The weekly Octopus! activity where we explore some specialized topics relating to the course content – specifically, your textbook titled Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea. These weekly Q&A’s are to be submitted in ANGEL and will be graded in ANGEL, with the grades appearing in the ANGEL gradebook. Here’s how Octopus! will work.
Readings and responses outside of class
Starting the very first week of classes, you will be responsible for reading a chapter from your text BEFORE COMING TO CLASS. In addition to the reading, you will be answering three short questions relating to the content of the readings and/or your point-of-view on the material. There will be link in ANGEL to that online form.
The folder is already active for you in ANGEL to answer the questions at any time. If you want to read ahead and answer questions, you are more than welcome to do so, but please keep in mind that I will not be grading the assignments until after each due date. Each weekly Octopus! submission form will become inactive (will disappear) on 11:00PM the Wednesday of the Octopus! due date. You must complete the answers to the questions before 11:00PM Wednesday to receive credit. Octopus! RESPONSES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED LATE!
Class discussion on responses
We will review the class responses as a group on Thursdays. The responses will be presented as anonymous to the class, so no one will be able to identify “who-said-what.” We will breakout into smaller discussion groups and have further questions/statements for debate.
Dr. G’s 2¢ worth
For part of our Thursday classes, I’ll put in my 2¢ worth on the topic of discussion. We’ll also highlight some of the more “animated” discussions and develop a take-home message of the day.
How the “grading” will work
I will be looking for complete answers with a complete thought. One- or two-sentence responses for each question are not acceptable. Do not plagiarize – you should reference your sources if you take material verbatim from a source, but I do not want to see entire text passages as your response. Put your answers in your own words. Your final Octopus! grade will be 15% of your final semester grade. You will have 10 Octopus! assignments, each with 3 questions. Each question will be scored from 0 to 3.
- Score 0 = you respond that you do not know how to answer the question, or you leave it blank (shows no effort).
- Score 1 = you try to answer the question but show minimal accurate knowledge and/or substantial misconceptions about concept. You do not use any information from the readings or lecture notes to answer the question (minimal effort, incorrect answer).
- Score 2 = you show some accurate knowledge and may use correct terminology to answer the question. However, you do not use appropriate information from the readings or lecture notes to answer the question (partially correct, but still incomplete/not fully answered).
- Score 3 = you answer the question correctly and completely. You incorporate information from the readings or class notes into the answer. You may have looked for the answer outside of the class (on the web, etc.).
You cannot receive credit for not getting your online responses in on-time. There are no make-ups and no excuses allowed for missing the Octopus! online deadline.