Grading

Faculty legislation requires that all submitted assignments, exams, and quizzes require your signature below a statement that states your compliance with the Wheaton Honor Code. That signature is interpreted as meaning that you are personally avowing that you have abided by the Honor Code. In this course, violations will not be tolerated.

In the past, I have found plagiarism to be a particular problem when students are working on writing assignments or take-home work. Please consult the course website that describes this Honor Code violation in detail. Materials submitted that are deemed to be plagiaristic will receive a score of zero. Additional violations will result in a grade of "F" for the course. If you have any doubts about what you are writing and whether or not it constitutes plagiarism, please feel free to consult me before you turn in that work. A first offense will be not be graded. A second offense will result in a zero for that assignment. A third offense will result in an "F" for the entire course. Remember: If in doubt, check it out --with me BEFORE you turn it in.

Your grade will be comprised of a combination of short (20 question) multiple choice quizzes taken in class, in-class exams, short team projects (typically completed in class) and writing assignments based on research that you will conduct on your own inside or outside of class. Points are distributed over these evaluation forms as follows:

If you know in advance that you will be unable to attend class on the day that an exam is scheduled, PLEASE let me know. Other arrangements can be made.

Exam questions will cover material from the text, from any additional required reading or guest lectures, from films and videotapes seen in class, from items posted to the class listserv, and from lecture material. There will be some lecture material that will not be available in the text, and similarly, I will not review all of the text material in class. None-the-less you will be held responsible for all information presented, no matter what the format. Please note that there is no comprehensive final exam in this course.

Writing
Assignments

Writing assignments must be word-processed, spell-checked, and double-spaced, with adequate margins for comments. If your assignment does not meet these requirements, I will return it to you ungraded. Put your name on the LAST page of the assignment, and NOT on the first. Writing assignments are due in class by 11:30am on the dates indicated on the syllabus, unless otherwise indicated by me in class. However, they may be re-written and resubmitted for a higher grade within two weeks of the date that they are returned to you. That is, after you get back a writing assignment, you have two weeks in which you may rewrite and resubmit it for a higher grade. If you wish to resubmit a revision of a revision, you may do so up to one week after you receive the graded revision back. A rewritten writing assignment when resubmitted MUST be accompanied by the original draft(s). This is to ensure that I do not penalize you on a later draft for something that I did not note on an earlier draft. Late work will not be accepted. A guide to preparing the writing assignments can be found by clicking here. A sample of a correctly formatted assignment can be found by clicking here.

"Think Team" projects may be worth up to 2 pts. of extra credit, if you complete 85% of those offered.

Extra Credit: Periodically throughout the semester you will be given the option to do an additional short homework. The homework may ask you to attend a lecture on campus and answer a question about what you heard, or to do some research and write up a brief report on what you discover. The research for each of these homeworks should take no more than an afternoon to complete, and must be presented in the form of a short report (no more than one page.) These are not mandatory projects. They are optional only, to be used as a way to broaden your knowledge and obtain extra credit. These assignments will be worth a varying number points, and will be graded as to their thoughtfulness and accuracy.

No more than about 6 points of extra credit will be given to any one person. Extra credit cannot raise your grade more than 1/3 of a step (for example, more than from a C+ to a B-), no matter how many points you earn.

The following criteria will be used to grade more subjective assignments:

I. "A" Work: work of consistently high standard, showing distinction in such qualities as organization, accuracy, originality, understanding, insight.

II. "B" Work: Work that is decidedly above average. "B" grades generally imply that the student: a) exceeds average requirements, b) is usually alert and active in class discussions and gives evidence of some critical attitude and good judgment, c) exercises noticeable care in preparing assignments, and gives evidence of doing some independent reading, d) is eager to learn and willing to profit from direction and criticism, e) has some ability to transfer the general principles of the course to other situations.

III. "C" Work: Work that fulfills essential requirements in quality and quantity, and meets the acceptable minimum standard for satisfactory progress at Wheaton College. A "C" grade of some kind implies that the student: a) performs the required assignments regularly from day to day, b). is attentive during class and gives adequate answers, c). is usually careful, neat, and accurate in all work, d) masters the facts of general significance, e). uses at least occasionally material from preceding sources, when appropriate, but needs additional assistance.

IV. "D" Work: Work that falls below the minimum standard acceptable for satisfactory progress at Wheaton College.

V. "F" Work: Work that is unsatisfactory.

The instructor reserves the right to grade on a curve if the class distribution requires it.

• READ EVERY DAY (Even if it is only for ten minutes!) If you do this for every course and every day--at the end of the week, you'll have read over an hour's worth of material for each class!
• TAKE NOTES ON WHAT YOU READ.
• THINK ABOUT THE QUESTIONS AT THE END OF TEXT CHAPTERS. THINK OF SOME ANSWERS TO THEM IN YOUR HEAD. YOU MAY SEE SOME OF THEM AS QUIZ OR ESSAY QUESTIONS. (HINT HINT!!)
• TURN IN YOUR WORK ON TIME!
• ACTIVELY INTEGRATE THE MATERIAL YOU READ WITH OTHER MATERIAL THAT MIGHT BE RELEVANT (I.E, OTHER AREAS OR IDEAS IN PSYCHOLOGY, BIOLOGY, OR OTHER DISCIPLINES).
• BE AN ACTIVE CLASS PARTICIPANT.
• MAKE ME WORK FOR YOU--IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, STOP ME AND ASK FOR CLARIFICATION.
• COME TO CLASS EVERY DAY! BE SURE THAT YOU DON'T MISS ANY QUIZZES OR TAKE HOME EXAMS! (If you have to miss class be sure to call me at school or at home as soon as you can.)
• DO THE EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS
• RELAX AND ENJOY THE COURSE! DON'T WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT GRADES. TO BORROW A PHRASE FROM ANOTHER PROFESSOR HERE AT WHEATON, A STUDENT WHO IS WORRYING ABOUT GRADES IN A CLASS INSTEAD OF ABOUT WHAT HE OR SHE IS LEARNING IS LIKE A PERSON AT A GOURMET RESTAURANT WORRYING TOO MUCH ABOUT TABLE MANNERS. YOU CAN MISS A REALLY GOOD MEAL THAT WAY.