First Year Experience                                    SLS 1501

Fall 2009 Section U18

Thrusday:  Noon-1:150PM          WC 130

 

  

                             

  PURPOSE

This course will serve as an introduction to FIU and to the overall experience of university life. It will provide an orientation to the University’s policies and procedures and introduce students to the various resources and support services that are available to help promote and support academic success.  The second goal of the course is to provide an introduction to the fundamentals of research, which is an important component of the academic experience in the Honors College.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of this course are to assist students in:

1.  understanding the basic academic requirements, policies and procedures of the university;

2.  managing the university environment in ways that will support completion of an academic degree;

3.  understanding how to use the resources and services available on campus;

4.  developing an understanding of the complex issues and choices confronting the college student;

5.  understanding and managing the fundamentals of academic research; and

6.  developing a sense of connection with the Honors College through exposure to the Honors College community.

RESEARCH

 The course will introduce students to various areas of research including:

1.  What is research and what is it not;

2.  Why engage in research;

3.  How do you develop research questions and hypotheses;

4.  What are the different methodologies used in research (e.g. historical, qualitative, quantitative, etc).

To accommodate and enhance learning in this area, students will receive a comprehensive introduction to the library, particularly its electronic resources, and instruction on accessing and using the various search engines available.

REQUIRED TEXT

 The First Year: Making the Most of College

 By Jeffrey Knapp, Larry W. Lunsford, & Glenda A. Belote First Ed.

 

ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION (25 points)

Attendance and participation are mandatory; attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class.  All students begin the semester with 25 points for attendance/participation.  One absence will not lower a student's grade.  Each subsequent absence will decrease the student's attendance grade by 5 points.  Tardiness will decrease the grade by 2.5 points per incident.  Lack of participation will decrease the grade by 2.5 points per day.

 

CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT (10 Points)

Students are to participate in a minimum of three activities during the semester. 

Selected activities should include one of each of the following categories: 

 

¨            One social/recreational activity

¨            One FIU Honors College event

¨            One academic or career activity 

 

A one-page paper should summarize the experience and demonstrate the student's reaction to the experience.  Be sure to be specific and provide detail.  Assume I know nothing about the subject and you are educating me.  A one-page paper should be aboutt 300 words and have one-inch margins all around, typed, double-spaced with 12 pt font.  Each paper is worth 5 points. 

 

Late papers will be penalized 1 point per day (not class period), including weekends.  See assignment portion of syllabus for due dates.

 

Quiz (10 Points)

Students will be given a quiz at the beginning of the semester.  The quiz will test their understanding of the course syllabus and Website as it applies to the individual student. 

 

HOMEWORK (30 points)

Exercises/activities will be assigned and collected regularly.  Each day's assignment is worth 3 points (collectively).  Late assignments will be penalized 1 point per class period.  Incomplete assignments will be penalized 1.5 or all points.

 

SEMESTER Resarch Method PROJECT (25 points)

The total number of points available for the final project is 25 points to be distributed as follows:  15 points for project paper, 10 points for project presentation

 

ADDITIONAL POLICIES:

Readings: Each day's reading will form the basis for in-class lecture and discussion. Students are expected to have completed all the assigned reading before each class, and will come prepared to thoughtfully listen, speak, and learn.  I will typically call on several of students at the beginning of a class period, perhaps at other points as well, to summarize or react to particular readings assigned.

Civility and Respect:  Hopefully, some of the course material will  generates lively discussions, it is likely that people will sometimes express differing views and opinions.  While it is not necessary to agree with others' views, it is essential that all class members appreciate the importance of listening to and respecting differences of opinion.

Cell Phones:  Cell phones are to be turned off during class.  They are disruptive to both the learning process and to other students in the classroom.  If a student's cell phone goes off that student will be asked to leave the room and be given an absent mark for the day.

Incompletes: Incompletes will be given only in cases of unforeseeable and severe circumstances beyond the student's control, such as documented illness or injury.

Plagiarism: Students engage in plagiarism when they present the opinions or arguments of someone else as their own.  Plagiarism is both dishonest and counter-productive.  It defeats a purpose of education—the improvement of the student's powers of thinking, reasoning, and expression.  Plagiarism occurs when a sequence of ideas is transferred from a source to a paper without a process of digestion, integration, criticism, and inquiry in the writer's mind and without acknowledgment.  Plagiarism may even occur when one expresses another's sequence of ideas, arrangement of material, or pattern of thought in one's own words.    

Students should be aware that it is relatively easy to prove plagiarism.  Web-based search engines make it easier than ever before to detect such activities, and I routinely run suspicious passages through one or more such filters.  If a student is suspected of having plagiarized another’s work he or she may be required to provide the instructor with original notes and outlines for papers in question, as well as photocopies of the sources consulted.

Academic misconduct: Examples of academic misconduct include students who present false Doctors' notes, who pretend that they have a family or medical emergency, or who seriously hinder other students' scholarly activities. 

Any student engaging in either plagiarism or academic misconduct will receive a grade of F in the course and the case will be brought to the appropriate disciplinary body (the processes are set forth in the Student Handbook). 

The University’s policies on  may be found on the FIU web-site at: Academic Misconduct and Code of Academic Integrity. 

 

 

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Syllabus