Contacting the Instructor

I am more than happy to talk with you about the class, about your work, and about any questions or concerns you may have about college in general. Please note that I will not discuss grades by phone, email, or instant messenger. If you’d like to discuss your grade, please make an appointment to talk with me in person.

Honor Code

While I encourage students to discuss assignments and critique others’ work, the work you turn in must be your own. You may not copy the work of other students or copy work published elsewhere. You may not have other students complete the work for you. If you wish to cite published works, you must include an academic citation. If you have questions about whether the manner in which you complete your work will be an Honor Code violation, contact me before you turn in your assignment, not after.

All Honor Code violations, not matter how small, will be forwarded to the Dean’s office with a recommendation for punishment.

Attendance

I encourage students to show up to class every day, but I leave the responsibility of attendance up to you. While I will take attendance regularly, I will not give an attendance or “class participation” grade. As college students, you should be responsible for your own intellectual development. Keep in mind, however, that all assignments for this course draw extensively from class discussions and lectures. Thus, failure to attend class regularly can have a detrimental effect on your grade.

Students with Disabilities and Illnesses

If you are a student with a disability (cognitive, sensory, mobility, or other) and you need academic accommodations, please contact me and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 703-993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the DRC.

Similarly, if during the semester you contract an illness, or are injured in some way that prevents you from completing assignments regularly, you will also need to contact the DRC.

Technology Requirements

This course requires basic computer competence. That is, you should be familiar with (1) a computer’s operating system and basic features; (2) sending and receiving email; (3) opening a web browser and searching/surfing the Internet. I do hope that you learn a few more computer-related skills in this course. If, however, you are vehemently opposed to using a computer or the Internet, this course is not for you.

A Word of Warning: I will not accept technology-related excuses for late or incomplete assignments. Computers, like many other things built by human beings, are imperfect. A computer or other technology-related problem can (and probably will) occur, so you should take steps to minimize these problems. Back up your work obsessively. Complete your assignments as early as possible. If your computer shorts out, your hard drive crashes, or the Internet goes down, make sure you have access to other computer resources. There are several computer labs for students on campus, which are free to use.

Grades

Grading for the course breaks down as follows: (1) 4 assigned weblog posts (400 points); (2) 10 Class Reflection Posts (20 points each = 200 points); (3) 10 weblog comments (20 points each = 200 points); (4) Wikipedia Article Project (200 points); TOTAL = 1000 POINTS.

If you receive a grade or criticism from me with which you do not agree, feel free to discuss it with me during my office hours or by appointment. I am open to changing a grade if given sufficient reason, but be very prepared to make your case. I will not discuss grades by email, phone, or instant messenger; only in person, by appointment.

I will return grades to you a week after the due date, granted that you complete the assignment on time.