Information for ALL of my Courses (including procedures, policies, etc.)(1)

Table of Contents:

  1. Special Responsibilities for the 1st Week of Classes
  2. Course Objectives
    1. Teacher defined:
  1. the Course Text:
    1. Introductory 100;
    2. Developmental 290
  1. the general Course Structure:
    1. Introductory 100;
    2. Developmental 290
  1. the general Course Format:
    1. Introductory 100;
    2. Developmental 290
  1. Attendance
    1. Missed Exams
  2. Requests for Special Accommodations
  3. Evaluation of Student Performance
    1. The "Default" Course Structure:
      1.    Exam Format & Method of Final Course Grade Calculation:
        1. Introductory 100;
        2. Developmental 290

          3. ...
      2. (for Intro; +2 for Devel) 10% Method for Grading Individual Course Exams:
    2. Other "Paths"
    3. Extra Credit
    4. Instructor Responsibilities
  4. Office Visits
    1. Office hours
    2. Academic assistance
    3. Exam Review
  5. Academic Integrity
  6. Course Schedule
    1. Introductory 100
    2. Developmental 290
  7. Academic Integrity Acknowledgment & Limited Waiver of Confidentiality Rights

Course Information

Structurally, there's nothing particularly complicated about this course. It's pretty simple and straightforward for the individual who approaches college studies with a modicum of common sense, responsibility, and maturity. The student who doesn't approach things in that way will have a more complicated experience with fewer things seeming to come "naturally" and thus their having to be reviewed and more actively remembered.
  1. Special Responsibilities for the 1st Week of Classes
  2. Course Objectives
    1. Teacher defined:
      1. Introductory 100;
      2. Developmental 290
    2. Student defined:
      1. Introductory 100;
      2. Developmental 290
  3. the Course Text:
      1. Introductory 100;
      2. Developmental 290
  4. the general Course Structure:
    1. Introductory 100;
    2. Developmental 290
  5. the general Course Format:
    1. Introductory 100;
    2. Developmental 290
  6. Attendance:
    1. I occasionally call the roll early in the semester in order to better learn your names, but beyond that I will make no formal assessment of attendance in the classroom.
      1. For class meetings that you have not attended or that you have arrived late for, it is your responsibility to discover promptly from your classmates what announcements, assignments, and content you have missed. I will be willing to offer clarifications, but only after I am satisfied that you have made a reasonable initial effort to secure such information from peer sources.
      2. Credit for work that is not submitted when it is due because of absence from or lateness to class may be "reclaimed" if undertaken in a timely (i.e., within the week) way by doing a Special Event or a Personal Project.
      3. Though I generally do not take attendance as a factor in determining your course grade, there is an upper limit on the number of absences that I will knowingly tolerate.
        1. I generally consider a total number of absences equal to 2 weeks of scheduled class meetings, for any single reason or combination of reasons, as representing the upper limit on absences beyond which a student will be required to withdraw from the course. Two week's represents approximately 15% of a course's total class time, and beyond that point I think of the course's academic integrity as having been irreversibly compromised. Because the classroom experiences that are lost cannot be "made up," the course can no longer be equivalent to the course that your instructor intended. The section "Class Absences and Attendance" in the Student Handbook acknowledges the authority of faculty to drop students from classes if absences are too frequent.
        2. This policy applies to all absences, even those arising from medical illness or other serious personal matters. If a situation or combination of situations is so demanding, debilitating, or personally devastating that this amount of time is missed from a course's class meetings, then you should repeat your scholarly efforts at another time when you can give your full attention to experiencing all that a full semester in the course can offer.
    2. The days on which exams are scheduled are an important exception to the general rule of freedom to be absent without consequences.
      1. The exams are scheduled to begin and to end within the course hour. You may arrive at an exam after it has begun, as long as you do not arrive after the first departing student, but you must be prepared to turn in your exam by the time that has been designated for everyone else.
      2. I make no attempt to pass judgment on what should constitute an unexcused versus an "excused" absence in my courses or to do the investigative work that would be required to confirm or disconfirm claims that hinge on such distinctions.
      3. All exams that are missed for any and all reasons will be made up within the time boundaries of the 3 hour final exam period that is scheduled at the end of the semester. The final exam period is the ONLY time that make-up exams will be administered.  Because no reference group will be available against which performance on a specially constructed make-up exam can be compared using the 10% method, grades shall be assigned to makeup exams using the percentage scaling method summarized below. There will be no make-up for the fifth hourly exam that is scheduled to be given during the final exam period--an F- will be entered into the calculations for a student's final course grade if this exam is missed. Similarly, letter grades of F-'s will be entered for any missed exams that are not made up during the final exam period.
        1. The following straight percentage scaling method is used to assign grades to all make-ups since no reference group will be available against which performance comparisons can be made.

