General notes on expectations in classes
Joe Janes
What I value
Learning and fun. I hope that when you finish a class with me,
I’ve made you think about something you hadn’t thought of before, learned
something you’ll find valuable, and had a good time doing it.
In general, I value creativity,
originality, insight, synthesis, and an open, questioning attitude. I aim
at these in the ways in which I conduct individual sessions of classes as well
as courses overall, assignments, projects, etc. To me, these are the
characteristics that distinguish professionals, and thus I try to foster them
in my students. My assignments, for example, thus tend to be somewhat free-form, allowing people to take many paths, demonstrating
their creativity and originality, and trying things I never would have thought
of. So I usually don't tell people
things like how many pages to write or other instructions. (Of course, some assignments
are more constrained, but they should be easy to spot.)
I also value strong writing and presentation of ideas in a
clear, professional manner. That means I care about (and evaluate assignments
based on) things like grammar, organization, the mechanics of sentence
structure, spelling, wording, and so on. I also care about design, layout,
presentation, graphics, organization of hyperlinks, etc., when appropriate in,
for example, Web-based projects or work. I assume everything you will submit to
me is of the same quality and caliber as professional work you would submit to
your supervisor or colleagues. However, content always wins over presentation
and organization, so a flashy, well-designed and well-written paper that has
nothing original or insightful to say won't score all that
well. Both are important, but the message is the key.
How to prepare for class
For readings, I
expect you will not only have read things I assign, but also thought about it,
rolled it over in your mind, connected it to other course material. If I
suggest questions, I expect you will have thought about those questions in
light of the reading and will be prepared to respond to those questions when I
put them to the class.
I also strongly encourage everyone to read independently, either from auxiliary reading lists that I
sometimes provide but also things you find on your own.
For other
outside-of-class work, (i.e., things not for a grade), I expect that you
will treat such exercises as supplementary to what we're doing in class. I will
rarely assign something that I don't intend to use in some other way (there may
be the occasional thing that's just good for you), so I want you to think about
those exercises, though of course you needn't prepare them as formally as you
would something for submission.
In class
Attendance in graduate-level residential classes is not
mandatory; if you want to tell me that you’ll be away or out of class on a
given day, that’s very nice and much appreciated. In any event, you are of course responsible
for all material we cover. If you’re
going to be gone on a day when an assignment is due to be handed in in class, I
assume you will make arrangements to get the assignment to be before the due
date (unless it’s an emergency situation, as spelled out in syllabi). Please
don’t ask me whether you’re going to miss something important on a day you’re
going to be gone; that’s just rude.
During class time, I relish questions, comments, thoughts
from everybody, and strongly encourage you to be an active participant in your
own education. You should always feel
comfortable to challenge assumptions—yours, mine, everybody
else’s—in a respectful and professional way.
I expect all devices that make noise (cell phones and the
like) will be turned off during class.
We teach in rooms that have wireless networking
capability. Using that capacity during
class can be very useful, to consult the course syllabus or other
resources. I know that some people use
their laptops as their primary mode of note-taking,
and that is of course fine. However,
using computers or other wireless devices for other purposes during class is,
again, rude, and potentially distracting to other students or to me. If you’re going to do email or IM during
class, please don’t attend class.
Grading
is usually done on a
4.point scale, per the University's grading scheme. Some definitions follow as
a general guide to what the levels mean (stolen and slightly adapted from a
Graduate School memo and from the University of Toronto Faculty of Information
Studies). The Information School faculty
has also adopted a general
guide for all graduate courses.
