Syllabus

In addition to the university policies, the classroom policies described below also apply to our course.

Classroom Conduct: During our class meetings, be prepared to participate actively, as we will have many discussions and group activities. When you are in class, devote your time and attention entirely to the class in order to receive maximum learning benefits from the short time that we will meet.  In the lab, use the computers to work on class-related activities only.

Attendance: Regular attendance in class is an essential part of your education and a requirement for adequate evaluation, as stated in the GVSU Attendance Policy. Missing class will result in you not being able to fully follow course content. You may miss up to three (3) class meetings without any consequences. Having more than 3 unexcused absences will negatively influence your progress and participation grade in the class. After the 6th unexcused absence, you will automatically fail this course. If you have extenuating circumstances, be sure to notify me so we can make a special arrangement for you.

I take a roll call at the beginning of each class meeting. If you have missed the roll call but are less than 15 minutes late, make sure to check with me so I can mark you as present.

Engagement: Your engagement with the course topics and projects is a crucial part of your success in this course. In order to be fully engaged with the class, you will complete your readings ahead of time and will be ready to discuss these during class. You will also participate in the team project equally. Team members who are not responsive or do not contribute equally to the team project will need to complete the project individually (which is more work).

Due Dates are specified on each Weekly Unit page. Late assignments will not be accepted; however, if you run into an emergency/unexpected situation, contact me as soon as possible so we can work out an alternative arrangement.

Use of Generative AI for Assignments: As in all writing classes, our goal in this class is to develop your personal writing style that effectively responds to the audience, the purpose, and the context in specific rhetorical situations and genres. To develop as a writer, it will be most effective to receive feedback on your own writing, not text generated by AI. That said, we are surrounded by AI tools, and they can be helpful in certain situations. If you decide to use an AI tool, you will be asked to explain its use in a GenAI Use Acknowledgment Statement where you will describe how and why you have used these tools for your assignments. 

Learning is relational and relies on trust. For this reason, I also commit to not using AI for grading and providing feedback on your assignments. In addition, I create course materials using what I have learned throughout my education and what I keep learning from other experts, not what generic synthetic text-extruding machines offer. Let’s commit to developing as writers, communicators, and thinkers and advance in our critical AI literacy skills instead of outsourcing our learning.