            2. 96.67% and above = A+
            93.33% and above = A
            90.00% and above = A-
            86.67% and above = B+

            ...  (etc., repeating down to)

            53.32% and below = F- 

        2. Students who wish to use a "cheatcard" during a make-up exam must submit it to the instructor at least seven (7) full days before the scheduled final exam period.
            3.  

             

  7. Requests for Special Accommodations (based upon claims of special learning/testing needs or religious, ethnic, or cultural considerations): First, let me emphasize that you should take nothing for granted in terms of any accommodations that DePauw or another university in general, or another instructor in particular, has already made for you--there are no precedents that apply automatically to this class.  The first exam for this course takes place several weeks after the beginning of the semester.  (Consult your Course Schedule for Introductory 100, or Developmental 290 for exact dates.)  If you want to make a claim of need for special accommodation on the basis of special learning/testing needs, it is your responsibility to make a timely claim (i.e., one that can reasonably be acted upon before the first time that you expect to receive accommodation)to the appropriate university official responsible for validating such claims (currently  this is ADA coordinator Dee Gardner). Their validation must be in my possession before I can begin to make arrangements for any resultant accommodations . I would recommend that you put all such requests in writing, keep copies of them so that those requests may be documented if needed, and additionally keep written documentation of any other actions that you have taken and the responses that they received.  In the absence of written recommendations from the ADA coordinator, I am professionally compelled to treat all students equally.

    8. As for requests for accommodation based on religious, ethnic, or cultural considerations, the more written evidence you can provide me that documents and attests to the importance or centrality of such dimensions to your own identity (e.g., self-constructed lists of past involvements; letters from the leaders or organizers of civic, cultural, or ethnic activities in which you have participated; letters from rabbis, priests, pastors, mullahs, etc. that specifically address your history of commitment, involvement, and identity, etc.), the more likely it will be that I can come to a favorable, positive decision. Again, as with special learning/testing needs, all of this must be done in a timely way in order to receive proper consideration for a favorable decision. 

  8. Evaluation of Student Performance(2):
    1. The "Default" Course Structure
        1. Introductory 100;
        2. Developmental 290

          3. ...
      1. (3) 10% Method (This is probably the aspect of the course most commonly least well understood by students!): How are the exam raw scores converted to letter grade equivalents from which numeric equivalents are obtained? By the 10% method! Here's the way it works:
        1. A mean will be calculated for each hourly exam using the raw point scores of those individuals whose scores placed them in the top 10% of the class on that exam.
        2. Cut-offs for each letter grade, expressed as percentages of the mean of these students, can then be obtained from column 2 of the table below.
        3. The advantages of this method are:
          1. it is sensitive to variations in test difficulty and performance, but normally relatively insensitive to the "curve-busting" performance of a single exceptional individual,
          2. unlike the case of a fixed distribution, it places no limit on the number of students who may earn good grades,
          3. the cutoffs are set in an objective, a priori fashion before the course even begins.
          Table: Data for the 10% Method of Grading
       
