CJ 2300 MOD 4 Assignment

Indiana Tech

College of Professional Studies

CJ 2300 Substantive Criminal Law

Online Course Syllabus

Instructor Information Please see Professor Profile at the Blackboard instructional site.

Course Schedule Please see Course Schedule in the Course Syllabus area of the Blackboard instructional

site.

Online Course Policies All of the online courses taken by students are required to follow the policies posted

online at http://online.indianatech.edu/tech-policies/policies/. Please review the posted

policies carefully. If you are unable to abide by the policies listed, please contact the

Warrior Information Network (WIN) at 888.832.4742 and request to withdraw from this

course.

Textbook Schmalleger, F. (2006). Criminal law today: An introduction with capstone cases (3rd

ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Grading Events & Grading Criteria Unless otherwise specified, all assignments must be submitted via Blackboard

The following listed activities will become a part of the evaluation demonstrating your

mastery of course materials:

Event Each Total

Tests - 2 (weeks 3,5) 100 200

Written Projects (2) 50 100

Discussion Board (5) 20 100

Total 400

Exams

Exams may be a combination of multiple choice, true/false and essay questions. The final

test will NOT be a cumulative test. It will consist of material covered after the first test.

Students will have a set amount of time to complete the tests. If the test is not completed

in the set amount of time the students will not receive any points. You will need to read

the text to fully understand the material. Cutting and pasting from the internet or copying

from the text is plagiarism and will result in a failing grade. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO

TAKE A TEST FROM A TABLET OR PHONE.

Discussion Board

Students are expected to have read the assigned materials prior to the scheduled class

discussion and be able to intelligently respond to discussion questions. You are required

to post at least THREE times. The first post should be an original thread posted by the

date specified in the schedule that other students may comment. Your original thread is a

substantive post that answers the question posed in not less than 150 words. The second

and third posts will be in response to TWO fellow students and should be at least 50

words in length. Therefore, a simple one sentence "I agree..." statement will not suffice

for full credit. Postings made too late for other students to consider and respond (i.e., at

15 minutes before the due time) may not receive full credit.

This is in place to encourage dialog between the students. Avoid "Net Jargon" and use

proper English. For example, use "you" and not "u" when referring to another

person. See the Key Information Tab about proper online interaction. This is a formal

exercise; proper etiquette and grammar are necessary and will be a factor in grading.

Written Assignments - Topic Papers

The students will be presented with scenarios that require a resolution by the student

based on information in the textbook. Grades for problems will be based on the student's

ability to recognize and discuss the issue. Each assignment is worth 50 points. (50 points

X 2 assignments = 100 total points). The ultimate answer is not as important as the

student's ability to recognize the issues and apply the law to the facts in the scenario. The

response should include a statement of the law relevant to the issue and application of

that law to the facts. These answers should be at least 700 words, double-spaced 12 point

font, one inch margins. Students shall reference the text at least FOUR (4) times in each

paper and include a word count and bibliography (i.e., formal citation of the textbook) at

the end of the paper. Internet sources will not be allowed. References must ONLY come

from the text. However, the references must be independent (no doubling up of

references).

Written assignments are designed to aid you in critically thinking about a variety of

criminal justice topics and to get you engaged in the problem solving process. They may

be utilized in the discussion board to stimulate dialogue and to prompt any questions you

may have about the criminal justice system. Your responses should be thorough and

scholarly. Avoid jargon and street language as you are completing each of the responses

to these questions. For instance, “cop” is generally unacceptable, “police officer” is

preferred. A person may be “mentally ill” or “legally insane,” not “nuts”.

Complete responses must be submitted by 11:59 P.M. EST pm the date due by posting

through BlackBoard. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you have correctly attached

the file and submitted the work. You can do this by going into your grade book and

clicking on the green asterisk (!) to see what files attached.

Scoring Rubric - 50 points total

 Length, grammar construction of paper - 10 points Paper less than 700 words, poor grammatical usage, poor document construction -

0- 3 points.

