Grading & Assignments

LABOR-BASED GRADING

Simply put, you learn through labor.

Put in the time and focus on learning, and your grade will reflect your effort.

I try not to assign busy work or pointless assignments because I know you have lots of responsibilities. I try to assign work that matters, so do everything, and do it with honest effort. If you think something isn't worth doing because it's too easy, pointless, or a waste of time, then I need to know. If you don't want to do something because it seems too challenging or impossible, then reach out for help. If you don't want to do the assignments because you don't find them interesting, then find ways to make the content relevant to your life.

I already said this, but I have high expectations of you, and you should have high expectations of yourself.

BUT, SRSLY. WHAT IS MY GRADE?

That said, there comes a time when grades are unavoidable. Some of you need to earn "good" grades to maintain athletics eligibility, to keep a scholarship, to transfer to a university, etc. Trust me. I get it. I issue quarter and midterm grades during the semester to offer you an idea of how you are progressing in the course, and I ask you to reflect on what grade you believe you are earning. Final grading at COD is based on a A/B/C/D/F scale.

So what are the behaviors, attitudes, and actions of students who earn an A, B, C, or D/F?

Students who earn an A...

Are always present, punctual, prepared, and respectful.
Complete everything and complete most assignments on time.
Read all assignments and materials ethically, carefully, and thoroughly.
Create original work honestly and ethically.
Have meaningful and mutually beneficial interactions with their classmates and professor.
Apply a growth mindset to the research process.
Enjoy learning.
Frequently draw deep connections between what they are learning and their current lives and their future career.
Spend the recommended amount of time on the materials assigned if needed.
Seek help when they need it, and use the feedback to improve.
Submit work that demonstrates exceptional achievement of the course learning objectives.
Earn 22 - 25 points

Students who earn a B...

Are always present, punctual, prepared, and respectful.
Complete everything and complete most assignments on time.
Read all assignments and materials ethically, carefully, and thoroughly.
Create original work honestly and ethically.
Have meaningful and mutually beneficial interactions with their classmates and professor.
Apply a growth mindset to the research process.
Enjoy learning.
Occasionally draw connections between what they were learning and their current lives and their future career.
Spend the recommended amount of time on the materials assigned if needed.
Seek help when they need it and use the feedback to improve.
Submit work that demonstrates above average achievement of the course learning objectives.

Earn 19 - 21 points

Students who earn a C...

Are mostly present, punctual, prepared, and respectful. Inconsistencies with being prepared and respectful.
Complete everything and complete most assignments on time. May have a pattern with asking for extensions that limits their full participation in class.
Read most of the assignments and materials ethically, carefully, and thoroughly, May have a mindset to read "just to get it over with."
Occasionally may have meaningful and mutually beneficial interactions with their classmates and professor. Inconsistencies with behavior and preparedness.
Create original work honestly and ethically. Issues with time management might tempt students to outsource their labor to AI/other cheating mechanisms.
Occasionally want to learn and want to grow, and want a challenge, but mostly want to stay in their "comfort zone."
Occasionally enjoy learning. Sometimes they get preoccupied with simply earning credit.
Occasionally apply a growth mindset to the research process.
Occasionally draw connections between what they are learning and their current lives and their future career.
Don't always spend the recommended amount of time on the materials assigned. They may rush or do the "bare minimum" on something.
Seek help when they need it. However, they may not always apply feedback in order to improve.
Submit work that demonstrates sufficient achievement of the course learning objectives.
Earn 16 - 18 points

Students who earn a D or F

Students who earn a D or F typically do one or more of the following:

Are rarely present, punctual, prepared, or respectful.
Fall significantly behind in the course due to poor time management, lack of consistent presence, or frequent tardiness.
Don't like to read, don't want to read, or outsource their reading to AI.
Do very little work, or do not spend enough time on the materials to demonstrate that they learned anything.
Don't enjoy learning, don't want to learn, don't want a challenge, and have a fixed mindset about the research process.
Do not seek help if they need it, or do not apply any strategies or feedback in order to improve.
Resort to desperate measures to get work completed (cheat or plagiarize) or they give up and stop attending or completing work.
Submit work that does not demonstrate achievement of the course learning objectives.
Earn less than 16 points

TO EARN THE GRADE YOU WANT...

Take action to get the grade you want. To earn an A or B, you should bake learning and study into your everyday life rather than laying it on top of everything. This means you must talk about what you're learning with friends and family, read during breaks at work, use your calendar to pencil in times to read research, and replace some time-wasting habits with more productive ones.

Students who form a weekly research reading group will receive 1 additional point toward their midterm grade and 12 week grade. Proof of participation requires booking a room, confirmation from library staff member (they can email me of your time in and time out) taking pics, and providing a very short summary of what was accomplished. Students can research and read with other students, not necessarily the ones in our class.
Develop and stick to a research and reading schedule
Reward yourself for sticking to the schedule
Replace hours of social media, YouTube, messaging, etc., with reading
Build your reading stamina by setting incremental goals
Read and research with a classmate or two even if you have different topics
Use the Ask feature to chat with a librarian or make an appointment for more guidance

ASSIGNMENTS

This course is organized around readings, discussions, quizzes, exercises, activities, and assignments (Participation) designed to help you complete an Annotated Bibliography, Argument Essay, and a Research Project.

This course will require a lot of reading. In fact, you'll be reading more often than writing in this course.

Your performance on quizzes, participation in discussions, and written annotations on sources will indicate whether you are reading or avoiding it. If you don't like to read, develop a like for it. If you find reading difficult, the solution is simple: read more.

According to a recent article published in Forbes, Gen Z is reading less. Reading is a critical part of acquiring knowledge, too many Americans are offloading that activity to AI, or obtaining information from podcasters, cable news journalists, and influencers.

Students who refuse to read for class will receive a grade of D or F in this course.

Is Reading Less Really That Serious of a Problem?

TLDR - yes.

Americans are reading fewer books and reading for less periods of time. As a result, employers will be stuck with workers who can only partially perform tasks; notably, they can fail to interpret, analyze, and evaluate information. When we are too dependent on AI, we lose the "mental muscle of building questions," and lose out on creativity and imagination.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has "consistently shown that enjoyment of reading—not simply hours spent—predicts better outcomes." A study from Gallup/Walton study shows those who like to read are more likely to perform strong academically and that "the enjoyment translates into stronger habits of interpretation, synthesis, and resilience." And as PISA and Gallup data suggest, thinkers are far more likely to thrive in society.

Not every country is as poor off as the United States. Finland makes reading a "civic ritual," making it part of family life from preschool onward, and "Iceland turns books into gifts during its annual Christmas Book Program, when families spend the holidays reading together." In Japan, books and manga are a part of everyday life. Singapore holds "national reading challenges."

A few ways we will establish a reading practice and (hopefully!) develop or continue a love of reading:

Integrate reading with dialogue. We will discuss a lot of what we've read.
Expand what counts as reading. Enjoyment grows when students have choice and variety, so we will also "read" videos, speeches, interviews, TED Talks, and yes, podcasts!
Connect reading to action. We won't just summarize what we read, but will argue, reimagine, and use it to effect change. Readings will have purpose. Turning reading into action makes you a better human being.

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