SAMPLE SYLLABUS

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University of the Ozarks 

IND 1003

Critical Inquiry

Fall, 2006

MWF 11:00 – 11:50 a.m.
WFAC LL3

Instructor:
Dr. Sharon Gorman
Office: WFAC 178, x1343
slgorman@ozarks.edu

Office Hours:  MWF 10-11 a.m.; TR 1-2  p.m.

Peer mentors:  Michelle Fischer, Alma Cruz-Herget, Lucia Gomez

Class Mission:  Success

This course is about achieving success, learning about the attitudes, actions and adjustments needed to be successful.  We will explore how we can live a life of fullness and meaning both as individuals and as a community, not only in college but in life.  To that end, time and effort will be devoted in this course to the activities described below.  Students will

·        Identify, reflect and act on their personal responsibilities to ourselves, others, the planet and the Creator.

·        Cultivate a sense of discovery and an appreciation of diverse peoples and viewpoints.

·        Develop basic critical thinking and moral reasoning skills.

·        Participate in social, cultural and community service activities with their CI classmates

In all these efforts, we will be guided by the University’s own mission statement:

True to our Christian heritage, we prepare those who seek to live life fully, those who seek the richness of life provided by study of the liberal arts and the quality of life provided by professional preparation.  We provide a uniquely supportive, academically sophisticated and challenging environment on a beautiful campus adjacent to the Ozarks Mountains.  Our first priority is the education of students who come to us from diverse religious, cultural, educational, and economic backgrounds.

It is assumed in this statement that education—and, by extension, success itself—is  more than simply a means to a high-paying job, that what matters most is acquiring the skills to lead a meaningful life, preparing to do work that, not only fulfills the individual’s potential and provides professional satisfaction, but also makes a difference in the lives of friends, families, neighbors and fellow world citizens.  

In conjunction, then, with our group activities and community service, we will also look to expand our worldview by trying to understand the perspectives of those who differ from us in culture, religion, language, philosophy and life experience.  Students will be asked to step “outside of their boxes” to experience new people, new experiences, new cultural expressions, new ways of thinking—and even new foods.

We will begin this journey, however, by examining the choices that all successful students must make as individuals, as stated in the course textbook:

*SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS. . .

·       accept PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, seeing themselves as the primary cause of their outcomes and experiences.

·       discover SELF-MOTIVATION, finding purpose in their lives by discovering personally meaningful goals and dreams.

·       master SELF-MANAGEMENT, consistently planning and taking purposeful actions in pursuit of their goals and dreams.

·       employ INTERDEPENDENCE, building mutually supportive relationships that help them achieve their goals and dreams (while helping others do the same).

·       gain SELF-AWARENESS, consciously employing behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that keep them on course.

·       adopt LIFE-LONG LEARNING, finding valuable lessons and wisdom in nearly every experience they have.

·       develop EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, effectively managing their emotions in support of their goals and dreams.

·       BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES, seeing themselves as capable, lovable and unconditionally worthy human beings.

*Source:

Downing, Skip. On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life.  Boston; New York:  Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

Catalog Course Description

The course focuses on developing and strengthening the foundation skills needed for academic success at the college level. It introduces the principles of critical thought and develops the habits of critical thinking through a variety of methods and activities. With emphasis on close reading, careful listening, civil discourse, logical reasoning and application of these skills to real-world situations, this course prepares students for the work they will do in all subsequent courses at the University.

Student social skills are also addressed; a variety of social activities, cultural events and community service outings foster a connection with classmates, the school, and the community. Two or more peer mentors are assigned to each class to assist students in making the transition to college; peer mentors serve as resource/ contact people, role models and facilitators of small-group discussion.  

Intended Student Outcomes

1) Students will communicate effectively, learning to clearly and effectively express ideas and actively listen to the ideas of others in discussions

2) Students will think critically, learning to

·        read with comprehension

·        transfer and apply knowledge and skills to new situations

·        evaluate and analyze arguments from more than one perspective

4) Students will be aware of their responsibilities to themselves, to humanity, to their planet and to their creator, learning to

·        examine personal lifestyle, ethics, integrity, values and priorities

·        respect individuals with beliefs, backgrounds or abilities different from their own

·contribute to the welfare of their community and ecosystem
Specific Course Goals

In this course, you will learn how to. . .

