Class Participation

As you will note on the syllabus for this course, 15 pecent of your grade
is based upon "Class Participation."  You might think that the format of this
course (with its distance ed structure of videotaped lectures and web based
material) would make class participation difficult.  However, it is my hope
and intent to actually make it more interactive than your typical course.

One method I will be using is in-class discussion of case studies.  I expect
each of you to have read the case study for the week, and come to class
prepared to discuss your thoughts on the situation, and then some solutions
to the questions presented.

The second method I will be using to invoke this interactivity is the use of
WebCT (Web Course Tools).  This on-line environment allows for several useful
functions: an on-line grade book where you can check your grades, and a
threaded discussion.  A threaded discussion is a discussion list that you
access periodically throughout the week, and it allow you to read how the
discussion is progressing and to post your thoughts.  Unlike a "chat room" it
is asynchronous -- which means not everybody has to be on-line at the same
time.

Thus, to this end, I will post issues, readings or other thought provoking ideas on
the Class WebCT site for you to react to.  I anticipate for these discussions to
commence the WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 9th and continue through the WEEK OF DECEMBER 9th
(A total of 13 weeks).  To receive full credit for "Class Participation," you must
post your thoughts at least TWICE/week to the issues at hand.  Thus, this would
necessitate a total of 26 responses/postings.

Your class discussion grade will thus consist of 3 components: 1) Your in-class
discussion will be graded on the thoughtfulness and value of your
contribution.  2) Your on-line discussion within WebCT will be graded like the
in-class discussion mentioned above as well. 3) Finally, I will "grade" the
WebCT component on a percentage of the postings that you actually make -- thus
if you post 90% of the time (23 postings) you'll receive an "A" for class
participation, and so on. One posting can be a new "topic," while the second
should be a response to a previous posting made by a class member. This is to
encourage interactive discussions.  Think of this as mimicing a roundtable
discussion.

Your responses/postings must be somewhat well thought out and significant.  They don't
need to be particularly verbose, but rather should be succinct and to the point.  In
other words, just a "Sure I agree with Susan's comments," is not sufficient.  Tell the
class why you agree with Susan's comments, and add some additional thoughts as well.

Two of the weekly assignments will actually take the form of posting useful sites to
in lieu of discussion for the week.

System requirements are: a Pentium class computer with at least a 28.8 baud modem
connection and Netscape or Internet Explorer 3.0 or above.

To enter the WebCT site for this course, you will first need to enter your login id (I
e-mail everyone instructions on this), followed by your password. The program should
recognize you and let you into the class environment.

Your first assignment -- for the week of 9/2 is to complete a profile of
yourself for the class, by developing a student homepage in that section of WebCT. Please
use my student homepage as an example. On-campus students -- I will take a digital picture
of you the 3rd week of class. Please give plenty of information in your student homepage,
to enable others in the class to get to know you.

WebCT