Course Requirements

Evaluation

Judgment about the progress of your work is based on the quality and depth of critical and constructive thinking exhibited on tests, a paper, weekly reading posts, and comments to papers. Your course grade is determined by averaging the points you achieve from the following scores:

Test 1

: Philosophy and Meaning of Life

Test 2

: The Philosophy of Religion

Test 3

: Philosophical Ethics

Paper

: Paper and Comments to Papers

Posts

Weeking Reading Posts on the mwforumPhilosophy Discussion Board

Your final course grade is assigned according to your final average.

Grades

Judgment about the progress of your work is based on the above five scores. The course is essentially performance based and consists of a progressive series of concepts to be learned and mastered. For this reason, few students can do well in this course by ``cramming'' before exams. Normally, the course is not difficult if you study regularly, keep up with the reading and homework daily, and do not attempt to learn a large amount of information at one time.

Tests

Tests in this course are ``take-home'' tests and are submitted as attachments to email to your instructor. The tests are usually paragraph-answer and essay-answer in form. The subject-matter is primarily based on the reading and homework assignments, especially the questions at the beginning of the readings. If you understand the questions at the beginning of the readings, you will do well on tests. If you have difficulty with these questions, then post your queries to the mwforum Message Board as your ``weekly reading post'' in order to obtain other insights from the rest of the class.

The tests are neither based on memorized facts nor based on objective information derived from memorized arguments. Instead, the emphasis given in tests is on the operation and active transformation or manipulation of the concepts learned. Occasionally, some particularly difficult optional questions are included for extra credit.

On paragraph and questions, be sure to answer with complete sentences; answers provided as lists of phrases or the names of concepts, alone, do not reflect an understanding of the subject and will be given little, if any, credit. Example tests and lecture notes for previous non-WebCT classes are online at http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/. Test Review Worksheets are provided in the Appendix to this syllabus and form a good basis for studying for tests.

Online quizzes: Online quizzes are provided as study aids only and may be used for self-testing. They are entirely optional and from no part of your grade in this course.

WebCT Message List

The WebCT Message List is not used in this class. Instead, we will be using the mwforum Discussion Board at
http://philosophy.lander.edu/cgi-bin/forum.pl
for which you will need to register.

mwforum Message Board

The mwforum Message Board is used in our WebCT class for the posting of questions of any kind, weekly reading comments, replies to comments, papers, and the comments to papers. Your position paper, commentary, or translation together with your five comments on other papers compose a grade equal to one test grade. Papers are discussed in more detail below.

Signing up for the mwforum Message Board is a completely separate procedure from WebCT and is explained here.

1. On the Philosophy Homepage on the Web at http://philosophy.lander.edu/ (notice that there is no ``www'' in this URI or Web address), click on the ``mwforum Message Board" link.
2. From the mwforum Philosophy Forum page, click on the ``Register'' tab at the top of the page.
3. Fill in a username and your email address--taking care to remember the username you have chosen. In a few moments, a password will be sent to your email address. See Figure 1 for a screenshot of registering.

   Figure 1: How to Register for mwforum Message Boards

   
   

4. Click on the ``Register" button, and a login page will load. Log in with your username and the password you have just received via email. Be sure to take note of your password--perhaps, by saving or printing out the email message. Next, click the ``Login" button. See Figure 2.

   Figure 2: How to Login to mwforum Message Boards

   
   

Profile Page

When you log in to the mwforum Philosophy Message Board for the first time, you must enter personal information on your Profile page. Any information entered here is available to the anyone in the class or, for that matter, anyone in the world. To accomplish this, log in and click on the ``Option'' link at the top of the page. When the Profile page loads, you can change your password to a more easily remembered password if you wish to do so.

Also, on this page, be sure to enter your real name so that your posts can be credited. Unless your real name is recorded here on the Profile Page, no credit can be given to your posts. See Figure 3. If you wish to hide your email address when you post, check the appropriate box on this page. (Since browsers have access to the mwforum, potentially, your email address could be ``harvested'' for Spam by automated programs called ``bots.''