·        Take charge of your life

·        Increase self-motivation

·        Improve personal self-management

·        Develop interdependence

·        Increase self-awareness

·        Maximize your learning.

·        Develop emotional intelligence

·        Raise your self-esteem.

·        Improve your moral reasoning and critical thinking skills

·        Increase your appreciation of diverse cultures and viewpoints

·        Forge connections with your classmates, the University, and the community

Required Course Materials:

Downing, Skip.  On Course : Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life.  Fourth Edition.  Boston; New York: Houghlin Mifflin, 2005.

Composition or spiral-bound notebook for journaling

Package of large index cards

One-inch binder for handouts

An open mind

ADA Statement

If any member of the class has a documented disability and needs special accommodations, the instructor will work with the student and the office of Student Support Services or the Jones Learning Center to provide reasonable accommodation to ensure the student a fair opportunity to perform in this class.  In order to plan for optimum success, please advise the instructor of the disability and the desired accommodations as soon as possible. Students are strongly encouraged to notify the instructor during the first week of classes. Without ample planning / preparation time, we cannot assure the availability of needed accommodations in a timely manner.

Academic Honesty

All student work must be done in accordance with the University’s Academic Integrity policy as stated in the Student Handbook.  There will be severe grade penalties for acts of plagiarism, cheating, copying of another student’s work, counterfeit work, theft of tests and unauthorized reuse of work. At the very least, a first offense will entail a reprimand, report of the incident to the Academic Dean and a failing grade for the assignment/test; a second offense will result in a failing grade for the course.   However, if the incident is sufficiently serious—e.g., an entire assignment borrowed almost word-for-word from an Internet site and turned in as one’s own work—the instructor reserves the right to issue a failing grade for the course, even if it is a first offense.

Course Requirements

Attendance and Participation

Regular attendance and participation are crucial to doing well in this course.  Each student will be allowed only three (3) unexcused absences.  Any unexcused absences beyond this will result in a grade penalty of up to one letter grade on the final course grade.  Moreover, I reserve the right to fail any student who misses more than twelve (12) classes in all—whether these absences are excused or unexcused.

 Absences can be excused for the following reasons only: 

·   Attendance at an official University-sponsored event (athletic game, field trip, conference, etc.)

·        Illness documented by a doctor’s letter

·       Documented family or personal emergency.

Absences due to oversleeping, writing a paper for another class or bad hair days are not in the excused category.

Students are responsible for making up all work missed due to absence EVEN IF THE ABSENCE IS DUE TO A UNIVERSITY-SPONSORED EVENT (athletic game, field trip, etc.).  Do not assume that you are automatically excused for an athletic event or field trip.  You must notify the instructor in advance that you will be gone; do not rely on your coaches or instructors to send out memos on your behalf.

If you miss a class, you are responsible for making up all missed work—even if you were excused for a University-sponsored event.  Handouts/assignment instructions will not normally be available from the instructor except on the original day they are handed out; after that they become fodder for the recycling bin.   However, instructions for all individual assignments will be posted on the course web site for those who either miss class that day or misplace the assign­ment sheet.   You must check with your group for all assignments generated by group problem-solving projects.

Credit for attendance will only be given if the student arrives for class with assignments completed (see instructions below) and participates actively in the day’s classroom activities.   Passive attendance—i.e. present in body but sleeping, not paying attention or refusing to participate fully in group discussions/activities--is considered an absence and I reserve the right to treat it as such for grading purposes.

Daily Assignments

·        There will be an assignment due at each class meeting, usually an assigned reading, a short written response, or a journal entry.  These assignments serve as preparation for class work, group projects and discussion. 

·        There are no long research papers required in the course although you will be asked to write some essays later in the term and produce a detailed self-evaluation at the end of the course, articulating the ways in which you have accomplished the goals of the Critical Inquiry class.  

·        There will also be group projects and some hands-on projects.

·        Students should expect to read an average of approximately 50-60 pages of assigned reading per week, drawn from the textbooks and materials posted on Educator. 

