rte4385a - Radiobiology
Susan Gosnell

Protocols: Course Policies and Procedures:

Attendance:

Students are expected to attend all class sessions.
Attendance is necessary in order to receive full credit for participation.
One percentage point will be deducted from your participation grade for each absence.

Assignments/ Quizzes:

Assignments are due by 11:55 pm on the date specified. Any assignments turned in after this time will be subject to a late penalty of 10 % per day. No credit will be given for any course assignment received more than 2 days past the due date. Failure to complete any course requirement will result in an Incomplete for the course.

Reaction Papers:

Reaction papers consist of a brief summary and your reaction to an article from a professional source. Articles must pertain to an aspect of Radiobiology and/or  radiation protection covered in this class. See the course outline for topic ideas.

Your reaction papers must be posted to the discussion board with a reference and/or link to your article. A proper citation including: title of the article, author and reference or link to source MUST be included. Each paper should be appropximately 325 - 600 words and include a summary of the article content along with your reaction.

All postings will be made according to the published deadline, which must be met in order to receive full credit.

In addition to posting your own reaction papers to the discussion tool, you will also be expected to read those posted by your classmates. After reading the postings, choose one paper to comment on and write a brief response to that posting in order to add to the discussion. You may also add your comments to other's responses. An acceptable response must include specific information that adds to the overall discussion. You will not receive credit for inappropriate responses. See protocols for examples.

Make-up exams:

If you are unable to take an exam as scheduled, you must notify the instructor prior to the scheduled class time. Arrangements for make-up examinations should be made within 24 hours of the absence. Make up exams may be a different format than that given in class. No bonus points or extra credit will be awarded.

Advisement:

Faculty offices are located in HPA II Room 203. I am available for advisement by appointment, and during posted office hours. Please see me before or after class, e-mail or call and leave a message.

Grading:

Your course grade will be based on your performance in the following areas:

Assignments/ Participation

10 %

Reaction Papers (3)

10 %

Examinations (2)

40 %

Comprehensive Final Exam

40 %

The final letter grade will be based on the following scale:

A

92 - 100

B+

90 - 91

B

86 - 89

B-

84 - 85

C+

82 - 83

C

74 - 81

D

65 - 73

F

 less than 65

Academic Integrity:

  1. Unless otherwise stated, all assignments, quizzes and exams are to be completed individually by each student enrolled. You may not communicate with other students during completion of a quiz or examination. Working with other students, giving or recieving assistance during quizzes, exams or assignments is a form of academic dishonesty and will be considered cheating.
  2. Academic dishonesty or cheating in this, or any other form will not be tolerated. Please refer to the policy in this regard in “The Golden Rule”.
  3. Disclaimer:
    Changes in this syllabus and/ or schedule may be made at any time during the semester at the discretion of the faculty.

E-mail

  1. Check your e-mail at least 3 times per week.
  2. Be patient. Don't expect an immediate response when you send a message. I do not check my e-mail on the weekends and generally, two days is considered reasonable amount of time to receive a reply.
  3. Include RTE 4385 in the "Subject" heading: also use something that is descriptive and refer to a particular assignment or topic.
  4. Be courteous and considerate. Being honest and expressing yourself freely is very important but being considerate of others online is just as important as in the classroom.
  5. Make every effort to be clear. Online communication lacks the nonverbal cues that fill in much of the meaning in face-to-face communication.
  6. Do not use all caps. This makes the message very hard to read and is considered "shouting." Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation (you may want to compose in a word processor, then cut and paste the message into the discussion or e-mail).
  7. Break up large blocks of text into paragraphs and use a space between paragraphs.
  8. Sign your e-mail messages.
  9. Never assume that your e-mail can be read by no one except yourself; others may be able to read or access your mail. Never send or keep anything that you would not mind seeing on the evening news.

Discussions:

Many of the protocols that apply to e-mail also apply to the use of discussions. Use the following conventions when composing a discussion posting:

  1. During a Discussion assignment, deadlines for posting to and replying will be specified with each assignment. It is a good practice to always check the Discussions multiple times during the week.
  2. If you want to send a personal message to the instructor or to another student, use e-mail rather than the discussions (see above E-mail Protocols).
  3. Use the appropriate Discussion Topic; don't post everything on the "Main" Discussion Topic. Discussions posted to the wrong topic will not be graded.
  4. Check the "Main" discussion topic for messages from me regarding course requirements and changes.
  5. A helpful hint for use with both discussions and email --- Compose your message in your word-processing application in order to check spelling, punctuation, and grammar --- then copy and paste your composition into email or the discussion. This also saves online time.
  6. Everyone should feel free to participate in class and online discussions. Regular and meaningful discussion postings constitute a substantial portion of your grade.
  7. Respect each other's ideas, feelings and experience.
  8. Explore disagreements and support assertions with data and evidence.
  9. "Subject" headings: use something that is descriptive and refer to a particular assignment or discussion topic when applicable. Use the "reply" button rather than the "compose" button if you are replying to someone else's posting.
  10. Do not use postings such as "I agree," "I don't know either," "Who cares," or "ditto." They do not add to the discussion, take up space on the Discussions, and will not be counted for assignment credit.
  11. Avoid posting large blocks of text. If you must, break them into paragraphs and use a space between paragraphs.

Technical Resources

For specific problems in any of the areas below or for further information go to the corresponding link for assistance.

Academic Integrity

Academic dishonesty or cheating in any form will not be tolerated. Please refer to the policy in this regard in "The Golden Rule".

Disability Access

The University of Central Florida is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all persons with disabilities. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. Students with disabilities who need accommodations in this course must contact the professor at the beginning of the semester to discuss needed accommodations. No accommodations will be provided until the student has met with the professor to request accommodations. Students who need accommodations must be registered with Student Disability Services, Student Resource Center Room 132, phone (407) 823-2371, TTY/TDD only phone (407) 823-2116, before requesting accommodations from the professor.

Disclaimer

Changes in this syllabus and/or schedule may be made at any time during the semester at the discretion of the faculty.



Course Home

This page was last updated on October 1, 2004
Pages are maintained by Susan Gosnell and the
Techrangers at Course Development & Web Services, IT&R.
© Copyright 2003, University of Central Florida