Bob Farnham’s general boilerplate syllabus
information common to all courses (Fall, 2008):
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·
Text and
equipment requirements.
·
General
grading information.
·
General
term paper requirements.
·
Late work.
·
Final exam.
·
Disabilities.
This
page was last modified August 22, 2008
Contacting me
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·
E-mail:
farnham@graceland.edu
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Office
phone: 641-784-5291. Please leave a detailed voice mail message if I am
unable to take your call.
·
Office: During the remodeling of the Resch Science and Technology Hall, my temporary office is
located in Room 023 in the “garden” level of the F.M. Smith
Library. My schedule –
including office hours – is posted on the door and at http://csit.graceland.edu/~farnham/courses/Fall2008Sch.html. Otherwise, if you’re in the
building, please feel free to drop by.
·
Home
phone: 641-784-3686. You're welcome to call me at home before
·
Fax:
641-784-5497, in the F.M. Smith Library office.
Text and equipment requirements
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See the
syllabus for a particular course for specific textbook requirements.
E-mail will be
used to communicate outside of class. It is important to note that I will
expect to use the email account provided by each student to Graceland
University. Students needing assistance accessing their
As part of the
course, students may give presentations to the class. Preparation and delivery
of these presentations will require knowledge and use of electronic
presentation software. Students are
expected to have access to these resources, either personally or in university
microcomputer labs.
General grading information
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"A letter
grade is, therefore, to be thought of as a rough index of a quality of learning
rather than as an accurate and exact measure of learning.
"The
marks used at Graceland College to indicate grades and the grade points for
each semester hour of credit are as follows:
"A - 4
grade points. Thorough mastery of subject, and disposition
and ability to apply it to complex and unfamiliar situations.
"B - 3
grade points. Demonstrated competence in subject matter
mastery and clearly above-average ability to handle familiar to somewhat
complex problems in the field.
"C - 2
grade points. Effective learning and the development of the
skill necessary to handle the familiar and less complex problems in the field.
"D
- 1 grade point.
Limited ability to see relationships and to make applications except as
specifically directed. Lowest passing grade for admission
to the next dependent course.
"F - No
grade points. Course must be repeated for admission to dependent course(s).
I use a point
system for each course, which is described in the syllabus for each
course. The formula for calculating the final grade is provided in the
syllabus for each course. Students should not assume that scores are
rounded in the assignment of grades. For example, if the range for a
“B” is 80.0 to 89.99, then 89.96 is a “B”.
Students will
be permitted to retake exams and/or resubmit assignments in extenuating
circumstances; e.g. death in the family or other significant personal
crisis. I will generally prefer to make extra credit opportunities
available to the entire class to offset poor performance on exams and
assignments.
General term paper requirements
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Written work
may or may not be assigned for any class. If assigned, research papers
will be on a current topic related to the course. The paper must use be
prepared using Microsoft Word, using the American Psychological Association
(APA) style for layout and citations. Several good sources for general
information about the APA style are http://www.lib.usm.edu/research/guides/apa.html,
http://www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm
and http://www.apastyle.org/. For
more information citing sources, see http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html#8
for basic style rules, and http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html
for citing electronic sources. In general, documents will be formatted as
follows: double spaced; 12-point proportional font; 1-inch top, bottom
and side margins; no title page, but with this heading on the first page, left
justified:
<name>
<title of paper>
<class>
<date>
To discourage procrastination until
the end of class, several progress milestones may be established. The
schedule of these milestones will be given in the course syllabus. All of
these items will be emailed to me by the indicated due date. The milestones are
as follows:
1. A topic is chosen. Topics are
chosen by the students individually, but must be approved by me.
Resources for most potential topics include the bibliography and web site for
the textbook, NewsScan Daily (archive at http://www.newsscan.com/), Edupage (archive at http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html),
or any information technology industry periodical such as Computerworld,
Information Week, PC Week, etc. Specific guidelines for the term
paper topic and length will be provided in the respective course syllabus.
2. An outline of the paper is due.
The outline will show an Introduction, the main topics to be covered in the
body, and a conclusion. The list of main topics in the body must be
detailed enough to show how your paper will “flow.”
3. A written abstract is due.
. “An abstract is an
abbreviated summary of a research article, review, or any in-depth analysis of
a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader
quickly ascertain the paper’s purpose. When used, an abstract always
appears at the beginning of a manuscript, acting as the point-of-entry for any
given scientific paper or patent application.” (from http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&oi=defmore&defl=en&q=define:abstract)
For purposes of this biography, an abstract is a paragraph, no more than
200 words, summarizing the essay.
