Course Requirements and Grading

NOTE: Each non-exam assignment/discussion is due by 11:59pm Pacific Time on the date it is due. Exams are taken in class during regular class time.

Course grades are a weighted average based on a syllabus quiz, a picture upload, MindTap chapter assignments, exams, and discussion forum posts. Students are expected to submit each assignment by the deadline.

Grades (in %) will be rounded to two decimal places. For example, a grade of 89.99% is 89.99%, not 90%.

No extra credit assignments will be given, however, there is a very generous drop policy described in detail below.

Chapters are released as modules in Canvas. Each module includes chapter-related material, including assignments.

NOTE: Students who do not submit the Syllabus Quiz, How to do MindTap Assignments, HW Ch01, and the first Discussion Board post by their respective deadlines will be dropped from the course, as will any student who does not attend the first week of class. Also, students who miss more than four days of class throughout the semester are subject to being dropped from the course.

Course Grade Rubric

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

Exams & Final Exam Policy

There will be four midterms and a cumulative final exam -- making it a total of five exams. The best 4 of 5 exam grades (with the exception mentioned below) will each carry 18% weight toward your course grade, making exams worth a total of 72% of your course grade. Each midterm will focus on the chapters covered since the previous exam. However, it's important to keep in mind that the material builds upon itself, so if you don't understand concepts from earlier exams, it will make it harder to understand later material. The final exam will be cumulative, covering all the chapters in the course, and it may be optional as explained below.

The final exam is potentially optional. If you miss one of the first three exams, the cumulative final exam must be taken to replace that missed exam; this would make the final worth 18% of your course grade. Exam 4 cannot be dropped and the final exam cannot take its place -- in other words, the grade earned on Exam 4 will count no matter what. The cumulative final exam is optional if you have taken all four midterms and are happy with your scores. In that case, the final can be taken to drop the lowest score out of your first three exam scores; the final will only replace your lowest score if you improve on that score. This means taking the final when it is optional cannot hurt your course grade. This final exam policy applies no matter the reason for missing an exam. For this reason, students do not need to notify me they will miss an exam.

NOTE: A student can theoretically miss one of the first three exams without having it affect their course grade. Subsequently missed exams will be scored as zeros and will count toward the course grade.

Each exam will be administered in person in our regular classroom as scheduled. There are no make-ups and no extensions.

Notes and electronic devices are not permitted during exams.

Homework Assignments

Homework Drop Policy

There will be one MindTap assignment per chapter unless otherwise stated. These MindTap chapter assignments are in addition to the initial assignments administered at the start of the semester (i.e., "How to do Homework Assignments", Syllabus Quiz, and Picture Upload) which are relatively easy and also considered to be assignments that are part of the overall homework grade. The syllabus quiz counts for 3% of the course grade. MindTap homework will account for a total of 15% of the course grade. The three homework scores that do the most harm will be dropped with the exception that MindTap Ch 17 & Ch 20 cannot be dropped. Consider the drops as three free passes, use them wisely. Canvas automatically detects the three assignments that do the most harm and updates course grades each time there is a submission or anytime an assignment deadline is missed.

Homework Late Policy

MindTap homework assignments 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.

Submit assignments early when you know you will not be able to turn them 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 (and eligible extension) to submit it.

Discussion Board

There is a required Discussion Board (DB) post for each module (unless otherwise stated). The discussion board (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.

DB Assessment & Drop Policy

Discussion board posts are worth a total of 10% of the 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 are 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 DB posts for the Ch 17 and Ch 20 modules, which cannot be dropped. You should be prepared to discuss your posts with me to receive credit on a particular post, as well as prepared to see related questions on exams.

Discussions Late Policy

Discussion posts can be submitted up to two days late. The maximum eligible grade that can be earned on a late discussion posts is 75% (e.g., 7.5 points out of 10 possible points).

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 sign, 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: Respondus will be used if the course goes online for public health reasons -- this section only applies under that circumstance.

Computers/laptops need to have a functioning mic and video camera in order to take exams. Students must have access to Google Chrome, Pipeline, Canvas, Cengage, and any other referenced material in order to be able to submit required assignments.

In the event the class goes online, exams 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 exams. In addition to monitoring students during exams, Respondus provides ID verification, automated invigilation, content protection, secure browser settings, and computer lockdown.

Instructions on how to use Respondus would be posted to Canvas in a module titled "Respondus Lockdown Browser", if the class goes online.

NOTE: The SBCC library has computers with Respondus installed and also provide Chromebooks with Respondus for checkout.

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 go abroad for any reason, make sure that you have full access to internet resources. The drop deadline for a full refund is September 7th -- make sure everything is good to go before this deadline if you plan to be away for any period of time. Know that students who miss more than four days of class are subject to being dropped from the course.

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

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