Academic travel expectations
This course takes place mostly outside of the usual kind of
classroom, but we will think of every class meeting, visit, or tour
as an
academic event. You will receive a PAE grade for every
academic event, based on appropriate behavior including the
following minimal requirements.
- Please bring a notebook and pencil or pen to every academic
event. (Exception: these are not required for purely social or
cultural events.) Use your notebook to take a reasonable quantity
of notes during academic events. There are several reasons for
this, including: you can record items for the timeline assignment;
taking notes will help you concentrate and learn more effectively;
you will be allowed to refer to your notes in pop quizzes.
- Phones must be silenced and put away at all times during
academic events. (Exception: At times and places where it is
clearly okay to do so, you can use your phone to take a
photo. Then immediately put it away again.) Please don't take
notes on your phone; that's what your notebook is for. Please
don't look up information on your phone, even if it is
academically relevant. Instead, make a note in your notebook and
look up the information later.
- Please do not be late for academic events.
- In addition to the notebook and pencil or pen, please bring
each of the following items to academic events: mapguide, cash,
emergency card, Oyster card with sufficient credit, phone that is
charged and topped up with sufficient minutes and texts.
PAE (Participation, Attendance, and Engagement)
PAE grades will be awarded for several types of activities in the
course, including academic events, quizzes, and Moodle discussion
groups. In most cases, a PAE grade will be awarded on a scale of
0-3, where 2 is the typical score. Don't think of your score as a
percentage. Good performance will usually receive a 2.0, and you
should expect to receive that score most of the
time. Exceptionally strong performance will receive a score
between 2.0 and 3.0. Performance that does not meet all
expectations will receive a score between 0.0 and 2.0.
Quizzes
Brief quizzes will take place periodically, usually consisting of
1-3 short-answer questions and lasting only 2 or 3
minutes. Quizzes will usually be given before, after, or during
academic events. You can write your answers to the quiz on a
blank sheet in your notebook, then tear out the sheet and give it
to the instructor. (Or if you prefer to carry separate paper for
quizzes, that's fine too.)
During a quiz, you may refer to any hand-written notes in
your notebook, but you may not refer to any other information.
Quiz questions could address any reasonable academic content,
such as required readings and information from academic
events. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that you take
a reasonable quantity of notes in your notebook for every assigned
reading and academic event.
The intention of the quizzes is to provide an incentive to
take readings and academic events seriously. Don't be anxious or
concerned about the quizzes. Questions will not be obscure or
unreasonable. If you have done the reading and taken sensible
notes on the most important points, and if you take sensible
notes at academic events, then you'll have no trouble with the
quizzes.