help with science (3)

GS 491 Syllabus

INSTRUCTOR NAME Kristie Weeks

EMAIL Only use email for questions of a confidential nature to [email protected].

Make sure to read my Ask Three Then Me policy before sending emails.

VIRTUAL OFFICE: Preferred method of contact. Students should post all non-

confidential questions to my virtual office on Moodle.

OFFICE BE 336

OFFICE HOURS Tuesdays 8:30-10 am; Fridays 10:30 am-12:00 pm

Because of the nature of my job, I may not be in my office during my office hours,

so please set up an appointment. I can arrange to meet you if you want a face-to-

face meeting on another day.

VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS To be scheduled

To join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, or Android: https://zoom.us/j/5318383918

Or join by phone:

+1 646 558 8656 (US Toll) or +1 408 638 0968 (US Toll)

Meeting ID: 531 838 3918

TEACHING ASSISTANT INFORMATION

NAME Chidi Okonkwo

EMAIL [email protected]

OFFICE BE 335

OFFICE HOURS Monday 11-1 Friday 10-12

Required Course Materials

TEXTBOOK

Covey, S. R. (1989). Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

ISBN: 9781476740058

You can buy this book on half.com for .75 cents.

Or you can get the book free online at

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/upwardbound/books/the-7-habits-ofhighly-effective-

people.pdf

Additionally, at the end of this syllabus, a list of approved books is

provided. Students are required to buy, read, and present on one of the books in

the list. No two students may choose the same book, so all book choices must be

approved by me. By the first week of class, you should have chosen and purchased

your book from the list. (If you want to present a book not on the list, you must

first okay it with me.) If you start reading a book and decide you don’t like it, you

are free to change books at any time. By the third week of class, I expect you will

have read both the Covey book and your chosen book in their entirety. Take

copious notes while you are reading.

COMPUTER EQUIPMENT/SOFTWARE

 Reliable computer and internet service provider

 Recommended browser: Chrome or Firefox. Internet Explorer is strongly not

recommended.

 Speakers to hear lectures

 Microphone to submit audio-based assignments

 Word-processing software programs (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Publisher)

 Adobe Flash

 Adobe Reader

Course Description

This fast-paced, 7 ½ week online course targets undergraduate students who are

nearing completion of their studies. It is designed to build on skills acquired in

earlier courses and emphasize situations and challenges that exist in the "real

world." Specific learning goals and course objectives are to provide an opportunity

for students to demonstrate a range of professional competencies and

communication skills. By completing research projects, project presentation, and

critical analysis of current popular books related to topics of leadership, business,

success, communication, strategy, teamwork, organization, and many other topics,

students will develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. In-class

discussion and introspective writing assignments will assist students in

understanding, incorporating, and using the information in their real world

professional situations.

Please note you must pass this course with a C in order to graduate.

To be successful in this course, you must:

 Have access to a computer and internet – on a daily basis.

 Have decent typing skills. They are a major plus for this course!

 Write and write and write in this course…and your writing will be shared with

the entire class.

 Understand that technological problems are not an excuse for late/missed

work! Plan ahead! Turn in documents early! Have a backup plan for when

problems occur!

 Meet deadlines. In the “real world,” you will be expected to produce

professional-quality work on short notice and within tight deadlines. Those

same expectations apply to this class.

 Ask questions! Participate!

Course Objectives

This course has four areas of focus with learning objective(s) for each:

Writing: Learn how to develop an effective, clear writing style that will be used to

write a weekly discussions, and reading guides, and a formal research report on an

identified and approved business-related topic.

Research/Critical Understanding: Learn how to gather, organize, and critically

analyze data from research; be able to incorporate research into assigned writing

clearly, concisely, and logically; be able to properly cite sources.

Design: Learn how to create and incorporate graphics (tables, charts, graphs) for

maximum effect and use principles of design effectively in required business

documents and presentations.

Professional Collaboration: Learn how to participate effectively in group discussion

with an emphasis on critical and reflective thinking and to respond usefully and

appropriately to others' writing.

Course Policies

DOCUMENT FORMAT

I will hold you to professional standards in the final drafts of documents that you

submit. Your final drafts must be typed, with appropriate spacing and margins,

and error free. I require you to submit all assignments to me via Moodle in

Microsoft Word or PDF format. Fluency in Microsoft Word is important; it is your

responsibility to familiarize yourself with this program.

