Fall 2013
Instructor: Richard
Gordon
Course Info, Grades, and Texts | Syllabus | Log in to Canvas
The best way to teach an applied ethics class is to give students
the opportunity to discuss situations, either deciding how one could sort
a situation out, or making sure one understands where other people's decisions
come from. Therefore, I try to keep lecture to a minimum to leave plenty
of time for our discussion. And you'll have plenty of opportunity to continue class discussion on line.
Here's how your work will be evaluated: 35% of your grade will come from "daily work" (online quizzes, in class exercises); 35% of
your grade will come from online discussion (including current
news stories); 30% of your grade will come from test and exam
scores.
Expect quizzes or in-class exercises daily to make sure you stay
up with the reading. I believe one reviewer at an off-campus
site referred to my quizzes as "painfully easy." Keep up,
and 35% of your grade will be A.
Treat class like you would treat a business obligation: Use
common sense and courtesy and let your instructors know when you
have to miss class meetings.
CISC355 is a participatory class. If you miss class, you are
depriving your colleagues of your input. Whether you are present
or absent, you are responsible for every class meeting. All
class meetings are recorded by the UD Capture service.
Here are the specifics of the class absence policy:
General Information
Office: 227LL, UDCC (192 S. Chapel Street)
Office Hours: Perkins Scrounge, By Appointment:
Set up an appointment
Phone: (302) 831-1717
Email: richard [at] udel [dot] edu
Office: 103 Smith Hall (TA Room)
Office Hours: TBA
104 Colburn Lab
Course Requirements:
In part because the content for this class changes from year to
year--and sometimes from week to week, I'm always tinkering with this
course. This year, we'll use
Class Attendance, Participation, Late Assignments,
Academic Honesty:
Students are expected to participate actively in all class
discussions. Hence the daily quizzes and exercises. Being an active listener is
fine. However, being physically
present and reading the newspaper, studying for an exam in
another class, facebooking or texting or "chatting on line with babes all day" does not make you
an active participant.
A = 94.0 and up; A- = 90.1 - 93.9 B+ = 87.5 - 90.0; B = 83.5 - 87.4; B- = 80.1 - 83.4 C+ = 77.5 - 80.0; C = 74.0 - 77.4; C- = 71.1 - 73.9 D+ = 68.0 - 71.0; D = 65.0 - 67.9; D- = 63.0 - 64.9 F = under 63.0
If you keep up with the work, grades are not usually too much of an issue. In aggregate, over 80% of the students in my sections did work that earned a grade of B or higher. Given how easy the quizzes usually are, it is rare for a student's work to earn a grade under 75 in my sections.
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