Course Syllabus

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Global Studies Online - DGS 110

Summer 2012 Syllabus

with Instructor Stephanie Delaney, JD, PhD

**Printable Syllabus** and **Printable Calendar**

Preferred Contact Method: E-mail:  sdelaney@highline.edu

Telephone: cell/text 206-395-9485

Online Classroom: http://canvas.instructure.com

Text: None - All Course materials will be provided online

Course Objectives and Outcomes

Upon the successful completion of this course with a 2.0 grade or better, you will:

  • Actively think and write about global perspectives in geographic, cultural, political and economic contexts;
  • Understand the impact of economics on environmental policy decisions;
  • Appreciate the importance of understanding who people are and why they think and behave the way they do;
  • Learn how to analyze the same environmental problem in different geographic, cultural, social, political and economic contexts, see how and why there are different responses to the same problem;
  • Be able to put the daily news events into a broader environmental and economic context;
  • Be able to use the internet for academic research. Be able to think critically; to develop the ability to identify and summarize assumptions, issues, and salient arguments, as well as to draw logically valid conclusions from statements, images, data, and other forms of evidence, relevant to discipline- and occupation-specific content, and to assess the implications and consequences of conclusions

Learning Expectations: This is an online course, where all work happens over the internet. There are no requirements to come to campus. However, that does not mean that you should not work as hard as you would in a face to face class. There will be regular and challenging work that will require your regular attention.

What I expect of you:

  • That you are fully present when participating in the class
  • That you do the reading in a timely fashion
  • That you work cooperatively and respectfully with your group members and that you carry your share of the workload
  • That, if something happens to interfere with your ability to meet your course obligations, you tell me as soon as possible. If your group work will be impacted, you need to let them know too.
  • That you communicate professionally in all class related communications - email, text, instant messages, etc, adhering to standard Internet rules of netiquette (http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html).
  • That you do the assigned activities thoughtfully and in a timely manner.
  • That you have fun learning about the Global Environment.


What you can expect of me

  • That I give you course work that is well organized and reasonable, so that you can appropriately schedule your study time.
  • That I give you challenging work that allows you to explore the topic in a way that interests you.
  • That I give you regular graded activities so that you always know how you are doing in the class.
  • That I give you advanced guidance on how things will be graded so you know my expectations for an assignment.
  • That I grade the work in a timely manner and that I grade fairly.
  • That I give you all the support and training you need to succeed in the ANGEL classroom.
  • That I have fun teaching the class so that it will be fun for you to learn.

Activities

During this class, we will have several activities designed to meet the objectives of the course.

Weekly Essay – Each week you will be assigned an essay question to answer. The goal of the essay assignment is to

    • Help you learn how to analyze the same environmental problem in different geographic, cultural, social, political and economic contexts
    • Help you understand how and why there are different responses to the same environmental problem
    • Give you a way to explore your country of choice

 The essays are submitted in an ANGEL drop box are graded with a rubric that you will find attached to the assignment. The essays are open, so you are able to view the submissions of your peers.

Weekly Discussion – Each week you will have an activity to do and a related question to answer. The question will be answered using the group discussion board and will be discussed with your team members. The goals of the assignment is that you

    • Get to do an activity that brings what you are learning into the context of your own life
    • Have the opportunity to interact with your classmates
    • Learn to appreciate the diverse perspectives of your classmates.

Weekly Quizzes – For each week you will have a short, objective quiz. The quiz questions will be multiple choice or true/false and will be graded automatically by ANGEL so you get instant feedback. The assignment goals are to

    • Insure you have read and understood the material
    • Give you a quick measure of how you are doing
    • Provide alternative for people who are uncomfortable with writing to demonstrate knowledge

Service Learning - This is an opportunity to combine what you are learning with the real world through involvement in it. The Service Learning Project requires some interaction with the general community.  Additional details will be provided when the project is assigned in Week 2.

Final Exam – You will have a final exam based on your essays from the quarter.  All exam questions will be provided ahead of time so that you can be well prepared.  Additional details will be provided when the final is assigned in Week 6.

