General Policies
Electronics: You will need a laptop or tablet in class. No phone use, please. Keep phones put away until we take our mid-class break. Though I'm good with tech, you will find out soon why I despise smart phones (I call them dopamine dispensers) and think they are addictive and lead to poor, inattentive thinking. My phone is always off, except a few times a day when I check it.
If I catch you using a phone in class, you get a warning first time. Subsequent use will automatically lower your next participation grade. It means you are not paying attention and being rude.
Food and Drink: More than welcome. I'll try to bring some snacks when possible for our in-person classes.
Attendance & Being On Time:
Life happens. More than one skip, however, will concern me. More than two lowers your final grade by a +/- for each skip. Your work cannot, however, be late without penalty. Notify me if you must miss class. Reigious holidays and away-games for student athletes are never penalized, but I need to get your dates away.
Being late for class may hurt your participation grade as well, if it becomes a habit. I'll warn you first.
Leaving the Room: If you must, do. Regular departures will hurt your participation grade. We'll have a mid-class "biobreak" and leg-stretcher.
Late work: up to a week loses 10 points; after a week the grade becomes a 0.
If you are an athlete and have an away game, please turn in your weekly response by Sunday, Midnight for feedback. Failure to turn something in, without checking with me first, will hurt your participation grade.
AI: Naturally, we'll use it a great deal in a course like this. See the assignment guidelines for the responses and final presentations. Some ground rules are:
1) Always check an AI's claims (they make things up), especially sources. If you include an AI hallucination (invented sources, quotations not in our sources) in your work, you get an F on that project. It's one of the mortal sins of working with AI. On the job, not checking work would get you fired. I have a lot more to say about this, if you are interested.
Luckily, you get a redo (with a penalty). The F stays in my grade-book but you can revise and I'll average the two grades? Why? AI hallucinations show that as student couldn't be bothered to do the reading or check the AI output. I'm noted the workplace consequences, too. Imagine the outcome of losing millions of dollars or a customer's trust in your employer, because you did not check your work.
2) AI writes boring "B and C" prose. The best writing begins not with what you know already but with a question that sticks with you, that troubles you. Excellent writing has a voice and takes risks. AI writing rarely does. You can read more about how an source from thousands of years back seconds my notion of what makes for "great writing."
I will push you hard to be good writers, even when you are permitted to have AI do some of the drafting for you, as specified in each assignment. Use an AI or Grammarly to help vary your wording and check grammar. Be mindful that big words you don't use normally may be in the wrong context; check them all or risk not getting an A. Better to sound smart and formal than windy and pretentious with words you don't really understand.
3) Use Multiple AIs: students tend to fall into a rut: they try what worked in high-school, as undergrads, and quickly get in trouble. More recently, I find that students and colleagues alike find an AI helper and stick with one AI. I want you to always use at least two for each query. And back to rule 1: check the AI's claims and evidence.
Disability Policy: I have worked with Dr. Schneider in Disabilities Services to develop training for Writing Consultants. This taught me a great deal about learning styles. If you have a DAN please send it over and I'll work with you on any accommodations.
Grades
Research Review / Author Feedback (15%)
You will provide feedback to an author working on a chapter in an anthology about AI & writing.
AI-Assisted Podcast (20%)
You will design a ten-minute audio podcast you can use on the job or present on an AI-related topic of personal interest.
Mini-Ted Talk (15%)
You get five-minutes and 3 slides. Topic of use to you on the job or at UR.
Participation (50%).
How to get an A for participation:
Never fall behind in your reading/viewing journal, and each week, comment on a peer's journal too.
I want to hear from each of you, every class. Substantive participation means asking an interesting academic question (we leave politics, religion, and unsupported opinions at the classroom door). Whenever I collect your summary/response notebook, and a few times during the term when I grade your responses, I'll give you an estimated participation grade.
Substantive participation can mean replying to a classmate's question, pointing out something of detail from our readings. Summing up what someone else already said counts for next to nothing. Add value.
When we workshop each others' writing, I will give you other guidelines for how to provide substantive feedback.
How numerical grades (for each assigment and final average) work:
93+ points = A
90-92 points = A-
87-89 points = B+
83-86 points = B
80-82 points = B-
77-79 points = C+
73-76 points = C
70-72 points = C-
67-69 points = D+
65-66 points = D
60-64 points = D-
59 or lower: F