Written assignments in college classes must ordinarily be typed unless you are otherwise instructed.  For a number of short assignments in this course, you will be allowed to handwrite responses on index cards or in a journal, but for all other assignments, the typed rule applies. 

If an assignment is not completed by the assigned day and that assignment is essential to participation in the day's activity, you may be asked to go and complete the assignment before joining the class and that day will be marked as an unexcused absence. 

Although this is not an English course per se, students are expected to practice, expand and refine the communication skills being taught in core English courses.  Accordingly, written assignments—with the exception of journals, which are graded under different criteria (see below)—will be graded on the quality of writing (grammar, syntax, spelling, punctuation, and style) as well as the content.   Students should acquire the habit of presenting their work in a professional manner at all times.

No plagiarism will be tolerated in written assignments.  Simply listing your source at the end of the assignment does NOT authorize you to quote whole phrases or sentences from your source—including material taken from the Internet.  Exact quotations must be enclosed in quotation marks and documented (footnotes, end notes or in-text citations are all acceptable); give specific credit for other authors’ ideas.  Assignments will be spot-checked on a regular basis and there are penalties for academic dishonesty; see the section above on Academic Honesty.

Graded Assignments

The regular daily assignments are mandatory for all students and must be submitted for grading by the given deadline. In each unit of study, however, students will be allowed to choose which assignments they wish to complete and submit for grading.  It is, however, the student’s responsibility to complete enough points to pass each unit (see grading criteria below).

Reflective writing:  journals and responses

Each student will engage in reflective writing of two types: 

1)     Response cards:  On a large index card, each student will submit a “thought for the day,” at the beginning of each class period, writing about some topic under discussion that week in class.  Ordinarily, the Monday card will be concerned with student success topics, the Wednesday card with moral reasoning issues and Friday the topic of the student’s choice, covering whatever issues or concerns the student wishes to bring to the instructor’s attention

2)     Course journal:  Students will work through the journal exercises given in the Downing textbook, handwriting their responses in a spiral-bound notebook or composition book of their choice that is devoted solely to this purpose.  Journals will be collected for reading by the instructor on Monday and returned by the next class period.  The material in the journals is considered confidential and, if there is anything you have written that you do not wish me to read, simply fold over the page and I will not read it (though I reserve the right to check that there is indeed writing on the page).

Journals and response cards will be graded on the following criteria:

·       The entry/response is of sufficient length to address the issue  (at least a page in length for most entries and one side of an index card.

·        Please write as legibly as possible in deference to your instructor’s poor eye sight.

·        You will NOT be graded on whether or not I like or approve of the content of what you write; moreover, this is the only assignment I give in which I will NOT deduct points for poor grammar and spelling.  Please feel free to write freely. 

·        You are NOT required to bare your soul in these journal entries; you should share only what is comfortable.  If you do wish not to write about how you are feeling, however, you can at least examine your thinking by writing about an issue discussed in class that week.  Try to use the journal as a way to think through problems and issues.  Appropriate topics might include:

o        Anything about which you have strong feelings:  angers, frustrations, disappointments, joys, satisfaction, anxiety, depression.

o       Ideas discussed in class (CI or other classes)

o       Relationships with classmates and instructors

o       Family or personal concerns

·        I impose only one restriction on content:  Please do not use real names when discussing a classmate or instructor; it would not be appropriate for me to read about other students I may have in class or colleagues with whom I work..

·        Each entry should show evidence of thoughtful reflection (in other words, not just a simple recording of events but a serious examination of an issue); excerpts from a poor vs. good entry—of the type in which the topic is open— are given below.

The purpose of the journal writing is to encourage student reflection and growth, to help the faculty mentor understand student needs, promote dialogue between faculty and students and assist in program evaluation.  In keeping with these objectives, the general practice is to keep the contents of these journals private—except for the second part of the journal, which is turned in anonymously for use in program evaluation.  Although the faculty as a whole may discuss the issues that arise in journals in order to address problems within the mentor program, ordinarily only the student's own faculty mentor will read the entries; the contents will not be shared with peer mentors.   There may arise, however, some specific instances when it is necessary to allow others access to the content of a student journal and the university attorney requires us to post the following legal disclaimer to address such instances:

Tests

There are no formal tests given in this course, except for inventories and assessment activities, but these are not graded for content but simply for completion.

