Course structure

Participation

This course applies an activity based learning model which relies heavily on your active participation in the classroom. You are expected to complete the assigned readings and come prepared to engage the class in meaningful conversation and activities.

You are encouraged to use your knowledge and experiences to build, test, and modify your own concepts through dialogues with the instructor and fellow students. Much of your learning will occur as you prepare for and participation in discussions about the course material. The course material has been carefully chosen to bring the real world into class discussion while also illustrating fundamental concepts.

Preparation for class

Complete all of the assigned reading. As you complete the reading please take notes using the following mindset:

• What are or two key points you took away from each assigned reading?
• What are one or two key points you learned from the set of readings for a particular session?
• If you were facilitating today’s discussion, what question would you ask your fellow classmates?

Class

Class will be a mixture of class discussions and class activities.  Do not expect to be taught the material in the assigned readings.  We will assume that you have completed the assigned readings and are prepared to discuss the readings intelligently.  Through this discussion you will gain a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the core concepts.  If you do not complete the assigned readings you will have trouble following along with the class discussion;  you will not get as much out of class and you may find the exams more challenging.

In-class activities provide the core of our activity based learning model.  These activities are designed to be completed in 50 minutes or less and help a student develop a more genuine understanding of the class materials. Each activity has a corresponding worksheet.  Each student must hand in a completed worksheet to receive credit for completing the activity. Worksheets are graded based on displaying due diligence. If the student hands in a completed worksheet and has clearly been engaged in the activity they receive full credit. If a student is absent from class, does not hand in a worksheet or clearly had not done their due diligence, they receive zero credit for the activity.