Representing the Urban Landscape
   

-- Overview of Assignments, Requirements, and Grading Policy --

Click on the links for more info on each assignment

Participation 

Class participation includes faithful weekly online attendance, substantive contributions to discussion and class activities, and completion of writing assignments in a timely fashion.  Your active involvement in class is not only appreciated, but absolutely necessary to the effectiveness of our seminar.  Everyone should read each assignment completely and carefully, bring questions to the table, and be prepared to discuss the material with each other.  You must make regular, substantial, focused, and insightful contributions to class discussion in order to earn an "A" in participation.  Note that the participation grade is split into two parts -- one for the first half of the semester (through Week 7), the other for the remaining half

If you cannot attend a class session, you are still responsible for the assigned material that week, including any written assignment that is due.  You may miss one weekly online session, no questions asked, without jeopardizing your participation credit.  If you must miss class time due to illness, family emergency, or other similar situation, please notify me as soon as possible.

: : More specific information on participation is available on this must-read question and answer page.

Writing Assignments / Revision Policy

This section of 392 requires several writing assignments of varying length.  Specific directions and helpful tips for each of the assignments will be available via links in the above table.  Key things to remember about the writing assignments:  

• Late assignments will be docked 5% the 1st week they are late, 10% the second week, etc. up to a 20% penalty.  Extensions are granted only for extreme circumstances, and must be approved by me prior to the assignment's due date.

• You have an automatic 24-hr. grace period on all formal writing assignments, during which they can be turned in without a late penalty.  

• All writing assignments should be submitted to the Digital Dropbox by the specified deadline.  Email and fax, while useful in general, are notoriously unreliable for submitting papers on deadline.  

• Some assignments, but not all, may be revised after the initial grade and resubmitted, if you wish, for further consideration.  Revision due dates are posted on the Schedule page.

Backing Up Your Files

Avoid heartache and sadness at semester's end.  Here's how:

• Save each significant version of a document under a separate filename (e.g., Essay1 v1, Essay1 v2, etc.).
• Back up your files by emailing them to your Roosevelt myMail account.
• Back up your files by adding them to the Digital Dropbox in our 290 Blackboard site.

A Note on Academic Honesty -- Very Important!

All of your work in BGS 392 and every other college class must be your own.  A full explanation of academic honesty is available in the document, Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students, published by the Roosevelt University Provost's Office.  You should read this document carefully and print a copy for your records.

• Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and is unacceptable in any form.  Examples in academic writing assignments include putting your name on another person's writing and presenting it as your own work (an egregious case!); failing to properly cite information from another source (i.e., not giving credit where it's due); failing to put a direct quote in quotation marks (even if it's cited properly); or not adequately paraphrasing the language of an outside source (again, even if it's cited properly).  The latter two examples are the most common forms of plagiarism, and even though in many cases they are unintentional mistakes, they're still wrong -- and unethical. 
• My policy on plagiarism:  any assignment that contains plagiarized passages, whether intentional or not, usually is returned without a grade; the author must schedule an appointment with me to discuss the assignment and then submit a thorough revision of the paper.  If the revision does not correct the problem, the assignment will receive a failing grade.  The objective of my policy is not to punish, but to help you gain critical skills and confidence in properly summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, and documenting their sources within your writing.  In cases of egregious academic dishonesty, however, I reserve the right to record a failing grade for the assignment without possibility of revision, a lowered course grade, or a failing course grade (per the Roosevelt Student Handbook). 

In the spring of 2008, the Roosevelt University Senate approved the implementation of a plus-minus grading system, effective Fall 2008.  As of the semester's start, faculty use of plus-minus grading for students' final course grades is optional.  There are no A+ or F+ grades.