4. One or more rough drafts may be
due. The purpose of handing in rough drafts is to give you a chance to
see how the grader (me) will see your paper, and to correct major mistakes
before the final paper is due.
5. The finished paper itself is
due. The due date will be given in the respective course syllabus.
The final paper will be emailed as a Microsoft Word attachment.
At least
three-quarters of the references must be current within one year. Also,
while much information is available via the Internet, much is still available
only in print form. Therefore, at least one third of the references must
be from off-line sources such as print journals, books, microfiche or other
formats which are relevant to your topic. Even historical references may
be helpful, since a knowledge of where we’ve
been helps in understanding where we are and where we’re headed.
Your friendly reference librarian can assist you in locating these other
sources. The specific number of references depends on the length of the
term paper. (See the specific course syllabus for more guidance on the expected
length of papers.) Generally speaking, the purpose of writing papers is
to demonstrate that the student is able to synthesize a coherent whole from a
variety of sources. The bottom line is that you'll want enough references
to support a paper of such a length without having to lift major portions of
your paper from too few references. See the plagiarism
policy, below.
Finally, where
applicable, the term paper will be presented to the class. Available
presentation dates will be announced to the class, and presentation slots may
be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis using the time and date stamp
of e-mail messages as the determining factor. The presentation schedule, with
topics and abstracts, will be published on my web site for the specific course.
Grading for papers
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Grading of
papers will be based on the following criteria (all quotations taken from
“Research Paper Scoring Rubric,”
·
Adherence to the technical requirements of the assignment as given in the
assignment ( 20 % ).
·
Content ( 30 % ): “Every paragraph works to
support an easily identifiable thesis; contains enough material to treat the
topic fully and convincingly; paragraphs typically display rich development;
sources are relevant and credible, and their scope brings a multidimensional
perspective to the topic.”
·
Organization ( 10 % ): “The structure of the
material is readily discernible and moves the reader surely through the text;
the introduction sparks interest in the topic, provides context that prepares a
reader to read with understanding, and steers the reader easily to the thesis;
the conclusion provides a thoughtful endpoint and satisfying sense of
closure.”
·
Documentation ( 10 % ): “Sources, whether
quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, are correctly cited within the text and
properly documented in the bibliography at the end of the text.”
·
Style/Expression ( 10 % ): “The words convey the
meaning in a precise, natural way; the writing has energy and compels interest
throughout; sentences are varied in structure, flow easily, and are clear: a
reader would not have to stop and puzzle over what they mean.”
·
Spelling and grammar ( 20 % ): “The writer
demonstrates a solid grasp of the conventions of standard English; errors in
grammar, usage, spelling, and sentence structure are so few or minor that they
would not derail a reader’s movement through the text.”
Grading for one-minute papers
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Following each
class, students will post a message to the class email list. This message
will be your response to the following two concept questions:
1.
What is the big idea you learned in class today? Here, you
do not have to summarize the whole class period, but concisely state the key
insight you gained from class. Even
so, I am looking for more than a statement of what we did. Here’s an
example of a good “big idea”:
Today, I learned about different
scheduling algorithms for single processor machines. These include First Come - First Served,
Shortest Job First, Priority Scheduling, Round Robin, and Multilevel
Queue. Also, I think I finally understand
the difference between the short term scheduler and the long term
scheduler. The long term scheduler
selects processes from a pool and loads them into memory, and then the short
term scheduler selects a process from memory to allocate next to the CPU
(execute next).
2. What is the main unanswered question you leave class with today? Sometimes, it
will be difficult to articulate a question following class. Hopefully, you have taken the
opportunity to ask questions during class, and have had those questions
answered. As life-long learners, an
insight we gain is that, the more we know, the more we realize we do not
know. It is in this latter area
that our main unanswered questions come.
Here’s an example of a good “main question”:
Question: When an interrupt occurs, the OS performs
a context switch to give the CPU back to the process which was waiting for the
information that caused the interrupt.
If context switch time is pure overhead, wouldn't it be more efficient
to acknowledge the interrupt, and to context switch to the process necessary
after the running process blocks for some reason?
Messages are only expected to be a few
sentences, but postings are expected to be substantive; i.e. relating to course
material in an in-depth manner. At the same time, please realize your
class mates are also busy people, and are expected to respond
substantively. So
pithy questions that would require a book to answer are not recommended. For example:
Q. How does the Huffman code work?
would not be an appropriate one-minute
paper question.
Students are then expected to post a
response to at least one other student’s “main unanswered
question” for each class period. Discuss these questions and
answers online throughout the week. Here’s an example of a good
“answer”:
In message 46 on
>What is the main advantage of pthreads over other types of threads?