If you click ``Options,'' you can find out how many times you have posted as well as find out about other personal data. To do so, click ``Info'' on the same line as your username on the Profile page. Next, click on the ``Posts'' link for a list of all your messages.

Figure 3: How to Find Your Posts

How to Post to the Board

When the ``Philosophy Forum'' page loads, click on the mwforum Message Board of interest. In the screenshots presented here, the names of the Message Boards are default only. The Message Boards for this class are under the heading: ``WebCT Introduction to Philosophy Online Course.'' The procedure for posting a message or posting a paper to the various Boards are similar; only the latter is discussed below. (You need to log in to the mwforum Message Board in order to post comments or papers, but you need not log in just to read the messages posted.)

Figure 4: How to Post a Paper to the mwforum Message Board

If you wish to submit a paper, click on ``WebCT Papers and Comments" under the WebCT Introduction to Philosophy Online Course'' heading. When the ``WebCT Papers and Comments'' page loads, click on the ``Post Topic" link. See Figures 4 and 5.

Figure 5: How to Submit a Paper

Type in the spaces provided the title of your paper in the ``Subject" bar and the text of the paper in the ``Message Body" area. You can ``copy and paste" your paper into the ``Message Body" area. With your mouse, highlight the text in your word processing program, and for the Copy press the Control Key and at the same time the letter ``C." For the Paste, click the mouse anywhere in the Message Body area, and press the Control Key and at the same time the letter ``V."

If you have any trouble posting, please bring your paper on disk or CD and I will be most happy help you post your paper to the Board.

Philosophy Papers

Your short philosophy paper, which counts the same as half of a test grade, can be (1) a short translation of a passage in philosophy from Spanish, French, or German to English chosen from online texts, language courses, or library sources, (2) a commentary on a short paper or essay on philosophy chosen from online texts or library sources such as chapters from our textbook not covered in class or chapters from the ethics text described in ``Supplementary Readings'' listed at the beginning of this syllabus, or (3) a position paper on a topic of your own choice by prior approval of the instructor.

Your paper is to be posted to mwforum Message Board (entitled on the Board:``WebCT Papers and Comments''), and other students can comment or ask questions online about your paper by posting messages underneath it. Your comments on other students' papers constitute the equivalent of the other half of a test grade in this grade-category.

The modern language option is an alternative to write a short translation of a work in French, German, or Spanish instead of doing an original philosophy position paper. If you choose to do a translation in place of a position paper, you must (1) consult with your instructor and (2) find a mentor (or professor) in your language. More information on this option is given in the Appendix to this syllabus.

Philosophy Chat

The Chat Program on the Philosophy Server is easier to access than that on WebCT, and for that reason, we will use the Philosophy Server for our online chat sessions.

One of the services provided by the Philosophy Website is an pretenseless Chat program written by Tommi Leino with a CGI Web page written by John Archie. Jicra is a very simple IRC client Java applet-a one channel Chat room without IRC commands or other features. No special knowledge or skill is necessary to use this applet.

The Philosophy Chat is available for student use at any time for any purpose (e.g., you are welcome to use the Chat for any group-project discussion in any class at Lander for the convenience of students both on and off campus). You can reserve your privacy for chat by devising your own channel for Chat simply by having your group type in whatever specific name you choose for your group.

We will use Chat in the default channel called ``philosophy'' for online office hours for special purposes to be announced. The Jirca Chat program operates like this:

1. From the Philosophy Homepage click on the CHAT link in the lower-right corner of the page. See Figure 6 which approximates the appearance of the link.

   Figure 6: How to Open the Chat Program

   
   

2. When the login page loads, enter your screen name and your real name. Click on the login button. See Figure 7.

   Figure 7: How to Login to the Chat Program

   
   

3. When the Chat window loads, type your message in the bar at the bottom of the window, and hit the enter key, and your message can be read by all persons logged onto the chat. See Figure 8.

   Figure 8: How to Enter Chat Messages

   
   

Grade Evaluation

Your final course grade is assigned according to your final average as described above in the subsection ``Grades.'' The number of hours advised to study given below is usually an accurate guide to how well you will do in this class. If you study only for tests, your doing well in the course is unlikely. Many students assume they can do well in philosophy without doing homework because they have been able to do so in other high school or college classes. Since these students have become habituated to passing courses without much study, they are often alarmed to discover our philosophy course is substantially different from what they have expected. Your Web course puts a substantial burden on you to take charge of your own learning.

