General notes on expectations in classes
Joe
Janes
What
I value
Learning and
fun. I hope that when you finish a class
with me, I’ve made you think about something you hadn’t thought of before, learned
something you’ll find valuable, and had a good time doing it.
In general, I
value creativity, originality, insight, synthesis, and an open, questioning
attitude. I aim at these in the ways in which I conduct individual sessions
of classes as well as courses overall, assignments, projects, etc. To me, these
are the characteristics that distinguish professionals, and thus I try to
foster them in my students. My assignments, for example, thus tend to be
somewhat free-form, allowing people to take many paths, demonstrating their
creativity and originality, and trying things I never would have thought
of. So I usually don't tell people
things like how many pages to write or other instructions. (Of course, some assignments
are more constrained, but they should be easy to spot.)
I also value
strong writing and presentation of ideas in a clear, professional manner. That
means I care about (and evaluate assignments based on) things like grammar,
organization, the mechanics of sentence structure, spelling, wording, and so
on. I also care about design, layout, presentation, graphics, organization of
hyperlinks, etc., when appropriate in, for example, Web-based projects or work.
I assume everything you will submit to me is of the same quality and caliber as
professional work you would submit to your supervisor or colleagues. However,
content always wins over presentation and organization, so a flashy,
well-designed and well-written paper that has nothing original or insightful to
say won't score all that well. Both are important, but the message is the key.
How
to prepare for class
For readings,
I expect you will not only have read things I assign, but also thought about
it, rolled it over in your mind, connected it to other course material. If I
suggest questions, I expect you will have thought about those questions in
light of the reading and will be prepared to respond to those questions when I
put them to the class.
I also
strongly encourage everyone to read
independently, either from auxiliary reading lists that I sometimes provide
but also things you find on your own.
For other
outside-of-class work, (i.e., things not for a grade), I expect that you
will treat such exercises as supplementary to what we're doing in class. I will
rarely assign something that I don't intend to use in some other way (there may
be the occasional thing that's just good for you), so I want you to think about
those exercises, though of course you needn't prepare them as formally as you
would something for submission.
In class
Attendance in
graduate-level residential classes is not mandatory; if you want to tell me
that you’ll be away or out of class on a given day, that’s very nice and much
appreciated. In any event, you are of
course responsible for all material we cover. If you’re going to be gone on a day when an
assignment is due to be handed in in class, I assume
you will make arrangements to get the assignment to be before the due date
(unless it’s an emergency situation, as spelled out in syllabi). Please
don’t ask me whether you’re going to miss something important on a day you’re
going to be gone; that’s just rude.
During class
time, I relish questions, comments, thoughts from everybody, and strongly
encourage you to be an active participant in your own education. You should always feel comfortable to
challenge assumptions—yours, mine, everybody else’s—in a respectful and
professional way.
I expect all
devices that make noise (cell phones and the like) will be turned off during
class.
I often teach
in rooms that have wireless networking capability. Using that capacity during class can be very
useful, to consult the course syllabus or other resources. I know that some people use their laptops as
their primary mode of note-taking, and that is of
course fine. However, using computers or
other wireless devices for other purposes during class is, again, rude, and
potentially distracting to other students or to me. If you’re going to do email or IM during
class, please don’t attend class.
Grading
is usually done on a 4.point scale, per
the University's grading scheme. Some definitions follow as a general guide to
what the levels mean (stolen and slightly adapted from a Graduate School memo
and from the University of Toronto Faculty of
Information Studies). The
|
4.0 |
Excellent
and exceptional work
for a graduate student; work at this level is creative, original, thorough, well-reasoned,
insightful, well-written and shows clear recognition and an incisive
understanding of the salient issues. Anything evaluated at 3.8 or above meets
or exceeds what I would expect of experienced professionals. |
|
3.7 |
Strong work for a graduate student;
although not quite of high professional quality, work at this level shows
some signs of creativity, is thorough and well-reasoned, and demonstrates initiative,
clear recognition, thorough mastery, synthesis and deep understanding of all salient
issues. Writing is strong but may show
a few difficulties. 3.7 is one of my benchmarks, and would
be earned by work that I would expect of an experienced professional and is
generally free of errors or difficulties. |
|
3.3 |
Competent work for a graduate student; somewhat
well-reasoned and thorough, but not especially creative or insightful (or
creativity is poorly developed); shows very good understanding and mastery of
the issues, with an ability to distill, organize and present complex material
clearly and persuasively. Writing is
probably acceptable but is weak in spots.