Group Activities Requirement

In order to receive full points for the course, students must attend at least five (5) mentor group activities outside of class, including:

·      at least one social activity (e.g., movie nights, hiking trips, pizza parties, field trips)

·      at least one University-sponsored cultural event:  concerts, lectures, theater productions and art exhibits (most of these will also earn convocation credit)

·     at least one community service activity.

These are MINIMAL requirements.  I have tentatively planned a half-dozen social activities and three community service projects for the class; we will choose together the cultural events.   Regardless of their performance in the other components of the course, students who do not fulfill complete all of the activities requirement will have difficulty earning a decent grade; if the requirement is completed ignored, the student will fail the course.

Deportment in Classroom Settings

Students are expected to exhibit good manners in class and to treat everyone in the classroom—fellow students as well as the instructor and peer mentors—with courtesy and respect.  To that end, please refrain from the following behaviors:

·        Eating and drinking during presentations, whether by the instructor or fellow students.  For informal discussions, the instructor may allow food and drink in the classroom, but you should not assume this is the case without asking.  For someone who may be shy or nervous about a presentation, it is difficult to concentrate while others are engaged in eating.  It is also considered rude to eat in the presence of others who do not have food. 

·        Carrying on social conversations—particularly noisy ones—with another student that are unrelated to the classroom topic under discussion.  This is a distraction to the students who are trying to listen to the instruction.

·        Chatting on cell phones.  All cell phones and beepers must be turned off or left in your room/home.  The classroom is not a place for conducting your personal social activities.

·        Monopolizing discussions while not allowing others to be heard

·        Attacking another person’s beliefs or making disparaging remarks in such a way as to demean that person

Etiquette at Cultural Events

Many students may be unfamiliar with what is expected in terms of dress and behavior at public concerts, lectures, plays and other cultural events.  The following rules generally apply:

·        It is not necessarily expected that you dress in formal clothes for a concert or play.  People these days often dress casually for such events.  However, many of the audience members will come from the community and it is incumbent on all of us associated with the University to make a good impression on our neighbors from town, so dress neatly and cleanly.  Avoid cut-off, frayed jeans/shorts and tee shirts; women should eschew unduly revealing clothes.

·        Be courteous to those around you.  Many of you may be accustomed to talking, laughing and making jokes during private entertainment like home movie-watching, but such behavior is not acceptable at a public event.  You are certainly free to laugh when the entertainment is meant to be humorous; some performers are more casual than others and welcome audience interaction.  Unless this is clearly the case, however, do not talk excessively or crack jokes during performances—it is distracting to the performer(s) and other audience members.  Be sure also to turn off cell phones before entering the performance hall—your fellow concertgoers are interested in hearing the performance, not your social conversations.

·        It is considered rude to do homework, balance your checkbook, or conduct other types of personal business during a public performance.   This is not the venue in which to dazzle people with your multi-tasking skills; you are expected to give your full attention to the performance or lecture.   It is, however, acceptable to take notes about the lecture or performance if you can do so discreetly.

·        It is illegal in most cases to film or record a concert, play or lecture without direct, written permission from the performer(s) and those who hold the copyright to its contents.

·        The above guidelines also apply to attendance at chapel convocations.

Students who do not exhibit good public etiquette at cultural events may be asked by the faculty mentor or peer mentors to leave and, if so, will not receive course credit for the event.

Grading

Each instructor in the Critical Inquiry program has his/her own grading standards and expectations.  This is a fact of college life to which new students should be-come accustomed.  Complaining that your section of Critical Inquiry is “harder” than other sections or that “X’s section doesn’t have to do this” will not induce the instructor to alter your requirements.  In fact, a student’s estimate of a course’s rigor and difficulty is a very subjective phenomenon.  Courses that are difficult to students of a certain learning style or temperament may seem perfectly reasonable to students of a different persuasion.  On the following is the grading model that will be used in this CI section.

*Tentative point totals; subject to revision should the total number of tests/ assignments change

**See pg. 10 for explanation of activities requirement.

What Your Grades Mean 

Tentative Schedule of Topics/Reading Assignments

A more detailed schedule of topics, assignments and activities will be distributed shortly after classes begin.