You are responsible for completing the following deliverables this semester.
Attendance, Preparation & Participation
Success in this course will require you to do more than simply appear in class twice a week and answer an occasional question. I expect that all of my students will be policies/attendance-preparation-participation/”>prepared to actively participate in our in class discussions since that is a key way to take as much away from the course as possible. Please review the Class Participation Rubric in the Attendance, Preparation & Participation section of this site.
Course Blog
You will post your comments in the Course Blog that I maintain for my courses.
I post items of interest that are relevant to the material covered in my courses. The materials in the posts will be discussed over the course of the semester in class and on-line. You are responsible for keeping current on the posts to the blog and providing comments. The submission schedule is included in the Course Schedule. My goal is to encourage an active discussion between and among all of my students related to the events of the day. And remember … it is a public blog … be certain that your comments comport with the etiquette requirements described in the Etiquette section of the Communication tab.
I will evaluate the following factors when I assess your blog comments:
- A thoughtful, substantive and well-reasoned summary/response to the blog post you have chosen – approximately five hundred (500) words per comment; and
- Your comments should not simply regurgitate the article you have reviewed. I have no interest in reading a “book report” version of the article that you have chosen. I am, however, interested in comments that provide your insight into the relevance of the article in question, and
- Evidence in your blog comments in that you have read and are specifically and thoughtfully responding to the points raised by the author and/or if responding to someone’s prior comments on a post.
Click here to subscribe to the course blog’s Twitter feed.
Discussion Boards
You will complete your discussion boards by visiting the Discussion Boards folder in Blackboard.
On-line discussions of the course materials, including documents, readings, and textbook topics, will be a regular part of the course and a significant portion of your grade. The discussion board schedule is outlined below. I will post a question on Sunday morning at 8a, perhaps with related materials, to a discussion board for online discussion and debate. You are required to
- Post one primary response detailing your perspective and analysis of the implications of the issues raised in the question(s) and materials no later than Wednesday at 9p, and
- Read the primary responses of your classmates, and
- Post one secondary response to a classmate’s primary response detailing your perspective and analysis of your classmate’s primary response no later than Saturday at 6p, and
- Review the entire discussion board and be prepared to discuss it actively during our class.
These discussions are essential to create the atmosphere of active learning and critical thinking that is an integral part of this course. All students must express their own opinions and engage with other students in the process. Should you quote directly or indirectly from a written or online source, parenthetically cite that source in your entry, e.g., case name or text section, p. # or the appropriate url ~ http://shannonweb.net/2009/08/16/choosing-summer%e2%80%99s-last-big-read/.
My role will be that of the moderator; while I will read all postings, I will insert my comments only when necessary to challenge or correct discussion. I reserve the right to delete any inapplicable, offensive, or inappropriate comments.
I will evaluate the following factors when I assess your contributions to the discussion boards:
- A thoughtful, substantive and well-reasoned primary response to the discussion question that draws upon our course readings and materials in a minimum of five hundred words, with live in-text hyperlinks (in lieu of footnotes or endnotes) and a Works Cited list (using MLA format and live hyperlinks to each source), and
- Evidence in a minimum of five hundred words, with live in-text hyperlinks (in lieu of footnotes or endnotes) and a Works Cited list (using MLA format and live hyperlinks to each source), in your secondary post that you have read and are specifically responding to the points raised by one of your classmates, and
- The presence, in your discussion board posts, of relevant content, high quality, substantive material, initiative in discussions, respect for classmates, outside sources and current event references. All sources (not Wikipedia or the casebook) must use MLA format and live hyperlinks to each source supporting that post’s content.
Journal
You will submit your journal posts in the My Journal folder in Blackboard.
You will identify a current issue examining the intersection of law and business and prepare a Journal Proposal.
You will prepare a proposal, in a minimum of 750 words, that should include a description of your topic with information adequate to make a well developed argument in support of your proposal. You must post your proposed topic to your Journal no later than the date and time specified in the Course Schedule. Approval of your topic will be posted to your Journal.
You will post content appropriate to the approved topic as required by the Course Schedule. Each post will describe the relevance of the content to your topic in a minimum of 500 words per post.
The final post in your journal will be an Executive Summary summarizing, in a minimum of 1,000 words, your journal content. Your Summary must be posted to your Journal no later than the date and time specified in the Course Schedule.
All posts to your Journal, including your proposal and Executive Summary, must meet at least the minimum word count, contain multimedia (audio and/or video) content, include both live in-text hyperlinks (in lieu of footnotes or endnotes) and a Works Cited list using MLA format and live hyperlinks to each source. Each post should be appropriately sourced with a minimum of four sources (not Wikipedia or the textbook) supporting that post’s content.
I will evaluate the following factors when I assess your journal posts:
- The presence of content relevant to your topic, i.e., high quality, substantive material, supported by your sources, and
- The extent to which you address the requirements of the assignment, i.e., you have met or exceeded the minimum word count, included multimedia content, live in-text hyperlinks (in lieu of footnotes or endnotes) and a Works Cited list (using MLA format and live hyperlinks to each source). Please remember that Wikipedia, the course text and other non-primary sources, are not an acceptable.
Final Exam
You will complete this assignment by visiting the Final Exam folder in Blackboard.
The final exam will be a writing assignment requiring each student to define, interpret, and analyze a topic or topics related to the course materials.
Grading
Grades on each assignment will be posted to the My Grades folder in Blackboard. The following weights will be assigned to each component of your final grade:
- Attendance, Preparation & Participation (20%)
- Course Blog (10%)
- Discussion Boards (30%)
- Journal (30%)
- Final Exam (10%)