Elements of Evaluation:

The following assignments will be factored into your course grade. In addition, these will also help assess your progress in mastering the outcomes noted above.

(1) Class Attendance & Participation (10 points + 5 for the Check-In Tasks): The nature of this class demands that students attend the class meetings (if any) and contribute regularly to the on-line discussions. For ONLINE STUDENTS, this means at least one response (if applicable) to other students' Forum posts in each unit beyond your own required posts AND/OR regular attendance/participation at online Elluminate sessions (including synchronous sessions). Both quality and quantity will be considered, with an emphasis on the former.

(2) Seminar Leader(s) Presentation (20 points): Students will work in groups of 3-4 (or individually for online students who cannot attend "live") to choose an approved topic from a section from the primary or supplementary text, conduct a related Field Research Project (see below), and in the final session present the concept and their field research to the class and lead any discussion. The seminar leadership will include the following:

—pointing out or clarifying important ideas and concepts by presenting those ideas at a class session or (for online students, preparing a synthesized outline or PowerPoint and posting it on MyHeritage

—preparing a reflective Forum question(s) to be posted on MyHeritage

—leading the discussion by responding to online responses to question(s) OR by leading an in-person or virtual class discussion (via Elluminate)

—if presenting entirely online, synthesized outline/PowerPoint + question(s) must be emailed to instructor for approval or shared in online office hours prior to the schedule day for presentations

Verification Activity: This assignment can also serve to verify or authenticate the work of online students. Online students will be expected to produce positive ID to the instructor at the time of the online presentation.

(3) Journal Article Review (20 points): Students will write a paper (approximately 2-3 pages) summarizing and commenting on an academic journal article related to their field research project. Possible topics for this paper will be discussed in the initial class session. The Review of Literature is due TBA (see “Schedule” page of syllabus), including copies of or links to all articles cited in paper. See sample paper and rubric in “Handouts” section of MyHeritage. Students writing this paper may share sources but not the actual writing with a research partner. Heritage Undergraduate Students: This paper will be submitted as evidence of student learning for the W portion of the grade.

(4) Field Research Project and Paper (25 points): Students will propose and conduct a team or individual field research project in sociolinguistics (survey, observation, and/or experiment). Following approval by the instructor, students will then conduct the field research and write a paper detailing previous research in this area as well as their research method, their results, and the theoretical and practical issues in sociolinguistics connected to their research project. Research proposals are to be posted online by TBA (see “Schedule” page of syllabus). Students will present their research findings during the final class meeting on TBA (see “Schedule” page of syllabus), and turn in a paper by TBA (see “Schedule” page of syllabus). The paper will follow the standard Background - Hypothesis - Methodology - Results - Conclusions model for field research. Undergraduate students must cite at least one outside source; graduate students must cite three outside sources. Research teams may submit one PARTIALLY collaboratively-written paper. That is, the introduction, methodology, and results will be the same for all students and the students will pool the articles from their Journal Article Review assignments to serve as background; however, each student will write a short individual conclusions section. See sample paper, sample timeline, and rubric in the "Handouts" section of MyHeritage.

Verification Activity: Along with the Seminar Leader(s) assignment, this assignment serves to verify or authenticate the work of online students. Online students will be expected to produce positive ID to the instructor at the time of the online presentation.

(5) Online Forum Responses (20 points): During the course, students will respond to online forums. Students will respond to Forum questions covering the text materials presented by Dr. Schmidt and your fellow students, as well as posing a question(s) for classmates to answer based on the seminar material they synthesize (see Seminar Leader above). All journal entries and responses to forums due by TBA (see “Schedule” page of syllabus). (See additional due dates for full points on specific Forum posts.)

(6) Figuring Course Grades:

 Check-In Tasks (4 + 1)   5
 Participation/Attendance  10
 Seminar Leader(s)  20
 Journal Article Review  20
 Field Research Project  25
 Reflective Forums  20

Total Possible: 100 (98+ = A+; 92+ = A; 90+ = A-; 88+ = B+; 82+ = B; 80+ = B-; 78+ = C+; 72+ = C; 70+ = C-; 68+ = D+; 62+ = D; 60+ = D-; 59- = F)

© Dr. Loren R. Schmidt, 1999-2019
No part of this syllabus may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission.