TEXTS
ASU General Bulletin (received during orientation)
New Directions: A Handbook for Freshman Seminar ($15.00 purchase)
Your Guide to College Success, Santrock and Halonen (rental system textbook)
A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest Gaines (summer reading selection)
PURPOSE: Congratulations! You are a freshman in college and are among an elite group. "The Freshman Seminar" is a course designed specifically for you with a goal of assisting you in the transition from being a high school student to becoming a university student. As a member of a Freshman Learning Community, you have the unique opportunity to develop strong relationships with both students and faculty that will sustain you throughout your undergraduate career. During the course of the semester, we will engage in discussions regarding the reasons for a liberal education, the history and heritage of Appalachian, as well as "try out" a variety of skills that have proven helpful for academic success. It is our hope that we will provide a supportive group for one another and that the class will supply a provocative and stimulating agenda for your first semester as a university student.
PHILOSOPHY: We believe that successful students exhibit positive habits such as
It is in practicing these habits that we indicate a value system that supports the individual character which is necessary for a productive and useful society. We will view every aspect of this course through this filter of habits and values. We expect you to consider these qualities every time you act.
FORMAT: This course is a seminar that is part of a Freshman Learning Community. All of you should be taking Dr. Dorothea Martin’s World Civilizations course that meets from 12:30-1:45 pm on Tuesday and Thursday. A seminar differs from the typical lecture format of most introductory courses. You are expected to read, experience, question and reflect on all activities we undergo as a class. At times, we will present information in a mini-lecture format or will invite a guest speaker to provide "expert knowledge" but this is not the norm. More often, we will participate in activities and conversations that assist you in creating a strong start to your undergraduate education. Therefore, appropriate, positive, active participation and attendance are necessary.
GRADING: This course provides a grade for 3 hours of general elective credit (not Social Sciences or Humanities credit). You will receive 1 (W)riting designator, 1 (C)omputer designator, and 1 (C)ross (D)iscipline designator. The grade you earn results from the day-to-day effort you display as well as the cumulative reflection of your work on tests, papers, and projects. As faculty, we struggle with ways to account for both student differences and faculty expectations. We are not bound by "bell curve" or quotas. If all students earn "A's," then all receive "A's." The same is true of "B's, C's, D's, and F's."
And there are some distinctions between these grades. Please read the following descriptions and think about your work in these terms.
An "A" reflects that a student made outstanding contributions to the success of the course. They participated in class, turned in all assignments on time, attended outside activities and excelled on tests, in written work and in discussions – their attendance record reflects that this class was among their highest commitments. They learned and they helped others to learn...even us!
The grade of "B" reflects that a student was reliable, consistent and positive with regular and solid contributions to the success of the course. Students who make "B's" sometimes miss a class and sometimes have perfect attendance. The work is always completed, they attend all activities, and they perform well on tests. It is the quality of their presence that distinguishes them from "A's" and "C's."
Students who earn "C's" come to class regularly (1,2, or 3 absences) and participate often in class discussions and occasionally present important ideas and insights. They usually complete all but a few assignments on time, attend everything but sometimes refuse to accept responsibility for their own decisions. Overall they are successful students with admirable goals.
Students who choose to make "D's" are often distinguished by a couple of "tardy" arrivals to class, occasional absences (because of other priorities), one or two contributions to class and a rather laissez-faire attitude towards the activities and assignments. They might do well on tests or they might do poorly. In other words, the individual does not make it a priority to be a member of our seminar.
The student who earns an "F" is detached and unwilling to change. We ask that students who believe they are in jeopardy of earning an "F" will meet with us as soon as they recognize this concern and see if we can come with a strategy to avoid this grade.
By the way, we assign "+ and -"s as they are appropriate.
REQUIREMENTS: You are required to attend all classes and activities (cultural/outdoor events are among these required activities). This is the first tool of academic success. Your final grade will be lowered for missing more than 3 hours of class. IF YOU MISS AN HOUR OR ANY PART OF AN HOUR OF CLASS, IT WILL COUNT AS 1 OF THE 3 HOURS OF CLASS. These hours should be used for family emergencies and illness – I strongly recommend that you bank them for emergencies rather than spend them frivolously. For example, if you have a final grade of a B and you have 4 hours of absences, you will receive a B-; if you have 5 hours of absences, you will receive a C+, and so forth. Any emergency absences should be explained immediately (email or call one of us). If there is an "in-class" assignment on a day that you miss, you will receive a "0" for that assignment. If it is an assignment that can or needs to be made up for your success with future assignments (not a quiz), then we will consider grading your make-up work and averaging that grade with the "0." By no means should you assume that you can “make-up” a missed assignment.
You will be expected to write an admit card FOR EACH CLASS MEETING addressing the following prompt:
The most significant observation (or event) I have made (or experienced) since our last class meeting has been..... The reason this is significant is because……
We expect these to be handed in at the beginning of class. You will not be reminded to do them.... they are your responsibility. We expect them to be thoughtful reflections of how your readings, discussions, conversations, classes, friends, family, roommates, etc. are influencing your college experience.
You can expect the following activities and assignments to be used to determine your grade:
You need to provide a cover sheet for each event you attend that will answer basic questions such as name, date and time of the event as well as a brief description of the event.
We realize that the assignment seems simple enough and yet, we require a tightly organized, creative and insightful response to the above stated question. Our goal is not to be difficult but rather to give you significant experience addressing issues such as this so that you may improve your writing skills for essay questions and "job reports." You will be given an opportunity to re-write these papers until you are satisfied with the grade. All rewrites will have a final deadline that we will announce. Nothing can be turned in after Thanksgiving with the exception of daily admit cards and your final project. It is critical for you to do your own work. Do not collaborate with others on your papers, even if you attended the event together.
There are no extra credit assignments. We hope you will spend your time working on the above activities rather than selecting to do only the extra credit assignments.
COURSE TOPICS AND OUTLINE: There are several topics which we believe are important to this course but there is a great degree of flexibility regarding the order of presentation. We will seek your input as to the order of things to come, based on your needs and knowledge. Below is a tentative course outline.
