Participation 15%
The quality of your class presence is highly valued, and I will evaluate the role you play in facilitating and adding to class discussions; your contribution to dialogues held in class and in networked sessions, as well as postings to the class blog; and the responses you provide to your peers in the class in the context of live discussions and the various electronic threads. Here's the evaluation criteria I will use to assess your participation in the class:
A = Excellent | Your thoughtful comments incorporate advanced concepts and specific examples from our sources. You make useful responses to the comments of other students. You extend the topics by asking relevant questions or steering the conversation in useful and intriguing new directions. If you are a reflective learner (quiet in class), you regularly use the blog’s comments section to follow up when you believe that you have more to say after the class.
A- = Very Good | Your thoughtful comments incorporate concepts and specific examples from our sources. You make useful responses to the comments of other students in class. If you are a reflective learner, you frequently use the blog’s comments section to follow up when you believe that you have more to say after the class.
B+ = Good. Your comments are infrequent but relevant, thoughtful, and respectful. Your comments incorporate some comments and specific examples from our sources. You occasionally add to the blog’s comments section.
B = Acceptable | Your comments are infrequent but incorporate some concepts and specific examples from our sources. You make some effort to respond to the postings of other students.
B - Below Average | Your comments incorporate few concepts and no specific examples from our sources. You make little effort to pose your own questions or to discuss issues with other students and/or rarely contribute to the comments section of the class blog.
Fail | You do not participate.
Assignment #1 (Discussion Leader): 20%
Write a blogged summary of the day’s readings, pointing to important themes and questions that arise from the readings (800-900 words, three links). Guide class discussion.
A Excellent You fulfill all the requirements, and you exceed expectations (but not length requirements) by surpassing the criteria for a well-written assignment. Your well-focused work leads to an exceptionally productive class discussion that synthesizes both ideas from these and from previous week’s readings. You demonstrate a facility with experimenting with the blog format to improve the online presentation of your ideas.
A- Very Good. You meet all criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. Your well-focused work incorporates clearly-described concepts from critical material. You support your conceptual discussion with specific examples and quoted material. Your class discussion is positive and interesting, leaving us wanting more time to discuss issues raised. Your blog is well-presented.
B+ Good. You meet all criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. You express some interesting ideas, but there may be occasional slips in writing skills (organization, grammar, spelling), a limitation in the questions raised, or problems with your blog presentation. Your class discussion is useful but may be less thorough or engaging than others.
B Acceptable. You meet most criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. Your work incorporates some clearly described concepts and some specific examples from critical material, but most of the writing is filled with general, unvalidated or unexplained observations. You repeat the same points rather than develop an increasingly complex discussion. Poor writing and blogging skills (organization, grammar, spelling) somewhat hinder your writing and presentation.
B- Below Expectations | You meet some of the criteria, but you discuss critical material in a superficial and general manner. Your work incorporates few concepts and specific examples. Some key requirements are missing. Poor writing and blogging skills (organization, grammar, spelling) severely hinder the presentation.
F Fail The written work is plagiarized in part or whole, or is not completed on time.
Assignment #2 (Respondent): 15%
Same criteria as above, although length is shorter (300 words) and only one link expected.
Assignment# 3 (Intercultural Communication): 20%
Write a blog on a relevant topic, complete with links and your analysis (300-600 words). Then write a blog in response to someone else’s blog entry (150 words).
A Excellent You fulfill all the requirements, and you exceed expectations (but not length requirements) by surpassing the criteria for a well-written assignment. Your well-focused and reasoned work makes your blog one that many classmates both here and elsewhere in the world feel compelled to comment on. Your response to another’s blog is similarly compelling and substantial and it too encourages further discussion. You demonstrate a facility with experimenting with the blog format to improve the online presentation of your ideas and to invite and encourage discussion. You are able to present controversial topics in a way that invites conversation without offending.
