Course Requirements and Grading

NOTE: Each assignment/quiz/discussion is due by 11:59pm Pacific Time on the date it is due.

Course grades are a weighted average based on a quizzes, homework chapter assignments, and discussion forum posts. Students are expected to submit each assignment by the deadline. Grades (in %) will be rounded to two decimal places. No extra credit assignments will be given, however, there are very generous drop policies described in detail below.

Chapters are assigned as modules in Canvas. Each module includes all related material including assignments.

NOTE: Students who do not submit any of Quiz 0, Quiz 1, HW Ch01, or HW Ch02 by their respective deadlines will be dropped from the course.

Course Grade Rubric

Course grades will be assigned as listed. Note: Plus/minus (±) grading will be used.

Quizzes & Quiz Drop Policy

There will be seven total quizzes but only six will count toward the course grade. The lowest quiz grade from Quiz 0 through Quiz 5 will be dropped. Quiz 6 cannot be dropped. To be clear, the grade earned on Quiz 6 will count as one of the six graded quizzes. Each graded quiz will carry 12.5% weight towards your course grade, making quizzes worth a total of 75% of your course grade. Each quiz explicitly tests the chapters covered since the previous quiz. That said, the material builds on itself, failure to master concepts covered on a previous quiz can hinder comprehension of later material.

NOTE: A student can theoretically miss one quiz (except Quiz 6) without having it affect their course grade. Subsequently missed quizzes will be scored as zeros and will count towards the course grade.

Each quiz will have a 40-hour timeframe during which you must take the quiz in one sitting. Generally, quizzes will open on Fridays at 9am and close on Saturdays at 11:59pm (Pacific Time).

Electronic devices are not permitted during exams.

Late Policies

There are homework assignments, dicsussions, and quizzes. Submit a given assignment early when you know you will not be able to turn it in on time. If a deadline falls on a holiday, you can submit it before the holiday but still have up until 11:59pm of the published deadline to submit it.

Quizzes - Deadlines are binding

Quizzes will not be accepted late. Plan accordingly.

Homework Late Policy

MindTap homework assignments will have binding deadlines, meaning extensions will not be granted. However, you can submit a MindTap assignment by 11:59pm up to two days after the deadline but a 15% percentage point deduction will automatically apply. This policy only applies to MindTap assignments. Note: MindTap Ch 17 and Ch 20 are due during Week 6, therefore, these can only be submitted up to 24 hours late because it is due on Friday night and the summer session ends that Saturday.

Discussions Late Policy

Discussion posts can be submitted up to two days late with the exception of the ones assigned the last week of the summer session. The maximum eligible points that can be earned on a late discussion post is 7.5 out of 10 points. Note: Discussions due the last week must be submitted by the last day of class which is Saturday, August 10th (Week 6 discussions cannot be accepted late because the term ends on Saturday).

Homework Assignments & Homework Drop Policy

Homework Drop Policy

There will be one MindTap assignment per chapter (unless otherwise noted). These are in addition to the initial assignments administered at the start of the semester (i.e., Picture Upload), which are relatively easy and considered to be assignments that are a part of your homework grade. Homework will account for a total of 15% of your course grade. The three homework scores that do the most harm will be dropped (with the exception of Ch 17 & Ch 20 MindTap assignments, which cannot be dropped) – consider the drops as three free passes, use them wisely. Canvas automatically detects the three eligible assignments that most negatively impact your grade and updates your posted course grade accordingly each time you submit (or don’t submit) an assignment.

Discussion Forum

There is a required discussion forum post for each module (unless otherwise stated). The discussion forum (aka "forum") will be the main source of interaction between you and your classmates. You will respond to various prompts and are often asked to respond to posts made by your classmates.

You might want to comment on the following when responding to a group member’s post:

What did you like, dislike, agree with, or become interested in when reading your classmate's post? What resonated with you?
What follow-up questions do you have?

