rules

At some points in this class, we will make use of Blackboard8, a web classroom.  Announcements, beyond the basic course information, will be posted there, and we will likely engage in some conversations using its Discussion Board feature, in particular to articulate and resolve problems (analytical, operational) you may have at one point or another.  When you enroll in this course, once you have activated your digital ID, you are automatically registered for its Blackboard8 component.  You can only access Blackboard8 by using logging into your ASU smail account.  (You are responsible for having such an account in good order and making sure that you have cleaned out your account well enough that you have not used too much space such that new messages are kicked back.)  On occasion, I may post announcements or some materials with which I want you to be familiar for the next class.  You are responsible for being aware of any postings I make to Blackboard at least twenty four hours prior to class.  This means you should check Blackboard sometime between 9:30 am Monday (Wednesday) for the Tuesday (Thursday) class.

There will be four examinations, each worth 15% of your final course grade.  I reserve the right to include a take-home component in any one or more of the four examinations (unlike homework assignments, you may not consult/work/collaborate with others on take-home components of examinations).  Given the nature of the material, in that each topic builds on what has come earlier, each examination is cumulative.  (Students who are obliged to miss the in-class part of one or more of the interim examinations may take make-up exams, but only during the make-up exam session which will be held between 9 am and 2 pm, Tuesday, 6 December 2011. Out-of-class components of exams must be turned in at the designated moment and will not be accepted afterwards.)  There will be a number of homework assignments using Pollock's Companion (worth together 15% of the course grade) and, separately a number of workout assignments which I am creating, (also worth together, another 15% of your final course grade. You may consult/work/collaborate with others on the homework assignment, but must work on your own on the workout assigments. Homework assignments and workout assignments will be graded on a 100-point scale based on the quality of the effort rather than the correctness of answers (and so a pass will be worth 100 points, a marginal performance will be graded 60, and a fail will be scored 0); Points will be deducted for work that is submitted late.  The final 10% of your course grade is based on the quality of your contributions to making the learning process in this class a good one.  The course grading scale is as follows: 90-100=A; 80-89=B; 70-79=C; 60-69=D; below 60=F. (Note, I have tried to suppress BB's "total points" and "weighted average" columns because these are meaningless and/or confusing in that thehe three elements of your final course grade are weighted, as noted above. To find your current grade, do a little simple algebra: current grade = (.60 x test average) + (.15 x homework assignment average) + (.15 x workout assignment average) + (.10 x assessment of the quality of your class participation).

You should come to each class meeting with both textbook and the working disk or thumb drive on which you will save and manipulate data provided in Pollock's SPSS companion.  There is no formal class attendance policy but, simply put, this is not the kind of class you can miss without being at a terrible disadvantage.  I will work conscientiously with any student who, for some good reason, has been forced to miss an individual class, but I will not disturb the learning process of others to re-teach material that a slacker has missed.  Doing well in this class requires faithful and studious attendance, careful reading and thoughtful working of assignments, asking good questions in a timely manner, and a positive attitude.

Planned reading and homework assignments are posted on the schedule page.  I reserve the right to add other readings and other assignments to enhance your learning.  There may be some slips in our progress and the schedule may have to be adjusted as result.  There will be announcements on Blackboard as necessary.  I will make every effort to give you "heads-up" announcements a week in advance of revisions to the schedule. 

Please note the departmental policy on academic honesty (in particular, the last part) and the provisions for students with disabilities.  Inclement Weather Policy: Information on campus closure can be found on the ASU web page, KASU, and local radio and television stations.  If inclement weather prevents you from being able to come to class and campus is not closed, please call me at 870.972.2147..