I am delighted to announce the arrival of the One-Button Studio, a new teaching resource housed in Vairo Library. At the touch of a button, your students can produce high-quality recordings of presentations, interviews, and other events can be reviewed and/or shared. Susan Ware will soon be inviting you to an open house. In the meantime, take a look at my demo:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hjZLkZPKHA?rel=0]
Relevant University policies and rules are available here: http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/. I’m also including a powerpoint presentation, “Developing Stellar Syllabi: A Key to Student Success”, produced by the Jack P. Royer Center for Learning and Technologies (University College). There are only 12 or so slides, but they include some interesting points, mostly about the language and general tenor of the syllabus. Click on this link:
Please note that according to recently revised policy, you must distribute your course syllabi on or before the first meeting of your class. In addition, changes to a syllabus must be communicated to students in written (paper or electronic) form (Policy 43-00 Syllabus; revised 9-10-13).
It is important that you adhere to all components of UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE POLICY 43-00 Syllabus:
A written (paper or electronic form) syllabus must be distributed to students in each course on or before the first class meeting. In addition to course content and expectations, the syllabus must include contact information for all course instructors, the course examination policy, grade breakdown by assessment type and percentage, required course materials, and the academic integrity policy for the course, and information on procedures related to academic adjustments identified by the Office of Disability Services. Changes to the syllabus shall also be given to the student in written (paper or electronic) form.
1. Contact information for all course instructors
In addition to the standard phone, email, office location, you should also specify the time/location of your office hours.
2. Course examination policy
Written notification of the examination procedures (including the instructor’s final examination policy) to be used in each section of each course must be made available to the students in the section during the first ten calendar days of a semester or its equivalent. (Policy 44-10).
No examinations or assignments worth more than ten percent of the semester grade may be scheduled during the last week of classes. End-of-semester exams or alternative evaluational means worth more than ten percent of the final grade must be administered or submitted during the University-designated final exam period. (Policy 44-20).
3. Grade breakdown by assessment type and percentage
Your syllabus must contain a statement/formula that addresses how the final grade will be calculated (i.e. a list of graded requirements and the percentage weight of each). If you use a point system, state the number of points assigned to each activity (exams, projects, assignments, etc).
Class participation and attendance: If attendance and/or participation affects students’ grades, this should be stated clearly in the syllabus. Taking roll, and noting late arrivals and early departures can be useful in the event that a student disputes their participation in your course. Whatever your policy may be, apply it consistently and clearly. If you do not have an attendance policy, you cannot use non-attendance as a basis for assigning a lower grade. Note that University-approved absences include participating in regularly scheduled curricular and extra-curricular events (e.g., athletic competitions), and religious observances. Instructors should provide make-up work for students who miss class for such University-approved events and observances.
4. Required course materials
Textbooks, readings, calculators, clickers, etc.
5. Academic integrity policy
Policy 49-20:
Definition and expectations: Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University’s Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts.
Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the worth of work completed by others.
To protect the rights and maintain the trust of honest students and support appropriate behavior, faculty and administrators should regularly communicate high standards of integrity and reinforce them by taking reasonable steps to anticipate and deter acts of dishonesty in all assignments (Senate Policy 44-40: Proctoring of Examinations). At the beginning of each course, it is the responsibility of the instructor to provide students with a statement clarifying the application of University and College academic integrity policies to that course.
You play a vital role in educating students on matters of academic integrity. Be aware that not all students enter your course with equal understanding of the meaning of academic integrity and its fundamental importance to scholarly and creative activity, and the educational climate of their classrooms (see, for example, my blog post, “Global Awareness Dialogue Project: Responding to the needs of our multilingual and multicultural students”; https://sites.psu.edu/bwdaa/). You should include on your syllabus either the brief or expanded statement below regarding University policies and procedures associated with Academic Integrity and its violations. Your syllabus should also specify sanctions associated with integrity breaches. Be aware that students have the right of appeal when you accuse them of academic dishonesty (see below Senate Policy 49-20), so it is important to clearly communicate your sanctions, and carefully document violations. Please contact Julie Stanton, chair of our Academic Integrity Committee, for additional guidance. More resources are available here: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/brandywine/facultyresources/academicintegrity.html
Brief Syllabus Statement on Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity: All students are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students’ dignity, rights and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for self and others and a civil community. Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty include cheating or copying, plagiarizing, submitting another person’s work as one’s own, using Internet sources without citation, fabricating field data or citations, “ghosting” (taking or having another student take an exam), stealing examinations, tampering with the academic work of another student, facilitating other students’ acts of academic dishonesty, etc.
