Course "Quips"
Last updated 29 December 2003

These are important points about the course and about student conduct in general.  They are offered with humor  because, while important, we need to recognize that some of them are also bemusing.  Pay attention to each of these and keep them in mind as you progress through the course.  These are designed to increase civility and learning in the course.  You might remember these beyond this course to your entire academic or university experience, (life?) in general.   Some of these items and the idea of this set of material originated from Wm. Irving, "A Modest Proposal for Students" The Teaching Professor (August/September, 1999) p. 8.

1. Enthusiasm is Contagious.  People learn and professors teach better in a setting with alert, attentive, and engaged people.  That means all of us, students included.
2. Be Involved in Class.  Participation in class discussions is required and it is essential to learning the material in this course.  Do not be afraid to contribute, even if you are unsure of the contribution.  That does not mean the sound of your voice (without substance) is valuable.  It does mean that if you think of a problem, a question, a point, or an idea you should contribute those to class discussions.  This point is another way of indicating students must be active learners in the course.  It is all right to take risks, making statements or arguments that you are unsure of is all right, as long as you are willing to be proven wrong, as well as be proven correct in using that argument.
3. The "too cool for school" posture is not acceptable in this class.  Do not slouch, chat, glare at the clock, read the paper, talk to classmates, laugh at a private joke, or yawn during the class.  You would certainly not appreciate that attitude if you were speaking to the class.  These actions are insulting to the entire class.  If you do not want to be in class, do not register and take the course.
4. When a fellow student speaks, listen.  It is not appropriate to tune out when another student asks questions or responds in class.  It is disrespectful, and you will miss the material in class if you do not listen to what is said.  If you do not follow the conversation or the dialogue you cannot expect to learn in class.
5. Never close your books or rustle your papers to signal the end of class.  This is like looking at your watch when someone else is talking to you.  It is rude and it is unnecessary.  Class ends when the instructor says it is finished!
6. Make it a matter of practice to check the web page for the course daily.  Doing that once a day will clearly make you aware of any new announcements, assignments, due dates and the like.  Announcements may be made in class, but they will always be posted on the web page.  Class comments about assignments or other class work, will NOT be repeated so class attendance or checking the website is essential.
7. Do not expect to receive full credit for work, copied from a textbook or the casebook.  You need to think about what is called for in an assignment, and the substantive material connected to the assignment must be mastered before you complete an assignment.  That thinking and analysis must be reflected in what you submit for credit in the class.  Plagiarism is not acceptable, and all the work you submit must be your own.
8. Do not come to class late.  That is disruptive and distracting, and oftentimes announcements and important comments are presented at the outset of class.  If you miss those, they will NOT be repeated and asking the professor to repeat them will not be welcome.  (Obviously various delays can cause people to arrive late for class.  Choosing to interrupt the entire class by entering late is your choice.  Think about others before you do that!)

Office Hours

1.  Make use of office hours.  Do not hesitate to make an appointment if the usual times are inconvenient of impossible.  The instructor is interested in your questions, concerns, or ideas.  Using email to communicate these matters may work, but face-to-face conversation is always better.
2. Do not wait until it is "too late" to seek help.  If you are having trouble with class materials, let the instructor know as soon as possible.  Show that you are concerned.  When you identify a question or a problem (whether it is a fundamental problem or a "little" question) involving course materials, raise it right away.  That is likely to lead to a quick solution.  Waiting may lead to a bigger problem that cannot be solved.
3. Come to office hours with definite questions, concerns, or problems in mind.  Do not wander in to shoot the breeze and kill time until your next class.  Do not wait until you arrive at the office to think about your question.  Do not come to office hours to tell the instructor you "don't understand" something discussed in class.  You may lack understanding, but it is essential for you to discuss your difficulty with a clear sense of what you don't understand or a clear sense of what you think you do understand about the material.  To tell the instructor that you don't "understand an assignment," only indicates you have "no clue" and probably have not even tried to understand or work through the assignment.   If you have a focused question or problem you are very likely to get that clarified quickly and clearly.  That might lead to further discussion with the instructor, or it may be the end of the discussion.  It is very likely to lead to your understanding of the material and clarification of the problem.  If you arrive for a meeting with your professor without a specific question or problem, that means you just want to talk.  That may be beneficial, but remember, your time is valuable and perhaps could be better used completing assignments and the like.
4. Do not give excuses for absences.  Absences from class are noted and they are NOT excused.  Your presence or absence is a matter of choice for you.  If you are ill, have a personal emergency, or something else comes up, you choose, obviously, to be absent.  That is your choice and there may be many things that are much more important than your presence in this class.  The same choices occur if you just did not feel like attending class or you were "too tired to get out of bed and come to class."  The reason you were absent is not important to the instructor.  It is a fact that you were absent.  You are still (always) responsible for everything that occurs in class.  You are not excused from the material covered or the subjects treated in class regardless of the reason for your absence.  The instructor will NOT repeat the class discussion for you.  Announcements and assignments that may be made in class are generally posted on the web for you convenience.
5. Never ask "Did I miss anything important in class the other day?"  OF COURSE YOU DID, and you are responsible for that.  Get a friend or class mate to clue you in or a member of your study group should be able to outline what was covered in class.  Always check the web page for announcements and assignments or due dates which you might  have missed because your were absent.  Do not ask the instructor to repeat a class session.  That cannot be done and it will not be done.  Note Number 8 above in the classroom section.  Being late for class is likely to result in you having no idea about the discussion or you will miss important announcements.
6. Do not call the professor at home, unless the instructor has indicated that this contact is all right.
7. Do not use office hour time to complain or claim you "do not understand," although you may be used to such grade bargaining in other courses, this is not the purpose of "office hours" in this course.  Come to office hours with questions, and come prepared, not just to complain.