Grading

We have a 1000 point grade system with 30% each for the essay and discussion, 10% for quizzes, 15% for the Service Learning Project and 15% for the final exam.

Essay Scoring: Essays are worth 30% of your grade or 30 points each week. You will be graded according to a rubric designed to reflect the outcomes of the assignment. Each essay assignment is worth up to 30 points. Essays are due by midnight on Tuesdays.

Discussion Scoring: The discussions are worth 30% of your grade or 30 points each week. Each activity/discussion is worth 30 points. You are required to make your initial response and a minimum of 3 replies. Initial discussion postings are due on Saturdays by midnight.  Replies are due on Tuesdays by midnight.

Quiz Scoring: Quizzes will generally have 5 questions and are worth 2 points each for a total of 10 points and 10% of your grade. You are welcome to use your book. The questions will be presented to you ahead of time. Read the quiz questions and have them available as you do your reading. If you answer the questions as you read, you will be ready to take the quiz when you complete the reading. The quizzes will be posted on Wednesdays and due by midnight on Saturday.

Quiz errors – If you experience a technical error while taking the quiz, you must email Stephanie within 1 hour of the quiz error. The quiz will be reopened for you as soon as possible. Barring extraordinary circumstances, no more than 2 quizzes will be reset per quarter.

Service Learning  Project – This project is worth 15% of your grade or 150 points and will have three graded components.

    • Service Learning Proposal – 25 points - Here you will describe to me and the class what you are planning to do for your project. It will be posted in the Service Learning Discussion area.
    • Service Learning Update – 25 points - Here you will update us on how your project is going. Post as a reply to your proposal in the Service Learning Discussion Area.
    • Service Learning Project – 100 points - Here you post the results of your project, following the assignment requirements and rubric guidelines. You will also read and comment on the projects of your peers (the discussion component is worth 10 points). Submit as a reply to your proposal in the Service Learning Discussion Area.

Final Exam – This exam is worth 15% of your grade or 150 points. Like the quizzes, you will get all of the questions ahead of time and will have plenty of time to prepare and to take the exam. Unlike the quizzes, you will not get immediate feedback, as I will grade the final exams manually.

Extra credit will be available for students who submit the final by midnight on the last Sunday of the quarter. Students who have a 4.0 at in Grade Report 2 may waive the final exam. More details will be provided when the final is assigned in Week 6.  

Other Important Information

Email and web access requirements. Highline's Distance Ed Technical Requirements are available online at http://flightline.highline.edu/distanceed/tech.requirements.htm

This class requires regular and sustained access to an internet-connected computer. You are required to either access your Highline Student Email, or forward that account to another service that you regularly check. You will be required to have access to a web browser.

Highline's official channel of communication with students is your Highline Student Email account. E-mail communication in this course will occur via Angel's Email Inbox, and/or your Highline Student Email account. For more information, see Highline Student Email Help (http://tinyurl.com/hccemail

Late Policy. Life often gets in the way of study. To accommodate that, you have 3 Late Passes. To use a Late Pass, you must

  • Notify Stephanie beforethe assignment is actually due. Anytime before the actual midnight deadline is fine.  The notification must be via email to sdelaney@highline.edu with the words “Late Pass” in the subject line. Do not say why you are asking for the late pass. It does not matter. Your request will be approved as long as you have late passes remaining. Thus, you do not need to wait for a reply, as all requests will be approved.
  • Turn in the assignment within 4 calendar days of the due date with a note that it is being submitted late with a late pass.
  • Only one late pass per assignment.
  • The Late Pass cannot be used with the Final Exam. If you are late with the final exam, the regular late policy applies.

After you have used your three late passes or if you have neglected to request one, late assignments will get a penalty of 5 points per day.

Please note: The late passes are here to make the class easier on you. There is no benefit at all to not using the late pass, so please use them. That is why they are available.

Submitting Your Work: Please note that all assignments must be posted in Canvas. Assignments will not be accepted via email or by any other means for credit. If you are having technical trouble, you may submit via email as evidence that you did the work on time. However, work submitted via email will not be graded. The work submitted via email must be submitted in Canvas within 2 days of the due date or regular late penalties will apply. A Help Desk Ticket must accompany late submitted work to be eligible for the two day extension.

