For each topic of the term, which corresponds to some reading in the required text, I will post a Blackboard announcement giving final release to a related webpage.  There is a page for each topic and corresponding reading (recall that we are not going from chapter one through the end in the book’s order and so you should check the schedule carefully).  One of your responsibilities in the following period is to do the reading I specify.  (I will be explicit about required other readings, and will show them in bold at the top of the page.  The hyperlinked references and resources in the content areas lower on the webpage are also required; the rule is to follow every link from the page throughout my site.)  On most pages you will also find “points to ponder” and “questions to consider.”  The points are bits of information that I present to you to either clarify or add to what you will find in the Danziger text.  The questions essentially test all of your learning; you should feel prepared after reading the text and my materials to formulate a good answer to these questions.  On some days, the page will also include one or more assignments, typically to be prepared and submitted electronically (more on these assignments is given below).

At the same time, I will post a “forum” for the topic of the day on the discussion board.  You should reply to that forum to raise questions about the material or to make comments, messages to which I and other members of the class can respond.  It will make everyone’s life easier if, within a forum, you reply to an on-going thread when the specific content is similar but start a new thread when your question or comment has to do with a different point with respect to the topic of the day.  Similarly, if you have a question or comment on a topic from a previous day, please post your message at the forum for the appropriate day.

While pages for the term may be visible now, I reserve the right to make changes in content, including assignments, up until the time that I "release" them by means of a Blackboard announcement.  You are free to look ahead but using a page before it has been officially released is done at your risk.

Tasks

On some days, you will be given an assignment.  Most of the assignments are writing exercises in which you are asked to prepare a short statement for electronic submission to me as an attachment in MS Word.  Writing a good exercise will require, at a minimum, careful and thoughtful reading of the text and of the materials I post at my website and through Blackboard; you may also need to do some web-based research to prepare a good paper.  I would expect you will write one to two full pages in completing each of these exercises.  You will turn in these written exercises by saving the file, going to Blackboard's Digital Drop Box, clicking "send file" and giving it the name of your file.  Note well that you will be given a one word name for the exercise (for example, ectoplasm) and you should save and send your file with that name followed by your last name and then your first name (in this example, I would save and send the file as ectoplasm levenbach david).  I ask that you do this so that I can more easily manage all the files I will be reading (and returning to you through the Digital Drop Box) as well as to make sure you are credited with the right score.  There may be other assignments to be completed in the form of participation in discussions on the Discussion Board.  I have the same expectations for your preparation of work for on-line exercises—reading the text, reviewing my webpage and Blackboard materials, and, perhaps, some internet research.  The differences are that you will answer the question on the Board rather than in an essay and that the discussions will demand that you submit observations several times in the specified period and in an interactive format rather than writing and submitting one written answer (for more, see "talking points").  Each of these assignments, worth altogether 25% of your course grade, will be scored on a 100-point basis.  Because these assignments are intended to engage you in learning, they are graded more on the quality of the effort than on having the "right" answer (and so a pass will be worth 100 points, a marginal performance will be graded 60, and a fail will be scored 0).

There will be three tests given via Blackboard.  These will use objective questions drawn principally if not exclusively from a test bank developed by the author of your text.  You should anticipate that most if not all of the questions will be in multiple choice format.  These tests will be timed, such that once you begin the test you will have a certain number of minutes to finish your work.  (There are severe penalties for exceeding the allotted time on Blackboard tests.)  You will not be permitted to begin, pause, and continue.  Once you start, you are committed to finishing in one session.  The tests will be available at a specified time, and you will be allowed to begin your time-limited session whenever you wish within a 23.75 hour cycle.  While the tests will generally concentrate on the material covered in the days since the last test (or the beginning of the term), you will be responsible on each test for all of the material covered in the course to that point.  The same is true for the final, third exam:  most of the questions are likely to come from the last section of the course but--while it is not intended to a fully comprehensive final examination--you should be prepared to address questions from the whole course.  Your scores on these three equally weighted tests are worth, altogether, 45% of your course grade. 

At about the same time you have a Blackboard test, I will also put out an essay question for you to address.  In these three essays, you will have to explain or formulate a judgment on some aspect of the course.  Successful performance on these essays will require having done a good job reading the text and mastering the materials I have posted to my website and Blackboard, but you also may find it necessary to do some internet research in putting together an answer.  You will have at least 24 hours, from the time the essay assignment is posted, to submit an answer in a Word file to the Digital Drop Box.  I expect that good essays will require two or three pages of writing.  The three essays, altogether, will be worth 30% of your final course grade. Note that the third essay will be on a topic agreed to by all faculty members teaching POSC 1003 this term and required of all students enrolled in each section of the course; in the case of the third essay alone, student works will be randomly assigned to three-person panels of professors teaching POSC 1003 and each student's grade on that essay will be the average of the panelists' scores.

The overall distribution of tasks and weights are as follows:

The grading scale is the normal one: 90 or better = A, 80 to 89 = B, 70-79 = C, 60-69 = D, and below 60 = F.

Students are expected to submit work no later than the specified due date. Work submitted late will be accepted at the instructor's discretion and may well result in penalties.

Extra credit?  Bonus points?  You must be joking.  On the other hand, if your final score is teetering between two letter grades, I will take due note of (a) improvement or degradation in your performance over the term and (b) how productive, easy, and pleasant you have made the web course for me and your classmates.

Academic responsibility

Note the department’s policy on plagiarism, violations of which will result in a filing of charges with Student Affairs.  In giving credit to sources, you may use whatever citation system you prefer, but please be consistent. In citing internet sources, it is also good practice to show the date the site was accessed.

Disability services

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..