Should I Take This Class?

"Should I Take This Class?"

10 Things to Consider Before
You Commit to Taking This Class.

Have you ever purchased a new item and found, in the packing box, little packets of silica gel desiccant that say "Do Not Eat" on them? The packages of desiccant (a drying agent) are put in the box to absorb moisture and keep the item rust- or tarnish- or wrinkle-free. But why do the packets say "Do Not Eat" on them? Who would want to? Clearly, someone, at some point, must have decided that those silica packs would make a good snack, and subsequently got sick. So, ever since, silica packs have the patently obvious instructions printed on them: "Do Not Eat." We may feel insulted by the warning-- after all, it's obvious you shouldn't eat desiccant. But, one person in a thousand may really need to be told that desiccant shouldn't be eaten.

It is in this spirit that I list the following class rules. To the vast majority of students, I am merely stating the obvious in what I write below. Beyond that, I list classroom rules that apply to my classes in particular. The vast majority of students don't have any problems with my class rules, but you might, so this is your chance to review them and drop the class if you don't like them. It's your responsibility to accept or reject these rules before the class gets underway. Read them over, and if you can live with them, great--glad to have you on board. But if you can't live with them, then please, drop the class. If you stay in my class, that indicates you are willing to abide by the rules that follow.

1. Finding Time for the Class. If you can't find time to participate in this class, or you can't attend regularly or on time, you shouldn't take this class. If you're taking my class, then this class is your job, and your ticket to a better future job. Please don't ask me to reschedule class deadlines around your work commitments, or to give you a lighter load than the rest of the students in the class so you can meet a heavy work schedule--that communicates to me that you believe your education and your future are second priority to your current paycheck. If you must miss class because of your work load, class load, important personal commitments, relationship, family, personal issues, aging automotive hardware, etc., by all means do what you need to do in order to remain safe, healthy, and sane. There are many things in life that are more important than getting good grades, but remember that not attending class (and the penalty associated with it) is, at the end of the day, your responsibility. If you choose to maintain a heavy work load, or take a ton of units so you can graduate at a certain time, remember that there are students who have chosen to earn less and go slower so they can invest more time in their classes--don't be surprised when they get higher scores! You are responsible for your attendance and for the choices you make in prioritizing your time, so please don't ask me to make special allowances for constraints that keep you from attending. If you ask me, "Can I be absent from class?" I'll always say yes, because you're a free agent and you can do what you want. That doesn't mean your absence is not recorded. If outside pressures are making it difficult for you to attend the full class period on a regular basis, then I recommend that you drop this class. Health issues are another matter, and we will abide by USC's guidelines for health-related absences. Good attendance is expected. Exceptionally poor attendance (missing the equivalent of weeks of class) can lower your final grade considerably. See the absence policy on the main syllabus page and USC's attendance policy for more information.

2. Grades. Your grade in this class will be based on merit and results (not effort, or improvement, or the desire for a certain score). It's the output that counts for grades--I can't grade based on input! Neither will your grade in this class be based on grades you've earned in other classes, or other variables that are not relevant to your grade. Grades are earned by you, not given by me or the TA. To be fair to the entire class, I don't dispense grades as favors, or as signs of personal approval, or as acts of individual concession, or out of sympathy--grades must be based on merit, or the grading system fails. I strive to assign grades based on your results and in accordance with the school's protocols. I design my grading process so that bargaining, influence, and appeals to sympathy and victimhood (see an analysis of such tactics here) have as little impact on your grades as possible. Although I will likely be personally sympathetic, and may be able to offer advice as it pertains to this class, please don't ask me to turn my personal sympathies for your situation into grade increases--that's manipulating the system. Through the years, I have discoverd that the most unhappy students are those who get a B+, which is (in my opinion) a very good grade. If we are not on the same wavelength here--if you think a B+ is a horrible grade and you'll be upset if you get one, you should reconsider taking this class, because I give lots of Bs. Some students have gotten lower grades in my classes than they get in other classes. The letter grade of A is reserved for the top performers in the class, and Bs are for good students. The standard cutoff points are used for grades: A=92-100; A-=90-91; B+=88-89; B=82-87; B-=80-81; C+=78-79; C=72-77; C-=70-71, D+=68-69; D=62-67; D-=60-61; F=59 and below. I tend to grade the first test (where you get accustomed to my test style) higher than subsequent tests (by which time you will know what my tests are like, and will have had more chances to 'learn the ropes'). Both high and low grades are likely when the curve is used for grading, and while grade inflation has affected my grading as well as most other professors', all my classes are graded on the curve to some degree. Grade inflation, where all students get high grades, is starting to backlash, since good graduate schools and employers have become aware of which institutions artificially inflate grades. Regarding the curve -- I use the word "curve" in the statistical sense-- I calculate z-scores ((score-mean)/standard deviation). Z-scores have the benefit of being truer gauges of performance relative to the class as a whole, since they consider your distance (deviation) from the class mean. That means, in essence, that the difficulty of the test is factored out, since your score relative to the possible score isn't measured. Instead, your score relative to the average score is measured. Also, z-scores effectively curve from the middle of the class, not the top, so the geniuses in the class won't ruin the curve (as they can in classes that don't use z-scores). I have never taught a class where the curve didn't benefit students--every test I've ever written, if it is curved, has been curved upward, not downward, so with rare exceptions, the curve is to your benefit.