|
4.0 |
Excellent
and exceptional work for a graduate student; work at
this level is creative, original, thorough, well-reasoned,
insightful, well-written and shows clear recognition and an incisive
understanding of the salient issues. Anything evaluated at 3.8 or above meets
or exceeds what I would expect of new professionals. |
|
3.7 |
Strong
work for a graduate student; although not quite of high professional quality,
work at this level shows some signs of creativity, is thorough and
well-reasoned, and demonstrates initiative, clear recognition, thorough
mastery, synthesis and deep understanding of all salient issues. Writing is strong but may show a few
difficulties. 3.7 is one of my benchmarks, and would
be earned by work that I would expect of a new professional and is generally
free of errors or difficulties. |
|
3.3 |
Competent
work for a graduate student; somewhat well-reasoned
and thorough, but not especially creative or insightful (or creativity is
poorly developed); shows very good understanding and mastery of the issues,
with an ability to distill, organize and present complex material clearly and
persuasively. Writing is probably
acceptable but is weak in spots. This
is the graduate student grade that indicates neither exceptional strengths
nor exceptional weakness. |
|
3.0 |
Adequate
work for a graduate student; occasionally thorough and well-reasoned,
but some indication that understanding of important issues is less than
complete and perhaps inadequate in other respects, but the work is above
barely minimal expectations for the course.
Demonstrates general ability to organize and present material
clearly. Writing shows many or serious
difficulties. |
|
2.7 |
Minimally
passing work for a graduate student; barely meets the minimal
expectations for the course; understanding of salient issues and ability to
present them is barely adequate and overall performance, if consistently at
this level, would be below the level of adequate graduate performance. |
|
<2.7 |
Failing
work. |
When grading, I typically use traditional proofreader’s
and copy editor’s marks which may be unfamiliar to some people. Here's a site which explains them: http://www2.muw.edu/~kdunk/proof.html
Writing
The iSchool expects students to
tailor writing assignments to the audience intended for each assignment. I
encourage all students who want to strengthen their writing ability to contact
the Writing Center.
Academic integrity
Very important. See individual syllabi for specific
instructions and observations on academic integrity for a given course, as well
as University statements at http://depts.washington.edu/grading/conduct/
Extra credit, makeup assignments, etc.
I don’t think such things are fair, so I don’t do them.
Group work
I assign group work in most of my classes, but try to keep
it manageable, and to provide opportunities for people to work on projects in
class when possible. I think group work
is generally valuable, but like anything can be taken to extremes, so I’ll make
sure that students always have an individual opportunity to demonstrate how
they’re doing on course material as well as any group work.
When people work in groups, my natural assumption is that
each member of the group has contributed equitably (if not necessarily equally)
to the final product I request in an assignment. If difficulties arise on this score, I
suggest people work together within the group to come to a resolution; as a
last result I can step in but I prefer not to (and have had to only on very
rare occasions).
Submission of work
I will sometimes specify how I want work to come to
me—in what particular formats, via email, etc. For electronic submissions, please use
Microsoft Word (Windows) or other Microsoft-based or –compliant products
as appropriate. For printed submissions,
stapling is usually sufficient; I usually find that report covers get in the
way and are problematic to handle, especially when I have a large number of
things to manage. If your submission is
very large, a three-ring binder or other folder is probably fine. If in doubt, ask.
In all cases, please be sure your name or student number (if
I request that for a particular assignment or exercise) is on all pieces of the
submission, especially those that might get separated.
Incompletes
I usually discourage people from taking incompletes; they
have a tendency to drag on forever and become a burden on both sides. When circumstances warrant, I’m open to the
possibility, but you must discuss the idea with me as soon as the need arises. My preferred method for dealing with a situation
where it’s impossible or unfeasible to get one or two course requirements in is
to give a grade based on the work already submitted, counting missing items as
zeroes, and then submitting a revised grade when those items come in. Incompletes should be reserved for special
and unforeseen situations such as illness or other circumstances beyond the
student's control. See the UW rules on
this at http://grad.uw.edu/policies-procedures/graduate-school-memoranda/memo-19-grading-system-for-graduate-students/
You may expect
Isn't this all rather anal?
Probably, I think that people appreciate knowing up front
what they're in for.
The bottom line
I’m trying to challenge you, to open you up and allow you to
think about important things which face us as a profession and which you will
have to think through in your careers.
There are some things I can teach you; there are many more things I can
help you to learn, and that’s what I’m trying to accomplish. You must, though, take responsibility for
your own education by further exploration on your own, questions you raise in
class or in your assignments, and of course for the rest of your life.
Some of this (or other things you run in to) may not be
entirely clear. If you're ever not sure, ask!
Last
updated September 12 2016.