A- Very Good. You meet all criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. Your well-focused work incorporates clearly-described concepts from critical material. You support your conceptual discussion with specific examples. More than three of your colleagues here and elsewhere choose to comment on your blog. Your blog is well-presented and invites conversation without offending, and your response to another’s blog is also well-presented, respectful, and insightful.
B+ Good. You meet most criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. You express some interesting ideas, but there may be occasional slips in writing skills (organization, grammar, spelling), a limitation in the questions raised, or problems with your blog presentation. Your blog is interesting but less thorough or engaging than others. If more than three have commented on your blog, it may be because something in it is controversial because it is not well supported. Your response is less substantive or innovative or unsuccessfully attempts to connect the original blog with relevant insights.
B Acceptable. You meet all criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. Your work incorporates some clearly described concepts and some specific examples from critical material, but most of the writing is filled with general, unvalidated or unexplained observations. You repeat the same points rather than develop an increasingly complex discussion. Poor writing and blogging skills (organization, grammar, spelling) somewhat hinder your writing and presentation. You may receive comments that react to rather than engage with your material, or your blog may have received little positive attention. Your response to another’s blog meets the basic requirement, but does not offer any clear insights to or is easily misunderstood by the original writer.
B- Below Expectations | You meet some of the criteria, but you discuss critical material in a superficial and general manner. Your work incorporates few concepts and specific examples. Some key requirements are missing. Poor writing and blogging skills (organization, grammar, spelling) severely hinder the presentation. You may have comments that react to rather than engage with your material, or your blog may have received little to no attention from your peers. Your own response adds nothing to the discussion or is misunderstood by several readers.
F Fail The written work is plagiarized in part or whole, or is not completed on time.
Assignment #4 (Final Essay/Project): 30%
A = Excellent | You fulfill all of the requirements. You exceed expectations by surpassing the criteria for the written assignment with an exceptionally cohesive work. Your well-focused work incorporates clearly described concepts from critical material. Your writing begins to synthesize new concepts and terminology out of this material. You use these concepts and terms to begin building your own critical framework. You support your conceptual discussion with specific examples and quoted material. Your writing becomes more complex as it develops. There are very few or no slips in writing skills (organization, grammar, spelling). You include compelling images or visualize your presentation through the use of hypertext.
A- = Very Good | You meet all criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. Your well-focused work incorporates clearly described concepts from critical material. You support your conceptual discussion with specific examples and quoted material. Your writing becomes more complex as it develops. There are occasional slips in writing skills (organization, grammar, spelling). You include compelling images or offer a compelling alternative presentation.
B+= Good | You meet all criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. Your work incorporates some clearly described concepts and some specific examples from critical material. You provide a solid overview of materials, but try to cover too much in a short paper and present either an unfocused literature review or too many brief examples with too little depth of analysis, or you are lacking a conclusion. You include images or make a fairly good attempt at an alternative presentation.
B = Acceptable You meet all criteria, and you fulfill all of the requirements. Your work incorporates some clearly described concepts and some specific examples from critical material, but most of the writing is filled with general, unvalidated or unexplained observations. You repeat the same points rather than develop an increasingly complex discussion. Some problems in writing and/or hypertext skills (organization, grammar, spelling, alternate presentation too long or not well paced) may hinder your writing and presentation.
B-= Below Expectations | You meet some of the criteria, but you discuss critical material in a superficial and general manner. Your work incorporates few concepts and specific examples. Some key requirements are missing. Poor writing skills (organization, grammar, spelling) severely hinder the writing. Unsuccessful attempt at alternative presentation.
F= Fail | You fail to complete the assignment on time. The written work is plagiarized in part or whole.
Turning in Assignments
Assignments can be sent to me via email prior to the class period in which they are due. I am glad to discuss your assignments before the due date during office hours or by appointment. I do not read over assignments via email prior to the due date.
Speaking of email:
I usually check my email twice a day: once in the early morning and once in the late afternoon, and often not at all on weekends. I will make every attempt to answer your email query within a 24 hour period. If you don’t hear from me within this time frame, feel free to send me a second email request. I tend to get swamped, especially when I’m traveling.