Surfacing, and FAQ's for comment
Jun. 28th, 2009 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hobgoblinnFirst, hello friends. I've often thought of you, longingly, as I have been grading papers, planning lessons, and making a new life with my Beloved and Wee Hob. Term is over and it went pretty well-- I just have a handful of ungraded papers I set aside for the end so I could check them for Plagiarism.
Below the cut, I have a draft FAQ I'm thinking about putting into my syllabi next term. I'd appreciate comments, especially from teachers past or present. It discusses plagiarism, among other things.
Hope everyone's well. I'll try to skim back through the past 3 months or so on this planning week before the next term starts-- I should have more time as I've taught these classes a time or two now and know what to expect. May even have some time to write, or at least apply beta comments on No Malicious Haunting, something I've been doing in my head the past month or so.
FAQs for Hobgoblinn's Classes
How do I pass this class?
First of all, come to class. Some easy grades are in-class work that cannot be made up, and Ms. K gives lots of time in class to work on papers and get feedback. Last term, most people’s grades ended up about the same as their attendance percentage. That’s probably not a coincidence. Secondly, turn in all assignments on time. This is especially important for the papers, which are worth 35% of your grade. These papers will undergo at least one revision, so you have the opportunity to improve both your writing skills and your score. Thirdly, ask for help if you don’t understand. Ms. K is happy to tutor students, though see below for some hints on that subject. Finally, don’t give up. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a deep breath, call a study buddy for encouragement, and most of all, don’t let fear paralyze you.
How does tutoring work?
Ask Ms. K for a form and set up a time with her. Treat this scheduled time as if it were an important appointment, because it is. Ms. K has been known to give up her lunch hour for tutoring, and she gets very cranky when students who have asked for help blow her off like they sometimes do class. Before all else, though, the student should prepare for the tutoring session by doing some RTFM.
What does RTFM mean?
We in the computer programming world have a saying: Read The Friendly Manual. (There are other translations for this acronym, but I like this one best.) RTFM is also a great motto for any workplace. What it means is, before you ask for help, make sure you have attempted to solve your problem on your own, and that you can list the different things you tried that didn’t work for you. If your boss gives you a task at work and comes back later to find you haven’t even started because “I don’t know how,” you will very quickly find yourself out of a job. For tutoring, write down a list of questions you need answered in order to move forward, and if you haven’t done all your reading or come to class consistently, realize that’s probably a big part of why you’re confused. Except in very limited circumstances, tutoring is not for re-teaching material from a missed class-- get notes from a classmate and try to go through them on your own before asking for tutoring.
How does attendance affect my grade?
First of all, missing class means you miss information you need-- see above. But it also counts as one of two grades under “Professionalism.” The attendance grade is the actual percentage of time you came to class. You can keep track of it yourself-- it’s number of days attended divided by number of days the class meets, multiplied by 100.
But what if I’m in the hospital/ called in to work on my day off/ abducted by aliens?
Some reasons for missing class are better than others. You can request an excused absence by filling out a request and attaching documentation. The request should say something like “On (Date), I (your name) request my absence be excused because (reason). My documentation is attached.” You should also text Ms. K at 123 456 7890 if you find you will be unable to attend class. Then she will not have to call you and find out where you were (another task that makes Ms. K cranky.) Make sure when you text that you say who you are.
What’s the other part of professionalism?
Actual professional behavior in class. Everyone starts with a 75%, but it can go up or down based on class participation, work ethic, punctuality, and all those other qualities that differentiate the successful and employable from the hopelessly unemployable.
Is it possible to get a 0 for this professional behavior grade?
I wouldn’t have thought so, but someone last term managed it.
What did (s)he do?
Made inappropriate comments, disrupted class, became increasingly argumentative despite repeated warnings from both the instructor and fellow classmates. The first instance of inappropriate behavior would have been enough to get the person fired in the workplace, but this person persisted in it after warnings. Hence the 0, which brought the person’s average down about 12 points.
What’s Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is ANY attempt to pass off another’s words as your own. There are three types. The first is copying an entire essay off the web, putting your name on it and submitting it for credit as if you had written it. The second is copying phrases or entire sentences from another source without putting quotation marks around them and citing them properly. This “cut and paste” plagiarism seems most common at Southwestern. The third type is getting someone else to write your paper for you. Plagiarism in any form is cheating, and the best you can hope for if you do it is getting a zero on the assignment. You may also get less than a zero for the assignment in question. It is another thing that makes Ms. K very cranky, and making Ms. K cranky is something you do at your peril. Persistent plagiarism after warnings will be referred to the Dean, which could in turn affect your eligibility for internships, or even whether you will be allowed to continue here as a student.
Not only is plagiarism not worth it, it also defeats one of the purposes of this course, which is for You to learn how to organize ideas and express them in writing. If you turn in essays in a timely fashion, you will get them back with instructions for revision (and individual discussions about how to improve a draft essay would be an excellent use of tutoring time.)
___
That's it so far. Anything else I should add/ clarify?
Below the cut, I have a draft FAQ I'm thinking about putting into my syllabi next term. I'd appreciate comments, especially from teachers past or present. It discusses plagiarism, among other things.
Hope everyone's well. I'll try to skim back through the past 3 months or so on this planning week before the next term starts-- I should have more time as I've taught these classes a time or two now and know what to expect. May even have some time to write, or at least apply beta comments on No Malicious Haunting, something I've been doing in my head the past month or so.
FAQs for Hobgoblinn's Classes
How do I pass this class?