I did some research for this one, and
discovered a few things:
1.
The
definition of a thread - "an independent stream of instructions that can
be scheduled to run as such by the operating system"
2.
The
definition of a pthread - "a set of C language
programming types and procedure calls, implemented with a pthread.h
header/include file and a thread library"
3.
The
main advantage of using pthreads - "to realize
potential program performance gains"
This information came from http://www.llnl.gov/computing/tutorials/pthreads/
and this page also included a time comparison table between fork()
and pthread_create() run on different
processors. Consistently, using pthread_create()
is faster than fork(). So, the
major advantage is speed.
Notice in the above answer, the
responder has quoted the original question as part of the response. Especially when you read the one-minute
papers asynchronously (as I do), quoting the original question is very helpful
to provide a context for the answer which follows. WebCT does
this automatically when you click the Quote button instead of Reply when
responding to another student’s question. Also notice how the responder has
provided a citation for where the answer was retrieved. This is evidence of good
scholarship. The careful student
will do this habitually; not only because it is ethical to give credit to
another person’s ideas where due, but to avoid accidentally (or
intentionally) plagiarizing the work of another person. See the section in this document for a
fuller description of plagiarism
and cheating.
The criterion for discussion is:
1.
The
student posts a one-minute paper for each class during the week. The
one-minute papers are due by
2.
The
student responds to at least one classmate’s question for each class day
in an in-depth manner, referring to the text and/or class lectures and
discussion in detail. Responses are due by
3.
The
student engages in an online discussion regarding posted questions and
responses; particularly responses to that student’s own questions. Extra credit will be given to additional
one-minute paper dialog beyond the required minimum.
I will also participate in the
discussions regarding unanswered questions, or I will take time during
subsequent class periods to discuss them. The one-minute paper
discussions will be graded using the following rubric:
1.
10
points for each one-minute paper posted. Points will be allocated for
each of the one-minute paper concept questions on a scale of 0 to 5.
2.
5
points will be allocated for each response to another student’s
one-minute paper. These points will be allocated similarly to the above,
on a scale of 0 to 5.
Thus, there
are minimally 15 points per day possible for one-minute
papers.
Quizzes
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Quizzes are
short exercises to assess students’ understanding of material covered in
previous class periods. These are
one-or-two question written exercises, including true/false, multiple choice
and short answer questions of the instructors devising. These quizzes will be given at the
beginning of class periods. Quizzes
will not generally be announced ahead of the class in which they are given, and
generally may not be made up unless a student’s absence or tardiness is
considered excused by the Dean of Students office.
Grading for presentations
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For presentations, I am looking for the following:
1. Technique (20 percent)
1. Attractive, easy to read slides, using
colors which are pleasing to the eye. (I've found white or yellow characters on
a blue background work well for most video/data monitors and projectors. You
don't have to use these colors, but good contrast in colors will help
readability. Try to avoid "loud" colors. Use a font size big
enough to be seen clearly from the back of the room.) Also, if we're using the
ICN, presentations need to fit in a 640 x 480 format. Otherwise, text might get
clipped off the bottom of your slides. Use the “five-be-five”
rule; five bullet points per slide with five words per bullet.
2. Good slide technique; e.g. speaking
extemporaneously and not reading slides and/or a script. Or, if you do read a
script, reading it well enough using good pacing and vocal inflections that
your reading is not distracting.
3. Appropriate presentation length, given
the nature of the assignment. For a short case study, 5 to 10 minutes is
usually adequate. For a conference poster-type presentation, 20 minutes is
typical. For a feature length term paper and/or group presentations, up to
50 minutes is usually needed to develop your topic and answer questions from
the audience.
2. Content (70 percent)
1. Introduction.
2. A well-organized body of the
presentation which flows logically from the introduction to the conclusion. The
presentation will be at an appropriate depth given the nature of the course and
the audience. In any case, the presentation will demonstrate your knowledge and
familiarity with the subject. (My grading rubric for specific
presentations will include specific subtopics I expect to be covered.)
3. Conclusion.
4. A presentation which generates
intelligent questions from your audience, and your ability to answer those
questions intelligently.
3. Peer evaluation (10 percent; adapted
from Jim Jones’ peer evaluation rubric,
1. The presenter...
1. Spoke clearly and with appropriate
volume.
2. Faced the audience and gave
appropriate eye contact.
3. Appeared confident in the
presentation.
4. Had an expected degree of
understanding of the topic.
5. Was organized and well prepared for
the presentation.
6. Created useful illustrations, visuals,
demos, and/or handouts.
