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Dr. Mark Jordan ~ ENGL 2311:
Technical Writing
Course Syllabus
Method of
Evaluation
The grade levels I use apply in
slightly different ways to both individual assignments and
course grades. In the Odessa College grading system
pertaining to overall course grades for this and most
courses, the standard range is A ~ B ~ C ~ D ~ F, as shown
below. See the Student Handbook for information on such
unusual grades as "Incomplete" and others. In computing
GPAs, Odessa College uses a four-point system as also shown
below:
90-100 = A = 4.0
gradepoints
80- 89 = B = 3.0
gradepoints
70- 79 = C = 2.0
gradepoints (the lowest
transferable course grade)
60- 69 = D = 1.0 gradepoints
(a passing course grade, but
usually not accepted by most colleges and universities to
which you might wish to transfer)
Below 60 = F = zero
gradepoints
In my evaluation of individual
assignments, I use a similar range as shown above from "A"
to "F," where "A" = 95, "F" = 55, and so forth.
Additionally, a grade of A, B, C, or D may be shown with a
minus (-) or a plus(+) with the minus equaling a "2" and the
plus an "8". For example, a "B+" on an assignment equals 88
points; a "B" equals 85 points; a "B-" equals 82 points. The
A, C, and D ranges work the same way. I also on some
occasions may give the following grades:
Below 55 = F- (may be given when an assignment is turned in
but in such a condition that even the most generous
evaluation cannot justify giving even 50 out of 100 possible
points; used rarely. The actual point value may range
anywhere from 10 to 50 points, at my discretion.)
Zero = No points (when an assignment is not turned in at all
or if the assignment has been plagiarized.
Note that as shown also in
my Policies section, plagiarism also carries the penalty of
an "F" for the final course grade, no matter what the
student's average was beforehand.
Course
Requirements
- Daily work (quiz grades, formatted outlines, and
other daily assignments) will count 10% of your course
grade.
- Class
participation
will count 5% of your
course grade. Put simply,
this grade is based on your email participation (both to
me and on Nicenet). The grade given will be judged on
several factors chosen to reflect not only quantity of
participation but quality as well. Criteria may include
such factors as number of days participating, number of
messages sent, amount of pertinent questions asked,
amount of topics or persuasive points introduced in
discussion, and general discipline, motivation, and focus
demonstrated.
- Less formal correspondence
(memos, progress reports,
and especially letters) will count 15% of your course grade.
These single-page
assignments will each tie in, when possible, in some way
with one of your major assignments. Especially in the
case of letters, each will need to be formatted
professionally according to the several options in your
text, carefully composed and proofread, signed, and
either mailed or faxed. These are not inconsequential
assignments, because letter-writing is a very important
professional skill. Regarding email memos, I may require
certain formal email in connection with some major
assignment; I will identify these as being different from
our frequent email intended for communication within the
course, and any such formal email memos will count as
part of the less formal corespondence grade, not as part
of the class participation grade.
- A process-analysis document
will count 15% of the course grade. Details on this and other major
assignments will appear on my Assignments page and will
be discussed on Nicenet and in personal email, as
needed.
- A mechanism description
document will also count 15% of the course
grade.
- A collaborative project
resulting in an analytical report or other longer
document will count 20% of the course grade.
This sort of work
provides invaluable experience in the sort of
committee-type work which is commonplace in business and
industry. Considering that this course typically draws
many out-of-area students who would find it difficult or
impossible to meet for collaborative work, what I have
done in the past is to require that one or two common
broad topics be shared by all, secondly that research be
done collaboratively and shared under specific and fairly
strict guidelines, but thirdly that the documents
themselves be done individually on specific, distinct
aspects of the shared common topic. Individual grades are
then adjusted to consider each student's participation in
the research process.
- The final exam, also worth
20% of the course grade, will be a resume' and letter of
application corresponding to one of several hypothetical
hiring situations which I will supply at semester's
end.
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