Students charged with a breach of academic integrity will receive due process and, if the charge is found valid, academic sanctions may range from F for the assignment to F for the course, depending on the severity of the offense.
The University’s statement on academic integrity, from which the above statement is drawn, is available at http://www.psu.edu/dept/oue/aappm/G-9.html
Expanded Syllabus Statement on Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity: All students are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students’ dignity, rights and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for self and others and a civil community.
Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty include cheating or copying, plagiarizing, submitting another persons’ work as one’s own, using Internet sources without citation, fabricating field data or citations, “ghosting” (taking or having another student take an exam), stealing examinations, tampering with the academic work of another student, facilitating other students’ acts of academic dishonesty, etc.
Academic dishonesty violates the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromises the worth of work completed by others. A student should avoid academic dishonesty when preparing work for any class. If charged with academic dishonesty, students will receive written or oral notice of the charge by the instructor. Students who contest the charge should first seek resolution through discussion with the faculty member or the campus Director of Academic Affairs. If the matter is not resolved, the student may request a hearing with the University College Committee on Academic Integrity at the campus.
Sanctions for breaches of academic integrity may range (depending on the severity of the offense) from F for the assignment to F for the course. In severe cases of academic dishonesty, including, but not limited to, stealing exams or “ghosting” an exam, students may receive a grade of XF, a formal University disciplinary sanction that indicates on the student’s transcript that failure in the course was due to a serious act of academic dishonesty. The University’s statement on Academic Integrity from which the above statement was drawn is available at: http://www.psu.edu/dept/oue/aappm/G-9.html
6. Information on procedures related to academic adjustments identified by the Office of Disability Services
There are a number of students on campus with identified physical, emotional, or learning disabilities. At this campus, students with learning or physical disabilities self-identify to Sharon Manco (x461, sam26@psu.edu ). Dr. Manco requests and reviews the required supporting documentation and provides the student with a memo for the instructors detailing the appropriate accommodations. You should include the following statement in your syllabi:
Note to students with disabilities: In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, it is Penn State’s policy to provide reasonable academic adjustments for students with documented disabilities. If you have a disability-related need for modifications in this course, contact Sharon Manco, 610-892-1461 or sam26@psu.edu. This notification should occur by the end of the first week of the semester. Students may visit www.equity.psu.edu/ods/ for complete information.
For additional information, please refer to the Nondiscrimination Policy that is part of the Student Guide to University Policies and Rules (on the web) or the Faculty Handbook for Working with Students with Disabilities, which is available in the Learning Center. Faculty who have concerns about students with disabilities in classes may contact Sharon Manco for information concerning accommodations.
Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-52). Poetry and mathematics conspired in her vision of a general purpose machine that could be programmed and reprogrammed to perform a limitless array of tasks.
A group of Brandywine faculty and staff is working to breathe new life into our summer Math Options program. Run single-handedly for many years by Pat van Leuvan, a member of our Education faculty, Math Options was a highly successful day-long program intended to encourage middle school girls’ interest in math and science. It lost its champion when Pat retired, but is being reinvigorated with the help of Lynn Hartle, Charles Helou, Janeen Madison, Jenn Zosh, and others. The STEM fields, as you know, suffer a significant gender gap. Math Options and similar programs are intended to narrow this gap.
The history and research on girls and women in the STEM fields paints a peculiar and complex picture. According to Walter Isaacson’s history of the modern computer, for example, the digital revolution began with the theorizing of Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, whose mother pushed her to study mathematics as an “antidote to the poetic imagination”. Isaacson argues that women, particularly women mathematicians, went on to play a pivotal role in computer science. Women were the theoreticians whereas “men were interested in building, the hardware, doing the circuits, figuring out the machinery”. In the 1930’s women mathematicians were fairly common; during World War II many contributed to the war effort by developing programs capable of breaking German encrypted messages (the famous Bletchley Park project). But history is largely silent on women’s contributions to the computer age; In the 1980’s women with degrees in computer science fell from 40 to 17 percent.
Recent research on girls and women in STEM points to college as the point of gender bifurcation. According to a comprehensive national report (National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators, 2012), girls are taking advanced math and science courses (except physics and engineering) at similar rates as boys — and performing well. But a significant shift occurs at the college level, and disparities emerge, especially for women of color (I lifted the following summary from http://www.ngcproject.org/statistics):
Potential sources of these disparities have been explored from a number of perspectives. Social and cultural stereotypes have been implicated, as have peer pressure and socialization, and the “family-friendliness” of STEM workplaces. There is surely much to be done to narrow the STEM gender gap. Brandywine’s summer programming to encourage the interest, competence, and confidence of girls and young women in STEM is a good place to start.