Students should attend and be actively involved in the learning experience during class. This includes participating in discussions, asking questions, and engaging with the material. Being discourteous, disruptive, and using your devices for non-class related purposes (among other activities) will result in a loss of points for that day.
Discussion Class Days
This course is reading and discussion intensive, and it will use Nearpod to facilitate discussion. On discussion days, in order to receive credit for attendance, you will need to submit a question about the reading/homework to the Class’s Nearpod for that day. The Nearpod can be used for two types of questions: clarification or discussion. Clarification questions are directed toward the professor to help understand the reading. Discussion questions are directed toward the class and should be open-ended to spark conversation about the reading. Questions should be prefixed accordingly with “Clarify:” or “Discuss:”. To receive basic credit for being present, you must submit a discussion question prefixed with “Discuss.” This means you need to come to class prepared (having read/watched the homework) and with a question prepared.
By doing this bare minimum attendance (showing up and submitting a discussion question), you will receive a 75. Participating in class once will increase your grade from a 75 to an 85 for that day. Continued participation will improve your grade for the day to a 95.
If you act disruptively, the engagement grade for that day be reduced to a 65, and if the behavior continues it will become a 75 or lower depending on the behavior.
Lecture Class Days
On lecture days, participation is encouraged but not required. By attending class, you will receive an 85 for the day. Active participation will increase your grade to a 95 for that day. Disruptive behavior will reduce your grade to a 75 or lower depending on the behavior.
Absences
You will receive a 0 for being absent or failing to submit a discussion question. You will be permitted two unexcused absences without penalty. There will be no excused absences beyond those two days unless you have a documentation from the university. For instance, if you are a member of a Queens athletic team and are traveling for a competition (or any other university sponsored event). If you have an extended illness or some other reason why you will miss extended time of class contact university Student Accessibility Services. In other words, you are given two free days to miss class. If you choose to use them foolishly and fall ill for a day, you will still receive a 0 for that day. You cannot miss more than a week of class without a documented reason.