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ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES

Grades will be determined as shown in the following chart. Due dates and additional information on assignments are in the Course Schedule (posted in the “Modules” section of our Canvas website).

CLASS PARTICIPATION AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS

As you can see from the table above, online activities such as answering Discussion Questions and participating in class discussion account for a substantial percentage of your grade. The reason is that, like face-to-face classes, online classes must meet certain specific attendance and participation requirements. Federal regulations mandate that online courses should require the same amount of student attendance as face-to-face courses (typically, six hours per week for accelerated, 3 credit-hour Summer classes). By federal standards, courses that do not comply with the regulations are not considered online courses, but qualify only as correspondence courses, which are not eligible for federal financial aid. So that our course complies with federal regulations and all students remain eligible for federal financial aid, we must meet clearly defined attendance and participation standards. Each week, you should plan on spending six hours or more participating in our course's online learning activities.

GRADING SCALE AND AVAILABLE GRADES

Other available grades: FN (Failure for Non-attendance), W (Withdrew), I (Incomplete; please see the policy on incompletes below).

COURSE POLICIES

Late Policy for Course Assignments:

Homework assignments are posted in the Course Schedule (available from the “Modules” section of our Canvas website). Doing your homework on schedule is essential for succeeding in our course. If, in a given week, you are unable to submit your homework, please contact me immediately. On a case by case basis, you may be allowed to turn in the missing homework for credit (with a 10% penalty) in the following week. Time is of the essence, however. After one full week from their due date, homework sets are considered expired, and you can no longer earn any credit for them (you may still do them for practice, though).

Since Discussion Questions and class participation are always tied to a particular week, there is no way to earn credit for them after the end of the week they belong to. Within the week they are part of, answers to Discussion Questions that come after the deadline (Wednesday for DQs 1 and 2 and Friday for DQs 3 and 4) will incur a 10% penalty for each day they are late.

The way late work is handled in our course reflects one of the fundamental principles of online learning: you can only make progress in an online course if you are engaged with it on a very regular basis, preferably daily. Devoting some time to our class every day will put you on the path towards success. Working irregularly or occasionally will almost certainly lead to failure. If you think that an online class is one you can comfortably pass by doing a little bit of work during week-ends or as time permits, you are mistaken. Normally, online classes require more work, discipline, and dedication than face-to-face classes. This is especially true in the Summer, when the content of a 15-week course is packed into a mere six weeks. Please check your schedule and make sure you have time to devote to our course every day. If you do not anticipate that you will be able to make a significant time commitment to the course in each of the following six weeks, please consider taking it in the Fall or Spring.

Original Work:

Academic honesty is one of the cornerstones of the IU Northwest community. You will learn and make progress in our course only if your work is 100% your own. It is OK to make mistakes, ask for guidance, and improve. It is not OK to cut corners, cheat, or pass off someone else’s work as your own. All cases of academic dishonesty will be referred to the office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.