Course Syllabus

Course Communication

Communication in this course will take place via Messages.

Messages is a private and secure text-based communication system which occurs within a course among its Course members. Users must log on to Canvas to send, receive, or read messages. The Messages tool is located on the Course Menu, on the left side of the course webpage. It is recommended that students check their messages routinely to ensure up-to-date communication. 

Visit our Writing Resources webpage for more information on professional writing and technical communication skills.

 

Assessments

In order to mitigate any issues with your computer and online assessments, it is very important that you take the "Practice Quiz" from each computer you will be using to take your graded quizzes and exams. It is your responsibility to make sure your computer meets the minimum hardware requirements.

Assessments in this course are not compatible with mobile devices and should not be taken through a mobile phone or a tablet. If you need further assistance please contact FIU Online Support Services.

QUIZZES

• A weekly time-restricted, online quiz will be given based on the materials covered each week. You can take each quiz two times, and the higher of the two attempts will be recorded. Even if you do well on the first attempt, it is advisable to use both attempts. You will not receive the same quiz every time; the computer randomly chooses the questions from a quiz database. The objective questions in Exam 1 and Exam 2 will be taken directly from this database. Thus, the more times you take the quiz, the more questions you will receive and the better prepared you will be for the exams.
   
• For the quizzes, you will have 20 minutes to complete the questions. Each quiz will be open from Monday to Monday and you can take it on any of those days at any time.
   
• Important Policy on Quiz Resets: Quiz resets will not be granted. You will receive two attempts to complete each quiz, if you are logged offline or you have technical failure while attempting the quiz, then you still have the second attempt to complete the quiz.
   
• Resetting quizzes after they have passed will require a serious and verifiable reason (death in the family, hospitalization, serious accident, etc.).
   
• If you know that you will be unable to take a quiz during a specific week, contact the instructor in advance, and the quiz may be opened so you may take it early. It is the responsibility of students to keep up with the readings and take the quizzes on time.

EXAMS

• Exam 1 and Exam 2 consist of both objective and essay portions. The objective portions of Exam 1 and Exam 2 are both online, time-restricted examinations. They are in the Assessments area. Students  have only one attempt to complete the objective portions of the Exam 1 and Exam 2 unlike the quizzes. Please make note of this important difference.
   
• The essay topics for the exams will become available in the Assessment area during the exam availability time. The essay portions of these exams must be submitted to turnitin.com via Canvas (you do not need to register separately with Turnitin.com). Review the detailed Turnitin Instructions on how to submit your assignments and how to review the Grademark comments (feedback) from your professor. Please see the folder under Course Content labeled "Assignment Dropbox" for links.
   
• The essays for Exam 1 and Exam 2 should each be approximately 500-750 words long.

Assignments

PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism, or attempting to pass off another's work as your own, falls into three different categories:

1. A written work that is entirely stolen from another source;
2. Using quotations from another source without properly citing them; and
3. Paraphrasing from another source without proper citations.

Students are expected to understand the definition of plagiarism. See the University Code of Academic Integrity if you need further clarification. Offenders will receive a grade of F for the plagiarized assignment, and possibly the course.

**STUDENTS MAY NOT SUBMIT WORK FROM A PREVIOUS SEMESTER OR FROM ANOTHER CLASS FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT OR ANY OTHER ASSIGNMENT IN THIS COURSE. IT WILL BE FLAGGED FOR PLAGIARISM BY TURNITIN.

Group Wiki Instuctions

Students will write up short summaries (at least 250 words). In addition to student written summaries, your wikis should also include: links to articles and websites, images, infographics, videos, or other relevant visual aids on your group pages. Please review the wiki rubric for a more complete idea of the required elements for a successful wiki page. 

Your project is only as good as your resources. You need to make sure that you use reliable resources, especially online. There is a lot of misinformation out there! Look for official websites, government websites, academic articles, and legitimate newspaper articles

Important:

The wiki tool allows the professor the ability to see each students contributions to the group wiki.  Group members are encouraged to equally contribute content to the wiki, as group participation will be factored into your final grade.

iPeer

Furthermore, students will have the abiltiy to evaluate their group members and their own contributions to the final project utilizing a iPeer evaluation tool.  This group evaluation assignment is worth 50% of the wiki total grade and must be completed by the wiki due date.

Weekly Blogs

Blogs are an open communications tool for students to share their thoughts. Here you can post text, images, links and attachments, open for comments.

The topics will be posted in "Discussions" folder in the Course Content. Students must post well thought-out comments based on the required work throughout the semester. Participation is required. Both the quantity and the quality of your posts will contribute to your grade. Please see the sample blogs and blog rubric to review the expected components. All students are required to participate in all of the topics (at least 200 words). Blogs must be posted during the period they are assigned and are due by 11:59 pm on the Monday after the end of the lesson.

Once you have composed your original posting, take some time to carefully review other postings within your discussion group. Pick two that are most interesting to you and provide meaningful, detailed, and constructive feedback.

Keep in mind that your discussion forum postings will likely be seen by other members of the course. Care should be taken when determining what to post.

Keep electronic and paper copies of all written work. For your own protection, keep a copy of your turnitin.com electronic receipt (confirmation of assignment submission) until you have received your final grade for the course.

Late work will not be accepted

Journaling

There will be biweekly journal reflections, which will only be seen by the student and the professor. These reflections will only be graded that they were completed, but not for content. This will provide an opportunity for students to interact privately with the professor in regards to the course content. Journals may be a short paragraph, but must be turned in on time to receive credit. Altogether, the journal entries will be worth 8% of your overall grade

Metacognitive Assignments 

There will be two short metacognitive writing assignments aimed at helping students develop greater awareness and understanding of their own learning process. These two assignments combined will equal 5% of your overall grade. 

 

Grading

Course Requirements	Number of Items	Points for Each	Weight
Midterm Exam (Objective - 70 points and Essay - 30 points)	1	100	20%
Final Exam (Objective - 70 points and Essay - 30 points)	1	100	20%
Quizzes	13	100	15%
Reflection Journals	7	1	8%
Metacognitive Assignments	2	100	5%
Group Wiki Project/iPeer	1	100	12%
Blogs	12	10	20%
Extra Credit Assignment	1	1	1%
Total	38	521	101%

 

Letter	Range (%)	Letter	Range (%)	Letter	Range (%)
A	95 or above	B	83 - 86	C	70 - 76
A-	90 - 94	B-	80 - 82	D	60 - 69
B+	87 - 89	C+	77 - 79	F	59 or less