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Fred Glennon, Ph.D. (Courses) |
Required Activity Options
PARTICIPATION (Worth 20% of final grade): One of the assumptions I make is that
students learn best in cooperation with others.
However, students do not always have the opportunity or the ability to
do it. One of my goals is to enable
students to work collaboratively with others by providing such
opportunities. That is why the basic
pedagogy in this class is cooperative learning:
students working in various groups to teach and learn from one
another. To pull this off, it is
imperative that students be present and participate
actively in their groups. The
Participation Activity is one way of providing incentive to do so.
I also believe that students ought to be rewarded for effort as well as ability. Students often complain that, no matter how hard they work on an assignment, they can get no higher than a C or a B. This leaves them disappointed and frustrated. Through your participation in this class, you have the opportunity to make an A for your grade. That is because the Participation Activity grade measures the effort you put into the class.
The student's grade
for this activity will be determined by class attendance, preparation,
homework, and successful completion of assessment activities.
·
Attendance is
critical if cooperative learning is to take place. Each student should expect
to attend all classes. (But because students want to know how many classes they
can miss, students who miss more than 4
classes will receive an F for their participation grade. Students who miss more than 6 classes will
receive an F for the course.)
· The preparation and homework portions of the participation grade will come from the completion of online reading response papers during the semester. (See Canvas under Assignments/Reading Response papers for a description of what these entail.) They should be completed by midnight the day before class. Late reading responses will be penalized. Each student will present at least one of these in class. You must complete 10 of these for full credit.
·
The final portion of the participation
grade will come from completion of assessment exercises (completion of a learning
covenant, mid-term class evaluation, and completion of a final self-assessment
survey). The purpose of these exercises will be to assess student learning of
course materials. They are not graded. (See Canvas under
Assignments/Assessment Activities for guidelines for each.).
INFORMATION LITERACY AND
INTEGRITY (Worth 10% of the final grade): There are two assignments associated with
this activity. The first is a library
assignment that will be given on September 11 from our class librarian, Kelly
Delevan when we meet with her in our classroom (see schedule). The assignment will focus on the common
reading, Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, An American Slave.
The evaluation for the assignment will be posted on Canvas.
The second assignment
will be the successful completion of the Academic Integrity exam, which will be
posted on Canvas. You will have multiple
opportunities to do the exam to insure that you receive a grade of 100%.
GROUND
ZERO FIELD TRIP (Worth 15% of course grade): On November 1st, there is a bus trip scheduled to visit the
memorial at Ground Zero in New York City.
Upon completion of the trip a report (either written or oral) must be
made in which you describe what you did to prepare for the trip, what you did
on the trip, what was learned, etc.
Evaluation
Criteria:
1. Content (information and
comprehension). How focused, informative, and comprehensive is the report
made? How well is the field trip understood and executed? How
insightful are the observations and conclusions of the report?
2. Organization (clarity,
transition, and flow). How well (smoothly and as planned) did the field
trip go? Is there a logical progression and development of ideas in the
report? How clearly are the ideas expressed? How effective is the
transition between ideas? How effective is the introduction and
conclusion?
3. Sources (variety/credibility
of resources). Are there a variety of sources drawn from the site visited to
make the report? How relevant, accurate, and credible is the information
used from those sources? How well does the information support the report
being made?
4. Presentation (grammar,
spelling, vocabulary). Are the grammar and spelling correct? Are
there a variety of proper sentence and paragraph structures employed? Is
the vocabulary accurately and effectively used?
5. Documentation (appropriate
sources and formatting). How complete and correct is the documentation?
Short Response Papers (Worth 40% of the final grade—10% each): This activity consists of short (2-3 pages)
typed papers which are your responses to the questions we will consider during
the course (What are the dynamics of faith?
How would you argue for/against the concept that people can be spiritual
but not religious? How you would argue
for/against the idea that we no longer need religion? How would you differentiate between justice
and charity?) The responses should be
original; they should not merely restate what others have said. They
should be tightly focused; as such, they should be logical and well-written.
Evaluation
Criteria:
1. Content (information and
comprehension). How clear and appropriate is the thesis or issue that holds the
entire paper together? How focused, informative, and comprehensive is the paper
developed? How well is the topic understood?
2. Organization (clarity,
transition, and flow). Is there a logical progression and development of
ideas? How clearly are the ideas expressed? How effective is the
transition between ideas? How effective is the introduction and conclusion?
3. Evidence and Insightfulness
(credibility of argument). How effective is the use of evidence to support the
points made in the paper? How well does the paper make points that go
beyond the obvious rather than simply restate some other perspective?
4. Presentation (grammar,
spelling, vocabulary). Are the grammar and spelling correct? Are
there a variety of proper sentence and paragraph structures employed? Is
the vocabulary accurately and effectively used?
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY OPTIONS (choose 1)
Final Exam (Worth 15% of the final grade): This activity will consist of a take-home
exam (unless indicated otherwise). The material from which the essay
questions will be taken consists of assigned readings and class discussions.
Evaluation Criteria:
1.
Content (information and
comprehension). How clear and appropriate is the answer in addressing the
question asked? How focused, informative, and comprehensive is the essay
developed? How well is the subject matter understood? Does the
essay make points which go beyond the obvious?
2.
Organization (clarity, transition,
and flow). Is there a logical progression and development of ideas in the
answer? How clearly are the ideas expressed? How effective is the
transition between ideas? How effective is the introduction and
conclusion?
3.
Sources (variety/credibility of
resources). Are there a variety of references used? How relevant,
accurate, and credible is the information used from those sources? How
well does the information support the question being answered?
