Course Syllabus Blinn College - Bryan Campus Strategies for College Success STDY 0311 Summer Semester 2012 Instructor: Krista L. Salazar Blinn College Website: http://www.blinn.edu Office: Administration Building, #265 Email: krista.salazar@blinn.edu Office Phone: (979) 209-7472, ext.8 krista_salazar@yahoo.com Office Hours: MTWRF 10:45 11:35 am (G234) *Students are strongly encouraged to reach me by email and to schedule office visits. I very rarely check my office phone; therefore email is the BEST way to reach me. Course Description: STDY 0311: Strategies for College Success is designed for development and improvement of study systems. Emphasis is placed on college-level study skills, the improvement of time management, effective listening and note-taking, marking texts, learning through media, concentration, retention of information, and skills needed for taking examinations. Nor prerequisite is required. Credit of three (3) semester hours. Course Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes: Identify college success resources on campus; Evaluate strategies for maintaining a physically and mentally healthy lifestyle; Analyze different learning styles; Apply active learning strategies in their work; Demonstrate goal, time, and stress management strategies; Build critical/creative thinking and problem-solving skills; Practice listening, communication, and note-taking skills; Evaluate successful textbook reading strategies; Develop test-taking strategies. Research career opportunities Required Textbook: C a r t e r, C a r o l, J o y c e B i s h o p, a n d S a r a h L y m a n K r a v i t s. Key s t o E f f e c t i v e L e a r n i n g : S t u d y S k i l l s a n d H a b i t s f o r S u c c e s s. 6 t h e d. B o s t o n : P e a r s o n, 2 0 1 1. P r i n t. Other Required Materials: Student Planner/Calendar (approximately $5 at any local school/office supplier) Standard college-level dictionary, paper or electronic Standard loose-leaf notebook paper AccuScan forms (10) One 1-inch, three-ring binder, in good condition One folder for research Pens/Pencils Highlighter(s) Jump Drive/Memory Stick, etc.
Course Requirements: In-class Assignments Students will work individually, with partners, and in small groups to learn, practice, and demonstrate mastery of student success strategies. Textbook Assignments Textbook assignments are intended to help students learn and practice new student success strategies. Research Project Students will choose a career which they will then research throughout the entire semester and o which they will prepare both a written report and an oral presentation at the end of the semester. Tests Students will demonstrate mastery of college success strategies on four exams spaced evenly throughout the semester. Portfolio From the beginning of the semester until the end, students must keep all graded work in a notebook which they will turn in at the end of the semester. Final Exam A final test (Post-Test) will be given at the end of the semester to determine students overall mastery of college success strategies. Grading Criteria: Each student will meet with the instructor at the final exam to complete a final grade check. In-class Assignments/Class Participation 20% 200 points Textbook/Homework Assignments 10% 200 points Research Project 20% 200 points Tests 30% 200 points Portfolio 10% 100 points Final Exam (Post-Test) 10% 100 points Total 100% 1,000 points Grading System: A 90-100% Excellent B - 80-89% Good C - 70-79% Average D - 60-69% Poor F below 60% Failure I Incomplete Q Dropped QF Dropped Failing W Dropped Due to Good Cause or Withdrew from College Blinn College Policies: Attendance Policy The College District believes that class attendance is essential for student success; therefore, students are required to promptly and regularly attend all their classes. Each class meeting builds the foundation for subsequent class meetings. Without full participation and regular class attendance, students place themselves at a severe disadvantage for achieving success in college. Class participation shall constitute at least ten percent of the final course grade. It is the responsibility of each faculty member, in consultation with the division chair, to determine how participation is achieved in his or her class. Faculty will require students to regularly attend class and will keep a record of attendance from the first day of class and/or the first day the student s name appears on the roster, through final examinations. If a student has one week s worth of unexcused absences during the semester, he/she will be sent an e-mail (every student now has a Blinn College email address to which these notices will be sent) by the College requiring the student to contact his/her instructor and schedule a conference immediately to discuss his/her attendance issues. If the student accumulates a total of two weeks worth of unexcused absences, he/she will be administratively withdrawn from class. In summer classes, the student may be withdrawn after three unexcused absences.
