Grading and Policies

Grading Policy

The final grade for the course will be determined as follows:

– Class preparation and participation: 25%

– Reading Summaries (3)

– Fieldwork Process documentation

– 20 Fieldwork photos

– 3 Fieldwork Videos

– Individual interviews: 25%

– Individual System Mapping: 25%

– Team project report: 25%

Individual assignments will be given grades of A-F. Teams will be given grades for the project report on the following scale: Pass High (90), Pass (80), Pass Low (70), Fail (60).

The final course grade uses the letter grades A-F.

Grading Scale

A and A- The assignment consistently exceeds expectations. It demonstrates originality of thought and creativity throughout. Beyond completing all of the required elements, new concepts and ideas are detailed that transcend general discussions along similar topic areas. There are few mechanical, grammatical or organizational issues that detract from the presented ideas.

B-, B, B+ The assignment consistently meets expectations. It contains all the information prescribed for the assignment and demonstrates a command of the subject matter. There is sufficient detail to cover the subject completely but not too much as to be distracting. There may be some procedural issues, such as grammar or organizational challenges, but these do not significantly detract from the intended assignment goals.

C-, C, C+ The assignment fails to consistently meet expectations. That is, the assignment is complete but contains problems that detract from the intended goals. These issues may be relating to content detail, be grammatical, or be a general lack of clarity. Other problems might include not fully following assignment directions.

Below C- The assignment constantly fails to meet expectations. It is incomplete or in some other way consistently fails to demonstrate a firm grasp of the assigned material.

Class participation: The course is a discussion and activity-based class. Students are expected to be fully engaged, participate in the discussion and activities and contribute to the process of constructing knowledge. The class participation grade will reflect the instructor’s judgment of the quality and quantity of a student’s contribution during class sessions.

Criteria for the class participation grade include weekly preparation assignments, attendance, punctuality, professionalism, and the ability to answer questions, discuss readings, and contribute to group activities.

Attendance for the class sessions is mandatory. Given the intense nature of the workshops and group interaction, it is not possible to replicate the experience or make up the work missed. Students may miss the equivalent of 1 standard weekly session: 2 ½ hours. Any students who have a conflict with any of the sessions should speak to their advisor and plan to register for a later section.
Tardiness disrupts the flow of class activities. Entering and leaving the room during the class similarly distracts both students and the instructor and conveys a disregard for the material being discussed.
You are expected to complete all assignments and assigned course readings for a given day before coming to class. Students will be called upon to present research or to discuss issues covered in the assigned readings. You are encouraged to engage in critical thinking and to challenge ideas without showing disrespect for the ideas of others.
Effective participation has much more to do with the quality than with the quantity of your interaction.

Individual Assignments: These assignments document your individual research conducted in preparation for the group projects and class discussion. Since these assignments are essential for your group projects, no assignments will be accepted after the start of class on the date due. Late assignments will receive a 0 credit. Please bring 2 printed copies of your assignments – 1 to turn in and 1 to use with your team. Assignments must follow the format below.

Individual Learning Assignments REQUIRED FORMAT: All writing assignments for the course should conform to the following format requirements: 11-point Times Roman, 1.5-space, and one inch margin all around. Papers should be 1 FULL PAGE MINIMUM and typically up to 2 PAGES MAXIMUM. This format is to help you understand the required length of your assignments in order to have sufficient content. Papers that violate the format requirement will be penalized.

Plagiarism Policy

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 from the Internet (or another source) without a proper citation crediting the author
Turning in an assignment from a previous semester as if it were your own
Having someone else complete your lab assignment and submitting it as if it were your own
Signing someone else’s name to an attendance sign-in sheet
Use of assignments completed in one class as any part of a project assigned in another class

Sharing/copying homework assignments.

Use of unauthorized notes during an examination
In cases of cheating, both parties will be held equally responsible, i.e. both the student who shares the work and the student who copies the work.

Behavior like this will not be tolerated in this class. 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.

If you use text, figures, and data in reports that was created by others you must identify the source and clearly differentiate your work from the material that you are referencing. If you fail to do so you are plagiarizing. There are many different acceptable formats that you can use to cite the work of others (see some of the resources below). The formats are not as important as the intent. You must clearly show the reader what is your work and what is a reference to somebody else’s work.

Plagiarism is a serious offence and could lead to reduced or failing grades and/or expulsion from the university. The Temple University Student Code of Conduct specifically prohibits plagiarism (see http://www.temple.edu/assistance/udc/coc.htm).

The following excerpt defines plagiarism:

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person’s labor, ideas, words, or assistance. Normally, all work done for courses — papers, examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations — is expected to be the individual effort of the student presenting the work. There are many forms of plagiarism: repeating another person’s sentence as your own, adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own, paraphrasing someone else’s argument as your own, or even presenting someone else’s line of thinking in the development of a thesis as though it were your own. All these forms of plagiarism are prohibited both by the traditional principles of academic honesty and by the regulations of Temple University. Our education and our research encourage us to explore and use the ideas of others, and as writers we will frequently want to use the ideas and even the words of others. It is perfectly acceptable to do so; but we must never submit someone else’s work as if it were our own, rather we must give appropriate credit to the originator.

Source: Temple University Graduate Bulletin, 2000-2001. University Regulations, Other Policies, Academic Honesty. Available online at: http://www.temple.edu/gradbulletin/

For a more detailed description of plagiarism:

Princeton University Writing Center on Plagiarism: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/writing/Writing_Center/WCWritingRes.htm

How to successfully quote and reference material:

University of Wisconsin Writers Handbook http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/QuotingSources.html

How to cite electronic sources:

Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association http://www.apastyle.org/elecmedia.html

References and Resources

Temple University Student Code of Conduct http://www.temple.edu/assistance/udc/coc.htm

Temple University Writing Center http://www.temple.edu/writingctr/

Temple University Graduate Bulletin, 2000-2001 http://www.temple.edu/gradbulletin

Disabilities Disclosure Statement

Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services at 215 204 1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

Student and Faculty Rights and Responsibilities

Freedom to teach and learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has a policy on Student and Faculty and 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.

Student Concerns Guidelines

The Grievance Procedure is available on the Fox Web Site

http://www.fox.temple.edu/cms_academics/dept/advising/students/grievance-procedures/