First of all, come to class. Some easy grades are in-class work that cannot be made up, and Ms. K gives lots of time in class to work on papers and get feedback. Last term, most people’s grades ended up about the same as their attendance percentage. That’s probably not a coincidence. Secondly, turn in all assignments on time. This is especially important for the papers, which are worth 35% of your grade. These papers will undergo at least one revision, so you have the opportunity to improve both your writing skills and your score. Thirdly, ask for help if you don’t understand. Ms. K is happy to tutor students, though see below for some hints on that subject. Finally, don’t give up. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a deep breath, call a study buddy for encouragement, and most of all, don’t let fear paralyze you.
How does tutoring work?
Ask Ms. K for a form and set up a time with her. Treat this scheduled time as if it were an important appointment, because it is. Ms. K has been known to give up her lunch hour for tutoring, and she gets very cranky when students who have asked for help blow her off like they sometimes do class. Before all else, though, the student should prepare for the tutoring session by doing some RTFM.
What does RTFM mean?
We in the computer programming world have a saying: Read The Friendly Manual. (There are other translations for this acronym, but I like this one best.) RTFM is also a great motto for any workplace. What it means is, before you ask for help, make sure you have attempted to solve your problem on your own, and that you can list the different things you tried that didn’t work for you. If your boss gives you a task at work and comes back later to find you haven’t even started because “I don’t know how,” you will very quickly find yourself out of a job. For tutoring, write down a list of questions you need answered in order to move forward, and if you haven’t done all your reading or come to class consistently, realize that’s probably a big part of why you’re confused. Except in very limited circumstances, tutoring is not for re-teaching material from a missed class-- get notes from a classmate and try to go through them on your own before asking for tutoring.
How does attendance affect my grade?
First of all, missing class means you miss information you need-- see above. But it also counts as one of two grades under “Professionalism.” The attendance grade is the actual percentage of time you came to class. You can keep track of it yourself-- it’s number of days attended divided by number of days the class meets, multiplied by 100.
But what if I’m in the hospital/ called in to work on my day off/ abducted by aliens?
Some reasons for missing class are better than others. You can request an excused absence by filling out a request and attaching documentation. The request should say something like “On (Date), I (your name) request my absence be excused because (reason). My documentation is attached.” You should also text Ms. K at 123 456 7890 if you find you will be unable to attend class. Then she will not have to call you and find out where you were (another task that makes Ms. K cranky.) Make sure when you text that you say who you are.
What’s the other part of professionalism?
Actual professional behavior in class. Everyone starts with a 75%, but it can go up or down based on class participation, work ethic, punctuality, and all those other qualities that differentiate the successful and employable from the hopelessly unemployable.
Is it possible to get a 0 for this professional behavior grade?
I wouldn’t have thought so, but someone last term managed it.
What did (s)he do?
Made inappropriate comments, disrupted class, became increasingly argumentative despite repeated warnings from both the instructor and fellow classmates. The first instance of inappropriate behavior would have been enough to get the person fired in the workplace, but this person persisted in it after warnings. Hence the 0, which brought the person’s average down about 12 points.
What’s Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is ANY attempt to pass off another’s words as your own. There are three types. The first is copying an entire essay off the web, putting your name on it and submitting it for credit as if you had written it. The second is copying phrases or entire sentences from another source without putting quotation marks around them and citing them properly. This “cut and paste” plagiarism seems most common at Southwestern. The third type is getting someone else to write your paper for you. Plagiarism in any form is cheating, and the best you can hope for if you do it is getting a zero on the assignment. You may also get less than a zero for the assignment in question. It is another thing that makes Ms. K very cranky, and making Ms. K cranky is something you do at your peril. Persistent plagiarism after warnings will be referred to the Dean, which could in turn affect your eligibility for internships, or even whether you will be allowed to continue here as a student.
Not only is plagiarism not worth it, it also defeats one of the purposes of this course, which is for You to learn how to organize ideas and express them in writing. If you turn in essays in a timely fashion, you will get them back with instructions for revision (and individual discussions about how to improve a draft essay would be an excellent use of tutoring time.)
___
That's it so far. Anything else I should add/ clarify?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-28 07:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-28 07:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-28 08:39 pm (UTC)Regarding plagiarism, what I'd be thinking right now, if I were an unscrupulous and unethical potential student of yours, is "How would they even know if I copied an essay off the web? Sure, they say it's bad, but if they'll never catch you there's nothing to worry about."
I realise it would be a bad idea to describe how you check for plagiarism (since that would give them clues on how to avoid your checks) but maybe you could include some sort of example like you did with the 'profesional behaviour' section, to prove that people who plagiarise do get caught?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-28 09:51 pm (UTC)It makes 'em think.
Nice to see your pixels again, pet!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-30 06:04 pm (UTC)I like the FAQs; how do you get students to read them? is the thing. But at least you know where to direct them.
I've been interested in trying to figure out how much time it would take students to actually do *all* of the tasks I suggest for class. Almost none seem to be that conscientious (e.g., RTFM-preparation even for class, let alone setting up extra tutoring) ... but it's good to give them something to aspire to.
Sounds like you are a really clear and well-organized instructor!
::hugs::
(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-30 09:01 pm (UTC)How to get them to read? Well, I have taken up the evil habit of giving a syllabus quiz at the start of every term-- quick easy grade to possibly counteract the low ones later. I'll make sure to add some questions from the FAQ. We'll also talk about them at some length the first day. I mostly want some of this stuff in writing so I can refer the student to the relevant page of the syllabus when (s)he runs afoul of it. It would have saved me immeasurable aggravation last term to be able to send one sweet little starfish to the section on plagiarism. (She thought she should get More credit for going to the internet instead of getting quotes from the story to back up her not bad first draft essay. Sigh.)
Wish I were organized. But I have a few days left to try to become so.