This is the graduate student grade that indicates neither exceptional
strengths nor exceptional weakness. |
|
3.0 |
Adequate work for a graduate student;
occasionally thorough and well-reasoned, but some indication that
understanding of important issues is less than complete and perhaps
inadequate in other respects, but the work is above barely minimal
expectations for the course. Demonstrates
general ability to organize and present material clearly. Writing shows many or serious difficulties. |
|
2.7 |
Minimally
passing work for a
graduate student; barely meets the minimal expectations for the course;
understanding of salient issues and ability to present them is barely adequate
and overall performance, if consistently at this level, would be below the
level of adequate graduate performance. |
|
<2.7 |
Failing
work. |
When grading,
I typically use traditional proofreader’s and copy editor’s marks which may be
unfamiliar to some people. Here are some
sites which explain them:
The UVic Writer's Guide Marking Symbols
Proofreader's
Marks. The
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition.
2000
Writing
The iSchool
expects students to tailor writing assignments to the audience intended for
each assignment. I encourage all students who want to strengthen their writing
ability to contact the Writing Center.
Academic
integrity
Very
important. See individual syllabi for specific
instructions and observations on academic integrity for a given course, as well
as University statements at http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm
Extra credit, makeup assignments, etc.
I don’t think
such things are fair, so I don’t do them.
Group
work
I assign group
work in most of my classes, but try to keep it manageable, and to provide
opportunities for people to work on projects in class when possible. I think group work is generally valuable, but
like anything can be taken to extremes, so I’ll make sure that students always
have an individual opportunity to demonstrate how they’re doing on course
material as well as any group work.
When people
work in groups, my natural assumption is that each member of the group has
contributed equitably (if not necessarily equally) to the final product I
request in an assignment. If
difficulties arise on this score, I suggest people work together within the
group to come to a resolution; as a last result I can step in but I prefer not
to (and have had to only on very rare occasions).
Submission
of work
I will
sometimes specify how I want work to come to me—in what particular formats, via
email, etc. For electronic submissions,
please use Microsoft Word (Windows) or other Microsoft-based or –compliant
products as appropriate. For printed
submissions, stapling is usually sufficient; I usually find that report covers
get in the way and are problematic to handle, especially when I have a large
number of things to manage. If your
submission is very large, a three-ring binder or other folder is probably
fine. If in doubt, ask.
In all cases,
please be sure your name or student number (if I request that for a particular
assignment or exercise) is on all pieces of the submission, especially those
that might get separated.
Incompletes
I usually
discourage people from taking incompletes; they have a tendency to drag on
forever and become a burden on both sides.
When circumstances warrant, I’m open to the possibility, but you must
discuss the idea with me as soon as the need arises. My preferred method for dealing with a
situation where it’s impossible or unfeasible to get one or two course
requirements in is to give a grade based on the work already submitted,
counting missing items as zeroes, and then submitting a revised grade when
those items come in. Incompletes should
be reserved for special and unforeseen situations such as illness or other
circumstances beyond the student's control.
See the UW rules on this at http://www.grad.washington.edu/stsv/gradpol3.htm#Grading
You
may expect
Isn't
this all rather anal?
Probably, I
think that people appreciate knowing up front what they're in for.
The
bottom line
I’m trying to
challenge you, to open you up and allow you to think about important things
which face us as a profession and which you will have to think through in your
careers. There are some things I can
teach you; there are many more things I can help you to learn, and that’s what
I’m trying to accomplish. You must,
though, take responsibility for your own education by further exploration on
your own, questions you raise in class or in your assignments, and of course
for the rest of your life.
Some of this
(or other things you run in to) may not be entirely clear. If you're ever not
sure, ask!
Last
updated August 29 2007.