- Participation: 15% (7.5% for discussion boards, 7.5% for in-class participation)
- Exam 1: 25%
- Exam 2: 25%
- Assignments: 10% (average of 3 pass/fail assignments)
- Case studies: 25% (125 each)
All your grades will be provided out of 100. The percentages above provide the weights.
Course work
In this class all the work is open book, open notes. You will be provided with time to work on the exams, assignments and case studies. You can clarify concepts with other students in the class, but you have to do your own work. I check for plagiarism. See the Academic Honesty section for information about what constitutes plagiarism and cheating. You are, however, encouraged to seek help with grammar and style if this is something you struggle with.
Class attendance policy:
Because of Covid 19 measures, attendance is not required. If you miss a class meeting, find out what you missed from the recording or a fellow student. Once you have contacted a fellow student, you are free to ask me to clarify any questions regarding the class meeting. Although I stand ready to answer your specific questions, I cannot recreate the class environment nor can I re-teach a lecture/discussion held in class.
Using Video and Sound in Zoom
In this class you are required to have your video on at (almost) all times while you are in the class, with you face clearly visible. When you are visible to everyone else in the class you will contribute to a sense of community, and you will perform much better. For your instructor, student faces provide important feedback on how the class is doing. There may be cases where you have to temporarily switch off your video, but you are expected to keep this to a minimum. Not having your video on a your face visible will reduce your participation points. Let me know as soon as possible if technical problems are keeping you from using video or your microphone.
Preparing for classes:
Read the assigned materials for every class. I will ask you questions about it. If you don’t read the materials then we will spend our class time mostly rehashing what is in the book. If everyone is prepared then we can have higher level discussions that will be much more important, interesting and stimulating.
Bring your book and notes to the Zoom meeting. This is not a course in memorization, so you can browse through the materials as we talk.
As you read the chapters, figure out what the most important statements are. Underline them if appropriate. I will ask you to name the main points that mattered to you, and I will ask you to explain why they mattered.
When reading the Adventures book, ask yourself what you would do if you were in Jim Barton’s place.
Make sure to question the beliefs of the characters in the book. Feel free to disagree with them.
Class Participation:
Class attendance is useful to you as a means of acquiring knowledge and clarification, and is a prerequisite for class participation. However, class attendance does not equate to class participation. Class participation is the active and meaningful engagement in questions and answers, taking part in analyses of business situations, and contribution of comments in class sessions. If you feel uncomfortable with participating in class discussions, let me know and I will try to help you. I generally record class participation for every class. In addition to the discussions during class time you will also be expected to participate in the discussion boards.
As a discussion oriented class, participant preparation and participation are essential elements of the learning environment. More importantly, this provides a mechanism to share your work experience as well as practice in presenting your ideas. The following are the kinds of things that result in a good discussion:
- Good ideas that are well presented
- Analysis supported by experience
- Analysis supported by case facts
- Analysis supported by readings or lecture
- Ties to previous discussion contributions
- Building on comments of others
- Constructive disagreement
- Respect for and acknowledgment of other’s contributions
- Ability to field, and preparation for, “cold calls.”
- Tasteful displays of humor
Your class participation grade will be affected if you treat a participant disrespectfully (that isn’t intended to keep your from disagreeing, however).
Grading Scale
RANGE | GRADE | RANGE | GRADE |
---|---|---|---|
94-100 |
A |
73-76 |
C |
90-93 |
A- |
70-72 |
C- |
87-89 |
B+ |
67-69 |
D+ |
83-86 |
B |
63-66 |
D |
80-82 |
B- |
60-62 |
D- |
77-79 |
C+ |
Below 60 |
F |