[JRN 1000]
Foundations of Journalism

 

Assignments and Grading

 

 

Writing/Story Assignments	40%
In-Class Assignments	10%
Attendance/Participation	10%
Mid-term Exam	20%
Final Exam	20%

 

 

Writing/Story Assignments

 

The Writing/Story Assignments will be given throughout the semester to assess your knowledge of news writing style. Assignment 1 will assess your ability to write news leads. Assignments 2 will assess your ability to write a news story. Assignment 3 will assess your ability to write a breaking news story by deadline in a newsroom-like environment.

 

Additional information and deadlines for these assignments will be posted on the Schedule page throughout the semester. Be sure to turn in these assignments at the scheduled beginning of class to receive full credit (Exception: Assignment 3 will be completed and turned in during class time). For more information, please read the deadline policy.

 

 

In-Class Assignments

In-class assignments will be based on the course lecture material, textbook readings and other assigned readings. You will find it most helpful to complete all reading assignments before coming to class and to listen carefully and participate during class. Many of the in-class assignments involve writing news stories on deadline. In-class assignments will be collected for grading, so it is important to do your best on every assignment.

 

Make-up assignments and extensions will not be given. If you miss a class, you miss the opportunity to turn in the in-class assignment for feedback and/or a grade. One in-class assignment grade will be dropped in the event that you miss class. If you do not miss class, your lowest grades will be dropped.

 

These assignments will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the high score.

 

Attendance/Participation

Regular class attendance is crucial for doing well in this class. If you miss a class, you miss the opportunity to turn in the in-class assignment for feedback and/or a grade.

 

Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class. Regular attendance is required and is important for preparing for a successful career as a journalist. You will not be able to report the news if you are not there to cover the news.

 

Please notify the instructor about extended absences (missing a week or more of class) resulting from illness or other emergencies as close to the time of absence as possible.

 

If circumstances require that you miss three or more classes during the semester, it is unlikely that you will be able to pass the course and it is highly recommended that you enroll in the course at a time when regular attendance is possible.
In the event that illness, a death in the family, an excused campus/sports activity, an emergency, bad weather, a job interview, extended vacation plans, scheduling conflicts or any other event prevents you from coming to class,one absence will be excused without penalty. Additional absences will not be excused except when written documentation is provided for prolonged illness or court appearances. Your In-class Assignments/Attendance/Participation grades will be lowered proportionately based on your attendance.

 

If you miss more than one class, your final grade will be lowered.

 

Perfect attendance does not mean a grade of 100 percent toward your attendance/participation grade. You need to take an active role in class discussions. Your active participation in class discussion is required and expected.

 

Exams

 

A mid-term and a final exam will be given. The exams will be based on the lectures, class discussions, textbook readings, videotapes and in-class assignments. The final exam covers course content from the entire semester.

 

Your final letter grade will be calculated using the scale below.

 

Grading Scale

 

A	94 - 100
BA	88 - 93
B	83 - 87
CB	78 - 82
C	73 - 77
DC	68 - 72
D	63 - 67
E	62 and below

 

Lab Rules

 

Please do your part to make this a positive learning environment.

 

Food and drinks are not allowed in the computer labs.

 

Please keep the computers and lab in good condition. Please do not deface the computers or computer desks.

 

DO NOT LEAVE AT ANY TIME WHILE CLASS IS IN SESSION UNLESS IT'S AN EMERGENCY. Moving in and out of the class room during class is EXTREMELY disruptive to other students and your instructor.

 

Computer screens are to be turned OFF during class lectures and discussions unless you are told otherwise. You may check e-mail and surf the Web before and after class.

 

Reading newspapers is strongly encouraged; however, please do not read newspapers DURING class lectures and discussions.

 

Cell phones may only be used in the hallway outside of the computer lab area. Cell phones chould be turned off or placed on "silence" during class time. No texting or listening to ipods during class.

 

Please respect the rights of other class members. You are responsible for arriving to class on time and staying for the entire class period. Please attend to any unrelated business either before or after class, not during class time.