7. Effectively used these creations
(above) during the presentation.
8. Appeared to go to a lot of effort for
this presentation.
9. Was able to get me to understand key
points about the topic.
10. Did what I would expect from a student
at this level.
2. What were the key strengths of this
presentation?
3. What were the key weaknesses of this
presentation?
4. What other general comments do you
have about this presentation?
Grading for group projects
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There will often be opportunities for
group projects. Group projects are commonly found in the "real
world"; whether the project is to accomplish some objective or to make a
presentation. I will grade group projects based on the results of the project.
The following procedure will be used to allocate the project grade among the
group members:
1. I will
send an e-mail message to group members relating to each group project,
requesting a confidential evaluation of each group member's contribution. Note:
please take care in addressing your reply so it doesn't get sent to any other
member(s) of the group. Your response is confidential. I will confirm receiving
your reply as soon as possible. So if you don't get a confirmation in a timely
manner, please call me!
2. Given
100 percent total effort for the project, you will assign a portion to each
group member based on your perception of each person's individual contribution.
The total must add up to exactly 100 percent.
3. Please
include any comments you feel are required to justify your evaluation.
4. Here's
how the grade will be calculated:
a. I will
develop my own independent evaluation, also totaling 100 percent.
b. The
evaluations will be weighted so the combined group member evaluations are
weighted equally with my own (50% for combined group members and 50% for me).
c. The
weighted total will be scaled so that the top group member contribution in the
group equals 100 percent, and others scaled from that.
d. The scaled
total for each group member will be multiplied by the project grade to produce
an individual group member grade on the project.
Example 1: Suppose
everyone (including me) rates all group members as having an equal
contribution. Further suppose the project gets an "A". Therefore, all
group members would get an "A". If the project grade is a
"B", then everyone would get a "B".
Example 2: Suppose the weighted total
in a group of seven members is distributed as follows: 17%, 16%, 15%, 14%, 13%,
13%, and 12%. Further suppose the project gets a "B" (85%). The group
member with 17% of the contribution gets a "B", and the others are
"B", "C", "C", "D", "D",
"D", respectively.
Late work
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All work handed in during class is due
by the end of the class period on the due date. All work to be turned in
electronically is due by
Plagiarism and cheating
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Students are expected to be aware of
the university policy for plagiarism and cheating as described in the Graceland University
Catalog.
My policy is that cheating and
plagiarism will not be tolerated.
1. The purpose of examinations is to
demonstrate a student’s mastery of knowledge or application in a subject
area. In general, the use of
personal electronic devices (cell phones, personal music players, etc.) during
exams will not be permitted.
Cheating on exams will result in a failing grade for the exam.
2. The purpose of term papers or other
written assignments is to demonstrate a student’s ability to synthesize
information from a number of sources into a coherent whole, including insights
the student may have acquired. It is so easy not to plagiarize, so there
is no excuse for copying the work of others without attribution. Please
also remember that it is very easy for graders to detect plagiarism.
There are a number of anti-plagiarism services available to faculty on the
Internet, and even a simple Google search for key phrases is usually good
enough to detect plagiarism. Improper citations in final versions of
written assignments will be graded as follows:
1. Failure to properly cite sources on
facts, ideas, phrases, or sentences mentioned in the paper will result in a
grade of zero (0) for the paper or assignment.
2. Evidence of blatant plagiarism, such
as several paragraphs copied without quotation marks and without attribution,
thereby giving tshe appearance of "representing
someone else's work as your own" will result in a failing grade for the
course.
Final exam
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University policy: “Every
class must meet during final’s week at the time published in the Schedule
of Classes. Students with more than two Final Examinations on a single
day may make rescheduling requests directly to any of the faculty involved,
provided that two such exams remain as scheduled. The student must supply
his/her course and exam schedule at the time of the request so that the faculty
member can verify the conflict and either identify a new exam time or identify
another of the instructors willing to reschedule. If arrangements cannot
be made on this informal basis, the student should contact the Dean of Faculty
to solve the problem. The rescheduling must be determined before the
last day of regular classes for the semester. Travel arrangements
are not justification for requesting changes in final examination schedules.”
This policy will be followed.
See the Schedule of Classes or the
specific course syllabus for the scheduled date, time and location of the final
exam for a particular course.
Incomplete grades
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Incomplete grades must be initiated by
the student, and will be granted only in extenuating circumstances.
Extenuating circumstances are normally defined to mean something outside of the
student’s control, such as family crisis, unexpected health problems, or
the like. Overcommitting oneself,
procrastination or the like are not extenuating circumstances. An incomplete grade will be
accompanied by a plan for completing the course.