Blinn College policy excuses absences (with timely documentation) for two causes: official attendance at a Blinn College event and observance of a religious holy day. Disability accommodations: Students with documented disabilities may seek support from Blinn College s Office of Disability Services (209-7251). Accommodations are not retroactive. Students are encouraged to contact this office as early as possible to initiate services. The student must then discuss requested accommodations with the instructor, and agreement must be reached between student and instructor. Scholastic Integrity Policy Blinn instructors are responsible for maintaining scholastic integrity by refusing to tolerate any form of scholastic dishonesty. As academic honesty is stressed in all English classes, there is no distinction between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. According to the Blinn College Student Handbook, violations of the Scholastic Integrity Policy shall include, but not be limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion. This handbook defines plagiarism as the appropriating, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another s work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of it in one s own written work. Blinn College stipulates that collusion is the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work for fulfillment of course requirements. Violations of the Scholastic Integrity Policy may result in a penalty ranging from a grade of zero on the assignment/examination up to and including the imposition of an F for the entire course. Civility in the classroom: Members of the Blinn College community, which includes faculty, staff, and students, are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all aspects of campus life. Blinn College holds all members accountable for their actions and words. Therefore, all members should commit themselves to behave in a manner that recognizes personal respect and demonstrates concern for the personal dignity, rights, and freedoms of every member of the College community, including respect for College property and the physical and intellectual property of others. If a student is asked to leave the classroom because of uncivil behavior, the student may not return to that class until he or she arranges a conference with the instructor. It is the student s responsibility to arrange for this conference. Personal Electronic Devices: All the functions of all personal electronic devices designed for communication and/or entertainment (cell phones, pagers, beepers, ipods, and similar devices) must be turned off and kept out of sight in all Blinn College classrooms and associated laboratories. Any noncompliance with this policy will be addressed in accordance with the Blinn College civility policy (Administrative Policy). Additionally, any communication understood by the instructor to be in the nature of cheating will have consequences in accordance with the Blinn College policy section regarding academic dishonesty. Students exempted from this policy include active members of firefighting organizations, emergency medical services organizations, commissioned police officers, on-call employees of any political subdivision of the state of Texas, or agencies of the federal government. Exempted students are expected to set the emergency-use devices on silent or vibrate mode only. Any student violating this policy shall be subject to discipline, including suspension, in accordance with Student Handbook. Adding / Dropping Courses: Adding: No courses may be added later than the first two weeks of a regular semester. A student adding the course must make up the work missed within two weeks after a course is added. Dropping: Students may drop, or withdraw from, courses by notifying Admissions and Records in person or in writing. The official drop date for a regular semester is the Friday of the 12 th week of that semester. A student who drops on or before the official drop date may receive a grade of W or Q. A student who drops after the official drop date will receive a grade of QF. If the student s work was passing at the time of withdrawal, he or she may petition the instructor to file a grade change from QF to Q. Students may not drop or be dropped from classes once the final examination period begins. Incomplete policy: A grade of I may be given only in emergencies, such as the serious illness of the student or a close family member. This grade is not for students who fall behind in their work. To receive a grade of incomplete the student must have satisfactorily completed all but one or two of the final requirements of the course. The instructor and
student must agree on this grade before it can be assigned, then a course completion contract must be signed by student, instructor, and division chair. All work must be made up within 90 days of signing the course completion contract, or zeroes will be assigned for the uncompleted work. No food or drink allowed in Blinn College classrooms Student e-mail accounts: Every Blinn College student is assigned an email account to facilitate official College correspondence. Students must activate their accounts initially through the Student E-mail Accounts link at the Blinn home page. Students need to check their Blinn accounts regularly for important communications, including excessive absence reports and emergency announcements. Textbooks: The assigned textbooks are essential for your learning, especially in classes focusing on the study of the written word. You must provide yourself with the books from the very beginning of the semester. You are required to bring the textbook with you every day unless otherwise notified. You may not share the textbook during class or use photocopied pages instead of the book Humanities Division Policies Mid-term grades: Although not required by Blinn College, this Division requires that all instructors inform their students in writing of their standing at mid-term of each semester, including summer semesters. Accordingly, you will be notified at mid-term of your grades, and if appropriate, advised how to improve your performance. 