COMMUNITY COLLEGE Of PHILADELPHIA

ANTHROPOLOGY 101: Introduction to Anthropology Online Sec 901
Fall 2010
Dr. Diane Freedman
email: dfreedman@ccp.edu
http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/DFreedman/

Office Hours: TTH 10:00-11:00.

Office: CCP W2-40, phone 215 751-8547 - leave your message on the tape; speak clearly leaving your name and class; the tape will record the time and date of your call. After the course begins, all questions or contact with me regarding the course should be through Webstudy email.  This is the only way you will get a speedy response. To login to Webstudy you need your JID number.  That can be found on your course roster that you received at registration.  Without it you cannot login. Once you have logged in bookmark the login page so you get there directly and not through the college page. If you have trouble logging in to Webstudy after you have carefully followed the directions, contact Ms. Vaishali Sharma, coordinator for student support at vsharma@ccp.edu.

Welcome to Anthropology 101, Introduction to Anthropology, offered online at Community College of Philadelphia. Whether you are an old hand at distance learning or are new to Internet courses, this way of taking a course gives us all some new challenges. So prepare yourself for some exciting encounters as we explore together the worlds of Biological Anthropology, Archaeology, and Cultural Anthropology online. Dates for this course are Tuesday, September 7, 2010 —Monday, Dec 13, 2010, with the finals week Dec 15-19.  This course requires at least 10 hours per week of your active engagement with the material.  If you are not prepared to give it that much time you are not likely to be successful, and you should not enroll in the course.

You have enrolled in a distance learning (INET) section of this course.  This means that we will meet together as a class only online—not in a classroom.  All of the work for the class must be done by each of you individually.  At first glance, it might appear to you that taking a class this way is easier than having to actually attend class sessions several times a week.  In fact, succeeding in an INET course is much more difficult--it requires you to be self motivated to study on your own, without the discipline of attending class.  You must have excellent reading and interpretive skills to be able to understand the concepts of the discipline without my explanation, and you must be able to analyze the material and write critically about it on your own. You must be able to read directions and follow them carefully.  If you do not follow all directions with precision you may lose points for incorrectly submitted assignments. You are responsible for independently figuring out how to use Webstudy, what your assignments are, how to submit them properly and on time, and how to use the exam functions of the program. You should not take this course if you have failed or withdrawn from any other online course—this indicates that online learning is not for you.  Take the course in a regular classroom setting if you have previously failed or withdrawn from an online section of it.  You must be at the English 101 level to take this course—if you are taking English 98 you should not enroll here. You can ask me questions about the material you do not understand, but you must have worked on it enough to be able to frame a clear question.  For example, simply telling me that you don’t understand mitosis is not enough—you need to say what you do understand about it and what you are missing. Then I can help you. For some of this material, you will need to read the text several times and take good notes.

To be successful in this course you need a computer at home to which you have regular access. You must also be familiar enough with your computer system to be able to troubleshoot when something goes wrong. For example, you should know how to use a word processor and txt files, upload and download files, and clear your cache and temporary internet files. You should be able to read directions from a help screen and apply them yourself.  If you are on AOL you must use another browser for this course. You should not depend on a wireless connection, especially during exams. This course is not for you if you have just taken your new computer out of the box and are learning to use it. I cannot provide you with technical support.  If you have a computer problem during the semester you need a backup plan to use another computer while yours is in repair. The fact that your computer goes down is not an acceptable excuse for not doing your work. Are you ready for this?

IF so, read on. 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Text: Anthropology- The Human Challenge: The 13th Core Edition, by William Haviland. Don’t worry if some chapters are missing. They will not be assigned. This edition is a cheaper and shorter version of Haviland, Anthropology: The Human Challenge, that has been used previously. Either one is OK--Be sure to get the correct edition—the 13th.  More than one book by the same author is used at the college, so be careful.   

Supplies: You must have reliable Internet access at home and a backup plan if your system goes down. AOL is not a good fit with Webstudy, and you will need to use another browser.  You will need a set of colored pencils for the homework assignments in the first unit and access to a printer.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to do some of the assignments.  This is available as a free download from the opening page of Webstudy. If you don’t know how to install these programs on your computer you should not be taking an online course.