I will not accept documents in any other format except for Microsoft Word or PDF.

DEADLINES

On the job, deadlines are usually absolute. To avoid a reduction in your grade,

submit assignments on the day they are due. Late work will not be accepted—the

only exception is documented illness. This rule is absolute, so please do not email

me to ask for an extension. In an online class it is imperative that you keep up

with the assignments, and strict deadlines are my way of preventing you from

getting too far behind.

ILLNESS

If you are ill and get behind on an assignment, you will be granted an extension if

you provide me with a doctor’s excuse for the time period for which the

assignment was due.

ATTENDANCE

In an online class, “role” is taken by your participation in the discussion portion of

the class. I expect each student to post at least two discussion forum entries per

topic per week (you must respond to one of my prompts as well as respond to one

of your classmate’s responses).

Even if every assignment you turn in is an "A," excessive absences (lack of participation

in at least 3 of the required 6 discussion forums) mean that you have missed a

substantial portion of the work expected for completing this course; therefore, you will

not receive an “A” for the clas

PROFESSIONALISM POLICY

Postings should be checked for spelling and grammar. In addition, students are

expected to be professional in their online “behavior.” Postings should be civil and

polite and should not contain inappropriate language or content. You are free to

disagree with others as long as you do it without being offensive or resorting to

personal attacks. As a group we are trying to create a productive learning community

where everyone feels free to express his or her opinion without intimidation. So, be

careful to avoid sarcasm or insults. Please

seehttp://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html for additional tips on

“netiquette.” You may be removed from the course for unprofessional or inappropriate

online behavior.

PLAGIARISM POLICY

All individual work should be done individually. Do not cheat and do not encourage

academic dishonesty by allowing others to cheat. Any similarity between submitted

works of individual students could be considered prima facie evidence of plagiarism.

“We worked together on this assignment” or “I just wanted the format” is not a valid

defense. All students (i.e., including those who aided and abetted) involved in a

plagiarism incident will be reported to the Student Conduct board and could be subject

to penalties such as a zero on the assignment and/or in the class. Please also refer to

the Plagiarism booklet and the section on student conduct below. More information is

also available in the student handbook (http://www.lsus.edu/offices-and-

services/policies-and-manuals/student-handbook ).

E-MAIL

You may contact me via email with confidential questions and concerns. All course

related questions must be posted to my online office. However, before you send

an email, please note my Ask Three Then Me policy:

What is Ask Three Then Me?

Before you send me an email or a message, you must first consult a minimum of

three sources: the syllabus, the course information book, ask a fellow student in

the student lounge, the course textbook or website, Google, YouTube, or one of

my videos. If you have really looked for the answer and sincerely can't find it, you

may then email or message me.

Why do I have an Ask Three Then Me Policy?

 When I spend time responding to knee-jerk emails from students, it takes my

attention away from the real teaching I want to be doing in the class.

 You need to learn how to find information on your own. If you asked your boss

questions without first looking for the answer, you probably wouldn't last long

at that job. It's a skill you need to develop.

Please follow the guidelines below when contacting me via email:

 Please check your LSUS student email daily. I do not have access to your

personal email accounts and will only send email to your LSUS student email.

 All email to me must come from your LSUS account. You must put your name

and the course name as the subject (e.g., Ann Smith GS 491). If I see an email

address that I do not recognize and it does not have your name and GS 491 as

the subject, I delete it without opening it.

 Please sign your whole name after your message. Always. Even if you send a

message via Moodle, you must still sign your full name.

 Please use correct grammar. Although email is a quick and convenient form of

communication, bad grammar creates a poor impression and can also lead to

unclear communication. If you consistently send me emails that use poor

grammar, I will at first send you a note letting you know to correct the

problem. If the problem continues, I will refuse to respond to emails that are

replete with grammar errors.

 Messages that are demanding, rude, or inappropriate will not receive a

response. If you are angry or frustrated, please choose to have that

conversation face to face, not in a flaming email.

Discussion Forum

This class requires a lot of introspection and discussion of abstract concepts and

personal values and thoughts. Thorough discussion and thought will be required

to better understand, grasp, and digest these ideas. Therefore, more participation

than usual will be required for students to get the most from this class. If you do

not participate in the discussion forum portion of this class, you will not pass the

class.