4.
Presentation (grammar, spelling,
vocabulary). Are the grammar and spelling correct? Are there a
variety of proper sentence and paragraph structures employed? Is the
vocabulary accurately and effectively used?
CRITICAL LECTURE ANALYSIS (Worth 15% of the final grade): The Le Moyne College
community provides a variety of opportunities to hear interesting speakers,
many of whom incorporate religious themes into their presentations. These are
advertised on Echo and around campus. This activity requires that you
attend an appropriate lecture and discussion and write an analysis/reaction to
the ideas presented. If you complete this activity, you should attend the
ENTIRE event. Thus, you should arrive on time to attend the entire presentation
and question session. You should participate if possible. You will write an
analysis of the presentation and question session. Here again, the analysis
should be critical, not merely descriptive.
Evaluation
Criteria:
1. Content (information and
comprehension). How clear and appropriate is the analytical framework that
holds the entire together? How focused, informative, and comprehensive is the
paper developed? How well is the lecture understood? How well
does the paper make connections between the various components of the
lecture? Does the critique of the lecture accurately interpret the
presentation or are there distortions which seriously weaken the
critique? Do the points made in the critique go beyond the obvious?
2. Organization (clarity,
transition, and flow). Is there a logical progression and development of
ideas? How clearly are the ideas expressed? How well does the
analysis illustrate the ideas drawn from the lecture? How effective is
the transition between ideas? How effective is the introduction and
conclusion?
3. Presentation (grammar,
spelling, vocabulary). Are the grammar and spelling correct? Are
there a variety of proper sentence and paragraph structures employed? Is
the vocabulary accurately and effectively used?
FILM OR PLAY REVIEW (Worth 15% of the final
grade): This activity recognizes that there are many films and plays
which have religious implications or relate to the topics we are studying (e.g.
Doubt, Angels and Demons, the Matrix, Religulous,
Dogma, etc.). Unless otherwise specified the review (s) would take written
form. The emphasis would be critical more than descriptive.
A
good film review is not simply a discussion of the film with a personal opinion
attached to the end. It is not picking up an important theme in the film and
then spending most of your time discussing your view on the subject either.
Rather, a good film review generally begins with an interpretation of what you
think the central theme (or themes) of the film is. (To get at this you might
ask yourself, "What does the filmmaker want the viewer (me) to take from
this film?") What is the filmmaker saying about this theme (themes)? You
should be able to state this clearly in one or perhaps two paragraphs. The bulk
of the remainder of the review should then discuss/describe key scenes from the
film that illustrate why your interpretation of the filmmaker’s intent or theme
makes sense. You don’t have to discuss every scene in the film, but you should
be sure to discuss most of the relevant scenes to support your view. You may
then discuss a bit whether or not you think the filmmaker was successful in
her/his efforts. You should then conclude the review with a good summary of
your argument/discussion.
Evaluation
Criteria:
1. Content (information and
comprehension). How clear and appropriate is the paper in identifying and
analyzing the main theme (s) of the film? How focused, informative, and
comprehensive is the analysis developed? How well is the film and subject
matter understood? How appropriate is the film for this
course?
2. Organization (clarity,
transition, and flow). Is there a logical progression and development of
ideas in the paper? How clearly are the ideas expressed? How
effective is the transition between ideas? How effective is the
introduction and conclusion?
3. Sources (variety/credibility
of resources). Are there a variety of scenes referenced in the review?
How relevant, accurate, and credible is the information used from those
scenes? How well does the information from the scenes support the analysis
being developed?
4. Presentation (grammar,
spelling, vocabulary). Are the grammar and spelling correct? Are
there a variety of proper sentence and paragraph structures employed? Is
the vocabulary accurately and effectively used?
5. Documentation. How
complete and correct is the documentation about the film?
ARTWORK
(Worth 15% of the final grade): This activity might include works such as poems,
paintings, cartoons, photographs, videotapes, sculptures, performances, and the
like which you actually create. The object of the activity is to
convey some ideas, thoughts, or feelings through the use of symbols which
enables you to demonstrate that you have met one of content course learning
objectives 1-4 (see syllabus for these objectives) or a content learning
objective you developed and the professor approves. (In other words,
although the artwork activity may enable you to develop your artistic abilities
or to express your understanding of course ideas through a creative medium, it
must also demonstrate your learning in one of the content areas of the
course.) Your artwork may be shared with the class or they may be shared
only with the professor. In addition to the piece of artwork itself,
you should attach a brief (2-4) page written statement which explains the
purpose of the artwork, the learning objective you sought to meet, and how you
have attempted to accomplish it. The artwork can be evaluated by the
professor and/or by some other person the student deems an appropriate judge
(for example, an English professor for poetry).
Evaluation
Criteria:
1. Content (information and
comprehension). Does the artwork and
the written statement that accompanies it demonstrate that you have learned the
content of the learning objective you are seeking to fulfill? How well
does the artwork illustrate the content?
2. Presentation. This
refers to the quality of the artwork. Has the artwork been carefully
developed and constructed or simply thrown together? Does the piece
reflect what most people would consider artwork?
3. Organization (clarity,
transition, and flow--refers both to artwork and to written
statement). How well are the ideas expressed in the artwork and the
written statement? Is there a logical progression and development of
ideas? How effective is the introduction and conclusion?
WILD CARD (Worth 15% of grade): The activities I have described
as optional are meant to be suggestive, but not exhaustive. If you can develop
a new and unique activity, I encourage you to do so. However, you must discuss
this with me and you must assist in the development of appropriate evaluation
criteria and restrictions for that activity.