Late Work/Make-Up Exams
I only allow a make-up exam for University Sanctioned Absences. I need a letter on SUNY-Fredonia letterhead a week in advance from your coach/faculty sponsor. Late final papers will lose 1/3 a letter grade per calendar (this includes weekends).
Special Needs
Special needs will be accommodated whenever possible. Students with special needs should consult me as soon as possible so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
Classroom Behavior
All students are expected to act responsibly in class. Use of cell phones, talking in class, and/or disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated. (Important: Keep cell phones off and put away at all times during class.) Repeated violations of these policies will result in the student being withdrawn from the course with a grade of W.
Absentee/Late Policy
Attendence is a reliable guide to retention.
There are very good reasons to believe that attendance throughout the semester and digesting course material in small units over an extended period of time has a positive impact on long term retention of course material. My goal for you in this class is not merely to demonstrate, at testing time, a mastery of the material. I also intend that you retain a certain level of that mastery beyond this class. Attendance is a reliable guide to long term retention of the knowledge and skills developed in this class, and so it should be reflected in the grade.
Two Free Absences (Deductions After That)
I’ll give you two free absences. Each absence after that will result in a 2 point letter grade deduction from your final grade. Missing any part of class counts as an absence (So, don’t come late and don’t leave early)
Coming to Class Prepared:
You must come to class with a copy of the reading assignment to be discussed that day. Failure to do so will count as an absence.
Student Responsibility
If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out from another student what you missed.
Paying Attention:
Attendance is a reliable guide to retention, but so is paying attention and actively participating. Because of this, texting, surfing, sleeping, gaming, reading newspapers etc… are prohibited and will constitute an absence. I will not be informing you when I catch you, so just because I don’t speak to you about your texting doesn’t mean I haven’t seen you.
Exam Dates
Exam dates are set in stone. Check final exam dates before making any end of the semester/break plans, and do not schedule any travel that forces you to miss an exam. If you do, do not come to me to reschedule an exam and tell me that you have already paid for the ticket. You will be forced to make a choice between the exam and your travel plans.
Laptop Policy
I will make note of each laptop user when I take attendance. If you bring your laptop to class, then you are required to upload your notes to the course dropbox (or email them to me if the dropbox is unavailable) – immediately after class. Failure to do so will result in an absence.
Why the Policy?
Recent studies suggest that students who bring laptops to class perform worse (on average) than their non-laptop using peers, and are much less likely to pay attention in class. Laptops can also be a distraction for other students.
One increasingly popular option is to ban laptops in the classroom, but I want a laptop policy that accommodates the students who can efficiently use a laptop in class for note taking. Students who are genuinely using laptops to take a large amount of notes, so many that it would be laborious to transcribe handwritten notes to a computer outside of class, should be allowed to use their laptops in class.
This requirement has the virtues of not prohibiting laptops for students who are genuinely using the laptops for course purposes.
Bonus: It also helps me be a better teacher. I’ll get a nice sample of what students take down as notes – this helps me ascertain whether what I think is important is getting across to students.
Plagiarism/Dishonesty
I expect all writing that you turn in to me to be your own. Plagiarism is a serious offense, and it is the student’s responsibility to know what counts as plagiarism/Dishonesty. All suspected instances of plagiarism/dishonesty will be investigated. Clear cases will result in an appropriate academic discipline, and an “F” may be given for the entire course. If you haven’t already, you should read pages 236-238 in the Undergraduate Catalog.
Email Etiquette
Always give your full name, and tell me which class you are in. Please reserve email questions for things that cannot easily be answered by (1) looking online, (2) pulling out your copy of the syllabus, or (3) asking a classmate.
There are kinds of email I would love to answer. I’m a philosopher, and I love to talk and argue about philosophy. If you want to carry on some philosophical dialogue – I’ll do that ALL DAY LONG. If you need to set up an appointment or want to know what sorts of philosophy extracurricular activities the department offers, shoot me an email.
