Guidelines
MIS0855.005 – Data Science
Spring 2016 (CRN 28039)
Class Location and Time
Alter Hall 232 2:00 – 2:50pm, Monday, Wednesday and Friday
On the web: http://community.mis.temple.edu/mis0855sec002fall16/
Required Textbook
There is no required textbook for this course. However, there are a set of required readings available for free either online or from the bookstore. Refer to the schedule and reading list for more detail.
Evaluation and Grading
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class Structure and Participation
You are expected to be an active part of the learning process. In the first part of each class session, we’ll discuss the readings. This will be followed by an in-class activity.
Preparation for class
Carefully read the assigned material prior to each class. You may find it helpful to take notes on the major points of each reading, noting how the readings for that session relate to each other.
Most Mondays there will be a short quiz due before the start of the class, taken online (check the course schedule). The quiz will cover all readings to be discussed that week. Your instructor will provide the link to the quiz through a post to the Community Site.
You must complete the quiz by yourself before the start of class. It is “open book” – you can use the readings to take the quiz.
Participation during class
Students are expected to come to classes prepared and to have read the assignments prior to first class of each new unit. We will typically start each session with “opening” questions about the assigned readings. Students called on to answer should be able to summarize the key issues, opportunities, and challenges in the reading. All students should be prepared to be answer these questions. While you’re not expected to say something in every single class meeting, simply showing up for class does not qualify as participation.
Participation between classes
To keep you engaged and thinking about the material between classes, you will respond to a weekly discussion question posted to the class site. These questions will be posted on Wednesdays, due the following Wednesday before class. Leave an answer to the question as a comment. There will be two types of weekly discussion questions:
- Questions where you reflect on the material and give your opinion or relate it to your own experiences. You can also respond to other students’ comments, as long as you also add your own insight to the discussion.
- Questions where you share an interesting article with the rest of the class that ties into the course material with an explanation of why you found it interesting.
You are expected to contribute something to each week’s discussion.
Disability Resources and Services
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a documented disability, including special accommodations for access to technology resources and electronic instructional materials required for the course, should contact me privately to discuss the specific situation by the end of the second week of classes or as soon as practical. If you have not done so already, please contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to learn more about the resources available to you. I will work with DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented disabilities.
Drop/Withdrawal
If you choose to drop or withdraw from this class, you must do so by the university specified date.
Inclement Weather
In the event of inclement weather that does not result in official closing of campus, you are expected to find your way to school. I am a commuter, if I can be here, I expect you to be here as well.
If inclement weather results in official campus closing, I reserve the right to hold class via WebEx. Notification in this case will be published via post to the Community Site. You are expected to check the site for updates.
Community Site Subscription
While not required, I highly recommend you subscribe to the Community Site, so you receive all new posts and announcements to your email. You may subscribe with your Temple email, or any other you check frequently. You may subscribe by navigating to the Community Site and entering your preferred email in the box at the bottom right of any page.
Technology
I will not assume responsibility for any technical difficulties experienced by your internet service provider or equipment. If your system is not capable of allowing you to run the required software, or access the Internet reliably for uploading assignments, it is your responsibility to schedule time in the Computer Labs provided in Alter and Speakman Halls to complete your work. Likewise, I will not assume responsibility for any scheduling difficulties for access to these rooms or terminals.
Exams
There will be three exams during the semester. Missed exams cannot be made up, except for extreme circumstance. You may not arrive late for exams. If you are late you may not take or make the exam up.
Late Deliverable Policy
A deliverable (assignment, weekly question response, or online quiz) is considered late if it is submitted after the beginning of class. No late deliverables will be accepted without penalty, and equipment failure is not an acceptable reason for turning in a deliverable late.
Assignments
All assignments are due by 2:00pm on the day shown in the schedule. All assignments will be assessed a 20% penalty (subtracted from that assignment’s score) each day they are late. No credit will be given for assignments turned in more than three days past the due date.
However, you must submit all assignments, even if no credit is given. If you skip an assignment, an additional 10 points will be subtracted from your final grade in the course. For example, if you do not turn in an assignment worth 5% of the course grade, you will receive no credit for that assignment plus a 10 point penalty, reducing your maximum grade in the course to an 85.
Weekly Quizzes
All weekly quizzes are due by 2:00pm on the day shown in the schedule. Missed or late quiz submissions will receive a zero grade. In addition, one point will be subtracted from your final course grade for every missing submission at the end of the semester. If you submit the quiz more than once only the oldest one submitted will count (i.e. the original submission).
You can miss one quiz without penalty; if you don’t miss any quizzes, your lowest quiz score will be dropped.
Weekly Questions
All weekly questions are due by 2:00pm on the day shown in the schedule. Missed or late weekly discussion question submissions will receive a zero grade. In addition, one point will be subtracted from your final course grade for every missing submission at the end of the semester.
You can miss one weekly discussion question submission without penalty.
Assignments
There will be four assignments. Individual projects are to be completed without consulting your fellow students and they should represent your own work. Group projects should reflect the work of your group, but no one else. If you need help, you may consult with your instructor or your Information Technology Assistant.
Course Policies
- A student can request a review of their grade within three class-periods of the day the assignment/exam is graded. After that period, no grade will be revised.
- A student is required to keep all the graded material that is returned until after the semester is over and s/he has checked their final grade. If there is a discrepancy between the instructor’s records and the student’s scores for any of the graded material at any time, the instructor’s records will be altered only if the student can produce the graded material that the instructor had returned to the student as evidence.
Classroom Etiquette
The environment you and your fellow students create in class directly impacts the value gained from the course. To that end, the following are my expectations of your conduct in this class:
- Arrive on time and stay until the end of class.
- Turn off cell phones, pagers and alarms while in class.
- Limit the use of electronic devices (e.g., laptop, tablet computer) to class-related usage such as taking notes. Restrict the use of an Internet connection (e.g., checking email, Internet browsing, sending instant messages) to before class, during class breaks, or after class.
- During class time speak to the entire class (or breakout group) and let each person “take their turn.”
- Be fully present and remain present for the entirety of each class meeting.
Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism and academic dishonesty can take many forms. The most obvious is copying from another student’s exam, but the following are also forms of this:
- Copying material directly, word-for-word, from a source (including the Internet)
- Using material from a source without a proper citation
- Turning in an assignment from a previous semester as if it were your own
- Having someone else complete your homework or project and submitting it as if it were your own
- Using material from another student’s assignment in your own assignment
If you use text, figures, and data in reports that were created by someone other than yourself, you must identify the source and clearly differentiate your work from the material that you are referencing. There are many different acceptable formats that you can use to cite the work of others (see some of the resources below). You must clearly show the reader what is your work and what is a reference to somebody else’s work.
Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses. Penalties for such actions are given at my discretion, and can range from a failing grade for the individual assignment, to a failing grade for the entire course, to expulsion from the program.
Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities
The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02
I reserve the right to change any aspect of the schedule and guidelines if the need arises.
Leave a Reply