"Requirements for the removal of
incompletes must be completed by the end of the next regular semester following
the term in which the incompletes have been assigned, and may not be postponed
beyond three years if a student does not re-enroll. Incompletes that have not
been removed according to this schedule will be changed to an "F".
(2004-2005 Graceland University Catalog, p. 52)
Class attendance and civility
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The Graceland Faculty adopted the
following policy on class attendance on
"Students are expected to attend
classes regularly, be punctual, and complete all work whether present or not.
The opportunity for making up, whenever possible, classwork
missed as a result of an excused absence is to be worked out between the
instructor and the student upon the student's initiative.
"Excused absences include the
following: (1) the student has contacted the faculty member prior to the
absence due to a college-sponsored activity, (2) the student has contacted the
faculty member prior to the absence and the faculty member concurs that the
absence is unavoidable and legitimate, (3) the Dean of Students (or faculty
member) determines that the student has missed classes/assignments due to
factors beyond the student's control (i.e. illness, family misfortune, etc.),
and the faculty member concurs.
"All other absences are
considered unexcused, in which case the instructor is not obligated to provide
an opportunity for making up class work or credit." (2004-2005 Graceland
University Catalog, page 46.)
Using the above definitions, only
students having excused absences will be permitted to make up work missed in
class, including quizzes and exams. For purposes of definition (3), the
Dean of Students maintains an official list of students having excused
absences, which will be consulted for this purpose.
For purposes of definition (2),
students are encouraged to see the Dean of Students so their names appear on
the Dean’s official list as noted for definition (3). Otherwise,
definition (1) shall apply and the student must contact me in advance of the
absence due to a university-sponsored activity to request an excused absence.
Students must take quizzes and exams
on the date and at the time scheduled in the course syllabus. Other arrangements
will only be granted for students in the Chance Program, or for excused
absences as defined above. Students will not be allowed to resubmit
assignments or retake examinations, unless extraordinary circumstances –
such as serious illness or family crisis – have impeded a student’s
progress. Thus, resubmissions and retakes must not be considered among
the options routinely available.
I am required to take attendance for
verification of financial aid purposes. As group participation and team
projects are increasingly becoming part of my classes, I will often count
attendance in the course grade. Where this is done, I will simply
calculate actual attendance as a percentage of class meeting dates, weighted by
a factor indicated in the syllabus for each class. However, where
attendance is not factored as part of the grade in my classes, I feel your
attendance in my class is a measure of how worthwhile I have made your time to
attend. Whether attendance is graded or not, my
experience shows that students who miss classes generally do not perform as
well in my courses; and particularly so on tests and homework assignments.
I am committed to treating all
students with civility and respect at all times; whether in class, in
electronic communication, or elsewhere. I expect the same of students in
their treatment of each other and me. Anyone who disrupts class to the
extent that civility and respect are infringed will be politely asked to leave
classroom, and the incident(s) culminating in such a request will be reported
to the Dean of Students. Also see the Graceland
University Classroom Etiquette guidelines, which will be followed in my
classes.
Inclement weather
|
Generally, class will not be canceled
unless I can't make it myself. For off-campus courses, I have been known to
cancel class if weather forecasts give reason to believe students may be unable
to return home from class safely. If class is canceled, I will send an e-mail
message to the class listserve by 2 hours before
class, and leave a voice mail greeting in my voice mailbox at 641-784-5291. If
you're not sure if class has been cancelled, you may call this number and
listen to the greeting. If nothing is said in the greeting about class being
cancelled, you may presume class will be held as scheduled.
Here is the Graceland University
policy regarding snow and ice days:
“It
is the general practice of the university not to close on snow and ice
days. Whenever students are on campus, we are never closed. Classes
may be canceled and specific activities may be canceled or postponed.
“An
employee who feels the need to leave their work station early due to snow and
ice or potentially hazardous conditions may do so after securing the approval
of his/her supervisor.
“Supervisors
will give approval after insuring that the basic functions of the university
will be maintained and operational.
“The
time off will be taken without pay. The employee may, however, use necessary
leave or vacation to cover the hours absent, if available.
“Employees
who arrive late or do not report for work due to snow and ice or hazardous
conditions will be governed by the same policy.
“Operational
needs, safety, and individual circumstances will guide the administration of
this policy. The chief administrative officer on your campus will
determine when it is appropriate to implement this policy and modify normal
routine.”
Approved by
David L. Clinefelter on
Disabilities
|
Any student who, because of a
disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet
course requirements must contact me as soon as possible to make necessary
accommodations.