For the discussion forums, we will listen to talks of well-known, inspiring, educational,

and motivational speakers on Ted.com. I am trying to create a sort of guest speaker

concept into the class. I have listed the Ted talks that I have chosen so that you can

start listening to them:

 Week 2: Seth Godin, The Tribes We Lead

 Week 3: Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

 Week 4: Nigel Marsh: How to Make Work-Life Balance Work

 Week 5: Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation

 Week 6: Julian Treasure: 5 Ways to Listen Better

 Week 7: Tony Robbins: Why We Do What We Do

 Week 8: Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability

I will post the Discussion Board questions by Sunday at 6:00 pm. You are required to

make two posts per week—an initial post in response to my question and a response

post to a classmate. You will be assigned a forum group of around 10 students,

alphabetized according to your last name.

Posts will not be accepted late. The total point value for this assignment is 20

points--10 points for your initial post and 10 points for your response post.

Initial Post—10 points. You must post your initial response by midnight on

Wednesday. In your initial response, you must answer the questions I pose,

making sure to cite your book or any outside sources that you use. A complete

initial post answers the question posed, uses the text as a basis for the answer,

and analyzes the material. A complete answer is generally 3-4 paragraphs long.

Response Post—10 points. You must provide a thoughtful response to any one

classmate by midnight on Thursday. For your response to your classmate, one to two

sentences responses that basically say "great job" will receive zero points. You must

provide a thought-provoking, intelligent response to your classmate, and I expect the

responses to be at least 2-3 paragraphs.

If I respond to your post, I expect you to answer the questions I pose. You can

improve your grade by answering the question more completely. Responding to me

is NOT the same as responding to a classmate.

Research Paper

Your research paper will be based on the two required books for this class: Covey

and the book of your choice.

Format requirements:

 title page

 single spaced with double space in between paragraphs--no indents

 Microsoft Word

 font size 11 points

 one inch margins

 paginated

 appropriate headings—each section starts on a new page and each section

clearly identified with headers

 altogether approximately 5-7 pages single spaced with double space in between

paragraphs

 professionally designed

Content requirements:

1. Catchy designed title page with an interesting title, your name, name of your

chosen book, and author of book prominently displayed. I expect you will incorporate

a professional report format—not an academic format. You may use a report template

that you find online, or you can create your own.

2. Summary of your chosen book.

 250 word synopsis/summary/highlights of your chosen book. Do not go over

250 words!

3. Criticism: List any criticisms you have or points you disagree with in the

book and why.

 500 word critical analysis that refers to specific statements, theories, or

concepts that you find not usable, inadequate, or irrelevant. Also, you may

point out areas in the book that are over explained, under explained, not

supported by adequate research, and/or that deviate from the primary

purpose/message of the book.

 You must use at least one outside research source in this section. This source

must in some way provide support for your critical analysis. Look for experts

and leaders who have written on the same topic and/or written critically about

the author and the book.

 It’s common for students to say “I can’t find anything to disagree about in my

book.” When I hear that, my response is you are not looking hard enough.

4. Synthesis with 7 Habits and Critical Analysis

 This section is the heart of the research paper! This section must showcase

your analytical, critical thinking, and research abilities

 1500-2000 word critical analysis of how your chosen book overlaps with Covey

7 Habits. What would Covey say about this book? Where do these two books

intersect (agree)? Where do they disagree? How does each one of the Habits

correlate to one of the key points in your chosen book?

 You must include a discussion of implications of acting on the information in

the two books that you see for individual behavior, for group processes, and for

managers/supervisors’ effectiveness in the workplace. In other words, how are

the two books practically applied in the real world?

 Report research you find that supports, detracts from, or adds to the both

books’ power as a guide to becoming an effective person. This section should

address the question of whether the information in the books is supported in

the current literature as improving a person’s effectiveness.

 This section must include a minimum of three outside researched sources.

5. Include a bibliography and citations.

 A minimum of four quality research sources is required

 The Covey book and your chosen book are not to be included in your

bibliography, nor are they considered researched sources. However, I do expect

that you will quote heavily from these books

 May use MLA or APA format—whichever is most familiar to you

Weekly Reading Guides

For the first four weeks, you will be required to answer 5-10 questions concerning

one to two of the seven Habits. You will upload your answers in a Microsoft Word

document to Moodle.

