Course information, including all activities via the modules are available via our course Canvas site.
We commit ourselves to act with academic integrity. That is, to be
ethical in what we say and what we write, and to give credit to others for thinking
and writing and sharing their ideas before us. I believe that everyone in this course
is fundamentally honest, and I will help you to adhere to academic conventions. If
you cite something in your Medium posts, please use APA format as outlined in the
first-year writing course. This is very important, as writing is an ethical
responsibility. APA conventions are available for free online (I love the Purdue
OWL website) and are also outlined via the Ontario Tech Library:
https://guides.library.uoit.ca/ld.php?content_id=4715041.
As co-collaborators in creating our learning space, we’ll be relying
on each other’s informed, honest, and active involvement with our course topics.
Please remember to be open to each other's ideas, and to support your colleagues
in their discovery of new processes, their questions, and their articulation of
thought. If you have to miss any of our classes, please know that we will miss your
presence in the Zoom meetings.
Please read the syllabus carefully and completely, and stay on
top of submission dates via the Modules section in Canvas. The best way to start on
a path to success is to read and understand your syllabus and to put due dates into
your personal calendar. Once you have read this syllabus to completion please
email me (sharon.lauricella@uoit.ca) describing in a sentence or two something
that has changed for you/that you miss/that you learned due to pandemic
restrictions.
Each week, there is a writing activity based on the readings/videos/podcasts/case study for that week's topic. Everyone will make a
post in Medium and hashtag it by the Tuesday before the next class. By the
Wednesday before the next class, you'll reply to at least three posts made by your
classmates. This encourages deeper interaction with the course information
and allows you to connect with others in the course. The flow of the course (posts
due on Tuesday, responses due on Wednesday, meetings on Thursday) will start
right away and you'll get in the groove quickly.
On Thursdays during our Zoom meetings, we'll debrief the case
study/activity for the week, and address the general vibe of everyone's posts.
Students will lead these discussions after Week 2. I will open the opportunity for
students to form a group and volunteer to lead the discussion for each week. If you
are terrified to lead a discussion, even in a group, I won't force you to -- we need
both participants and leaders. I intend that students will lead the discussions each
week and that those students discussing will be engaged and discussion will
even sometimes be heated!
Okay, a little more on exams. I don't think that forcing students to memorize
concepts and names under the pressure of time and space is much of a help in
studying ethics. What we need is to think carefully about our cases, talk about
them as a group, and wrestle with these concepts. Exams don't allow us this
opportunity, so, again, I give a big no to exams. In the final week of class, we'll have
what I call an "Epic Finale" which is a fun wrap-up to the course.