Photo: Ron Batzdorff / NBC.
In order to practice and build the skills needed for you to satisfy the learning outcomes for this course, there will be ten foundation assignments. These foundation assignments will become progressively more complex, as each assignment prepares you for the next one.
Here’s What I Want You to Do
Each foundation assignment will have a specific writing task for you to do in response to a topic prompt. These tasks will range from writing an introductory paragraph to providing a detailed outline of an argument. Your goal for each of these assignments is to demonstrate your ability to meet my expectations when performing the assigned task.
These are meant to be relatively short assignments—none of them should be longer than 500 words. Sometimes this may seem difficult, but it is doable as long as you remain focused and thorough on the assigned task while not getting sidetracked with inessential details.
Otherwise, your foundation assignments should use APA-style citations to cite all your sources (this includes the required course readings), acknowledge any assistance (this includes assistance received from me outside of our regular class meetings), and otherwise conform to the formatting requirements.
Please use the templates for the foundation assignments. These templates are set up to satisfy all the formatting requirements, including a blank cover page for you to complete.
Most importantly, foundation assignments without a properly filled out Commitment to Academic Integrity Form will not be read and will earn an automatic Incomplete.
Here’s Why I Want You to Do It
The purpose of these foundation assignments is pretty straightforward: they have you practice and build the skills needed for you to analyze and create arguments.
As such, the foundation assignments set you on your path towards achieving all five learning outcomes for this course:
- Explain and summarize important arguments within philosophical texts,
- Apply these arguments to the difficult debates concerning sexism and racism,
- Assess competing claims concerning the nature of social justice and the demands it may place on your actions and decisions,
- Reflect on your own assumptions and form more considered judgments on issues of social justice, and
- Communicate your understanding and analysis of these issues through written discourse.
Photo: Colleen Hayes / NBC.
Here’s How to Do It
When they are posted, be sure to read each foundation assignment carefully, making sure you understand its topic prompt and associated task. This will ensure that your response is comprehensive while demonstrating your understanding of the assigned topic and your ability to perform its associated task.
Please, though, don’t create extra work for yourself by regurgitating information or performing tasks not relevant to the assignment.
Most importantly for doing well on these assignments: familiarize yourself with my expectations, which I will provide in a detailed list of specifications for each assignment. If you have any confusions about the topics, the tasks, my expectations, or anything else about the assignments, do not hesitate to contact me.
Just to repeat, if you have any confusions about how to succeed on these assignments, let me know!
Here’s How It Will Be Graded
I have adopted a form of specifications grading for this class. As a result, each of your foundation assignments is marked Accepted or Incomplete based on whether it satisfies its detailed list of specifications.
This means that when I return your foundation assignments, you will receive feedback not only from my written comments but also from a checklist indicating which specifications were or were not satisfied. These checklists help me assess the quality of your work based on a set of standards and lets you know the extent to which you met those expectations.
In order to be Accepted, a foundation assignment must satisfy all of its assigned specifications. On the other hand, if at least one specification is not satisfied, then the assignment is marked as Incomplete.
I highly encourage you to look over the Grading Scheme for this class, which goes into a lot more detail about how your performance on these foundation assignments will influence your final course grade. As always, though, do not be a stranger—reach out to me if have questions about any of this!
12-Hour Grace Period
All foundation assignments have an automatic 12-hour grace period. This means that you are free to finish any foundation assignment up to 12 hours after its posted due date/time without penalty.
In short, all foundation assignments have an automatic 12-hour extension.
Using Free Passes
You may use 1 free pass for an extra 24-hour extension for completing a foundation assignment. Please note that this is in addition to the automatic 12-hour grace period.
Revise & Resubmit
If you earn an Incomplete on a foundation assignment, you may revise and resubmit it.
This is no guarantee that your resubmission will be Accepted, but past experience shows that most second attempts—when done diligently and seriously—are successful. Unless I tell you otherwise, you will have one week after I return your assignment to revise and resubmit it.
Collaboration & Academic Integrity
Since the foundation assignments are meant to assess your progress in developing your writing skills along with the extent to which you are achieving the learning outcomes, I expect you to do all these assignments on your own.
Naturally, I also expect that you are not helping others with them either. If anyone does ask you for help, just send them to me. I’ll gladly assist them.
In short, all foundation assignments are closed to collaboration. Furthermore, please do not try to find solutions to them online.
Please remember that foundation assignments are not group assignments. Let me know if you are struggling and I’ll gladly help!
However, if you do receive any outside assistance, you must be honest about it. This includes help from classmates, your friends/family, the Center for Excellence in Writing (CEW), as well as from me. In all these cases, you must properly cite that person and/or acknowledge them at the end of your foundation assignment. Completing the cover page with its Commitment to Academic Integrity Form, will remind you to do all this.