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, watch the assigned videos 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.

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, watched the assigned videos and are prepared to discuss the readings/videos 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 and watch the assigned videos 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.  

 

Complete all of the assigned reading and watch all assigned videos. There will be no study guides created by the instructor.  Instead, week by week, students are strongly encouraged to create their own study guide from the readings and the videos which they will use during both in-class discussions and in preparation for exams.