Canvas discussions (25%)

Regular weekly work guidance

In-class regular attendance, active participation, and

interactive engagement (25%)

Our sessions are a fluid mix of—to translate other academic areas’ categories—lectures, discussion, and workshops. Classes are at the scheduled time and are for live active interactive work with student peers, guided by your instructor.

Attendance and active participation are part of your learning and expected. They will also help you to make friends and create your own community, an important part of a university education as a whole.

What, when, how, etc.?

Your weekly assignments might include  …

  • preparation work before class: reading (inc. movies)
  • individual and collaborative writing and discussion
  • individual tasks
  • group tasks
  • self-evaluation, peer-evaluation, formative interactive feedback in class, etc.
  • using Canvas Discussions (synchronous or asynchronous)
  • using other tools outside Canvas
  • … and more …

Course structure

Our course is designed to expect on average around 8 hours’ work per week of you. Some weeks will be heavier: the start of term, when everything is very new including navigating the online set-up; weeks when you are doing more work revising for and taking a quiz or the final exam. Other weeks should be lighter, and with a different working pattern.

Here’s where that “8 hours” came from:

As full-time academic work, a UBC undergraduate full course load of five 3-credit courses per term should mean 40 hours per week, so you should expect to be working on each course for on average 8 hours per week. For our course, that translates to 3 scheduled hours plus around 5 hours per week; or, 1 hour every day during the week, and 1-2 days off, for example at the weekend.

(Try to have at least one day’s rest every week. Please. I know that’s often difficult, and I sympathise if it’s hard for you to do. Even two half-days. Listen to some music in a Romance language, while snoozing or while outdoors: a whole album or a whole opera, for example. There’s a lot online for free, via YouTube and Project Gutenberg for example.)

Policies on attendance

UBC

Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including lectures, laboratories, tutorials, seminars, etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from final examinations. Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to classes. Any request for academic concession must be clearly expressed (see Academic Concession).

Students may not, concurrently with their University attendance, take studies for university degree credit through any other institution by correspondence, evening or regular session class without the approval of the dean of the faculty in which they are studying at the University.

The University reserves the right to limit attendance, and to limit the registration in, or to cancel or revise, any of the courses listed. Information concerning limitations on attendance for the various faculties and schools is found in the faculty and school entries.

FHIS

Regular attendance and participation are expected of students in all their classes. Students missing 40% or more of their classes, regardless of whether their absences are avoidable or unavoidable may be considered unable to meet the “learning outcomes” of the course and may, on the recommendation of the course instructor, coordinator, or the Head of the department, be excluded by the Dean from the final examination. Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to classes. Any request for academic concession must be clearly expressed

RMST 201

  • If you are registered with the UBC Centre for Accessibility, the course attendance policy detailed below will be adapted to your individual academic accommodations.
  • If you miss 1 or 2 sessions without notification:
    • no questions asked
    • no penalties
  • If you miss a 3rd session:
    • if you had a reason for missing the session, please complete an Arts Academic Advising student self-declaration form—you DO NOT need to provide any further details—and email it to your instructor; see also below, “Academic Concession”
    • if you do not do so, your instructor will check in with you (email; it is up to students to ensure that their email address is up to date) and submit an Early Alert for you: to help you, by putting you in contact with UBC support services
    • no penalties
  • If you miss a 4th session and any further sessions:
  • If you miss more than 9 sessions:
    • you will have missed 3 weeks of term, 25% of the course
    • your instructor will write to you (email) to warn you that you risk being unable to meet the course’s learning objectives
    • (for all students, and even if you have been granted Academic Concession)
  • If you miss more than 15 sessions:
    • you will have missed more than 40% of your course, and will be considered unable to meet the course’s learning objectives
    • you may be asked to withdraw from the course
    • you may be excluded from the final examination
    • (for all students, and even if you have been granted Academic Concession)

Canvas discussions guidelines + netiquette

Description

We’ll be using Canvas Discussions for discussion in class and afterwards.

Writing or recording a substantive discussion post is challenging, but it does not have to be difficult. Substantive discussion posts should be based on what you have learned in the course. You can also relate to outside resources and your lived personal experience, ideas, opinion, critical judgement, imagination, and thinking and being in general. Your posts can be either original reply to the given topic or extensive commentary on another student’s posting. You may also include questions to stimulate discussion.

We may also use Canvas Chat too, during and between discussions.

(25% of your final grade)

Instructions

By the end of the week in question, please:

  • Post your response to the appropriate discussion forum
  • (Length and other criteria will vary; quality is more important and relevant than quantity)
  • Engage in substantive commentary on peers’ posts
  • Keep in mind proper etiquette when responding to others. See also: Communicating Online: Netiquette

At the end of the teaching term (optional):

  • evaluate yourself: Weekly work: discussions
  • due date: 7 December

Assessment Criteria

Grades will be determined by:

  • Timeliness: The discussion posts are completed within the given timeframe
  • Quality: The discussion posts are substantive as outlined above
  • Relevance: The discussion posts are relevant to the given topic
  • Online etiquette: The discussion posts use a respectful tone of voice.

OPTIONAL (to be decided by you)

If you choose, online discussion assignments (synchronous class session + weekly group task) can be self-evaluated at the end of term. Yes, YOU can decide on your grade for this assignment. This is a version of “ungrading.”

  • which discussion was your favourite?
    (you may nominate more than one)
  • which discussion do you think that you and/or the group(s) with whom you worked did best?
    (again, you may nominate more than one)
  • what grade do you think that you should have for your online discussion participation, and why?
  • persuade me that you should have an A!

How self-evaluation works

Please include your self-grading and a short comment (1-2 sentences) explaining it.

Criteria for an A: You completed and submitted work for which you undertook research, developed an argument and used evidence to support it, and ideally presented your ideas in a clear, compelling, creative, and inspiring form. You handed it in on time.

If you decide to assess your work with a B, C, or D range grade, it will likely be because you didn’t manage some or much of what is described above. We’ll talk about that together: come and see me in office hours.

For the purpose of this class, a failing F grade isn’t a grade as much as an acknowledgment that you did not show up and/or do the work. Submitting work that is plagiarised – work that is not your own and/or that you have copied from someone or somewhere else – effectively constitutes not doing the work and will result in an F for that assignment.

**Important Note**: This self-grading scheme assumes presence and timely participation. Students who consistently don’t submit the required work or participate in the self-reflection process will default to a grade that I will assign, based on the work (including presence and participation) that the student has completed. In that case, I reserve the right to change or assign a grade, where appropriate.

(Criteria adapted from Carla Nappi, University of Pittsburgh (Links to an external site.).)

How to submit your self-evaluation

If you choose to evaluate your discussion contributions yourself … 

  • go to Weekly work: discussions assignment
  • write in the text box there
  • or attach a written version (PDF)
  • or attach an audio or video recording