ATTENDANCE POLICY
Attendance will be recorded every class meeting and attendance points
will comprise 5% of your total points toward your grade. Missing
class will also reduce your "Discussion Participation" and your
"Quizzes" total points, since you will miss these. However, excused
absences will be accounted for those points with a valid excuse
(university function, family emergency, profession travel, etc).
However, I MUST BE TOLD IN ADVANCE OF THE CLASS MEETING THAT YOU WILL
MISS. NO RETRO EXCUSES.
PRIMARY PRESENTATIONS
Each primary presenter (PP) will chose 3-5 papers from the last 5
years (or so) to review the research efforts and accomplishments of
one faculty member and their research group, with emphasis on recently
graduated and current students. One week before the presentation, the
PP will will announced to papers to the class (and they will then be
posted on the Schedule by the instructor).
The PP will present a 30 minute talk with projection (Powerpoint,
Keynote, PDF, etc). No hand held notes.
Grading of the PP will consist of peer grading and instructor grading.
The two contributions will each have equal weight, where the peer
grading will be averaged. Three categories will be assessed: (1)
Clarity of Content [10pts], (2) Clarity of Slides [10pts], and (3)
Clarity of Presentation [10pts].
DISCUSSION LEADER
Immediately following the presentation, discussion will commence
(which can also include a Q/A period). The discussion leader (DL)
will serve in the capacity of a panel chair at a professional
conference, thereby directing the discussion and calling on individuals
who have questions. Normally, if there are no questions at first, the
panel chair asks the first one to get things started; so DLs... be
prepared!
Grading of the DL will consist of peer grading and instructor grading.
The two contributions will each have equal weight, where the peer
grading will be averaged. Three categories will be assessed: (1)
Discussion Leadership [10pts], and (2) Ensuring Participation [10pts].
DISCUSSION PARTICIPATION
For each presentation and discussion, it is expected that each
individual will participate to the level of at least one comment or
question.
Grading of discussion participation will be done primarily by the
instructor. Each question or comment will be noted (as will an
absence of participation). Weight will be given to the comment or
question in proportion to ability to penetrate into the subject matter
and/or its ability to generate further relevant discussion. Peer
opinion will be solicited at random intervals during the semester and
included into the grading scheme.
QUIZZES
It is expected that the students will read the papers being presented
prior to coming to class. The first 5 minutes of class (from
10:00-10:05, so be on time) will be used for a quiz. There will be
the same two questions for each presentation: (1) What is the main
science? Meaning, what scientific problems are being investigated AND
what is there global astronomical significance as stated by the
authors? (2) In your opinion, what are two of the most important
results the authors reported in their papers, and WHY?
Complete sentences are expected as well as full response to the
question.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY
All New Mexico State University policies regarding ethics and
honorable behavior apply to this course (and they are taken very
seriously). For details, please see the NMSU Student Code of Conduct.
Plagiarism will be dealt with harshly. Both intentional and
unintentional plagiarism is academic misconduct. They are
treated equally. The NMSU Student Code of Conduct will be applied as
policy in this course.
PLAGIARISM/CHEATING POLICY
PLAGIARISM includes, but is not necessarily limited to, "submitting
examinations, themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes,
undocumented quotations, computer-processed materials, or other
material as one's own work when such work has been prepared by another
person or copied from another person." Both intentional and
unintentional plagiarism is considered academic misconduct .
Since it is not possible to ascertain whether your work has been
copied from another, or whether you copied from another, BOTH
individuals who are judged to be copying or having being copied from,
either fully or partially, will be contacted directly- the situation
will be discussed and documented with signatures.
CONSEQUENCES: The following is a "cut and paste" from the NMSU Student
Code of Conduct, III. Academic Misconduct:
For incidents that occur at the course or academic department level,
the faculty member or department head must inform the student of the
alleged offense within ten (10) working days of its discovery, and
after an investigation and/or conference, will take one of the
following actions:
1. The allegation may be dismissed as unfounded
2. The allegation may be dismissed for lack of evidence
3. The student may admit guilt and a sanction will be imposed
4. The Hearing Officer will determine guilt based on preponderance of
evidence and sanctions imposed
5. The Hearing Officer will report the decision to the student and
the Coordinator of Student Judicial Services
For this class, the "investigation and/or conference" will include the
student, the professor, the Astronomy Department Head, and the Hearing
Officer from the Dean's Office. As such, bullets 4 and 5 above will
apply. Also see
Administration
of Discipline for review. Disciplinary action may include
suspension from the University, including expulsion. Be diligent;
don't copy; don't let others copy from you.
And on that note(!!!) HAVE A GREAT SEMESTER!