Our Scalar Book is the syllabus. It resembles what is known as an emergent syllabus, that is, it is built as we go along. This is important for several reasons. One is that I am able to design the learning according to what I observe in student learning. The other is the great turmoil right now in policy because of the political situation. This kind of course does not focus on covering a lot of content, it is inquiry-based and you will have choices about what policies you wish to pursue in depth. The intent is to foster critical thinking and learn some tools for effectively engaging with policy.

The other thing to understand is the first part of the course is intentionally challenging, and I will be directing the activities and assignments. As the course proceeds you will be doing more independent research and analysis of policy issues of interest to you. I will guide the process but students will have more assignments that provide opportunities to choose what they want to work on.

My advice is not to try to jump ahead or to try to get a whole picture of the course. There is no whole picture yet. My experience with this course is that students do well if they don’t try to swallow the course whole.

I know the grading approach is not traditional but it is accepted and endorsed by a number of contemporary leaders in pedagogy.

To summarize. The base performance (C) is merely to hit the numeric targets, e.g., number of tweets or annotations, and to participate with your team. I purposely keep the numeric targets relatively small and all the students in my courses routinely greatly exceed the numbers.To earn a grade in the B range, a student has to meet the stated standards/qualities for required individual assignments with Ss or a minimum average of 3 on the AGHA and Sample’s scales, depending on the type of assignment. Students can resubmit if something falls below the standard. Team exercises and whole class will not be graded. I will indicate when an assignment will be graded S/U or on the AGHA or Sample scale. During the last phase of the course you will be self-grading.

To try for a grade in the A range the student has to complete an optional project. I have posted a page in Scalar explaining the optional project. One advantage to having this optional project is that it allows the student to decide how much they feel able to handle in the semester. I have no expectations that students should do a project. I’m fully aware how much stress students may be under, and see it as a sign of self- awareness and self-care when students choose not to do it.

I do not penalize for missed due dates but urge students to let me know when they are slipping behind so I can assist.