Class Policies
- Academic Dishonesty:
- Cheating will not be tolerated. If
academic
dishonesty is suspected, it will be reported to the judicial
coordinator and to the All University Judicial Board, where
appropriate.
- Grading scale:
- All papers, examinations and other work for
credit will
be graded on the basis of a raw score equal to the percentage of the
total number of possible points (100). The final letter grade will
be determined by the total raw score. Thus, two people with the same
raw scores will receive the same letter grade. The scale of
determination, however, is made only at the end of the course, once
all the grades are in. Estimates may be offered earlier.
- Class attendance:
- Students are expected to attend classes. In
the
unlikely event that a class needs to be canceled (e.g., because of
weather), I will try to leave a message on my voice mail (575-5826).
- Late papers:
- Late papers will be accepted, but the instructor
reserves the right to deduct up to one point for each day a paper is
late.
- Spelling and Grammar:
- Mistakes in spelling and grammar are not
appreciated. While no points will be taken off any paper or
examination solely for mistakes in spelling or grammar, clarity is
important in philosophy and errors in spelling or, particularly,
grammar can make writing more difficult to understand. The same
applies to illegibility. A paper with such errors may therefore
receive a lower grade than it otherwise would, because it may
therefore be less clear than it could be. Furthermore, the
instructor may disregard any claim made in an ungrammatical sentence.
- Make-up tests:
- Make-up tests will be given where a reasonable
(to
the instructor) and verifiable excuse for inability to take the test
at the scheduled time is offered. It is the student's responsibility
to inform the instructor as soon as he or she realizes that he or she
will be unable to take the test at the scheduled time. Any make-up tests
will be offered without options. For example, if on the normal test
students were asked to answer three out of five questions, the
student taking the make-up test will have no choice about which three
questions to answer (and the questions may be different from those
offered in the original examination).
- Reevaluation:
- Any student may request that any paper,
examination,
or other course work be reevaluated if she or he feels that it has
been unfairly or carelessly graded. No penalty will be imposed for
taking advantage of this option, of course, but neither is there any
guarantee that the grade will not decrease if the work looks inferior
on the second reading.
- Incompletes:
- Failure to complete the assigned work on time is
not a
sufficient reason to be granted a grade of "incomplete" in the
course. Giving birth to a child the morning of the final examination
is, if a good faith effort has been made up to that point to keep up
with the work.
- Courtesy:
- Please use common classroom courtesy. For example,
- Attend class. (It's part of what you're getting for your money; you may
learn something valuable (in life or on exams); and not attending sends an
"I don't care what you have to say" message to the teacher.)
- Please be on time to class whenever possible. (Coming in late distracts
other students; and you may miss the main focus of the day and thus not fully
understand what follows.)
- Please don't leave early unless it is an emergency. (Hey, it is rude to
walk out on someone. I'll try to end on time. If you know you'll have to
leave early for a doctor appointment, for example, you can let the teacher know
(e.g., through e-mail.)
- Don't talk to others in class when class is in session (before the bell and
after class is fine) unless the instructor suggests it. (Your talking can make
it harder for other students to hear the instructor; the instructor has to
strain his voice to overcome the noise; and you might miss something
important.)
- If you ask a question, listen to the answer. (You learn little
my not attending to the answer; also, failing to listen gives the
instructor the
impression that you didn't really want an answer, in which case you
should not have asked.
- If you make a comment, listen to the reply. (Again, you might
learn something.)
- Please turn off telephones and audible pagers. (There are exceptions to
this, of course, but class is no time to be taking calls from friends; and
the noise disturbs others.)
- Please don't eat in class. (It makes noise and distracts others. If you
are pregnant or a diabetic, that's a different story.)
- Please clean up after yourself. (Don't leave your mess for others.)
- Be courteous to other students. (They're persons and they're paying
for this too.)
- Special Needs:
- If you have special needs (e.g. require a
notetaker or are deaf or blind), please bring a card from the student
access office within the first week of class. (Of course is something
develops during the course of the semester, let the instructor know as
soon as possible.)
Richard Lee,
rlee@uark.edu,
last modified: 17 January 2007