      Letter Grade Percentage Cutoffs (Minimum) Numerical Equivalents
      A+ 101.67 14
      A 98.33 13
      A- 95 12
      B+ 91.67 11
      B 88.33 10
      B- 85 9
      C+ 81.67 8
      C 78.33 7
      C- 75 6
      D+ 71.67 5
      D 68.33 4
      D- 65 3
      F+ 61.67 2
      F 58.33 1
      F- 0

    2. Other "Paths" for the Course Structure:

      3. [Re: the adjacent cartoon: Sometimes in moments of despair, self-pity, and hyperbole students convince themselves that life at university must be like life on a slave ship. You've heard many of the claims and excuses-- "You're gonna work harder than you ever did in high school." "College professors pile on more work than you can ever hope to complete." It's true--the demands and expectations of the university should significantly exceed those of high school--this ain't high school. So, if we buy this simile, who's validity by the way is most brought about by a passive or apathetic student approach to learning in which some students must be forced to do and learn things for which they unfortunately otherwise have little intrinsic interest or motivation--Who's the guy with the blister problem? Who are the other jaded, incredulous oarsmenpersons? Who's the character decked out in leather and whip?  What does the cartoon say about the ability of some individuals to judge accurately their level of personal discomfort and suffering?  What are apt to be the characteristics of those individuals?]

      I will refrain from repeating much of what I have already said about alternative course structures in the separate handout "Stress, Education, & Life After DePauw". Keep these few things in mind:

      1. You may develop and submit Personal Project proposals either individually or in groups.
      2. It is certainly possible but probably unlikely that a student will be able to put together a proposal that receives approval without there first being one or more office consultations with the course instructor.
      3. You may not propose to delete entirely any of the scheduled quizzes and exams.
        1. Any alteration of the weights of the remaining exams must preserve the ratios of their weightings relative to one another.
        2. Negotiations with your instructor for a revised evaluation plan may require a bit of time so you should start putting your proposals together well before the scheduled date of any exams whose weights you hope to alter.
      4. You may submit multiple Personal Project proposals, and subsequent ones may even revise the approved revisions proposed in earlier ones (as long as the course components for which revisions are proposed do not have work submissions due or nearly due).
    3. Extra Credit (as distinct from proposals to deviate from the default course structure by altering the weightings of various evaluation components): It is possible to do some extra credit work in the form of Personal Projects in order to raise one's final course grade a maximum of one-third of a letter grade after calculation of the final course grade. Why such a low limit? Because I can't imagine any kind of alternative work that would be sufficiently comprehensive to justify its standing in place of basic mastery of the course concepts. Of course, that doesn't preclude the possibility that I just lack sufficient imagination to see things differently. You are welcome to try to change my mind, but I warn you that I will be a hard sell. Generally, I think time spent on extra credit work to bolster a record of weak performance could be better spent working harder to learn the material that remains to be learned.
    4. Instructor Responsibilities: As one of my major responsibilities to the students in this course I will provide frequently updated projections of final course grades based on current levels of performance. However, since grades are determined in part by the performance of the top 10% of the class on any exam, any grades that are posted, especially those that are associated with individual exams, must be considered tentative until the period of office appointments and exam review has been completed. Once any appropriate adjustments in scores have been made, and individual grades have been recalculated, the grade assignments will become final.
  9. Office Visits:
    1. Office hours: There are schedules of sign-up times for the current and the next week posted on my office door. (Here's a copy of my current office schedule for your perusal.) Of course, you are always welcome to drop by my office without an appointment if you want to see me. The only rules are that drop-ins must defer to those who have already scheduled appointments; and that in exchange for your freedom to not have to make an appointment to see me, I must reserve the right to let you know if I cannot spare the time just then.

      2. I usually arrive at the office by 7:15 a.m. The only time that I have difficulty talking with students is in the last 30-60 minutes before a class. If you are having difficulty catching me in my office, or you want to be absolutely sure that you see me at a particular time then use the sign-up sheets. Since I do spend a large part of each day in or around my office, please do not call me at home except in the most serious of emergencies. 

