Dr. Yoder
Fall 2009      English 3331.02
Major British Writers I
House Rules

1. Do your homework. Come to class. Be prepared to talk. Always bring the text to class.


2. Course Listserve: This course makes fairly extensive use of the class email listserve. Computing Services enrolls all students onto the listserve, so you should already be on the list, but this will be with your UALR EMAIL ACCOUNT. If you wish to use some other email account, that is fine, but you will need to join from that account. Directions on how to do that are here. Your weekly journals MUST be posted to the listserve, but I also encourage you to use the listserve to continue our in class conversations online.


3. Writing Assignments: There are 2 different types of writing assignments. First are informal weekly journals posted to the course listserve; these should be no less than a full typed page (roughly 250 words), and they should be about the class. Journals that stop only at "I like this; I do not like that" remarks will receive no credit. The individual journal entries will be ungraded, but you will receive a collective grade based on how many journals you actually submit. Since the individual journals entries will not be graded, the best approach is to try to have fun thinking about the work: speculate, venture, invent, try out new ideas, think through problems. These journals should be posted to the course listserve and are due by 6am on Thursday; journals not received by start of class on Thursday will not be accepted. The other writing assignments are short papers on each of the "units" of the course, based on a choice of topics. The options and more more details on the assignments are here.



4. Grading: I use a 4-point grading scale:
   For final grades: A=4; B=3; C=2; D=1;F=0.
   
   For individual assignments: A=4; A-=3.7; B+=3.3; B=3; B-=2.7; C+=2.3; C=2;
                                                C-=1.7; D+=1.3; D=1; D-=0.7; F= 0.
   
   The relative value of the assignments is as follows:
   
   

   4 Unit Papers	15% each
   Journals	20%
   Attendance/Participation*	20%

   
   *My attendance policy is usually fairly flexible, but I weighting attendance and participation more heavily in this class (20%).
   I shall take attendance every day. There are roughly 30 class days in the semester; at the end of the semester, I shall
   count up your absences and assign a grade based on the usual percentages (90%=A; 80%=B, etc.); thus, if you miss 40% of
   the classes (12 classes) expect an F for Attendance and Participation. Excuses will only be granted in advance. If
   you miss roll call, you must confirm your presence on the roster before leaving class that day in order to receive credit.
   
   All formal assignments must be completed to pass the class.


5. Secondary Education Minors: Those students with Secondary Education Minors must participate in the assessment process. The assessment assignment is here. Assessment materials must be submitted to Chalk & Wire at the Chalk & Wire E-Portfolio Page. If you do not already have one, you will need to establish a Chalk & Wire account. Contact . . . for Chalk & Wire accounts. A PDF with instructions on how to post your assessment materials is available here. Failure to complete the assessment assignment will result in your final grade being withheld.


6. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another's work, whether directly quoted or paraphrased.
   It is intellectual theft and will not be tolerated. The best a plagiarist may hope for is an "F"
   on the particular assignment. If you have questions about plagiarism, please do not hesitate to ask.

Students with Disabilities: It is the policy of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to create inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate assessment of achievement, such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned video, please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are also welcome to contact the Disability Resource Center, telephone 501-569-3143 (v/tty). For more information, visit the DRC website at http://ualr.edu/disability/.

Return to Major British Writers I Front Page
Doc Yoder's Home