Paper 700 + words, many grammatical problems, moderate document

construction 4 - 6 points

Paper 700+ words, few grammatical problems, good paper construction 7 - 10

points

 Theoretical Sourcework - 10 points No theoretical component, insufficient cites used, internet sources, no

bibliography, theory cited not explained. Uses no references, the wrong references

(internet, Wikipedia) or uses the same cite repeatedly. 0 - 3 points

Theoretical component lacking substance. Theory referenced but not explained

mistakes with theory/citations. References not clearly marked. Some overlap on

citations used. 4 - 6 points

Well cited, four references well marked in the text including page numbers,

Citations/theory cited correctly. Bibliography well documented. 7-10 points

 Critical thought 10 points No expansion of theory - no insight. Does not relate own experience/observations

to paper. 0 - 3 points

Some expansion of theory - little to moderate insight. Relates experience

somewhat accurately. 4-6 points

Expands theory to own experiences and observations. Questions/confirms

text/citations with own insight. 7-10 points.

 Fits Assignment Parameters 20 points Assignment not followed. Does not address topics as noted. 0 - 5 points

Follows some aspects of assignment, but does not address all topics sufficiently 5

- 15 points

Addresses all aspects of assignments and goes beyond parameters as spelled out

in the assignment 15 - 20 points

 Referencing examples: Direct – As stated by the Schmalleger, “At common law, all attempts were

punishable as misdemeanors. (Schmalleger, pg. 117).

Indirect – Schmalleger (2006 pg. 117) notes that all attempts were punishable as

misdemeanors at common law.

Bibliography page: Schmalleger, Frank (2006). Criminal Law Today An

Introduction with Capstone Cases, 3e. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson / Prentice

Hall.

Internet sources and information will not be used.

Grading Scale The following grading scale will be used to assign a grade at the end of the course: Percentage Achieved Grade Percentage Achieved Grade Percentage Achieved Grade

93% or above A 80% or above B- 70% or above C-

90% or above A- 77% or above C+ 60% or above D

87% or above B+ 73% or above C Below 60% F

83% or above B

Late Assignments All assignments and required online activities are due according to the deadline listed in

the course schedule. Granting deadline extension is the course instructor’s autonomy.

Incompletes If you are unable to complete the requirements for this course due to extenuating

circumstances, an Incomplete grade (I) may be granted if you meet the general guidelines

stated below.

General Guidelines for submitting a course incomplete request:

 More than 50% of the course session has elapsed.

 The student has encountered an unexpected situation that is beyond his or her control.

 The student is o in good academic standing -- up-to-date on all of the course assignments and

has at least an overall passing grade,

o able to complete all of the remaining coursework within a session (5 weeks for a undergraduate course and 6 weeks for a graduate course) that

immediately follows the session the student is currently enrolled, and

o able to provide support documentations to substantiate the need for extra time should a session is not enough to complete the course requirements.

If an Incomplete is granted, the instructor will set a deadline for all work to be completed.

The deadline cannot go past one (1) session. All incomplete grades are subject to

approval by the designated university authority.

Course Related Communication

Online courses are conducted in an accelerated format. Timely communication is very

important. When receiving emails from your classmates or instructor, please respond as

soon as you can.

Students are REQUIRED to use their Indiana Tech email account for all course related

communication. The most direct, and effective, way to email your course instructor and

classmates, is by using the Send Email function within the Blackboard course site. When

you use the Send Email function, you automatically receive a carbon copy of the email

you sent. In the event when you need to substantiate your claim that you did email your

classmates or instructor, you can show that carbon copy to the person(s) who requested it.

Please note that Blackboard only permits you to send email, it does not provide you with

the check email function. All of the emails your classmates and instructor send to you

will be delivered to your Indiana Tech email account. You are strongly encouraged to

check your Indiana Tech email account regularly, preferably several times a week, to

minimize the likelihood of miscommunication.

The University policy requires each online course instructor to respond to a student’s

email within 24 hours. Unless there is an extraneous situation that prevents the instructor

from following this rule, you can expect to hear from the instructor within 24 hours. If

you don’t receive a reply within 24 hours, please do not hesitate to follow up with

another email or forward the carbon copy of the email you sent to

[email protected] with a note “Please help. It’s been 24 hours and I have

not heard from my instructor” and the University support staff will act on your behalf to

contact your course instructor.