EPL259: Individual Learning and Motivation 
Strategies for Success in College

Syllabus

Text: The primary textbook for EPL259 is Learning and Motivation Strategies: Your Guide to Success by Tuckman, Abry, and Smith, 2002.  This book is required. It is available at SBX bookstore, Long’s Bookstore and the OSU bookstore. (The text is accompanied by a Student Studies Guide.)
	Supplementary Text:  EPL uses A Hope in the Unseen by Suskind, 1998, as a supplementary text.  This book is required.  It is available at SBX bookstore, Long’s bookstore, and the OSU bookstore.

Course Description: This 5-credit course is designed to teach students what are often referred to as "study skills," those strategies or approaches that enable one to better learn, understand and retain what is being taught, and the ways to manage one’s time and life, in the new environment of college. The strategies and approaches covered utilize the following basic skills: 

• Taking Reasonable Risk, 
• Taking Responsibility, 
• Searching the Environment, and 
• Using Feedback. 

These skills are applied to learning from lectures and textbooks, preparing for exams, researching and writing papers, managing tasks, making career decisions, and managing oneself and one’s life at college.

Learning and Motivation Strategies (LMS) Activities:  These include the following types of activities: 

·         Quickpractices, 

·         Self-Surveys, 

·         Self-Assessments, 

·         Assignments, and 

·         Applications*. 

All of the above activities are to be submitted electronically by going to the appropriate link in the Course Sorcerer Gradebook.

*Applications: Applications may be completed by students working in pairs, but both students must submit into Course Sorcerer.  Before completing the submission, partners should discuss what they want to submit. As necessary, partners should explore with one another to find a common experience, problem, shared concern, or explanation and use that as a basis for their submission. Or, after discussion, partners may choose to simply combine their individual inputs.                

Spotquizzes: A Spotquiz is a test of mastery of the module’s objectives.  Spotquizzes, like the LMS activities described above, are submitted electronically by going to the appropriate link in the Course Sorcerer Gradebook.

Discussions: Participation in the six on-line discussions is required.  The purpose is to allow you to develop your own ideas and to be able to articulate and defend these.  Discussion requirements are as follows:

Three ILM Discussions and Three A-Hope-In-The-Unseen Discussions: 

• Students must post 2 original messages addressing the questions posed for each discussion.
• Students must also post 2 replies to messages posted by other students. 
• These four postings (total) must each be at least one complete paragraph. 
• These four postings (total) must be made by the class period indicated on the Calendar.
• Students may make as many other postings as they wish to participate in the discussions.

Papers:

Students must turn in two copies each of the portfolios and A-Hope-in-the-Unseen papers described below.  One copy is retained as a file copy, one is returned to the student with comments, suggestions, and corrections.

Papers are to be turned in to the instructor on the due date listed in the syllabus.  If life circumstances intrude, the paper can submitted one class period late, but 7 points will be automatically deducted for lateness.  Papers cannot be turned in more than one class period late.  All papers that are not received within one class period of the due date will receive a grade of zero.

Portfolios: Students are required to write ten portfolios.  Due dates are indicated on the Calendar.  Specifications are available hyperlinked to the web-version of the course syllabus.  

A-Hope-In-The-Unseen Papers: Students are required to write four two-page (at least 500 words) paper on assigned chapters in the book.  Paper due dates are indicated on the Calendar.  Specifications are available hyperlinked to the web-version of the course syllabus.

Course Evaluation:  There is a course evaluation to be completed in the last module of the course, worth 10 points.  The course evaluation is required.

Attendance: Attendance is essential to success in EPL 259.  During class time students not only work on their performances, but also benefit from mini-lectures on key concepts, group discussions with other students on central topics, and one-on-one assistance in personal areas of difficulty.  Students will receive 60 points for meeting attendance requirements (no more than two unexcused absences).  Ten points will be deducted for each additional unexcused absence for a maximum of 60 points deducted.

Extra Credit: (Optional) If students wish, they may complete Portfolio 12 for a maximum of 30 extra points.

Student Evaluation: Grades will be determined using the following weights: (Total Course Points = 1103):

Grade Scale:

Due Dates:

Monday/Wednesday Sections

  Tuesday/Thursday Sections

Mansfield M/T/W/R Sections:

Plagiarism: Plagiarism will not be tolerated.  The Ohio State's Committee on Academic Misconduct defines plagiarism as "the representation of another's works or ideas as one's own; it includes the unacknowledged word for word use and/or paraphrasing of another person's work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person's ideas" (http://www.osu.edu/offices/oaa/procedures/1.0.html).

We have brought cases of plagiarism to the OSU Committee on Academic Misconduct.  Plagiarism is unacceptable in any college environment and certainly in EPL 259.  If you have questions about what is permissible and what is not, please feel free to speak with your instructor and/or use the links provided below for citation formats.

In order to acknowledge another's work or ideas in work for EPL 259, use appropriate citation formats.  Two commonly used formats are APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association).  The following links are provided as resources for use of citation formats. 

General Style Guide (both MLA and APA):
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html 

APA Style Guides:
http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/guides/apagd.html
http://www.newark.ohio-state.edu/~osuwrite/apa.htm 

MLA Style Guides:
http://www.mla.org/
http://www.newark.ohio-state.edu/~osuwrite/mla.htm

Citing Electronic Sources:
http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/les7/guide.html
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

Netiquette (Network Etiquette) Policy for EPL 259:

1.      What is inappropriate in the real world is inappropriate in the cyber world. There are other people involved in electronic communication.  Culture norms guiding behavior in the real world should also guide our behaviors on the Net. 

2.      Anonymity does not mean anarchy or lack of responsibility.  You may find that in the electronic realm there are times that your identity is not known. This should in no way be taken as a free pass to commit inappropriate actions. 

3.      Don't steal! This means answers, files, emails, or anything that belongs to another. Even seemingly benign items that you may find you have access to, but don't belong to you, are strictly off limits.  Remember that rules concerning plagiarism at OSU are in effect--don't steal others' works!

4.      Don't hack! Do not participate in breaking into networks or other places on the net (OSU networks or otherwise).

5.      Don't flame! Flaming, in the electronic realm, refers to attacking others.  Do not in any way attack other people, their lifestyle, background, or fashion sense.  Respect is the governing principle in real-world, real-time settings, and the same applies to web interactions.

For students with disabilities:  We encourage students with disabilities to discuss with instructors any reasonable accommodations they might need in order to be successful in EPL 259.  All discussions with instructors concerning these matters are confidential.  In addition, students may want to contact the Office for Disability Services at 614-292-3307 in room 150 Pomerene Hall to help with coordination of accommodations.

This syllabus is available in alternative formats upon request. 

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