PowerPoint Presentation

You will prepare a PowerPoint presentation that contains your audio to be delivered

to the class. This presentation will summarize your chosen book, condensing the

content to its most important real-world usable points (the marrow). This

PowerPoint will be uploaded into Moodle so that the entire class can have access to

it. The class is relying on you to teach them this book, so think of yourself as a

teacher and the book is a textbook you are teaching to students.

 The PowerPoint is worth 100 points total; it will be graded on quality, content

pertinent to the book, usefulness, design, and proper use of spelling and

grammar. I expect these presentations to be error free.

 The presentation should be limited to 10 minutes and 15 slides.

Peer Evaluations

You will be required to evaluate the presentations of your peers. To do this, you

will fill out an evaluation form that I have composed. On this form, you will grade

your peers’ presentations on a scale of 1-100 based on several criteria. You will

share this evaluation with the presenter.

Each completed peer evaluation will be worth 10 points, and you will review the

presentations of 5 of your peers for a total point value of 50 points. Depending on the

number of students in the class, I may have to change the number of members in each

group and alter the point value accordingly.

I know it can be uncomfortable reviewing/grading a peer. However, in the real world,

you will be put in uncomfortable situations like this, so this is an opportunity to work

on this skill. Additionally, it can be hard getting critical feedback from peers and even

instructors. This critical feedback is essential, however, to be able to see where you

need to work harder to improve.

I will be looking to make sure you are honest in your evaluation of your peers. If an

obviously 50 (F) presentation is given a 90 level score (or vice versa), you will receive

negative points for the evaluation. This rule is in place to prevent the very common

student practice of rating all student peers between 90 and 95 on everything. Honor,

integrity, and trustworthiness are required of evaluators.

Student Support Services

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS AND SKILLS

As this course is delivered in an online format, it is expected that students have

access to a computer with internet capability. Students are expected to be familiar

with basic operations on Moodle, such as opening links and uploading

attachments. A quick guide to Moodle operations titled “LSUS Moodle Student

Handout” is available under the “Main Menu” box located on the left hand top

corner of your screen when you log on to Moodle. A more detailed visual and oral

tour of Moodle is available by clicking on the “LSUS Moodle Screencast” link at the

bottom of the main page on Moodle.

TECHINCAL SUPPORT

Students encountering technical difficulties with Moodle should contact LSUS

Informational Technology Services at (318-797-5221; [email protected] ).

OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES

The university provides a broad range support services including academic support

and counseling. Here are links to specific services:

 Student Development Main Page

 Student Support Services:

 Success workshops

 Academic coaching

 Tips for college students

 Counseling Services

 Library Resources [includes services especially for distance learners]

 Disability Services: Call the office of the Coordinator of Services to Students with

Disabilities at 318-797-5365]

DISABILITY SERVICES

LSUS is committed to making students with disabilities full participants in its

programs, services, and activities. University policy calls for reasonable

accommodations to be made for students with disabilities on an individual and

flexible basis. However, it is the responsibility of the students to make their needs

known. If you have a documented disability that impacts your academic work and

for which you require accommodations, please see me or the Coordinator of

Services to Students with Disabilities (ADM 220, Phone 797-5365) so that such

accommodations may be arranged.

Student Conduct

LSUS has the responsibility to protect its educational purposes and the health and

safety of the university community through the setting of standards of scholarship

and conduct for its students. Students are responsible for knowing and complying

with the provisions of the LSUS Code of Student Conduct, particularly those

pertaining to plagiarism and academic dishonesty. (Refer to the LSUS Student

Handbook.)

All instances of academic misconduct (e.g. cheating, plagiarism) must be reported to

the Office of Student Affairs. If a student is found guilty of academic misconduct, he

or she could face loss of credit for the work and/or the course involved, probation,

and/or separation from the university as determined by the Student Conduct

Board. See the current Student Handbook for the complete "Student Code of Conduct."

All students at LSUS are required to have a copy of Understanding Plagiarism, the

university guide to defining, understanding, and avoiding plagiarism. This booklet is

available at the LSUS Bookstore.