Evaluation

This will be a performance-oriented class and your grade will be determined by the proficiency you show on six tasks. Though they are graded evaluations, they are also good learning experiences and can also be fun to do.

Pay attention to the due dates. Tasks should be turned in by the end of the day they are due. Deadlines are listed for your time management purposes. You may turn in a task early, on time, or you may elect to be late and suffer the loss of points noted in the gradesheet. The only exception is the final task which must be turned on time because this task takes the place of a final exam.

If circumstances render you unable to turn in a task on time, you may negotiate a new, later, delivery date with me. If you negotiate a new delivery date and meet it, you will suffer no negative consequences. If you do not negotiate a new delivery date with me, or if you miss your negotiated date, you will lose a percentage of the timeliness points for that task for each day late. You can calculate how much lateness will cost you. You always have the opportunity to discuss any circumstances that conspire to hinder your ability to turn in an assignment on time.

If you finish a task early and wish to have me look it over for completeness, I will do so and provide you feedback so that you may alter things if necessary. Of course, I can only do this if you provide it to me early enough and if I have the time available in my schedule. If you finish a task on time or late, I will grade what I receive

This class has neither a mid-term nor a final examination. Grades are based on class participation and the completion of six tasks. Each task will focus on the topic listed in the chart below, but each succeeding task will build on the skills learned in the ones which come prior to it. All tasks will be released for view at least one class session prior to their due dates.

  • Task 1 will be broken up into several mini-tasks as you set up your web environment for this class. You will accomplish task 1 by sending me emails giving me the response to the mini-tasks
  • Task 2 will be the URL of a web site you will construct and publish
  • Tasks 3-6 will be products you will post on your web site and you will send me the URL of the location where I can download it from your web site

[top]

Task

Worth

due by
basics 10% by the end of the day on Wednesday, 28 Jan 2009
web page 20% by the end of the day on Wednesday, 18 Feb 2009
document markup 15% by the end of the day on Wednesday, 04 Mar 2009
spreadsheet 15% by the end of the day on Monday, 30 Mar 2009
relational database 15% by the end of the day on Monday, 20 Apr 2009
presentation 15% by 1100 on Wednesday, 29 Apr 2009
active involvement in class activities 10% daily

[top]

Active Involvement

Your active involvement in enhancing the learning environment for your fellow students will earn you full credit

  • you all start out with a passing score for involvement. It's up to you to determine if that score increases or decreases.
  • active involvement includes asking questions about topics in such a way that your question and the answer also help your fellow classmates. You can ask questions in class, or by posting them on either the class listserv or the class blog.
    • I will respond directly to each question asked
    • also, if I think the rest of the class can benefit from the question and answer, I will reformat the question to preserve the anonymity of the asker and post both question and response on the blog, so that everyone can benefit
  • active involvement includes posting comments to the class blog
    • you don't have to do this each day
    • but you will have to post a note about starters you present on the blog
    • and you will surely have something to say about one or more of the other starters presented to you daily

There is no doubt that everyone in the class will be an expert in at least one area and active involvement also includes offering to display your skills in an area related to the topic under discussion so that we may all learn from and with you.

Be active and involved, but remember: quality of input far outweighs quantity. During class, you will want to respect your fellow students by not taking class time to play computer games or to read and send personal e-mail.

Attendance is a key indicator of your participation. I won't take roll daily, but I will notice your absence. It is very important that you do not miss classes. If you do miss classes, you would be wise to talk to me about it, either before or after the session you miss.

The amount of points earned for active involvement is a subjective judgment and I will be making the subjective call.

[top]

Where to find your grades

I will send a note to you when I have finished grading a task. When you receive that note, you can go to the the location linked to your name in the list below to download your grade sheets. There is a userid and password associated with your gradesheets and we will discuss them in class.

This is an example of what your gradesheets will look like.

[back to intro session] [top]

Last updated on

Image