Extra Credit: This class moves along at a brisk pace and is challenging. If you fall behind, I think it is more important that you focus on doing well on what is due right now rather than using precious study time trying to work on extra credit assignments. Because of that, with the exception of rare opportunities offered to the entire class, no extra credit is available.

Grade Reports: This class is designed so that each student who works diligently should achieve a grade of 85%/3.0 or better. To assist in that effort, your Grade To Date will be calculated and posted on ANGEL when I complete grading your work for weeks 3 and 6.

Within 7 days of the posting of your Grade Report, you will be expected to respond to the grade report with an acknowledgement of your grade. Your acknowledgement should confirm the accuracy of the grades to that point. If the grades posted are in any way inaccurate, you will be expected to raise the issue at that point. Grade complaints based on grades acknowledged to be accurate will not be entertained. Failure to acknowledge the accuracy of the grades within the 7 days is default acceptance of the grades as posted.

If you are earning 84% or less, your acknowledgement must include the specific steps that you will take to improve your grade or an acknowledgement that your current performance is as good as you can do at the moment.
Professional Communications: College is like work and in that way I (and all of your instructors) expect you to communicate professionally. That means that in all communications you must:

  • identify yourself fully, including our class name (DGS110 or Global Studies) and your first and last name
  • use complete sentences, including proper spelling and grammar.

Communications that don't meet the two criteria above will be sent back for clarification. Also remember that I will reply to your email within 1 business day, so look for that reply and respond if needed.

Technical Support -We are using Canvas this quarter. It is not currently supported by the Highline Help Desk. For technical support with Canvas, please contact me at sdelaney@highline.edu or text me at 206-395-9485.For technical support, including problems logging in to Angel or web sites, contact the Help Desk.

Library Support - For help with library research, including access to Proquest, Ebsco, and other online databases from off-campus, contact the library Reference Desk.


Writing Help. If you need advice with any stage of drafting your writing assignments, visit the Writing Center, which is part of the Highline Tutoring Center in Building 26. Writing consultants can help you with editing techniques, brainstorming, thesis statements, organization and many other issues. Just stop by and make an appointment in Building 26.  The writing center also has consultants available online - http://www.flightline.highline.edu/writingcenter/online.htm Make sure to visit the Writing Center, either in person or online, several days in advance of any assignment due date.

Mobile Access - This class is mobile friendly. Using the browser on your mobile device, you should be able to do the following activities:

  • Access course readings
  • participate in discussion
  • take quizzes

You can also download the Canvas App on your Apple iOS device (iPad, iPhone, Touch) and have access to even more features.

Accessibility. If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability; if you have emergency medical information to share with me; or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please provide me with the Letter of Accommodation you have received from the Office of Access Services.  Access Services is located in Building 6 in the Student Development Center.

Policy Regarding Academic Dishonesty. Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable in my class and at Highline Community College and are subject to disciplinary action by the college.  Any suspect documents will be returned and no credit given. For more information on what constitutes plagiarism and the steps you can take to avoid it, click on the plagiarism link under the Syllabus button in ANGEL.

Please take a moment to review this Plagiarism Tutorial.

Confidentiality. Your student records are protected by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This includes the privacy of your interactions in this class. It is important that everyone respect the privacy of our classroom. Do not share out the work, discussion posts or other communications of your classmates without their express permission. For more information on your rights and obligations in this regard, visit http://www.highline.edu/home/catalog/07-09/appendices/college_policies.html#rights.

Social Sciences Department Point Breakdown

95+= 4.087= 3.279 = 2.471 = 1.663 = .08
94= 3.986= 3.178 = 2.370 = 1.562 = .07
93= 3.885 = 3.077 = 2.269 = 1.461 = .06
92= 3.784 = 2.976 = 2.168 = 1.360 = .05
91= 3.683 = 2.875 = 2.067 = 1.259 = .04
90= 3.582 = 2.774 = 1.966 = 1.158 = .03
89= 3.481 = 2.673 = 1.865 = 1.057 = .02
88= 3.380 = 2.572 = 1.764 = .0956 = .01

Course Summary:

Date Details Due