Pop Quizzes
I may give pop-quizzes either on the assigned reading or on material covered from last class…so do the reading and review the material from last class before the next class. One pop quiz will be worth 2% of the final grade. Two will be worth 4 %. Three or more will be worth 10% of the final grade. The remaining percentages will be divided evenly over the exams and papers in proportion to their current percentages.
Course Blog
Instead of using Angel, I will being having a course blog for all course management needs. You can access the course blog through Angel, but it will always be available at http://www.andrewcullison.com/courses - I recommend that you bookmark this link. From now on – “Angel was down” won’t be a good excuse for failing to complete online components of the course.
I’ll spare you the details about why this is awesome. You can read about it why I do this here in the About Page.
To get started with the course blog go to the “Getting Started Page“
Posting to the Blog
Students will be required to participate in blog discussion on the course blog. There are three requirements.
1. Weekly 200 (200 words in comments or posts every week. Due every Friday).
2. 1 Research post 250-500 words (due dates to be assigned)
More Information About Posting to the Blog
Always Choose At Least a Class Category and Post Category
- You won’t get credit if you don’t
- Student’s Will Be Able to Browse Posts By Type
- Class Categories: (the name of the course) e.g. Philosophical Inquiry
- Post Categories: Analysis Post, Research Post, and Miscellaneous Thought
This Blog is Publicly Viewable
- Anybody can read it, but you may post under a nickname if you choose.
- Also, you may check “private” when you publish your post, if you only want the class to view it.
- All students are required to read the course Privacy Statement.
2/3 of your readers are not in class with you
- Your analysis posts really need to do a good job of summarizing the other posts for students who are not familiar with the material (because, well, they’re actually not familiar with it.)
- You also need to be mindful to tag your post, so that students in your class who want to quickly scan posts from our class will see your post. To help insure this, uncategorized posts will not get full credit.
NOTE: Some of the features of this blog are experimental – I’d appreciate any feedback you have on this aspect of the course (positive or negative).
Tips for Doing Well
Come to Class/Do the Reading
There is a very strong correlation between students who do well on papers and exams and students who have near perfect attendance and do the reading.
Come See Me
Philosophy is hard. I’m supposed to make it easier. If you are having problems understanding something, that can usually be remedied – so come see me if things aren’t making sense. Do this throughout the semester – not just the week before the test.
Speak Up When You Don’t Understand
Socrates, one of the most famous philosophers of all time, spent his entire life openly confessing not to understand just about everything. If something doesn’t make sense to you, chances are it doesn’t make sense to a lot of people in the class. When it would help to have something clarified – ask!
Focus On the Arguments
Philosophy is an argument centered discipline. Philosophers, at their best, are not in the business of merely poetically asserting world views. Philosophers are interested in what the best rational case is for the answers to life’s biggest questions, and so they focus on the arguments for and against answers to these questions. You should too.
Whether in class or reading at home, carefully pay attention to (i) the arguments, (ii) the reasons given for the premises of each argument, and (iii) the objections to any of the premises.
As you read or hear arguments in class try and come up with possible reasons for premises or possible objections to premises that haven’t been presented – that’s a big part of doing philosophy!
Speaking Intensive Courses/400 Level Courses
I have some additional requirements for my 400 level courses.
Weekly Summaries
Students must write 2 page summaries of at least one of the major readings each week. They must be submitted at 8AM the day of class. Share them with me via Google Docs.
Speaking Intensive Classes
My speaking presentations will be video based. Students must record at least two video mini-lectures. One will involve a mini-lecture about the readings for that week. The other will be a presentation on your final research paper. Here are some features to note about why I am doing video lecture (instead of traditional in class audience).
- Future oral communication will likely involve you speaking into a camera.
- There are certain awkward differences when speaking into a camera, and it’s worth practicing those. Most notably, not having a audience to read.
- You can self-critique.
Equipment and Privacy Disclaimer
In the event that there is not sufficient equipment to do video lectures, we will resort to in class presentations. If you are uncomfortable with posting video of yourself to YouTube, please come see me and we will discuss alternative speaking assignments.