3. Active Involvement. Effort and benefit are correlated in education, and my tests and exercises are designed to require effort, not merely presence or memory. Intuition alone will not get you a high grade. There are dry, boring, difficult, and unpleasant tasks and topics in almost every class, but you must still master them. The whole point of formal higher education is that we make you think about things you wouldn't have otherwise. If not, you could have gotten educated without our help and saved a lot of money. Keep in mind that this is the nature of our relationship--I'm supposed to challenge you; that's my job. Still, your best educator is you. Your peers are another good source of education, and so is your textbook. Seeking entertainment rather than education, some students ignore the text and concentrate on the entertaining portions of my lectures. This is a mistake. As your professor, I'm only one source of information to which you need to attend, and I can't lay out the material during a short oral presentation the way your text author can. So don't overlook mastering the reading assignments. In addition, your in-class involvement should rotate around class discussions, not interpersonal communications. I enjoy an informal and friendly classroom, but please don't hold running conversations while lectures are in progress, and be prepared to explain in-class exclamations.

4. Ideological Agendas & Diversions. I strive to avoid off-topic discussions (far too often about the Hollywood glitterati, or popular singers), as well as divisive, ideological wrangles in class--and I ask that you help me do this. If you're one of the rare folks who has an overt political agenda, prone to making political ejaculations in class, if you have a narrow ideological perspective that you feel compelled to share, if you are driven to make snarky comments about other people's political parties or belief systems, please do it elsewhere. My class is not a recruiting zone for your ideology. If you want to talk about subjects other than those prescribed in the syllabus, please take another class that covers those topics. If you're off-topic, or ideological, or attempt to promote your activist cause, the rest of the class won't appreciate it, and you'll make it difficult for me to teach the conscientious and open-minded people who want to learn about the topics we're studying.

5. Seeking Feedback. If you want more feedback than I or the TA have given you about how you're doing in the class, first schedule a time to meet with the TA (or me) to review your progress. It is your responsibility to seek out information about your progress, if you want more than we have supplied. Neither I nor the reader can project with any certainty what your final grade will be until all the grades are in. You'll need to make your own estimates about how you're doing, and manage your study time likewise. Be certain to give yourself a comfortable safety margin, so that you overshoot (rather than undershoot) your grade goal. Grades tend to go lower, not higher, toward the end of the semester, so you need to apply yourself steadily throughout the semester.

6. Special Deals. Again, this writeup is for the small minority of students who need to hear it; the vast majority of students are responsible, mature, ethical, and don't ask for special deals. I strongly resist making special deals or personal accommodations for the sake of fairness to the rest of the class. The last thing I want to do is hand out favors that may disadvantage the students who handle the inevitable difficulties of college with fortitude and maturity. But I have met more than a few students who have the motto, "It doesn't hurt to ask for a special favor or a higher grade, you might get one." Don't be surprised if I say "No," or in rare cases, "Yes, but there will be a penalty." I welcome your calling grading errors to my attention, and making a case on objective and policy grounds. But when it comes to aversive and repeated grinding on the reader or me for a higher grade, we'll pass. The way I handle 'bad' test questions (on tests where the class performs poorly) is to throw out those that seem to confuse the majority of the class by employing a curve. I seldom give points for ideosyncratic readings of test questions. (Ideosyncratic readings are uniquely convoluted readings of, "reading into," or parsing the meanings or words in questions in an elaborate or excessively literal way until the reader can claim an ambiguity. See the page on Student Spin for examples. Obfuscation of this sort is a talent cultivated by attorneys, but this isn't a court room!). If you feel you need special accommodation, put your request in writing and submit it directly to me on a piece of paper for consideration (email is not accepted for any negotiations, no matter how minor). Please understand that a professor must attempt to be universal and timely in the way he or she redresses class issues. Class deadlines are firm. If you have a legitimate and documented reason that I have pre-approved for missing a class deadline, understand that your make-up work and subsequent deadline will be at my convenience. Please submit documentation of any such excuses that relate to missing deadlines or to absences in classes, and refer to USC policies that favor your request. In the case of a medical emergency that causes you to miss a test or presentation or report, please have someone contact the TA or the professor within 24 hours of the emergency, and be certain to collect a physician or emergency medical service report.