Papers/Examinations

1. Hand all assignments in on time.  Late papers may be explained, but they are not excused.  Late papers will NOT be accepted or graded.  One important lesson for everyone to understand is that deadlines are for a purpose and that you can and should meet them.  Manage manage your time so that deadlines can be met.
2. Do not ask if your paper has been graded the day after you handed it in.  Believe it or not, grading and evaluating is difficult and the instructor may well take extra time to do that in order to insure accurate and honest grading.  It is important for the student to turn materials in a timely and prompt fashion, and evaluating those will be done just as soon as possible by the Instructor.
3. Read your paper, examination, or essay again.  Before you complain to the instructor or ask the instructor about a paper or an examination grade always be sure you know what was asked of you and be sure you know what you submitted in fact.  So, be sure you have read your entire paper again, along with the comments that have been written on the paper, so you know what you did say.  Understand the comments the instructor made on a paper before you go in to talk with the professor.  Your conversations about the paper should be focused on improvement or "hitting the nail on the head" not on negotiating a better grade for subpar work.  That means you should not expect to confront or approach the professor at the end of class immediately after picking up a graded paper.  You cannot ask for or expect an answer to important questions of this sort on the spur of the moment.  Do not expect to bargain with the instructor over a "low grade."  The purpose of a grade is to indicate the quality of the work you have already done.  What you can do is learn from that work and that evaluation, rather than argue about the quality of the work.  Listen to what the instructor says about why the work was evaluated as it was and recognize that you missed a point, you missed the entire assignment, you did an unsatisfactory job on the assignment, or you need to work on your (analytic) thinking or your writing skills and techniques.  The fact that the grade may surprise (disappoint) you  means you need to learn what is expected and how to achieve those objectives.
4. Never submit a first or rough draft of a paper.  Always submit your best work.  If a student submits a paper that is a "rough" draft or has been prepared quickly the hour before submission as though it were your best work, you should expect a grade appropriate for the quality of that work.  The grade will reflect the quality of the work you have done on the assignment -- little effort or poor quality work will get that kind of credit.  Always ask yourself "Is this my best work?"  Going in to talk about a paper after you get it back will give the professor the chance to ask you: "Is this your best work?"  So ask yourself that very question before you submit the paper.   If your answer is "No," then do not expect a great grade on the work.  This rule should also operate in examination situations.  Re-read your essays before your submit the exam.  Sometimes it will be obvious that you missed an important point, you failed to conclude or summarize your answer, or you got off the track and did not answer the questions that the exam asked.  You may only have to change the essay slightly to get it on track and make it crystal clear.  But you should do that before you submit your exam.  That will obviously improve your grade.

Learning in General

1. Learning is cumulative.  Do not expect to learn the material for a course "the night before the Final Exam."  That strategy will not work for any student who wants to learn the material or who wishes to earn full credit and a good grade for the course.  Learning is a continual process that builds from day to day.  Your knowledge accumulates over the term.  Students who do not recognize that or who cannot (or will not) learn gradually, are short changing themselves, they are wasting their time and money, and they will receive disappointing results.
2. Students should expect to learn course material from each other.  It is important to make friends and develop small study groups early in the semester for this course.  Getting together once or twice a week to work on (discuss) assignments may lead to much greater understanding and much more satisfaction with the material and the course than trying to get the material only in class.  Explaining an idea, concept, or relationship to someone else is a very good measure of how well you understand it.  So if you can explain a point to another student, then you understand it well, and they will learn from your explanation.  It is a good, informal indicator of your mastery of material, if you can explain it.  Do not be a "free-rider."  Doing no work but sucking information out of the other members of a study group is free-riding or parasitic.  This group system works as long as everyone contributes to it.  Missing group meeting gets old fast and conveys to the other members of the group that you do not care or are not interested in their contributions.  Do not be a loner and do not try to be invisible in a course.
3. The heart and soul of courses is "in the details."  Students learn, in some courses, that general statements and large, global ideas, imprecisely expressed or understood are adequate or are "learning" the big picture.  That is not the case here.  Building ideas and structures here must be at the micro level.  So even if you begin with generalities, get to the specifics quickly.  Students must be careful, pay attention to precise wording and explanations.  It is important to recognize subtle differences and similarities and it is important to follow directions carefully or precisely.  Always read and understand footnotes.  When students prepare answers to questions – oral or written – they should NOT make general or vague statements.  The more precise the answers students develop, the more they understand the material.  Vague or general answers are often an indication the student knows little or nothing about the substance and is trying to "B.S" their way to a satisfactory grade.  That is NOT a good way to display your knowledge, and you should NOT expect an exceptionally high grade for garbage.
4. Always do a little extra work.  The difference between a high grade and a mediocre grade in a class often depends on how well the student learns material and what extra reading or supplemental thinking the student does in a course.  The instructor will suggest examining materials that are beyond the text books in the course.  Students should spend some time at the computer or in the Library exploring those points.  It is amazing just how much a student can learn by doing a little extra work.  (If a student is unwilling to do or is  uninterested in doing extra work, they are short-changing themselves and their level of understanding of course materials will be under-developed.)
5. Always be prepared.  This really means a variety of things about student preparation.  (a) Students need to read all the relevant material carefully, before they attend class or come in to office hours to ask questions or get something clarified.  That means read ALL the material for the course carefully, perhaps repeatedly, until it has been mastered.  That means all the pieces on this course website should be mastered and remembered.  (b) Students should not ask questions that have already been asked and answered either in class or on the website.  So students who miss class are at a distinct disadvantage in this regard, as are students who cannot manage to master the assignments – reading and writing assignments – for this course.