Instructor Policies-V4

BEH/225

Introduction to Behavioral Science Facilitator Information

George Green georgephx@email.phoenix.edu (University of Phoenix) george.green@cox.net (Personal) 602-300-3814 (MST) Facilitator Availability I am available from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on most days, but I attempt to reserve Sunday for my family. On Saturdays, I tend to be online in the morning only. If these times are not convenient for you, please let me know. I will be happy to accommodate your schedule, if possible. I provide you with these times to make it easier to communicate with me, and not to limit our contact. I want you to know that, should you need to contact me outside these time frames, you should not hesitate to do so. For emergencies, when you are not able to gain access to messages on the Online Learning System (OLS), please send a message to my personal email address. In the event a third party needs to contact me, please direct them to my contact information listed under "facilitator information." No third party should use your login credentials to gain access to the classroom.

Attendance
All Modalities: If the student/learner misses more than the allowed absences in a course in consecutive or non-consecutive weeks, the student/learner will automatically be withdrawn (Autodrop) from the course and will not be eligible to earn a grade. Sending assignments to the instructor by email, fax, mail or other means does not make up for missed attendance. Faculty cannot excuse absences. Any questions about this policy should be directed to an admissions or academic counselor. Length of Course: 9 Weeks Absences Online: In order to be in attendance during a week, a student must post at least one message to any of the course forums on two separate days during the online week. Deadlines for attendance are based on M.S.T. Attendance is tracked automatically in all Online courses. Messages posted in all class forums should contribute to a students academic experience and count as Academically Related Activity.

Grading Scale
Grade A AB+ B BC+ C CD+ D DF

Percentage 95+ 90-94 87-89 84-86 80-83 77-79 74-76 70-73 67-69 64-66 60-63 <60

Participation and Discussion Question Grading

Discussion question responses count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score.

Online Participation
As you sit at your computer to take your first UoP class, many of you might be wondering, "How exactly do I participate in an online discussion?" This question is important, because a portion of your grade is based on your participation! Discussion is a key element of the learning process in all University of Phoenix classes, including UoP. In your UoP classes, you have weekly discussion questions (DQs) to complete during your read and discuss weeks; usually these require you to meet a specific word count and include a certain level of detail. Your responses to these DQs will help to start our informal class discussions. As you reply to others' initial DQ responses by asking questions, adding ideas, or making connections to the readings, you are creating the substantive messages that count toward your participation grade. Note: Points are not awarded for each DQ. Instead, the emphasis is on participation. Students are expected to post at least two substantive notes in the Main forum for 4 out of 7 days each read and discuss week. These posts address the Discussion Questions of which there are 2 during these weeks; 1,3,5,7,and 9. Meaning of Substantive For this class, substantive means that your message has substance and helps to further the discussion of course content. Substantive messages often include contributions of additional ideas and sources, insights or questions about classmates' comments, connections to the course readings, or ways of applying the lessons from the course. As a rule of thumb, your substantive comments should be at least several sentences in length. Short comments, such as "Good idea" or "I agree," do not constitute substantive posts on their own. Neither do comments that are unrelated to the topics at hand (for example, "I saw that movie, too!") If you say you agree about something, please explain why you agree, and add an additional insight or question. Tips for Creating Substantive Participation Explain why you agree or disagree, and add some examples to support your belief. Relate your personal or work experiences to the topic at hand. Ask additional questions of your classmates. Make connections between the topics at hand and the readings in the text. Add ways you can apply the lessons from the class in your work and educational life. As a rule of thumb, your posts that you want to count toward your substantive participation grade should be at least 50 to 75 words.

Can you start to envision the way in which we can make our Main forum a real forum for classroom discussion? Picture us sitting in a circle in a room, sharing ideas, debating those ideas, coming up with new ideas--actively collaborating in the online learning process! If you have any questions or comments about online discussion, please feel free to post them in the Main Forum.

Technical Support
Technical Support is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call 1-877-832-4867, or use the email support form. Answers to the most common issues are found in the Knowledge Base by clicking Help, found at the top of every student Web site.

Feedback
Each week, I will provide grades or scores and comments on your assignments. I will send feedback through your Assignment Links. These will posted to your individual forums. Please review this forum consistently.

