ID 201H Fall 2003
Course Guidelines and Policies
ID 201H: Liberal Studies 1 Tutoring Project examines the ideas and concepts of Liberal Studies 1 in the context of the theory and practice of collaborative learning. As an ID 201H student, you support LS 1 by assisting individual LS 1 seminars and by tutoring first-year students. In ID 201H class, we will discuss and explore Liberal Studies 1 readings, lectures, and topics and study the praxis of tutoring.
Although some of the readings in the Human Dilemmas curriculum will be familiar to you, you must re-examine all LS 1 materials carefully because as a tutor you are responsible for understanding the subject as well as for helping other students investigate the materials accurately, critically, and creatively.
Course Requirements: ID 201H is especially demanding since you essentially cover LS 1 in the context of a new course, ID 201H and perform a job for pay. Briefly, I expect you to:
read all LS 1-ID 201H course materials carefully and critically, taking thoughtful notes
attend all LS1 lectures and take exemplary notes
attend and participate in LS 1 seminar discussions in the manner agreed upon with the instructor
attend LS 1 special events and encourage appropriate discussion of these events among LS 1 students
attend and participate actively in all ID 201H class meetings
keep an Idea Notebook regularly throughout the semester
write three papers
write an LS 1 Problem Analysis project
develop an LS 1 evening event for your residence hall
maintain weekly evening office hours in your residence hall and complete tutoring report forms as required.
More specifically, your work in ID 201H will focus on three areas:
Class Participation: You are expected to come to class fully prepared and contribute actively to the day's discussion.
Written Work: You will respond to the LS 1 paper assignments in a variety of ways. All of you will write the first LS 1 paper on Frankenstein. For LS 1 paper 2, half of you will write the actual paper while the other half will write an analysis of the assignment and a critique of one of your classmates' papers; these roles will then switch for LS 1 paper 3. In addition, all of us will prepare an LS 1 problem analysis project throughout the semester. Finally, each of you will maintain an Idea Notebook.
LS 1 Tutoring: You are simultaneously a tutor for the LS 1 course and a student in ID 201H. Each of you has been assigned to an LS 1 faculty member. With your seminar leader, you will define your role in the classroom discussions: an active participant, a critical listener, a Socratic gadfly, or even the discussion leader. Each of you will also tutor at least four hours per week in the evenings in your residence hall. Students may also drop by your dorm room at any moment for your assistance. You are paid for all these hours of tutoring, but be sure you do not let such work interfere with your own educational responsibilities as a Skidmore student.
Grading: I determine grades for ID 201H based on your papers, your class participation--including attendance-- and your discussion section leader's evaluation of your contributions to the course. I average the grades from each of these components as follows:
Assignment | Percent of Course Grade |
Paper #1 | 5% |
Paper #2 | 15% |
Paper #2 Analysis and Peer Critique | 10% |
Paper #3 | 15% |
Paper #3 Analysis and Peer Critique | 10% |
Problem Analysis Project | 20% |
Idea Notebook | 15% |
Class Participation | 15% |
Discussion Section Instructor | 20% |
TOTAL | 100% |
Except for medical reasons, you must hand in course work on the designated date. Failure to do so will result in your grade being lowered a fraction of a grade for each class day the course work is late (in other words, if you are one class day late and your course work would have earned a B, you will receive a B-).
Grading Standards: I subscribe to Skidmore's stated grading standards: ·
A for distinguished work
B for superior work
C for satisfactory work
D for passing but not satisfactory work
F for failure
As student leaders, you are expected to adhere to the Skidmore Honor Code. Specifically, cheating and plagiarism are violations of the code. The Student Handbook states that "submitting as one's own, words or ideas that have been written by another; giving or receiving aid in exams or quizzes; and using books or notes in an examination unless authorized by the instructor, are violations of academic integrity."