My first announcement is course expectations and grading policies. It includes section on assignments and grading policies, academic integrity, getting the highest grade, APA formating, late policies, the discussion board, group projects, chat and office hours, and my contact information to include my cell phone number. I set expections for assignments in course announcements, typically two a week, in emails to all students, and responses to individual student emails, as well as in detailed feedback in the gradebook.
Here is a sample announcement:
Assignments and Grading Policies
Welcome to this class! I look forward to working with you. Please don't hesitate email me or to call me a XXX-XXX-XXXX if you have any questions.
Academic Integrity
At XXXXXXXX XXXXXX University, students are expected to demonstrate academic integrity by completing their own work, assignments and assessments. Effective planning and progress must be accomplished for students to be successful in their degree program of study. Submission of work from another person, whether it is from printed sources or someone other than the student and/or papers submitted without source citation can result in a failing grade or be reported to the campus Academic staff for appropriate sanctions or disciplinary actions that may lead to dismissal from the University. All students are expected to adhere to the standards set forth in the Student Code of Conduct and Statement on Academic Honesty.
The administration, faculty, staff, and student government of XXX believe strongly in the concept of an honor system. This belief is based on the knowledge that in competitive professional environments, greater emphasis is placed on originality and integrity of ideas and work. All members of the XXX academic community, including faculty, students, and administration, are expected to assist in maintaining the integrity of the University, which includes reporting incidents that violate the Statement on Academic Honesty.
Getting the Highest Grade
I have posted clarifications to assignments and additional points that you might want to cover for a higher grade.
These optional points to cover will not get you more than a 100% on your submissions, but they are one of many, many ways to exceed the norm of a “C†on an assignment for covering the basic points. A “B†would show extra effort without complete mastery of the material, while an “A†would show mastery of the content.
The information must be complete, current, insightful and original. Internet searches for the latest information will generally yield this result. Please use a search engine such as one of the following: www.google.com, www.ixquick.com, www.yahoo.com, www.dogpile.com, and www.copernic.com. Your textbook may not have all the answers, and/or you may have to use the index of the textbook to find the material. Windows Help and Support may also yield many of the answers.
The question of why this material is important should be addressed. I need to know why I should be learning this information and what I can do with it in the real world.
The writing should flow with an introduction that grabs your attention, a body that support the assertions made in the introduction, and a compelling conclusion.
The inclusion of diagrams, graphics and tables is highly encouraged.
APA Style
The 6th Edition APA style format and a Cover Sheet are required on all Individual and Group Projects that are done in Microsoft Word. It is not required for the Discussion Board, but sources are and must be cited using the APA style format.
Below is a list of APA resources:
APA Links:
http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm
http://www.writinghelp-central.com/apa.html
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html
http://search.officeupdate.microsoft.com/TemplateGallery/ct146.asp.
Screen Shots
To get a screen shot you would hold down the ALT key and hit the Print Scrn button that is to the right of the function keys. Then you would open up Microsoft Word or WordPad and select Paste from the Edit menu.
Late Policy
A. Students will submit work according to the submission deadline dates established for each session and unit.
B. Students are responsible for reading and adhering to these late work procedures.
C. No submissions are accepted after the final deadline for the end of the course.
D. One main discussion post worth 60% of your grade, and two relevant & substantive posts worth 20% each are required. The initial post is required BY Wednesday, 11:59 PM. The remaining two posts need to be AFTER Wednesday. 10% penalty if either or both requirements are not met. Posts will NOT be accepted after Sunday, at 11:59 PM. The primary exception to this policy is military deployments. Loss of Internet connectivity is NOT an exception.
E. Assignments that are more than a day late incur a 10% late penalty, while assignments that are more than a week late will incur a 30% late penalty.
F. No more than one late assignment will be accepted during the last week of the term, unless you qualify for an incomplete.
G. To request an incomplete, notify me and your advisor of the circumstances a week before class ends. An incomplete will only be approved if the following two conditions are BOTH met: 1) for a very dramatic, persistent, and unavoidable event such as a military deployment, or a hospitalization, 2) when three full units of satisfactory work are completed by the Friday before class ends. Events that do not qualify for an incomplete include, heavy work load, moving, and loss of Internet connectivity.
References and Original Writing
Current outside references should be cited. This shows that you have researched the topic and tried to expand your understanding of the latest material no matter how well you knew it to start. All work that is not your own should be attributed.
Please don’t use any long quotes from your sources. Summarize it and add your perspective to the material. Long quotes, attributed or not, will either lead to a substantial point reduction or an academic honesty case. Be as creative and original as possible, and put the information in your own words.
Credit all material from other authors. Do not cut and paste large amounts of material from other sources. Charts, graphs, small quotations are fine as long as there is attribution.
The gold standard for grading is Bloom's Taxonomy. It has levels of learning from memorization (F, or D grade), to understanding of the material in a narrow context (C grade), to the ability to apply the material to a broader context (B), to the ability to apply the material to a new context (A), When you internalize the material and then put more of your unique spin on it, and less in the way of direct quotes, then I have a higher confidence that you have gone beyond the memorization or parroting phase of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Discussion Board
One main post, and two relevant & sustantive posts are required. - Initial post required by Wednesday, 11:59 PM (main or response) 10% penalty if late. - Remaining two posts on separate days. One can be on the the day of the initial post (you must contribute on two separate days). - Only with pre-approval, posts will be accepted after Sunday, 11:59 PM. Do not put your discussion board post in your Submitted Assignments.
You may use attachments, but you will not receive any credit for material in an attachment, so please put the text of the information into the text window, as I grade only off the text of the discussion board.
Chats and Office Hours
Chats are your best source of information on assignments. Hopefully, there will be something in each chat session that will definitely help you earn a higher grade. Your classmates may have a question that I can answer that will make a big difference on your understanding of the material. If you can’t attend the chat, then at least review the chat archives.
If you are having trouble, then please see me during office hours or give me a call at XXX-XXX-XXXX, particularly during office hours. I am here to help you succeed.
Small Groups
Please go to your Small Group area and use the discussion board to give your small group some information about yourself. Then elect a small group leader. Your grade will be in his or her hands, so choose wisely and if you are probably the best writer in the group, then please step up to the plate.
If you are elected that leader, then assign parts of the project to your group members.
As the team leader, please not only drop the completed group assignment in your Small Group Files, but also in your individual Submitted Assignments. The first page of your submission should have the names of the team members.
As individual team members, please participate and complete your portion of the team project soon enough to let your team leader edit it.
Team members and the team leader should complete the Team Evaluation form and put that in their Submitted Assignments.
Best regards,
XXXXX XXXXXX
M.S. Systems Management
A+, Network+, Server+, Security+, CTT+, Convergence+, CNE-3/4
MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration
MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration
MCITP: Windows 2008 Server Administrator
MCSE (NT 4/W2K/2003), MCSA (W2K/2003), MCDBA, MCT
Master CIW Administrator, CIW E-Commerce Designer, CIW-CI
