Kevin Buss EPSY 485 October 18th 2013

Assessment 2

Freshman/Sophomore Honors World History

Introduction
Welcome to Honors World History! As the title of the class implies, for the next eight months, we will be diving in to one of the broadest, most expansive subjects in academia: the history of human life on planet earth. Because attempting to investigate every corner of the globe throughout every era of human existence is both absurd and wasteful, we will narrow our exploration by focusing on individual civilizations at particular moments in history. Each of these snapshots will highlight a crucial historical theme; themes that we will see repeated throughout the rest of the course in a variety of times and places.

Grading Policy
It is my sincere belief that world history is an incredibly important subject to engage with, and it is my goal to convince you all of the same by the end of this course. That said, while I truly hope that each of you comes away with a profound understanding of the topics and concepts we cover, I acknowledge that everyone has different strengths, interests, and learning styles. I do not expect everyone to memorize perfectly the plethora of names, dates, and places we will be discussing- instead, I am more interested in your ability to demonstrate an understanding of the broad, over-arching themes we will explore. Many of these themes are intended to make you begin thinking and acting like a historian, and are meant to give you the tools you need to engage the subject at your own level. Therefore, your grade in this class will depend heavily upon the effort you put into engaging with the content. You will have numerous opportunities to participate in our exploration of world history, and a variety of means to show that you are actively engaging with the content (explained on page two and three). Every student in this class will start with an A, and it is my opinion that every student could potentially finish the class with an A. My philosophy is that you are all A students and you must prove me wrong for me to give you a lower grade. However, as I mentioned above, everyone has differing strengths and interests, so A-quality work for one student may not be the same as A-quality work for another. If you have a knack for history but consistently fail to put sufficient effort into this class, you will not merit an A as your final grade, and vice versa. PLEASE NOTE: Crucial to this caveat is communication. I will make every effort to communicate with you as often as possible, and I will expect you to do the same. The more we understand one another, the more fairly we can assess your progress in the class.

Assessments
Daily Participation: 30% of final grade Perhaps the most important element of this class! Being in class every day, ready to learn and willing to engage the subject is the best way to guarantee you will pass the class with an A. As mentioned in the grading policy above, I place a lot of emphasis on the effort you put into this class, and daily participation is one the easiest ways to determine how much you are interacting with the subject matter. Because we will be holding informal discussions about daily topics quite frequently, you will have multiple opportunities to ask and answer questions, voice your opinions, and share your experiences. However, I understand that not everyone is comfortable with speaking in front of a group, and while I certainly encourage developing this skill, your daily participation can also take other forms. At the end of each class everyone will receive an exit slip of sorts asking you to 1) summarize one of the main points covered either in class that day or in the readings, and 2) answer a question concerning the topic. Weekly Quizzes: 15% of final grade At the end of each week, you will take a quiz designed to assess your comprehension of the topics and concepts covered throughout the week. These quizzes are not primarily for grading purposes, but rather for your own benefit- you will get to use them as study guides for the unit projects and quarterly exams. They will also give me an idea of how well the class understood each weeks concepts, and allow me to modify my instruction accordingly. That said, if throughout the week the whole class demonstrates good behavior and participation, I will allow you to use your daily exit slips as a cheat sheet for these quizzes, and vice versa. Unit Projects: 30% of final grade In addition to daily participation, this is one of the most important parts of your grade. Each Unit will span three or four weeks and will focus on a particular place and time- the snapshots mentioned in the introduction. At the beginning of each unit, each student will be given a project rubric asking them to address one of the units over-arching themes in a creative and informative way. Examples include skits, debates, campaigns, musical or written compositions, and interactive presentations. You will typically work in groups, and most times you will be at liberty to decide what form your finished product will take, so long as it meets the requirements. These projects are intended to bring out your creativity while also testing your group-working and time-management skills. At the end of the unit, each group/student will present their finished product, for which the rest of the class will be responsible for taking notes to be used on the quarterly exam. Each student will be evaluated on his/her individual contribution to the project, as well as the quality of the project as a whole.

Quarterly Exams: 25% of final grade At the end of each quarter is an exam, which will usually cover about two units worth of course material. These exams are designed to synthesize the content covered by the weekly quizzes and the themes addressed in the unit projects. As mentioned above, you will be responsible for keeping said quizzes and taking detailed notes during unit project presentations to use as study guides for these exams. As a general rule exams will have three sections: multiple-choice, short answer, and an essay from a choice of several topics. These exams are not weighted as heavily as daily participation and the unit projects because I feel it is wrong to discriminate against students who might be poor test-takers due to anxiety or passing personal conflicts. While it is necessary to have some form of summative assessment, because I believe that effort and progress are more crucial to a students final grade, I will not relying solely on a measure of what you know to determine how well you did in this class. 90%-100% = A 80%-89% = B 70%-79% = C 60%-69% = D 59% and below = F*

Notes
While I chose not to incorporate attendance and tardiness as their own category in the assessment rubric, these are obviously very important factors in the learning process. To an extent, absences and general disengagement with the class will, by their nature, reflect negatively across the listed categories on the rubric, especially daily participation. I do not wish to make absence or tardiness a punishment in and of itself, but rather let the consequences of student actions (or inaction) speak for themselves. Similarly, while I will certainly promote a positive, respectful atmosphere in the classroom, I acknowledge that attitude is often an important consideration when determining a students grade. However, I cannot in good conscience assign a point value to attitude, especially given the incredibly subjective nature of evaluating it. Again, I will let the repercussions of students choices speak for themselves, while making every effort to work with students whose attitudes may be harmful to their (or others) learning process. *I am strongly opposed to failing students, and will only give an F if I truly believe the student needs to re-take the class for their own benefit. Otherwise, such a low grade is a reflection of my failure to meet the needs of a struggling student, and should be addressed before the final grade is given.