DELL 104 A:  First Year Symposium

Topic:  "Who's conning who? Critical Thinking in a Digital Age"

 

SCHEDULE AND READINGS

 

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

Most assignments are short papers applying knowledge from the class to issues found on Internet or elsewhere. Some are speaking activities.  Papers are graded by this rubric.

(Do I care if your paper's or speaking's results agree with my views? Not at all. I do care that you make a great case, in which case, you may change my views. And your own.)

All written assignments are due midnight of the due date, emailed to my address, briggs dot double u at lynchburg dot edu, with "DELL104" in the subject. (If you email me about something else, please don't put "DELL" in the subject, or I won't see it until I'm grading!) Late papers are not accepted.  Better to hand in a poor paper than none at all.

Class participation: 13%. Class participation is judged by active, engaged commenting on the topic at hand, having read the relevant materials.  Here is a rough guide to how it's judged:

A: Student is prepared (read the relevant materials), speaks more than once, with relevant comments that inspire or make people think.
B: Student is prepared, speaks more than once, with relevant comments that make sense.
C: Student speaks, with comments that are relevant but don't show full preparation or understanding or is partly absent.
D: Student gives minimal contribution.
F: Student gives no contribution. 

If you don't think my assessment matches your level of preparation or commenting one week, just go for more engagement the next week.

Weekend question:  12%.  On weekends before a new reading is due, I will email you a question.  It should be easy enough that you can answer it as long as you've done the reading.

Weekly or biweekly assignments, either writing or speaking activities: 75%. Some units (1, 4, 7, 9) are longer than others and thus their assignments will carry greater weight. A passing grade is 3/5 (60%).   The grading scheme is here.

How to accumulate points on writing assignments (easiest to hardest):

✓ Use the source or sources appropriately
✓ Cite those sources using citation format as specified. Papers without reference sections will not be accepted.
✓ Have a clearly stated answer to the question the paper is intended to address
✓ Proofread your paper to eliminate errors in writing
✓ Take your paper to the Writing Center for help with this as well as with paper construction
✓ Use this format for your paper:

Thesis paragraph
…Paragraphs giving reasons to believe the thesis…
Conclusion paragraph

✓ Let your arguments be concrete, sound, and convincing. (That doesn't mean I have to agree with them! :) )

ATTENDANCE

You can have 4 absences. If you have more, you are withdrawn from the class. We can deal with special circumstances such as an out-of-town game if you tell me in advance. Medical absences require a clinic or doctor's note. A tardy counts as half an absence.

If you are in COVID isolation, let me know and I will try to bring a camera to class so you can join by Google Meet. It likely won't be as good as in-person attendance, but it's better than missing out! If attending remotely, I'll count you as present as long as you keep your camera on, and notify me in chat if you must step out.

HONOR CODE

A paper that plagiarizes the work of others will receive a 0; students may be dismissed from the class for plagiarism at the discretion of the teacher and/or Symposium director, or be turned over to the Honor Board for adjudication.

THE AGORA

Excellent student papers are invited for consideration by the Agora, LC's journal of excellent student writing. You might mail me a copy of any submissions -- in the past there has been a problem with the submission system, though I assume it's fixed now.

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DISABILITY STATEMENT 

Center for Accessibility and Disability Resources

University of Lynchburg is committed to providing all students equal access to learning opportunities.  The Center for Accessibility and Disability Services (CADR) works with eligible students with disabilities (medical, physical, mental health and cognitive) to make arrangements for appropriate, reasonable accommodations.  Accommodations are available as applicable in both live and virtual classroom settings.  Students registered with CADR who receive approved accommodations are required to provide letters of accommodation each semester to each professor if they wish to use their accommodations.  A meeting to discuss accommodations the student wishes to implement in individual courses is strongly suggested. Accommodations are not retroactive and begin when the accommodation letter is provided to faculty. For information about requesting accommodations, please visit https://www.lynchburg.edu/academics/disability-services/ or use the contact information below.   (Effective: 1/15/20)

Contact Information

 

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OTHER STATEMENTS

Wilmer Writing Center Syllabus Statement

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect for Others Syllabus Statement

Knight-Capron Library Syllabus Statement

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