1. Attendance and Absence Penalty
2. Extra Credits
3. Quizzes
4. How does the group project relate to
the course
5. Question Box
1. What would happen if I missed classes?
If you missed class no more than 3 times, you won't be penalized. If you missed between 4-6 classes, your class participation grade (up to 40 points in the course) will be lowered 10%. If you missed between 6-9 classes, your class participation grade will be lowered 15%. If you missed more than 10 classes, your class participation grade will be lowered 25%. But if you missed more than 3 classes with legitimate reasons such as staying in the hosiptal or on university business, you can bring in evidence, the instructor will not count those as absences.
No one can sign back the previous classes' roster without permission from the instructor. The instructor, not the student, can sign previous' classes roster and absence is marked immediately after the class.
Extra credit is different from class participation credit. Those
that I have announced are the course survey and the participation in TCOM
student organizations including PBS. Those who want to get the 5
points for participation in TCOM student organizations should turn in a
written note or e-mail signed by one of the executive officers of the student
organization describing the duties/participation of the student in that
organization during this semester. You will have another extra credit opportunity
for reviewing other group's project and it will be up to 40 points at the
end of the semester. Instruction will be given in due course.
3. How will my performance in the quizzes affect
my grade and why the instructor has to use True/False format questions?
The quizzes will constitute 16% of your total grade and the lowest
one will be dropped from the computation. The True/False format is
crucial to the understanding of the subject matter in that the student
is able to tell if a fact or a judgement is right or wrong right away.
In real life, more judgements are in the format of true and false, rather
than multiple choice. If you feel the quizzes are tricky, you should
raise your hand and ask the instructor either to rephrase the question
or explain the context of the question so that it does not mislead you.
You are also welcome to set up an appointment with the instructor to go
over your quiz answers to identify what your problems are in answering
the questions.
4. How does the group project relate to the course?
It is difficult to learn critical thinking through exams and quizzes. The most effective way to learn and apply critical thinking is through a project. Individual project is both unfeasible and consist of only single perspective. By working with group members from different disciplines and different background, you can learn from each other and also build a support group within this big class.
5. If I don't have questions put in the question
box, will I be penalized in my class participation? I don't want
my name be announced when you answer the question.
No. You are encouraged to use the box if you have questions.
But if you don't, you can earn participation credits by announcing the
quiz answers and/or answering the questions in class But if you don't
want to do anything else, then your class participation will be only limited
to the case study, in-class assignment and your attendance, which can be
close to 36 points/40 points,but not a perfect score. When you don't
want your name be announced and still get the credit, you can put your
name in parentheses and your name won't be announced.