    2. Academic assistance: When you consider coming in to visit me about the course content or for advice about how to perform better when under evaluation, please keep the following things in mind:
      1. I am best able to help the student who has already made some reasonably energetic effort to understand the material that is causing the confusion. Besides the obvious careful reading and rereading, such efforts to understand might include seeking the views of another author in the library or discussing the problematic material with a classmate or psychology major. One should not give up easily in the face of frustration.

        2. It is probably this expectation--that serious, prior effort be given to helping oneself--that keeps most students away. But if you are confident that you have made a legitimate effort and yet the material is still perplexing, then by all means come and see me! Showing initiative and showing independence are two different things. One may show mature initiative and at the same time show appropriate dependence on those who may be able to lend help. But for me to have some chance of helping you, you must have prepared yourself to benefit from the help.

      2. Prior to your visit you should be able to identify and assess for yourself rather obvious correlates to good performance like finding a quiet place for study with few distractions. Additionally, there are other factors which I can ask you about, but for which I have no recourse but to accept your subjective reports--things like whether you are properly distributing study and not massing it in large, inefficient (desperate?) blocks; or whether any study group to which you might belong is genuinely focusing its time together on the material that is to be learned (and not other things like gossip about the social scene). I am not privy to independent information about these matters, and thus I must accept the accuracy of your assessments and self-characterizations. (With respect to these matters you might also want to consult the materials about the habits and charactersitics of good and bad students that I have assembled, if you have not already. You might also want to have a look at this analysis of performance problems beforehand.)
      3. Rather than planning to come to me and simply ask "Do you have any suggestions on how I can make my studying more effective?," plan to provide concrete evidence of what you have already attempted so that I can see for myself what you have already tried and what quality of effort you have put into it. Bring with you your personal copy of the course text, your course notebook; any outlines, summaries, or flashcards that you have prepared; and any logs, appointment books, or other summaries that would indicate how you have budgeted your time among various study activities directed to the course material. The more evidence you can provide of what you have already tried, the better I can assess the utility of your efforts and make constructive suggestions of other activities and strategies that might produce positive results.
      4. If you want our discussion to range beyond your performance on specific components of your course grade to broader questions of your overall performance and likely final grade in the course, you will need to bring a completed record of your performance to-date in the course. This will require that you print a copy of either the Introductory or Developmental form for this record and then fill it out before our appointment.

        5.  
    3. Exam Review:
      1. The schedule of exams is indicated in the Course Schedule (for Introductory 100, or Developmental 290). Each graded exam will be available for inspection at my office for seven (7) days from the date of initial grade posting on the VAX Notes conference, but unfortunately, irresponsible behavior by past students (who placed grades above learning) requires that I may permit you to neither keep them nor take notes on their content.
      2. As you review your exam performance and consider the fairness and accuracy of the keyed answers, keep in mind that the legitimacy of an answer is not established by its simply seeming plausible. The crucial feature of the correct answer is that it must be supported by the research or by the informed opinion of an authority. The answer that is keyed as correct will have that support in the literature. You may advocate the correctness of another answer, but not simply on the basis of even especially well reasoned plausibility. I do, however, invite you to seek empirical support for your preferred answer(s?) in the psychological literature that is referenced in your course text or beyond. If you can find support and document it, your answer will be credited. For example, if I were to ask you "whether children's and adolescents' social groups differed on the basis of (a) number of internal social rules, (b) reliance on leaders, (c) degrees of common interest, (d) inclusion of minorities", even though I could weave a plausible rationale for each answer, only one of these would enjoy the support of the literature that is reported in your text. Any of the other three alternatives can only be made correct by finding support in your text or in some other reputable source.