20 % Rule: Students who miss over 20 percent of the coursework due to absences, excused or unexcused, will not be allowed to make up the work. They miss out on too much of the material/skills taught to successfully make up missed work. Even though students may keep up on the assigned reading, there is no way to make up missed lectures, class discussions, group work, etc., all very important and necessary methods of learning the skills required for this course. At the instructor s discretion, makeup exams, if allowed, may be different from the original assignments. Papers: Formal papers are to be submitted on time in two ways: in hard copy and electronically. Papers not submitted in class will be considered late, and course grade will be affected. To submit papers electronically, send them to turnitin.com PRIOR TO the start of class on the day each paper is due. Major essays are not considered turned in until they are submitted to turnitin.com before class AND submitted in hard copy at the beginning of class on the due date. To prove that your paper has been submitted to Turnitin.com before class, print out and include a Turnitin.com receipt with your hard copy. The Writing Center in A-119 offers tutoring in writing for all students enrolled in Humanities Division classes. The mission of the Writing Center is to make better writers. This is accomplished in a comfortable environment through oneon-one consultations with experienced writing tutors. Tutors help students identify and address writing concerns. Student writers themselves direct each session as tutors guide them through any stage of the writing process, from understanding an assignment to documentation of sources. To set up an appointment, just call (979) 209-7591 or visit www.blinn.edu/brazos/humanities/writingcenter Walk-ins are also welcomed although they may have to wait for attention. Instructor/Course Policies: Attendance: Each instructor keeps an accurate record of each student s attendance. Students will be dropped from the course after a total of three (3) absences from any part of the course. These absences are for emergencies and include excused absences. So, students should watch their attendance and be careful how
they arrange their schedule. This is Blinn College policy, and the instructor will abide by it. Three tardies equals one absence. If a student arrives to class after instructor has taken attendance, that student will acquire one tardy. Once the student acquired three (3) tardies, one (1) absence will be added to the student s attendance record. Tardy students are responsible for checking with the instructor to assure the attendance is noted and to discuss the reason for the tardy entrance. The only automatically excused absences allowed are for Blinn College-sponsored events and Religious/Holy days with documentation. Students should remind the instructor of those in advance and make an appointment to make up missed work. Students who choose to make doctor s appointments or schedule other meetings during class or lab time will be counted absent. No exceptions even for out of town doctor visits. It is the student s responsibility to officially drop a class he or she is no longer attending. This action requires filling out a form and paying a fee at the Enrollment Services office, except in case of excessive absences (see above policy for excessive absences). Students need to contact instructor by email within 24 hours of each absence. You must inform your doctor s office or clinic that your instructor might call to verify a medical excuse. If the appointment cannot be verified, the excuse will not be accepted. Falsifying such documents is prohibited under the Blinn College Discipline Code. Penalties for violating this code can include measures such as suspension or permanent expulsion from the College. Make Up Work: No make ups are allowed for daily grades. To do make-up work for any major grade, students must include the appropriate documentation of an emergency along with the late project the day that they return to class. Students should choose to be in class every day. Extra Credit assignments will NOT be accepted for a replacement grade for regular classroom assignments. NO LATE/MAKE-UP WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED DURING THE LAST FULL WEEK OF CLASSES. TENTATIVE SEMESTER CALENDAR Changes to the calendar will be announced in class. It is the students responsibility to know about these changes even if they are not present when changes are announced. All reading assignments should be read on the day they are assigned. Students are expected to bring all course supplies to every course meeting. Students should expect homework to be assigned each day.
STDY 0311 Tentative Course Calendar K. Salazar Summer 2012 WW = Writer s World Textbook MWL = MyWritingLab.com Website *If changes have to be made to this calendar, they will be announced in class; students are responsible for knowing about such changes even if they are absent when changes are made. Date Summer 2 Monday, July 9 Tuesday, July 10 Course Syllabus Pre-Test Chapter 1 Habits for Success Calendar Assignment Lecture Homework Activate/Forward Blinn Email Read Chapter 1 Read Chapter 2 Wed., July 11 Chapter 2 Learning Syles Read Chapter 3 Thursday, July 12 Chapter 3 Time & Money Read Chapter 4 Calendar #1 Due Friday, July 13 Chapter 4 Setting & Reaching Goals Study for Exam 1 Research Assignment Monday, July 16 EXAM 1 AccuScan Read Chapter 5 Complete Research Step 1 Tuesday, July 17 Chapter 5 Critical & Creative Thinking Read Chapter 6 Research Step 1 Due Wed., July 18 Chapter 6 Memory Read Chapter 7 Thursday, July 19 Chapter 7 Reading & Studying Read Chapter 8 Friday, July 20 Chapter 8 Reading Across the Disciplines Study for EXAM 1 Complete Research Step 1 Monday, July 23 EXAM 2 Research Step 2 Due Calendar #2 Due Tuesday, July 24 Midterm Conferences Read Chapter 9 Wed., July 25 Chapter 9 Active Listening & Note Taking Read Chapter 10 Thursday, July 26 Chapter 10 Test Taking I Read Chapter 11 Friday, July 27 Chapter 11 Test Taking II Read Chapter 12 Complete Research Step 3 Monday, July 30 Chapter 12 Moving Toward Success Study for EXAM 3 Research Step 3 Due Tuesday, July 31 EXAM 3 Complete Research Presentation Wed., August 1 Thurs., August 2 Friday, August 3 Monday, August 6 Research Presentations Class Activity Review for Final Exam Post Test Study for Final Exam Final Exam Plan to take final at this time, as no early or make-up exams will be given.