Class Participation: This is the part of the course that is most different from the face to face classes that most of us have experienced for most of our lives. There are several types of participation in webstudy. The timeline tab is your key to success in the course. The sessions are scheduled weekly, from Monday to Sunday, and the work for the week that starts Monday is all due by the following Sunday night. You first need to get an overview of each week's activities that are listed on the timeline. Check the date that tells you the start of each week. Every week there will be a chapter assigned from your text, Haviland's Anthropology: 13th Core Edition; a group of web sites related to the chapter; one or more written assignments, a quiz, and forum discussions.  All are required.  You can use different strategies to approach this material.  One is to do each reading assignment followed by the writing assignment related to it; for example, read the assigned chapter of your text and then take the quiz.  Another is to do all of the text and web readings first and then tackle the writing assignments.  Choose the way that works best for you. But-- one thing that doesn’t work is to leave all of the work until Sunday evening.  This strategy will result in failure. You can send any questions to me through Webstudy email once the course begins. Before you ask a procedural question about the course, be sure that you have carefully read this syllabus and the timeline instructions, to be sure that your question is not already answered there. Ignore the webstudy calendar and get your information for the week from the timeline tab. Do not plan to take vacations during the semester because the course is online. Your weekly attention to this course is required in the same way as if you were sitting in a classroom.  Falling behind is bad for your progress, and no matter how good your intentions are, it is nearly impossible to catch up.

Assignments:  The assignments are designed to let me know if you have carefully read and understood the material. They are the primary means for me to assess your progress in the course.  Please do them with thoughtfulness and care.  Check out the assignment for the week before you read your text and web assignments so that you can take notes to help you with the writing assignment. They should include an introduction, a body of evidence, and a conclusion, and should use the material of the week to demonstrate or argue a particular point. They should average around 300-400 words—I don’t count the words but a 2 sentence paragraph is not adequate to answer these questions.  Essays should include in text parenthetical citations and references in APA style.  Proofread the assignment before you post it to Webstudy. Be sure to click the button to send to your instructor—otherwise I will not get the assignment and you will not get credit. If you have any questions about your weekly assignment you must send them to me by Thursday, so that you will get a response in time to write your essay.

Your written assignments must be written in your own words--do not copy sentences from your text or the web sites.  This is called plagiarism. If you do it, I will know.  Any material copied directly from any source and put into your assignments without quotation marks and proper citation will result in an automatic "F" for the assignment.  There will be no appeal of this decision.  The easiest way to avoid this problem is to be sure to write in your own words.  Do not use quotations in your assignments; I want to see your interpretation of the material, not what it says in the book.  Plagiarism is a serious issue and I expect you to take it seriously.  The excuse that you didn’t do it on purpose or didn’t know it was wrong will not work with me, and the penalty is severe. Write in your own words. Look in your text for the proper way to cite and reference the material.  Encyclopedias are not acceptable as professional sources, especially Wikipedia!  Assignments using Wikipedia or blogs as sources will be penalized 2 points. Write in your own words!

Penalties

There are severe penalties for plagiarism in this course: For assignments, they are modeled on the 3 strikes rule:
First offense—an F grade on the specific assignment
Second offense—an F grade on the entire week’s work
Third offense—an F grade in the course

For exams, the first case of copying from anywhere, AKA cheating, results in a grade of F for the course.

Your written assignments are formal essays and should be carefully constructed.  Write them in your word processor first, revise and proofread for spelling and grammar errors, then save as a txt file, copy it, and paste it into the assignment window. Be careful!!! Be sure to click on send to instructor before clicking on post—if you do not do this, your file will be saved but I will not be able to read it or reply to you.  It will not count as submitted until I get it!  Do not send attached files- I will not read them.  The essays will be evaluated based on the quality of your answer to the question as well as the style and organization of your essay.  Multiple errors will result in a lower score. Broad generalizations with no specific examples will also result in a low score. For example, if I ask you for an example of a foraging society, writing that foragers live in Africa is not considered a specific example. Include the name of the group or site and the location, as well as the particular characteristics that the question calls for. Expect to see my reply to your essays in about a week after the due date.  Check to see when I have sent it back to you and download and read my comments so you will know how to do better on future assignments. Look at your returned essay—errors are marked in red.  Single words are marked for spelling and sentences for grammar errors.

