EVT 5664 School and Community Development
Course Syllabus—Spring 2008
(Revised December 2007)
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Note: Please print out and read this course syllabus very carefully in its entirety and keep it handy for reference throughout the semester. It contains information that is frequently the subject of questions about the course. |
Course Prefix & Number: EVT 5664 Semester Hours: 3 Semester Hours
Course Title: School and Community Development
Instructor:
Bill Blank, Professor-Department of Adult, Career and Higher Education (ACHE; dept. website: http://www.coedu.usf.edu/main/departments/ache/cte/cte.html)
College of Education, University of South Florida
Bldg. EDU162
4202 Fowler Ave. Tampa, FL 33620
Office: EDU 151-G
Phone: 813-974-0314
Fax: 813-974-3366
Email: blank@coedu.usf.edu
Office Hours: posted on office door each week
Department Office and faculty mailboxes: EDU 151; 974-3420
Course Prerequisites: N/A
Course Description: Maintaining positive relations between career and technical education programs and stakeholders, enhancing CTE image, interacting positively with customers, positive relations with businesses and marketing the program. Open to majors and non-majors.
Course Goals:
1. Understand challenges CTE faces in enhancing its public image
2. Examine relationships betweens the school and the community
3. Recognize the program and school’s internal and external publics and how to serve them
4. Understand the role that professional associations, advisory committees and student organizations play
5. Work positively with the media and effectively market CTE programs
6. Develop products to market CTE programs and schools
Required Textbook: School-Community Relations, Douglas J. Fiore, Eye on Education, 2006 (or latest edition). This book is available through the USF bookstore. Order it online as soon as possible by going to http://sftampa.bkstore.com/. Click on “Textbooks” then select the current “Term” and then scroll down and select “EVT” for the “Department” and then select “5664” for the “Course”, then select the “Section” (usually 799 is the only section being offered), then hit “Add Course”. Then click “View Textbook List” and follow the instructions to add to your cart and make the purchase.
Web-Based Delivery of EVT 5664:
Taking a university course via the Internet offers many important advantages to the student including being able to work on course assignments and completing the required readings, viewings and projects largely when you choose to do so, working at your own pace in the comfort of your home or office, and avoiding the hassle of driving to campus and searching for a parking space, etc.
There are also several disadvantages. These include the lack of interaction with the instructor and with fellow participants. Interaction with the instructor has been included within the course by requiring periodic online submissions to the instructor with responses to questions posed or progress updates and by the instructor reading and reacting to your work posted on the course website throughout the semester. Also, the instructor is available for face-to-face meetings throughout the semester. Interaction with fellow course participants is built in through participants posting questions, responses and observations to the course web site and reacting to the postings of others.
A second disadvantage of a Web-based course is the lack of structure inherent in a course that meets live on a regular schedule. Please be aware that it is very easy to fall behind in making normal progress toward completing the course by the end of the semester. Please make every effort to complete each unit assignment by the due date. These due dates have been included to aid you in pacing yourself, maintaining progress and avoiding the "last minute rush" that might occur otherwise!
Workload Of the Course:
At first, the workload of this online course may seem a bit ambitious. However, it is comparable to that required in a traditional face-to-face course. In a traditional three semester hour course, participants would normally spend three hours per week in class and about six hours weekly outside of class reading, completing assignments and projects, etc. In addition, they might spend anywhere from two to six additional hours driving to class, locating a parking space and returning home. So, you might spend about 10-12 hours per week to complete a face-to-face course. You can successfully complete this online course by spending approximately eight to ten hours per week online. Keep in mind that this applies to the 16 week fall and spring semesters; during the summer semester, the 16 weeks is compressed into 10 weeks so the time spent per week would be proportionately more (but would be over more quickly!).
System Requirements:
To successfully participate in this online course you need a computer with Internet access. High speed access is ideal; dial up will be an inconvenience since some of the files, webcasts and photos are fairly large. One way to justify the expense of an up-to-date computer and high speed Internet access is that you will be saving several hundred dollars in parking fees, gas and food expenses by not having to drive to campus to attend class over a two year period. You will need a word processor (Word is recommended) and PowerPoint.
On the Blackboard log on screen, you will see the Browser Check which you can use to determine if your browser is compatible with Blackboard. Contact the instructor with questions about the course content or assignments. If you have technical questions or problems with Blackboard or your hardware during the semester or are unsure if your system is sufficiently up-to-date to handle Blackboard, contact the USF academic computing help desk at mailto:help-ac@usf.edu or call 974-1222 in Tampa or 1-866-974-1222 statewide. You can also click Student Helpdesk on the left side of the main log in screen for assistance with account problems and technical questions.