Did you see Alicia Silverstone in the movie "Clueless?" You may recall her character Cher received bad grades at the end of one semester, and she successfully raised them after the fact--by negotiation with her teachers! Her father, and attorney, declares he "couldn't be more proud" of her negotiation skills and her new grades. It's very funny to imagine, and it's worth a laugh, but once in awhile you meet a real student who thinks that grades are open to negotiation! Too much Hollywood, not enough reality, folks--in most cases professors can not, and in other cases professors should not, negotiate grades. Grading policies are designed to reward performance, not pressure. "As if," Cher! It wouldn't work here.

7. Class Policies. There are a few policies that are mandatory to insert into any Annenberg syllabus. In addition, there are policies unique to this class. The two policies indented below are mandatory USC or Annenberg policies:

Academic Integrity Policy: The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to upholding the University’s Academic Integrity code as detailed in the SCampus Guide. It is the policy of the School of Communication to report all violations of the code. Any serious violation or pattern of violations of the Academic Integrity Code will result in the student’s expulsion from the Communication degree program. It is particularly important that you are aware of and avoid plagiarism, cheating on exams, fabricating data for a project, submitting a paper to more than one professor, or submitting a paper authored by anyone other than yourself. If you have doubts about any of these practices, confer with a faculty member. Resources on academic dishonesty can be found on the Student Judicial Affairs Web site (http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS.) “Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism” addresses issues of paraphrasing, quotations, and citation in written assignments, drawing heavily upon materials used in the university’s writing program; “Understanding and avoiding academic dishonesty” addresses more general issues of academic integrity, including guidelines for adhering to standards concerning examinations and unauthorized collaboration. The “2005-2006 SCampus” (http://www.usc.edu/scampus) contains the university’s student conduct code and other student-related policies.

Disabilities Policy: Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is open Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:00. The office is in Student Union 301 and their phone number is (213) 740-0776.

Athletic Competition Policy: Please note that students who are not designated officially as USC athletes (such as ball-handlers, therapists, etc.) are not covered by the same attendance policies that govern the athletes.

If you are one of the rare students who think that any of the class policies or topics are reprehensible (the occasional person will take exception to oral presentations, or to field assignments, or to reading about research, or to the textbooks chosen, or to the amount of reading, or to the priority of class over your job, or to multiple-choice tests, or to essay questions, or to the lack of essay questions, or to any tests whatsoever, or to their timing and frequency, or to seating assignments, or to peer-to-peer teaching, or to peer reviews being used to calculate grades, or to the professor making subjective grading calls on essays and papers, or to the length or difficulty of assignments, or to the lack of extra credit, or to grades lower than an "A", or to grades in general, or to the ethics of scientific investigation, or even to the topic being studied), please find another class. You aren't required to engage in anything you find reprehensible, so please find a different class with which you're comfortable. Remember, you're in this class because you choose to be, so make your choice carefully. I've done my best to give you an up-front view of what the class will entail, so you aren't stuck in a class you don't like. This is one of the reasons I want you to read the syllabus carefully, to decide whether you like the topics, and whether or not you can live with the policies of this class.

8. Workload Flexibility. You may not be asked to do exactly the same amount of work that another person does. You may be asked to work harder in this class than in some others you have taken. Your article to review might be longer or shorter than another's, or harder to find. You may have to go to several libraries to find your assignment where others may not. You may be having a difficult semester while someone else is not. You may get a version of the test that's more difficult or easier. Your partner in a project may not be as good a student as you are, and you may have to bear more of the load in group projects. You may have to sit in the back or the front of the class. Your seatmate may distract you, may forget to wear deodorant, may have a large chunk of spinach on her teeth. While I value fairness, I can't guarantee absolute equivalence of experience in this class. Take comfort that random distribution is the next best thing to ideal fairness.

9. An Imperfect Professor. If you can't learn from a professor who's error prone, arrogant, forgetful, unorganized, inflexible, biased, and otherwise imperfect, please find another class. I have all the above faults and more. Please keep in mind that I am adjunct faculty (click here for a short explanation). That means that I am an independent businessman (I'm in the business of corporate, governmental, and political influence consulting & training), and also that I teach part-time at the university. You'll notice that all of my materials (overheads, website, handouts, etc.) are copyrighted to me, because they are part of the proprietary teaching and training program owned by Working Psychology. You may take notes from whatever materials I share with you in class, and you may keep any hardcopies of documents I give you. This information is for your education and use, but please don't copy, duplicate, or distribute any of Working Psychology's copyrighted materials for non-class members. Any overheads used are not for distribution and copies of overheads will not be distributed. Please remember that being an adjunct professor means that, unlike assistant or associate professors, I'm not supposed to be on campus for long hours during the work week; in fact, I've signed a document promising the administration that I won't be! You are, however, welcome to call me during working hours.

10. The Syllabus. If you are unwilling to abide by the rules that I have made for the class, or accept the grades I ultimately give, please drop the class. If you stay in my class, that means 1) you agree to abide by the class policies I've set forth and will make allowance for the subjects enumerated above, and 2) that you agree to not eat silica gel packets or any other sort of desiccant while in my class!