In the spirit of fairness and freedom, I give you the option of choosing either a Traditional Letter Grade (no plus-minus designation) or a Plus-Minus Grade.  You need to declare which option you want in writing by Week 3 of the semester.  The default option is Traditional Letter Grade, which means I'll use that system for your final grade if I don't hear from you by Week 3.  Here's a comparison of the grading scales I use for each system:

The table above describes how the percentage of points earned for an assignment or for the course translates to a letter grade.  But there's another important piece of the puzzle to consider.  Here's how the plus-minus system figures into computing student GPAs.  The system uses the following scale to determine the "weight" of each course grade: A = 4.00; A- = 3.67: B+ = 3.33; B = 3.00; B- = 2.67; C+ = 2.33; C = 2.00; C- = 1.67; D+ = 1.33; D = 1.00; D- = 0.67; F = 0.00.  Compared to a B grade, then, a B+ grade will have an upward effect on a student's GPA, while a B- grade will have a downward effect.  (For an explanation of how your GPA is calculated, see the current Roosevelt Student Handbook, which is a pdf document linked to the Current Students page on RU's website.)

As you can see, there's a risk-reward calculation involved in this choice.  Let's say that at semester's end you have earned 365 points out of a possible 450.  Your grade would be calculated as follows:

365/450 = .811 x 100 = 81% = B-

If you choose the plus-minus option and you earn a minus grade (e.g, B-) as in this example, your GPA will be hurt relative to what you would've earned from a straight B grade (because the B- has a "weight" of 2.67) .  However, if you earn a plus grade, (e.g., B+), your GPA will benefit relative to receiving a straight B grade (because the B+ has a weight of 3.33).  Make sense?

How I Evaluate Writing Assignments

The following is a summary of the criteria I use to evaluate most kinds of writing assignments. Please bear in mind that no list is universal--each assignment usually demands a few special categories of consideration, and I always make the appropriate adjustments depending on the assignment. For example: text contributions to a discussion forum are read much more loosely in terms of grammar and spelling than are formal pieces of writing, such as a critical essay.  Makes sense, right?  I've also developed a more specific evaluation rubric for research papers, which you might want to look at. 

"A" paper: Excellent

• Fulfills and successfully pushes beyond the minimum requirements of the assignment in terms of thoroughness and level of detail

• Defines its purpose/thesis very clearly and addresses a defined audience

• Exemplifies a high level of sophistication in terms of content and style (i.e., goes beyond obvious points, shows originality of thought, tackles a difficult subject, flows logically and coherently, uses mature sentence structure and diction, etc.)

• Demonstrates evidence of careful and thoughtful revision

• Displays excellent overall organization and nearly flawless mechanics

• Makes effective and judicious use of other sources (if required), and documents them correctly

• Is readable, clear, and free from needless ambiguity

"B" paper: Good

• Fulfills the minimum requirements of the assignment, and attempts (not always successfully) to go further in terms of development

• Defines its purpose/thesis adequately and addresses a particular audience (with perhaps an occasional lapse)

• Displays coherent organization, with room for possible adjustment

• Demonstrates some degree of thoughtful revision

• Employs reasonably sound writing mechanics

• Uses and documents sources competently

• Is reasonably free from logical flaws and ambiguity (though minor lapses may occur)

"C" paper: Fair

• Fulfills the bare minimum of the assignment; makes no attempt to go beyond what's easy or obvious

• Defines an audience, but does not address it adequately or consistently

• Defines a purpose, but in an unclear or confusing manner--thesis is ineffective and unclear

• Presents material in a somewhat unorganized fashion

• Demonstrates little thoughtful revision--changes are made only on the surface (e.g., spelling and grammar)

• Documents sources and/or uses visuals, but not effectively

• Lacks clarity--the thought process is obscured and the prose is difficult to read

• Contains a number of stylistic and mechanical weaknesses (e.g., sentence structure may be simplistic and/or repetitive)

"D" paper: Needs a Major Overhaul

• Makes a minimal effort to fulfill the assignment, but fails to do an adequate job

• Lacks a clear purpose/focus

• Is seriously deficient in terms of audience awareness, organization, mechanics, documentation, etc.

• Is difficult to follow--fundamental errors or lack of thoughtful development make reading a chore

Page Design and Content by Michael A. Bryson / 2008 / Roosevelt University
M. Bryson's Faculty Home Page
Last Updated:  12 September 2008