When you log on to Blackboard and open EVT 5664, you will notice that announcements are visible. I will periodically post announcements with reminders about important activities or due dates, changes in assignments or due dates, information about new resources or other important information. Be sure and check for announcements at least weekly. Note that by clicking on the tabs you can read announcements posted during the past week, month, etc. in case you missed them.
Blackboard Email:
Click the Blackboard Welcome screen and you’ll see the “USF Email Address” section which lists your official internal USF email address. Email sent to you from within Blackboard by instructors and fellow participants will go to this address. You’ll want to change this address to your personal yahoo, AOL, etc. email address so you won’t have to check this new USF account. Follow the instruction under “Change Official USF E-Mail Address”. Otherwise, remember to periodically check your USF email account frequently throughout the semester. I will normally respond to emails within 48 hours unless I am out of town for a conference, etc. To send email within Blackboard, click Communications, then Send E-mail. You can send email to All Users or Select users.
Otherwise, remember to periodically check your USF email account throughout the semester. For important announcements, I may send the same information out in a general email. If you do not receive these announcements also as emails you probably did not change your official USF email address. If this is the case, contact the helpdesk immediately and work with them to correct the problem so you will not miss subsequent emails containing important announcements. I will normally respond to emails within 48 hours unless I am out of town for a conference, etc. To send email within Blackboard, click Communications, then Send E-mail. You can send email to All Users or Select users.
Unit Assignments:
The course is built around units with each having one or more assignments or products. Click Units on the main course screen to see the units listed. When you click each unit, you will see a detailed set of Instructions for completing it. Please follow all of the instructions for completing the units and complete the assignment or create the product as explained. Each assignment or product is to be posted to the Class Discussions area or to the Assignments area within Blackboard. The most frequent problems with unit assignments in the past have been late submission or participants not reading and following the instructions completely for each unit. I recommend that you print out each unit as you begin working on it and check off the steps as you go. Note: It is recommended that you print out units as you come to them since some minor edits and additions may be made to later units during the early part of the semester. This is particularly true if Blackboard has undergone an upgrade during the time between semesters which often creates glitches such as broken links which take a bit of time to locate and correct. Please alert the instructor if you find a link in a unit that does not work. Rather than work on the units from within Blackboard it is recommended that you save them to your computer (right click and select “save target as…” and indicate where the file is to be saved). There are many links to PDF’s, Word documents and websites in the units. By saving the units to your computer you can open each link by holding “Control” and clicking the link without closing the unit file which would happen if you worked on the unit from within Blackboard.
Most often, you will be posting to the Class Discussions area in Blackboard. To access this area click the Class Discussions icon on the main page. In this area you will see one or more Forum for each of the units for the course. Be sure and post each product to the appropriate Forum. If you create a separate document and attach it to a Discussion Forum (or to the Assignments area) please be sure and include your name and unit number within the document. More detailed instructions for posting products and comments to the Class Discussions area are in Unit 1.
In some units you may be asked to post your work in the Assignments area of Blackboard (e.g., your responses to questions posed). Click on the Assignments icon on the main course page and then click the >> View/Complete Assignment:… link at the bottom of the particular assignment you are responding to. If the assignment is fairly brief (approximately 200 characters) you can enter it directly in the Comments box and hit Submit. If your assignment is fairly lengthy you should create it in your word processor, save it and then attach it as a separate .rtf or .doc file because once you exceed the limit of characters you can enter into the comments box, everything you have entered may be lost! Anything you type or post in the Assignments area can only be seen by the instructor.
Providing Online Feedback to Fellow Participants:
Throughout the course you will be asked to give feedback to your fellow participants on assignments and products they post to the Class Discussions area. This can be a very valuable learning experience for everyone when the feedback is well thought out, substantive and insightful. The quality of your ongoing feedback is included in determination of the final course grade. Your feedback should be substantive enough for the author to know that you read their posting in full, reflected on the content and offered your comments regarding the substance of what they posted. Avoid feedback such as “great posting” or “I agree with everything you said” (unless you are simply offering encouragement from time to time). Feedback should have substance and should mention the key point(s) from their original posting that you are commenting on. Feedback might be a question, a specific point you disagree with, something you’re adding to reinforce a point, an example you want to share, etc. Examples of feedback can be found in the Course Documents area. I’d prefer you have fewer feedback postings that are highly substantive than more, less substantive ones. A rule of thumb might be to provide substantive feedback to 3-5 postings for each Unit assignment. Provide feedback within a few days of the due date for the assignment to be posted. It is unreasonable to ask participants to go back well after the due date for posting a product or assignment to read fellow participants’ feedback that is posted late. Some forums may be turned off a week or so after the due date to prevent this.
