Your Final Grade
Your Final Grade will be comprised of:
- Participation in online Unit Discussion Forums (10 Forums x 2% each = 20%).
- Three Online Tests (3 Units x 10% each = 30%).
- Three Unit Essays (3 Units x 10%=30%)
- Final Essay or Project (1 x 20%=20%)
Online Discussion Forums
Weekly Discussion Forums are for reporting on your responses to the week’s required readings. In these, I will ask you to respond to one (or more) questions relating to your reading of the textbook’s assigned readings for that week. You should write your responses (250-400 words) in standard academic language, with correct spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. This is not a chat room where informality rules. Submit your weekly postings by Sunday night at midnight central time. You will also respond to another student’s post by the following Wednesday night at midnight. Each week’s postings count 2% of your grade. There will be 10 discussion forums for a total of 20% of your grade. You will be graded on the length, substance, and stylistic correctness of your posts. Late posts will be penalized also. Posts can be as much as 2 weeks late with some penalty. I will not accept a post more than two weeks late. (In other words, you can’t put off everything until test time and then complete old work.)
Unit Tests
Instructions for the online tests and the tests themselves are available in the “Tests” folder. These tests will be taken in the ACC Testing Centers
Writing Assignments (Essays and Final Project)
Instructions for each Unit’s Essays and for the Final Project are located in folders in Blackboard. Generally the Unit Essays will require library research. They will be approximately 750-1500 words in length. The Final Project, which will require documented research, will be between 2000-2500 words in length or 10-12 minutes as a Power Point or Prezi presentation.
This is a college course and college-level writing skills are required. Your writing will be evaluated for theoretical sophistication, critical interpretation, creativity, effective argument (including thesis construction as warranted, coherent paragraphs and development, and proper citation of evidence), and style (including organization, grammar, spelling, etc.). It is expected that all work submitted is the original work of the student whose name appears on it and that the work was prepared originally for this course.