  10. Academic Integrity: (adapted from Appleby): The existence of DePauw University as an academic community is based on the assumption of mutual integrity shared by its students and faculty. The following violations of this assumption are academic crimes that weaken the University's sense of community and produce students and alumni whose inferior knowledge and moral standards tarnish the public image of the University and defraud those who rely upon their abilities and honesty.
    1. Academic dishonesty is defined by behaviors, rather than intentions, and those behaviors include, but are not exhaustively represented by, the following examples.
      1. Cheating: Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids to gain an unfair advantage over other students in any academic exercise. [We probably don't want to laugh too heartily and thoughtlessly at the adjacent cartoon--evidence-based suspicions have caused me to use a variant of this ploy a couple of times in the past and on each occasion I've learned more than I really wanted to know about some of my students.]
        1. Using crib notes during an exam.
        2. Copying answers from another student's paper during an exam.
        3. Receiving information between exams in multiple sections of a course.
      2. Plagiarism: Representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise.
        1. Failing to enclose a direct quotation from a reference source within quotation marks.
        2. Paraphrasing the words or ideas of another person without proper citation or documentation.
        3. If after reading this you are still confused about the subtleties of plagiarism, here's some much more detailed, supplementary information about the subject.
      3. Multiple Submission: Submitting the same assignment in two or more courses without the prior permission of the respective instructors.
        1. Submitting the same or essentially the same term paper in two classes without obtaining both instructor's permission.
        2. Giving the same or essentially the same speech or credit in two classes without obtaining both instructors' permission.
      4. Fabrication: Falsifying or inventing information or citations in an academic exercise.
        1. Making up fake data for a laboratory assignment ("drylabbing") or distorting data to produce a desired outcome.
        2. Padding a bibliography with references not consulted, cited, or taken into account in the text.
      5. Misuse of Materials: Abuse or unauthorized possession of academic materials from the library or any other campus location:
        1. Removing pages from a library book or magazine.
        2. Taking a book or magazine from the library without checking it out.
        3. Stealing, obtaining, or possessing an unauthorized exam.
      6. Misrepresentation: Presenting false excuses or using deception to receive a higher grade or to avoid fulfilling the specific requirements of an assignment or course.
        1. Giving a false excuse for missing a test, missing timely submission of an assignment, or missing a class meeting.
        2. Obtaining unauthorized help from another person in the preparation of any graded work. (Please note here that the expectation is that you will work alone on graded work unless specific permission is given to do otherwise.)
      7. Facilitation of Academic Dishonesty: Helping another student to commit any acts similar to those described above.
        1. Allowing another student to copy from your paper during an exam.
        2. Informing another student of the contents of an exam before he/she takes it.
        3. Writing a paper for another student who subsequently submits it for course credit.
        4. Transmitting a false excuse for another student to a faculty member.
        5. Failing to report an observed instance of academic dishonesty.
    2. As your instructor, I will try to maintain a classroom atmosphere that minimizes the occurrence of instances of academic dishonesty and maximizes their detection when they do occur. Students are encouraged to support this atmosphere by personally avoiding acts of academic dishonesty, discouraging such acts in others, and informing the instructor of such acts when they do occur.
    3. See the DePauw Student Handbook for further information about the policies and procedures that apply when academic dishonesty is suspected.
  11. Academic Integrity Acknowledgment & Limited Waiver of Confidentiality Rights
          12.  
                     
    1The policies and procedures that are described herein represent a first, best-effort, approximation by the instructor, and as such require that the instructor reserve the right to make modifications, additions, or deletions that in his opinion will enhance their fairness or make them more consistent with desired learning objectives and goals associated with the course. Thoughtful, well-reasoned student input and feedback about these procedures are welcome.
                     

    2 This section is subject to modification if the instructor determines that addition to, deletion from, or alteration of the components of evaluation is appropriate (e.g., due to significant amounts of student work being directed towards projects or other activities and assignments) and he announces such change to the class.

    3 This outline heading number is correct for Intro; add +2 for Devel)