Work Alone Or Collaborate:
For some unit assignments, it will be noted that you have the choice of completing the assignment alone or working with a partner. This is entirely your choice. If you elect to work with someone else, make sure you both do the background readings, viewings of web casts, etc. so that you both will benefit from the information, concepts and insights provided by the resources. But feel free to collaborate on actually producing the product called for in the assignment. If you decide to collaborate with someone in more than one unit when given this choice, I strongly suggest that you work with a different partner each time you collaborate so that you will get to know other participants in your cohort and will have the experience of working with others who have different styles, philosophies, etc. Also, be sure and put both names on your products.
One of the most important documents you will be using throughout the semester in this course is the Course Schedule (click “Course Documents” then “Course Schedule” on the main course screen). It indicates due dates for each of the unit assignments or products. It is very important to check the Course Schedule often to make sure you stay on schedule. Print out the course schedule and keep copies in several key places around your home and office so you can refer to them often. Since course participants are all working professionals with family and other responsibilities it is anticipated that some of the due dates can not be met. Try to post assignments as close to the due dates as possible. If you plan to be out of town, etc. during the time period scheduled for a Focus Group chat, post reactions to the comments posted by your Focus Group members as soon as you can.
Blackboard Gradebook Feature:
Click the Course Tools icon and then click My Grades and you can see the status of each assignment or product you have submitted. The instructor will post the points you earned for each. You are encouraged to check this area periodically and to let the instructor know if your records disagree with what is posted for you. Most often, discrepancies are due to the instructor not being able to open a file containing an assignment (you may have saved the file in something other than .doc or .rtf format) or the student may have posted an assignment to an incorrect Class Discussions Forum. Other times it might be due to an instructor forgetting to record an assignment in the grade book; remind me if you submitted something that is not noted in the grade book area a week or so after you submitted it and I’ll look for it. This area will be updated about once a week. Note: When you submit something to the Assignments area, an exclamation point (!) will automatically appear for that item in the gradebook until it is read by the instructor and points are inserted in that field. If part of an assignment has been omitted, the instructor will note that and invite you to add the missing component. You will need to email that second submission since students can’t add to or edit a previous posting in the Assignments area.
Grading System and Criteria:
It is recognized that "grading" of adults in university level courses is problematic, invariably too subjective in nature, is fraught with difficulties and goes against a philosophy of true facilitative adult learning in which the adult learner takes from the learning experience what he or she wishes based on their investment of time and energy. However, all USF faculty are required to issue grades and some students take grading more seriously than others and feel very strongly that superior effort or achievement should be rewarded by a higher grade. Based on these considerations, the grading scale below has been developed for this course.
There is a total number of points that can be achieved by completing all of the assignments by the due dates indicated and completing each in a high quality fashion (see Course Schedule for due dates). When each assignment is submitted, the instructor will indicate the number of points that have been achieved for that assignment. If additional work is needed on an assignment, participants may then revise the assignment and resubmit it to achieve additional points. This resubmission for additional points should occur within one week of receiving feedback. The following percentages will be utilized to compute the letter grade assigned for the course based on the percentage of the total possible points achieved at the completion of the course:
MA Portfolio Submissions for EVT 5664:
Students in the MA program in career and technical education submit a “portfolio” of products developed in most of their courses rather than respond to written comprehensive examination questions as is customary in most Master’s Degree programs. For EVT 5664, you should select at least two products of your choice to save on your computer for posting to your portfolio later. You will actually create your portfolio during your last semester in the program as part of EVT 6948 Practicum.
Creating Your Homepage:
Please create your student homepage prior to the first day of the semester. If you are a part of the MA cohort, instructions have been sent to you earlier about how to create your homepage; however, here they are again: When you log in to Blackboard, click on the Organizations tab at the very top of the screen and click on the Fall 2007 MA in CTE Cohort. Click on Tools, and then click on Homepage. In the Introduction area, enter your name and a brief salutation or greeting which is what others will see before they actually open your homepage. In the Personal Information area enter the actual biographical information about you, contact information, etc. Make sure you include your contact information (to the extent you feel comfortable). You might want to include your work site, mailing address, telephone, direct email address, etc. Include a description of your current teaching or work setting, something about your background, your teaching and occupational experience, and anything you want to share about your family, hobbies, unusual experiences, etc. Feel free to omit any information you feel is private or otherwise sensitive. Also include in your home page any links you might have to your school or program or other favorite web sites. Keep in mind that only those currently enrolled in the MA cohort can access your homepage. Note that you can enter the Organizations area and view homepages and other areas during the entire two-year time you are enrolled in the program even though you might not be taking courses during a particular semester.
