Reli 10023 - Understanding Religion: Communities - Ways of Being Religious

...

your login information: A. Enter your login ID (which is your TCU ID number with no dashes or slashes) B. Enter your password (For first time users, your password is MMDD of your birthday—no year, slashes, or dashes)

Reading Tips

To help you focus your reading of the assigned texts, I’ve published “reading tips” on the Course Documents (on DocSharing, under the “Reading Tips” category). Please note that the list of tips is not exhaustive; you are responsible for all content in the assigned reading, including content not referenced in the reading tips documents. However, the reading tips should help you to organize your reading and to prepare for class discussion.

ASSIGNMENTS

Basis for Course Grade

1. Attendance and Participation (10%)

Journal Entries (5 @ 2% each = 10% total)

Reflection Paper on Worship Center Visit (30%)

Midterm Exam (25%)

5. Final Exam (25%)

ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION (A&P): All students are expected to attend all class sessions and to participate actively in class discussions. I will check roll at the beginning of each class session. A&P counts for 10 percent of your overall course grade.

Your A&P grade will be determined according to the Rubric for Attendance & Participation, posted on the course website under “Rubrics.”

I calculate your baseline A&P grade based on your attendance:

· 2 unexcused absences or fewer: 90 (A-)

· 3 unexcused absences: 80 (B-)

· 4 unexcused absences: 70 (C-)

· Students with more than 4 unexcused absences will receive a failing grade for the course.

To raise your A&P grade above the baseline, all you need to do is participate actively in class discussion. That includes volunteering to answer questions I ask, asking questions or raising issues for discussion, participating actively in group work, actively listening and paying attention, and so on.

Just showing up does not constitute active participation!

JOURNAL ENTRIES: During certain weeks (weeks 2, 4, 8, 10, and 13), students will compose and post on the eCollege website one journal entry each week for that week’s assigned readings (a total of 5 entries). The weeks with journal entries are marked in the course calendar in this syllabus.

All entries are due by the beginning of the last CLASS SESSION of the week (eCollege tracks when and what you do while in the course shell). Any entry turned in after the beginning of the last class session of the week or not turned in at all, will receive a zero for a grade.

Each entry is worth two points (cumulatively 10 possible points). To receive the two points, each entry must include four elements: 1. the week’s date (i.e., week of Aug. 31, Sep. 14, etc.) 2. be at least 100 words in length 3. make specific reference to something in the week’s assigned reading, including giving the exact page number of the section on which you are commenting 4. thoughtfully reflect on an aspect of the reading. This can be in the form of raising questions, agreeing or disagreeing with the reading, or expressing some other pertinent thought. Your journal entries must demonstrate that you have read and thought about the assigned reading.

I will leave feedback on eCollege for all journal entries (even those that receive a grade of zero). To read this feedback, simply click on the grade in the gradebook and a dialog box will appear with my comments. If after reading my comments you have questions about your grade, please contact me.

The journal can be accessed by going to the course homepage on eCollege, selecting “Journal” from the toolbar at the top of the page and then selecting “add entry.” Make sure that you designate your journal entries as “share with instructor.” This will allow me to read and grade them. If you chose “private,” I can’t read them and you won’t receive credit for them. When you are finished writing, click “add entry.”

WORSHIP CENTER VISIT & REFLECTION PAPER: See the section “Guidelines for Worship Center Visit and Reflection Paper,” at the end of this syllabus. This paper is due by the beginning of class on Mon., Nov. 23.

How to Submit the Paper: You will need to submit your finished paper using the Dropbox tool on the course website. Here are the instructions for doing so:

· On the Tools menu, click Dropbox.

· Click Submit Assignment.

· In the Basket drop-down list, select Course Home: Worship Center Paper*.

· In the space provided, type any comments or explanations for the assignment.

· Scroll down and click Add/Remove to add your paper as an attachment to the assignment. Follow the steps on the page to add a single attachment or multiple attachments.

· Click Submit Assignment. The assignment is sent to your instructor’s Inbox and to your Outbox. You cannot make changes to a submitted item, but you can submit additional information or attachments.

(You can see a video on use of dropbox here: http://www.elearning.tcu.edu/resources/students/ecollege/dropbox/studropbox.asp .)

In order to receive a grade for this assignment, you must complete and sign the Assumption of Risk form, and submit it to me by the date of the Midterm Exam (Oct. 5). Failure to submit this completed and signed form will result in a grade of zero for the assignment. I will supply this form with your Midterm Exam.

Policy on Late