Here is a list of what I look for in your essays and how they are graded:

10 points    completely and creatively answers all parts of the question

                   Has no grammatical or spelling errors

                   Includes parenthetical citations for all borrowed material

                   Includes complete references in proper form to all texts and sites used

                   Includes introductory paragraph, specific data to back up thesis, and conclusion

                   Handed in on time and in proper form—pasted into assignment box

9 points      missing citations or references or a few grammatical errors

8 points      the above + missing part of the question

7 points      the above + many grammatical errors or few specific details

6 points      inadequate answer to question

0 points      not on time or improper submission

-5 points     plagiarized sentences or phrases or not submitted

Even though the work is all listed on Monday of each week, it is there for the whole week, so pace yourself accordingly. You will need to keep up with this material weekly. All of your work for each week must be posted by 11:59 Sunday night.  Late assignments or quizzes will not be graded. My expectation is that you will login a minimum of 4 - 5 times each week.  I can see a record of all logins so I will know exactly how much each student has participated in the work of the course.  Falling behind will result in failure. You should expect to spend a minimum of 10 hours each week reading, writing, and studying the material for this course. Participation includes properly posting your quizzes, assignments and forums.  If you miss a required major exam you cannot pass the course. So be sure to contact me if you have some medical emergency that forces you to miss your work.

If there is enough interest, I will try to be available for live chat on the Tuesday evenings from 6-6:15 pm. Send a webstudy email to the class on Sunday to request an online chat. Log on at that time to share any questions or problems with me or other students.  If you have special needs to help you participate in this class please contact me during week 1 to discuss them.  After the course begins, send all of your questions through the Webstudy email.  If you need to talk to me, call during my office hours, but the best way to contact me is webstudy email.

Exams: There will be 4 online exams. Exams cover all of the material in the sessions, including text, readings and websites.  All exams are required--they are not optional and they are not just for practice. They count!  When you finish an online exam, be sure to hit the submit button and then logout of Webstudy. That is the only way to be sure that your answers will be saved. Exams will be available for 3 or 4 days only.  You must take all online exams during the time they are posted.  All exams are required; missing one results in a grade of F for the course—no exceptions. Contact me immediately—before the end of the exam-- if you have a medical emergency during an exam period.

This course is based on the honor system.  Since I am not watching you do your work, you are on your honor not to cheat. If you cheat, you are only cheating yourself out of the education you deserve. When you send me an email accepting the terms of the course you must agree to abide by this honor code.

If you want to take practice exams go to the text website where there are online practice quizzes.  Do not send me the results, since they are for your benefit.  If you miss more than a few of the questions study the chapter again.

Extra Credit PROJECTS:

These are not required, but they give you a chance to earn some extra points. They include 2 museum trips and the QQ’S [quickie questions], and may also include lectures throughout the semester. The following 2 museum trips are optional. Each optional one that you complete successfully and hand in on time will be worth up to 10 points. All projects must be submitted through Webstudy. Online visits are not acceptable.

1.  Biological Anthropology Project--Zoo     Go to the zoo.   Due at the end of Session 4.

Pick one group of nonhuman primates, observe for 1/2 hour, and write up your observations.  Follow the directions for this assignment on the web:

http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/DFreedman/links/zoo.htm

2.  Field Trip Option - MUSEUM VISIT: Due at the end of Session 8.

This option is an extra way to demonstrate your interest in the material covered in this course. You can choose to visit the Museum of Anthropology of the University of Pennsylvania, in west Phila. at 33rd & Spruce. Survey each of the following exhibits and write a 400-500 word essay describing one of them. Focus on only a few objects.  Do not copy parts of museum cards and put it in your essay. That is plagiarism and will lead to failure.

1. Royal Cemetery of Ur

2. Tokens to Tablets (Code of Hammurabi)

3. Mayan Room

4. Biblical Archaeology

5. Egyptians

6. Eskimo \ Northwest Coast

7.  The Chinese Rotunda

          8.  Canaan and Ancient Israel

QQ’S  Quickie Questions: I will occasionally post a question of the week that will come from your text or web readings. These will be posted in the middle of the week and you will have only 48 hours to answer them.  They are not required.  Each successful answer will earn you 3 points. No late answers accepted. Login often to see what’s up.

Grades: Exams are each worth 100 points. Quizzes, writing assignments and projects that you complete on time in webstudy are each worth up to 10 points. Substantive forum discussion participation is worth 5 points per week. A substantive post is one that is about 300 words, adheres to scholarly rules of logic, organization, punctuation and grammar, and either answers a question completely or responds to another post significantly.  For example, "I agree with John about evolution" is not a substantive post, and this type will not get credit. Failure to post to a required forum on time will result in 5 points deducted from your total score. Forum points will be calculated at the end of the semester, but you can keep your own count of all of your points to gauge how you are doing in the course.  You will get credit for assignments and quizzes only if completed by Sunday evening of the end of the assignment week.  Missed assignments get penalties: 5 points for each missed written assignment and 5 points for each missed forum. Bonus points will be awarded at the end of the semester if you complete all assignments, quizzes and forums properly and on time. At the end of the semester all of your points will be added and the point penalty for each missing assignment deducted. Since the major exams account for 400 of the 600 points, they have the most impact on your grade. But you will affect your exam average up or down depending on your assignments and forum posts.