Where to Go to Class
Main: This is the main forum for the class and is where discussion is conducted. It has readand-write access for everyone. Chat-Room: This is a read-and-write access forum. It is designed as a place to discuss issues not related to the course content. This is the forum to which we will send our bios. Course-Materials: This is a read-only forum, which means you can read messages & download materials for class, but cannot send any messages. This is where I will post the course syllabus and other materials. Individual Forum: You will see one forum with your name on it. This is a private forum, shared only by you and me, the facilitator. Your classmates will not have access to this forum. You can ask questions here. However, if you have general questions about instructions of assignments, please post those in the Main forum as other students may benefit by that exchange as well. Posting Assignments and Checkpoints: These will be posted to the assignment section in eCampus unless otherwise instructed. Posting to any other forum will cause a delay and may impact your grade.

Academic Integrity UOP College Subject: Certificate of Originality Requirement (Effective for classes beginning 1/1/11)
The University places a high priority on maintaining academic integrity and ensuring that proper credit is being given for others words and ideas used in the development of your written assignments. As noted in the Student Code of Academic Integrity: University of Phoenix is an academic community whose fundamental mission is the pursuit of intellectual growth. Achievement of this mission is dependent upon the development of autonomous thought and respect for the ideas of others. Academic dishonesty threatens the integrity of individual students as well as the Universitys academic community. In order to follow this mission of academic honesty and responsibility, the University has implemented the Certificate of Originality document to increase awareness of academic integrity. This document can be found in the Course Materials forum. It should be completed by typing your name in the appropriate field. You will be required to attach this document for all assignments. When you post an assignment to the Assignments link, also post an electronically signed copy of the Certificate of Originality at the same time.

Extra Credit
There is no offer of extra credit for missed assignments. If you have a disruption of power, internet outage or tech support cannot correct an issue in a timely manner, please notify me ASAP and we will discuss extending the date due.

Format of Written Assignments All checkpoints and assignments are to be submitted in Microsoft Word only. The exceptions to this are 2 presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint. Tips for Maximizing Point Credits Read carefully each assignment and checkpoint rubric. Each rubric indicates instructor expectations as well as helpful hints on what submit and how to submit it. If you submit paper without reading the rubric first you will not maximize your points. The left side of the Rubric is highlighted to assist you in understanding instructor expectations. APA Writing Style UoP Colleges Writing Style Handbook contains formatting guidelines required in UoPs degree programs. The handbook is intended to provide basic examples of APA style, modeled on the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. It is not intended to provide detailed instructions about every situation that may arise. For further information on APA style, copy and paste this site to your browser, http://www.apastyle.org or to the additional resources listed at the end of the handbook in the Materials Forum. How do I know what is expected of each Checkpoint & Assignment? Each Checkpoint and Assignment has a Rubric that lists specific expectations and identifies criteria used for grading. IT IS IMPORTANT YOU READ EACH RUBRIC PRIOR TO SUBMITTING. The expectations are shaded to assure you focus on meeting expectations.

Late Assignments Late assignments will be penalized with a 10% grade deduction for each day late. Any submission received after day 4 will receive no credit UNLESS THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE WARRANTED AND THE INSTRUCTOR WAS NOTIFIED IN ADVANCE. "Computer problems, Internet provider issues are not reasonable issues". Deadlines are defined as 11:59 p.m. Arizona Time Zone.
This class offers no make-up or extra credit for assignments missed. Late penalties will not be assessed due to inclement weather issues that impact internet/electrical services to homes. However, I expect that you will advise me in a timely manner if this should occur. Once I have posted grades, and you submit after the post, you must advise me, otherwise there will be no reason for me to return to the Gradebook and grade your work. If you have any questions about the assignment or need assistance, please post a note to me in your Individual forum in a timely manner. If you do turn in a checkpoint or an assignment late, please post to me that you have done so as after the due date I will not be checking the assignment posts.

Final Project Your Final Project is due by Midnight, Day 7 of Week 9. There are no incompletes accepted unless the student has followed the incomplete policy of UoP. No late papers will be accepted for this Final Project.