time constraints in mind.


This online class includes significantly more graded material than a normal lecture based class. This additional graded material is used to foster critical thought and analysis of course concepts, keep you focused on the schedule, and to discourage academic dishonesty.

A combination of quizzes and short essays will be used to assess your level of understanding of the concepts and your critical thinking. Quizzes will test both memorization and some application of the ideas and concepts. Essay assignments throughout the course will be used to check your learning process. These writing assignments will be write-to-learn papers to assess how well you are able to apply and evaluate what you have learned over the semester.

Grading

This course uses a standard grading scale, including +/- grades.  Grades will be calculated to the 100th decimal place.  Grades are not rounded up to the nearest whole percentage.  A 79.92% is a 79.9% or a C+, not a B-.  Final grades are issued at the discretion of the instructor based on your performance in the course. The grading for this semester's offering of this course contains:

  • Introductory Assignment (self-quiz and forum post): 1 @ 20 points = 20 points
  • Module Assessments (Quizzes): 20 @ 15 points each = 300 points
  • Short Essay Assessment: 1 @ 30 points = 30 points
  • Exams (Midterm and Final): 2 @ 100 points each = 200 points
  • Research Project (Proposal, Final Draft, and Group Participation): 30 points + 100 points + 20 points = 150 points

All assessments will be completed using Oncourse and turnitin.com. There are 700 points total.
Grades will be posted in the Oncourse gradebook. The grading scale may vary depending on the performance of the class, but at a minimum:

  • Students earning at least 90% or 630 points will receive an A (+/-)
  • Students earning at least 80% or 560 points will receive a B (+/-)
  • Students earning at least 70% or 490 points will receive a C (+/-)
  • Students earning at least 60% or 420 points will receive a D (+/-)

Guidelines for Timed Assessments

Obviously, your textbook will be available to you during the tests and quizzes, so the following rules will be in effect:

  • All quizzes will open the first week of classes. However, quizzes are due on specific dates throughout the semester. You must complete the quiz by its assigned due date.  (See the course calendar for specific details.)

  • After a test or quiz timeframe has expired, it cannot be taken for credit unless you have made prior arrangements with your instructor.  See Course Guidelines > Assessment Guidelines: Late/Missed Assessments.
  • Once you open a quiz, it will have a time limit (measured in minutes) for you to answer all questions. You must complete the quiz within this time limit. Quizzes are automatically submitted if not completed within the time limit.
  • Quizzes must be completed independently (without the help of other current or previous students) and under YOUR Oncourse login per the course guidelines.
  • See the Help Page, Computer Problems During a Test section for details on what to do if you have trouble with technology during an assessment. In most cases, you will be expected to log back into the assessment AND contact your instructor to avoid a penalty for multiple logins.

Computer Problems During an Assessment

See the “Help/Contact” page of this syllabus for specific instructions on what to do if your computer or Oncourse fails during an assessment.

Writing Assignments

As with all assessments, these will only be open for a specific period of time.  You must submit the assessment by the due date and time.  See the Course Calendar for information on specific due dates.

You will have two types of writing assignments. The first will be short, write-to-learn essays that will ask you to apply the course concepts in a very concise essay.  These essays are worth only 30 points and should not be more than 750 words.  These essays are an opportunity for you to demonstrate your learning processes to your instructor. These essays will have the expectation of thesis-based college writing.  Follow the instructions carefully for writing direction and how to submit them for grading.

A bit more on turnitin.com:  Papers submitted to turnitin.com will be evaluated for originality.  The text is compared to websites, previous papers submitted for this class, and papers submitted to other universities.  It is therefore in your best interest to understand how to paraphrase and properly cite information you use in your paper.  See the Indiana University site on plagiarism and how to avoid it in your own writing.

The second type of writing assignment will be your research paper. This is a write-for-mastery paper which will act as a capstone project for the class.  In this paper, you will be asked to demonstrate your mastery of the course concepts in a longer 5-7 page fact sheet.  This paper will be submitted to website, turnitin.com, which utilizes anti-plagiarism software to analyze your essay.  You will need to register to the site and “enroll” in our class site.  Please see the Research Paper section of this syllabus for a downloadable document detailing how to register and submit your final paper.

A bit more on turnitin.com:  Papers submitted to turnitin.com will be evaluated for originality.  The text is compared to websites, previous papers submitted for this class, and papers submitted to other universities.  It is therefore in your best interest to understand how to paraphrase and properly cite information you use in your paper.  See the Indiana University site on plagiarism and how to avoid it in your own writing.

If you have not taken W131 and/or are unfamiliar with what is meant by thesis-based college writing, please visit the University Writing Center in-person or review their extensive online documentation for writing assignments.

Writing Assignments will be graded based on the following criteria:

  • Writing quality: Thesis-based, argumentative writing with support an analysis.
  • Incorporation and relevance major course concepts as they are presented in the Modules (Textbook and online Lectures).
  • Ability to support your argument or ideas with evidence from primary sources and, if appropriate, in the context of personal experience.

See the assessment or paper guidelines for specific grading criteria.  Always check your submission after posting to be sure that your assessment submitted correctly and edit if necessary. Writing Assignments will be manually graded by your instructor within 1-2 weeks of the due date. Writing assignments will be given zero points upon evidence of plagiarism, copying and pasting or other evidence of academic dishonesty.

Quizzes

Every Module will conclude with a short 15 point quiz.  As all quizzes will be open for you to take up to the specified due date (see course calendar), all quizzes will be password protected to prevent you from accidentally opening a quiz before you are ready to take it.  The passwords for the quizzes will be found on the Assessment page of the Module.

Module quizzes will be administered through the Tests and Surveys Beta tool in OncourseCL.  These may include any combination of multiple choice, true or false, and matching.  Read the instructions on the first page of the quiz carefully.  Quizzes will have a time limit from the point you start the quiz, usually 45 minutes. If you don’t finish by the time limit, the unfinished quiz will be automatically submitted. Although you may leave the test and "Save" your answers, you must submit the quiz within the time limit (started when you begin the quiz). If you do not, it will be automatically submitted with any answers you've saved when the time limit expires.

Once you have completed all sections of a quiz, you will submit the quiz and be taken to a “submission page.”  As long as you are sent to this “submission” page, you will be able to view your grade on your quiz in your Gradebook,  If you are not sent to the “submission” page and you cannot see your grade in your Gradebook immediately upon submitting your quiz, then contact your instructor and attempt the quiz again.  There may have been a problem with your quiz submission.

Quizzes will contain questions that assess basic understanding of concepts AND questions that require you to apply your understanding of a concept to a situation. You will be expected to think critically; this means you will be required to move past memorizing definitions or describing a concept by applying what you learned to new ideas and concepts.

Extra Credit

Extra Credit Options (ECOs) will be announced over the course of the semester by your instructor.  These will be posted to the course Forums and will have specific guidelines.  Also unlike the other assessments, ECOs can be submitted at anytime up to the due date.  These due dates are not listed in the Course Calendar as they are not required assignments.