Scale:

540 + = A
480 – 539 = B
420 – 479 = C
360 – 419 = D
below 359 = F

Incomplete grades, "I", will be given only in the case of a medical emergency. You must contact me before the grades are due if you are seriously ill and wish to complete the course late. Do not be confused by the percentage listed on your grade total in webstudy—it is not accurate and reflects only those assignments you have completed.  

Webstudy email: this is the primary means for you to communicate with me about any class issue, or let me know of any problems you are having with the course.  An email is a formal communication. It should include a subject line that has your course number and a brief keyword, a salutation, a clear statement of your request, and a signature.  Messages that are missing these essential parts may not receive a response.  This is not a text message or a tweet—do not treat it as such!

Webstudy session list
Here is a brief outline of the 15 sessions of this course in webstudy. More details and dates can be found online at the timeline tab.  

1. Introductions/ The Essence of Anthropology
2. Genetics and Evolution
3. Living Primates; Online Test 1—covers weeks 1-3
4. The First Bipeds
5. Early Homo and Cultural Origins; Online Test 2—covers weeks 1-5
6. Field Methods in Archaeology & Paleoanthropology 
7. Global Expansion of Homo sapiens

8. The Neolithic Transition: Domestication of Plants & Animals

9. The Emergence of Cities & States

10. Archaeology: Egypt and the Middle East; Online Test 3, weeks 6-10

11. The Characteristics of Culture
12. Language and Communication

13. Patterns of Subsistence 

14. Processes of Change
15. Online FINAL EXAM

 

Attendance: Students are expected to participate weekly in the online class activities. Weekly attendance is composed of logging in to take the quizzes, posting to forums, and writing the weekly assignments.  Only those assignments done on time in the assigned week will count toward your final grade. If you open up webstudy but do not take the quizzes or post assignments you will be considered non-attending on the 3rd week list, and will be dropped from the course. This may affect your financial aid if you get it.  So, once you are in the course do the work—and if you decide that you can’t do the work for whatever reason—drop the course before it affects your GPA—that is, before the 20% mark in the third week.

 

Early Alert: The College is now using an early alert system.  This system lets students know if they are not keeping up with their course work. I will enter a missing assignment report for you if you have missed 1 assignment in the first 2 weeks of the course. If this happens you will get a letter—so don’t be surprised. This is not a punishment.  It is a reminder.  If you get one you need to decide about your level of participation in the course.  Start doing your work!

Login to Webstudy on the first day of class to read the detailed course schedule and post your introductions. 

Brief WebStudy Login Procedure

·          To access your course, please go to the college's homepage at http://www.ccp.edu/de then click on the WebStudy Login Portal located under the Links section or Goto    http://ccp.webstudy.com/

·         On the WebStudy Login Portal page enter the following information where indicated:

 

Username:  Enter your 9-character JID# (Can be found in your class roster).

        (Example: If your JID#  is J12345678, Username will be J12345678)

 

Password:   Enter the word PASSWORD.

 

·         After entering your Username and Password, click Login and you will get to the WebStudy homepage.  At the top right of the screen, you will find the course selection drop down menu box.  Click on the box and select your course.

 

·         This brings you to your course homepage.  On this page you will find introductory information about your course (Please verify that you are in the correct class and that all  information are correct).  On the right side of the page are TABS (similar to notebook tabs).  Click on the Timeline TAB to get started working on your course. 

 

Further assistance?  Please address inquiries to Ms. Vaishali Sharma, coordinator for student support at vsharma@ccp.edu or call Distance Education at 215-751-8702.

Read this syllabus over several times and print it out to be sure that you understand all of the rules and requirements for the course. Then send me an email in Webstudy to check in.  If you have a login problem after following these directions contact Ms. Sharma, listed above.  I cannot help you with login problems, but let me know if you are having them.  Your work for Week 1 includes a 10 point quiz on the contents of this syllabus. To get any credit for this particular quiz all answers must be correct.  Print out a copy of the syllabus and keep it with your notes so that you can refer to it often.

See you in Webstudy!!