Tips: Your posts must be substantive in order to count; you must write in complete sentences, using appropriate punctuation and grammar, and avoid the use of text-speak, informal abbreviations, or emoticons. Generic responses (“I liked this article” or “Good point”) will not count toward your required posts. The discussion board should be a real discussion between you and your peers and, as such, you should take the posts seriously. This is a place where real discussion can occur and your effort on the discussion board will greatly influence what you get out of this course.

Forum Rules (Netiquette)

1. Be polite. You can disagree without being disagreeable. That means no personal attacks, name-calling, libel, defamation, comparisons to notorious dictators, and so on. Just be respectful of one another. And under no circumstances should you post anything that could be taken as threatening, harassing, bullying, obscene, pornographic, sexist, or racist.
2. No profanity.
3. Stay on topic (or at least nearby). Include a link to internet research if requested in the prompt.
4. Use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation (as best you know how) -- see tip above.

Discussion Grades & Drop Policy

Discussion board posts are worth a total of 10% of your course grade, equally weighted across posts. While this does not seem like a lot, it is enough to take an A down to a B or lower, a C down to a D or lower, etc. Points will be earned based on effort level, demonstration of knowledge, adherence to forum rules, and overall quality of forum responses. Do not simply answer a question/prompt for the sake of answering it. Quality and effort matters! The two lowest discussion forum post grades will be dropped (with the exception of discussions for Ch 17 & Ch 20, which cannot be dropped).

Pass/No Pass Requests (P/NP)

This course is a transferable course, which means that in most situations, this course must be taken for a letter grade if you intend to transfer to a college/university. Every transfer institution and major has different requirements. For this reason, if you are interested in taking this course with pass/no-pass grading, you need to contact your academic counselor for approval. While the form and process allow for the instructor to approve P/NP requests, I cannot assess the impact this will have on your situation (e.g., transfer eligibility and financial aid) and cannot help you make an informed decision like an academic counselor. For this reason, I do not sign pass/no-pass requests so be sure to contact your academic counselor well before the P/NP deadline if you are considering this option.

Academic Integrity

Institutions of higher education are founded to impart knowledge, seek truth, and encourage one’s development for the good of society. College students shall thus be intellectually and morally obliged to pursue their course of studies with honesty and integrity. Therefore, in preparing and submitting materials for academic courses and in taking assessments, a student shall not yield to cheating or plagiarism, which not only violate academic standards but also make the offender liable to penalties explicit in Section 41301 of Title 5 of California's Education Code.

Your work must be your own. Referencing inappropriate material, systems, and/or unethically accessing another person's knowledge during an exam or for an assignment are considered cheating. The use of ChatGPT or any AI-generated responses is also cheating. Academic dishonesty of any type by a student provides grounds for disciplinary action by the professor and/or college. Any incidence of cheating or plagiarism will be reported. Should you violate the code of academic integrity, you will receive an F and will be reported according to SBCC’s Standards of Student Conduct.

Learning Integrity - Respondus

NOTE: Computers/laptops need to have a functioning mic and webcam (internal of external) in order to take quizzes. Students must have access to a laptop/desktop, Pipeline, Canvas, Cengage, and any other referenced material to be able to submit required assignments.

Quizzes will be proctored using Respondus Lockdown Browser + Monitor to ensure learning integrity. Respondus is a remote proctoring service software that to monitor for suspicious behavior during quizzes. In addition to monitoring students during quizzes, Respondus provides ID verification, automated invigilation, content protection, secure browser settings, and computer lockdown.

Instructions on how to use Respondus are posted in Canvas in the Respondus module.

NOTE: The SBCC library has computers with Respondus installed and also provide Chromebooks with Respondus for checkout. Plan accordingly if you plan on using their resources.

Access from Outside of the U.S.

It is your responsibility to make sure you have access to Canvas, Cengage/MindTap, Google, and any/all other websites referenced in the course throughout the entire term. If you are abroad, make sure that you have full access to internet resources and be sure to complete the Respondus Practice Quiz before Quiz 0 is due. The drop deadline for a full refund is July 3rd -- make sure everything is good to go before this deadline.

Extensions will NOT be granted for any assignments/quizzes/etc missed due to access/technical issues, so be sure to take care of all access issues immediately.

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