A

(above 90 points) reflects approximately three hours study per class hour; a great deal of time, thought, and effort; and mastery of the subject.

B

(80 or above but below 90 points) reflects approximately two hours study per class hour; above average time, thought and effort; and superior achievement.

C

(70 or above but below 80 points) reflects approximately one hour study per class hour, average time, thought, and effort; and average achievement.

D

(60 or above but below 70 points) reflects cramming for examinations; minimum time, thought, and effort; below college level work; a less than adequate grasp of the course content; and less than satisfactory achievement.

FA

reflects attending fewer than 75% of class meetings.

INC

can only be given in cases of sudden illness or emergency.

Grades Online

You may access your grades online at any time on the philosophy server with the username and password from this course (not your WebCT username and password). From the Philosophy Homepage click on the yellow ``Introduction to Philosophy" link under the gray heading entitled ``Class Grades" as in Figure 9. When the Grades Login page loads do the following:

Figure 9: Where to Find Grades Online

1. Choose your class from the drop-down box. If you log in incorrectly, be sure to re-select your class from the drop-down box because an incorrect login will re-set the class to a default philosophy course. See Figure 10.
   

   Figure 10: How to Log in for Grades

   
   

2. Enter your username exactly as provided to you by your instructor.
   
3. The login process is case-sensitive--be sure to match the case of the letters--capital or lower case. If you obtain the result of ``bad login," check to see if the Caps Lock key is on, or you have confused the letter ``l" with the number ``1" or with the capital letter ``I." Occasionally, the number ``0" is can confused with the capital letter ``O."

Confidentiality of student grades is a serious concern. For this reason, if you lose your password, your password will be replaced with a different one. Passwords are not issued to friends nor over the telephone. I have chosen to post grades on the Philosopy Server because it is secure machine.

Your Job

Our course is not difficult if you keep up with the assigned work.

A good place to see how to study in our course is the ``Notes on How to Study'' on the Web at http://philosophy.lander.edu/study.html.

• Follow a study schedule.
• Take notes on posted notes.
• Take notes on the important points of the assigned reading.
• Do all homework questions.
• Make extensive use of the online lectures, sample problems, quizzes, and tests.

My Job

We will find that philosophy is quite essential in all fields of endeavor.

• I will attempt to create the conditions under which you can exercise your native curiosity.
• Class material will be varied, and I will try to use interesting examples.
• I will show practical applications for all the philosophical methods employed.
• I will provide online handouts and Web-based instructions for additional problem-solving support.

If I do my job correctly, our philosophy course will be one of the most valuable in your university career.

Class Policies

The following policies are explicitly stated here because these policies help protect fairness of the course evaluation for the class as a whole. Some of these policies are generally assumed in most classes at Lander University.

Make-Up Policy:

Make-up tests are provided for persons who cannot complete the test on time due to a verifiable emergency and a written excuse provided by an independent party. Contact your instructor as soon as possible if you are unable to complete a scheduled test in time.

Plagiarism:

Students are expected to do their own work in this course. To use another writer's or speaker's ideas without giving credit by means of standard documentation is plagiarism. All cases of academic dishonesty on tests or papers will be handled in accordance with the Academic Honor Code as presented in the Lander University Student Handbook.

Learning Disabilities:

If you have a physical or learning disability and you require special accommodations, be sure to contact Mr. Lafayette Harrison (Learning Center 345, telephone (864) 388-8814) and provide him with appropriate documentation. When Mr. Harrison is made aware of your disability, he will inform your instructors every semester unless you ask him in writing not to do so. For additional information, see the ``Disabled Student Information" on the Lander University Website at http://www.lander.edu/instructional_services/disabled.htm.

Closing of the University:

If hazardous weather conditions or any other state of emergency necessitate University closing, the information will be available from the Lander automated information system (telephone (864) 388 8400) or local radio and TV stations. Usually, however, the Internet and Lander's Web Server are available during inclement weather.

Appendices