These Course General Expectations are applied to all courses I am scheduled to teach in addition to university policy requirements listed in the course syllabus.

Course General Expectations

The course is divided into weekly format. Each week runs from Monday until Sunday. Each week is numbered. It is critical to have the weekly readings completed before Monday of that week to fully engage in weekly learning activities.

Please note that I will not participate in your online discussions, however, I will review all posts and provide oral comments on any unanswered questions from each discussion during our live sessions.

In this course I take an adult education approach to learning, i.e., students are responsible for the pace and amount of reading and extra research they do as well as attendance at all scheduled live classes. Students are further responsible for raising with the instructor issues or problems with their progress in the course. Students are also expected to participate in the course activities so that knowledge is shared, reflected, questioned, and debated respectfully individually and in groups.

Written assignments general expectations

Written assignments are expected to meet usual requirements of scholarship at the undergraduate level. In addition to the presence of content relevant to the course objectives, these will be among the criteria used in assigning the grade and include: appropriate use of the literature, coherence in the organization between and within sections, presentation of available evidence for your arguments and logic to the steps taken towards conclusions. Assignments should use the APA reference style as outlined in the text:

American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Students should submit their written assignments electronically through the assignment dropbox on the due date listed in the course schedule.  Electronic copies will be kept in an electronic file for future reference. A student may not submit the same paper, or essentially the same, paper, project assignment, or finished project to an instructor, which has been submitted to another instructor, unless specifically authorized by both instructors to do so.

Assignment grading times

Your marks will be available minimum two weeks after the submission of your assignment. I will post an update on course announcements when all marks are posted. Please check the course announcements before sending e-mail inquiries two weeks after you have submitted your assignment for grading if you haven’t received your grades. Final grades will be posted online two weeks after the last day of classes. You can view your final grades by accessing online system for final grades using your student number.

Assignment extension and late submission policy

All assignments should be submitted by the due date listed in the course schedule. If an extension is required, the student must inform the instructor in writing. Please complete the time extension for completion of term work form that include your name, student number, a title of the assignment, original due date, proposed due dated, detailed rationale for an extension. Please submit completed form to your instructor via e-mail for approval no later than one week after assignment original due date (early submission is preferred). Students who fail to submit work on time and do not ask for an extension are subject to the late assignment penalty. The penalty is an 8% per working day reduction in the value of the student’s grade for up to five working days. After that point, the work is worth zero percent. Students who are not able to submit assignments on time due to health or other compassionate reasons need to submit a written explanation ahead of time or, if that is not possible, after the missed due date, but no later than one week after the last day of classes. If an extension is granted, the penalty will be 4% for each working day of the extension to a maximum 50%. Only in extreme circumstances (medical note is required) will an extension be granted with no late deductions.

Please note under no circumstances extensions greater than one term from the time when the student was registered for classes will be granted. Check online for the approved extension date. If students are unable to meet the requirements of the assignment, it is suggested they apply for a Volunteer Withdrawal (VW) or Authorized Withdrawal (AW) on medical grounds or unforeseen circumstances.