Note to Those Taking EVT 5664 That Are Not in the MA Degree Cohort: After you register, you will be added to the Organizations area described above even though you may only be taking this one course. Follow the steps described above to create your homepage and upload a photo. Your homepage will be deleted at the end of the course. You might want to save the text you entered into your homepage for use in future courses.
Uploading Your Picture:
We will take a digital photograph of everyone in the MA cohort during the orientation so that everyone’s picture on their homepage is up-to-date, fully visible and somewhat consistent. I will email these to you soon after the orientation. To upload this photo to your homepage when you receive it, click “Upload a Picture” in the area where you created your homepage. If we were not able to take a photo of you at the orientation please upload one of your own (320 x 240 pixels dpi recent color portrait, passport type of photograph). Make sure the digital image is no more that approximately 320 by 240 dpi so that it will fit on the homepage. Here's a free, easy to use resizer you can download to resize your picture if needed: http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm.
Viewing Homepages:
To view the homepages of fellow participants, click “Organizations” on the main Blackboard log in screen, and then click your cohort group. Then click Communications and then click Roster and then list all twice and then click the name of the person’s homepage you wish to view.
Policy On Incompletes (I’s):
An Incomplete (grade of "I") will be submitted at the end of the semester only for unusual circumstances. It is the instructor's experience that when a participant receives an incomplete in a course, a great deal of paperwork, telephone and/or Email exchanges and face-to-face meetings are necessary to resolve the I. And almost without exception, usually due to a significant time lapse that occurs, the course assignments are rarely completed in the same quality fashion as those, which are completed on time. University policy calls for incompletes to be awarded only when the coursework has been substantively completed (75%) and there are extenuating circumstances preventing the student from completing the course requirements by the end of the semester.
If an I is given, any incomplete work must be completed within one semester after the I is received due to the fact that the course web site is only archived for one semester (and the instructor’s memory is archived much briefer than that). After that time, all records, assignments, postings, etc. for that semester are deleted by the USF computer center. Those receiving an I and not completing all outstanding assignments and resolving the I during the subsequent semester will have to retake the course to remove the I.
Other Important Information: (Note: This is standard information required to appear on all USF course syllabi)
ADA Statement:
Students with disabilities are responsible for registering with the Office of Student Disabilities Services in order to receive special accommodations and services. Please notify the instructor during the first week of classes if a reasonable accommodation for a disability is needed for this course. A letter from the USF Disability Services Office must accompany this request.
USF Policy on Religious Observances: All students have a right to expect that the University will reasonably accommodate their religious observances, practices and beliefs. Students are expected to notify the instructor in writing by the second class if they intend to be absent for a class or announced examination, in accordance with this policy.
Web Portal Information: Why are the NetID and helios account important to students? A helios account, which is the official USF e-mail account, is given to every USF student when enrolled. Every official USF correspondence to students will be sent to the helios account. More information about this and the USF Web Portal can be found at: http://www.acomp.usf/portal.html.
Academic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism is defined as “literary theft” and consists of the unattributed quotation of the exact words of a published text, or the unattributed borrowing of original ideas by paraphrase from a published text. On written papers for which the student employs information gathered from books, articles, or oral sources, each direct quotation, as well as ideas and facts that are not generally know to the public at large must be attributed to its author by means of the appropriate citation procedure. Citations may be made in footnotes or within the body of the text. Plagiarism also consists of passing off as one’s own, segments or the total of another person’s work. Punishment for Academic Dishonesty will depend on the seriousness of the offense and may include receipt of an “F” with a numerical value of zero on the item submitted, and the “F” shall be used to determine the final course grade. It is the option of the instructor to assign the student a grade of F or FF (the latter indicating dishonesty) in the course.
Detection of Plagiarism:
The University of South Florida has an account with an automated plagiarism detection service, which allows instructors to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism. I reserve the right to 1) request that assignments be submitted to me as electronic files and 2) electronically submit assignments to Turnitin.com. Assignments are compared automatically with a huge database of journal articles, web articles, and previously submitted papers. The instructor receives a report showing exactly how a student’s paper was plagiarized. For more information, go to http://www.turnitin.com/ and http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/0304/adadap.htm#plagiarism.
Notice of permission/non-permission to sell notes or tapes of class lectures: N/A; this course is delivered via the internet.