This syllabus is subject to revision as necessary at any time during the semester

GGR 687
The GPR Thesis and Practicum Experience
Fall Semester 2009 Syllabus

General Information & Format - Vista Help - Description & Assumptions - Textbooks - Schedule & Workload - Assignments - Checkins - Grading - Extra Credit - Other Course Policies: Class Lock Out, Plagiarism, NAU policies statements, Student Handbook

General Information

GGR 687 - The GPR Thesis and Practicum Experience (1 unit)
Tuesday 3 - 4:30pm, SBS West Room 208
Grading: Pass/Fail

Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Alan A. Lew (Alan.Lew {at} nau.edu)
Office Location: SBS West (Bldg 70), Room 230
Office Hours: Tuesdays 12:00am to 3:00pm (26 Aug to 2 Dec 09) and by Appointment
Mailing Address: Dept. of Geography, Planning & Recreation, NAU Box 15016, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5016
Tel: 928-523-6567 (office); 928-523-2650 (dept.); Fax: 928-523-2275 (attn: Dr Lew); Skype: alanalew

COURSE FORMAT:

• The course meets once a week for 60 to 90 minutes in a seminar-style format.
• Students are expected to have read the assignment for the week prior to the class meeting.

READINGS on Blackboard-Vista:

Class readings are located in the Learning Module section for this class in Blackboard-Vists.

EMAIL POLICY:

Prior to the first day of classes, and after the last day of classes (of Finals Week), correspondence should be sent to the class Professor at the email address above.

All Correspondence starting the First Day of Classes must take place either through the Blackboard-Vista website (http://vista.nau.edu) or through the Ning.com class discussion website.

• To Send an Email from Bb-Vista: Click On MAIL on the left sidebar menu; Click on CREATE MESSAGE; Click on BROWSE FOR RECIPIENTS and then click on either your Instructor's or Professor's name, or on All Instructors. click on SAVE; Compose your message; then SEND it.
  
  
• Please check your email every time you log into Bb-Vista (this may seem obvious, but you would be surprised what student tell me).
  

Blackboard-Vista HELP: If you are having PROBLEMS WITH Blackboard-Vista...

FIRST: Contact the NAU Help Desk as soon as you encounter a problem that, if not resolved, will result in a loss of points.

• Write Down the NAME of the person you are speaking with, the TIME that you are talking to them, WHAT THEY SAID to try and resolve the problem, or not.

SECOND: If your assignment will still be late, then contact your instructor as soon as you have finished talking to the Help Desk and let them know what is going on, and so they have a record of when you attempted to submit the assignment.

• Clearly describe what the problem was, when it took place, and what you did to try and fix it.
• Include the NAME of the Help Desk person you spoke with, the TIME and DAY that you called the Help Desk, and What the Help Desk person said.
  

Contact the NAU Academic Computing Help Desk at:
Flagstaff: 523-9294
Toll free: 1-888-520-7215
On the web: http://www4.nau.edu/achd/
Via e-mail: help@dana.ucc.nau.edu

Contact the NAU Academic Computing (Student/Dana) Help Desk for ALL Technical Questions about Blackboard and your Computer.

• For a comprehensive list of resources available to web students please visit: http://www.distance.nau.edu/guide/student_resources.aspx

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course reviews department and university expectations and requirements for the successful completion of a Masters degree in the Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation. The focus is on the writing of the thesis and practicum proposal, though related aspects of graduate school will also be covered.

COURSE GOAL: 
Students taking this course will understand what is expected of them in their graduate studies in the Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation, and what they must do to successfully graduate from their degree program.

ASSUMPTIONS/PREREQUISITES:

There are No Prerequisite Courses for this class, except that you must be a graduate student at NAU.

A huge assumption is that you have a pretty good idea what you want to focus on and achieve in your graduate studies. Your graduate application to the department is the starting point for this assumption. We will review these on the first day of class.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS - There are no required books for this class. All of the readings will be available online.

CLASS SCHEDULE: - This class meets for 60 to 90 minutes once a week starting Week 7 of the Fall semester.

Click Here to view an overview of the Class Schedule (subject to revision).

The Official Course Schedule is kept in the CALENDAR link within Bb-Vista. Note that you can also add your own, private, entries into the Vista Calendar. You should check the Calendar daily (as well as your Vista email) to make sure that you are getting your assignments done.

ASSIGNMENTS

ALL ASSIGNMENT ARE ACCESSED through the LEARNING MODULES in Bb-Vista. Students are expected to have fully prepared for each class by:

1. Reading through the class module assignmentin Bb-Vista prior to each class meeting
2. Doing all of the Activities and Requirements in the class module prior to each class meeting
3. Readings all of the Papers in the class module prior to each class meeting.
4. Being prepared to Discuss the readings and activities require for each class meeting.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

• The Personal Planning and Reflection Paper due at the end of the semester (Finals Week) is the only written assignment due in this class.
  

GRADING

There will be:

• Attendance - 5 class sessions x 10 points each = 50 points
• Discussion Participation - 5 class sessions x 10 points each = 50 points
  • including evidence of having done the readings
• Activity Participation - 6 class session x 20 points each = 120 points
  • doing and discussing assignments other than readings
• Final Written Assignment = 80 points

TOTAL = 300 Points*

• To Receive an 'PASS' = 80%
• 'FAIL' = Below 80%

* The Total Points may change due to unforeseeable issues that may arise.. The final grade is based on the % received of the final points in the class, not the points in this syllabus.

WARNING: Keep all of the work that you receive points for in this (and all of your classes)! If there is ever a discrepancy between what is recorded in the Grade book and what you think you received, the Grade book will only be changed if you have your original work.

The Total Grade Points and Percentage Grading Breakdown are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances that may affect the total points. Final grades will be based on the percentages above as they apply to the total final points at the end of the semester.

OTHER POLICIES

INCOMPLETES

Incompletes will not be given without written recommendation by the Dean of Students.

• Please note that the university policy for an incomplete is that it is only granted to students who have completed most of the work for the class and are only tardy on a couple of assignments that would enable them to pass the class. In addition, the reason for not completing the tardy assignments must be beyond the student's control. Finally, the policy states that "After a grade is submitted to the Registrar, the grade may not be changed as the result of the addition of extra credit work not available to all students in the course and/or work not outlined in the syllabus or an addendum which was distributed during the semester."
• You must have completed at least 75% of the class to be considered to qualify for an Incomplete in this class.
• Incompletes must be requested and an incomplete contract form must be approved by the class professor.
• Note that many faculty at NAU have found that only 20% of students who take an Incomplete actually finish their classes successfully.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY is a form of misconduct that is subject to disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct and includes the following.

• Plagiarism: any attempt to knowingly or deliberately pass off other's work as your own.
• Cheating: any attempt to gain an unfair advantage over one's fellow students.
• Fabrication: any attempt to present information that is not true when the author knows the information presented is false.
• Fraud: any attempt to deceive an instructor or administrative officer of the university.
• Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: any attempt to assist an act of academic dishonesty by another individual.

You are expected to do all of the work yourself, and to properly reference any material that you use from other sources using standard referencing systems used in the social and physical sciences. If you need help with this, click here.

DO NOT COPY ANOTHER STUDENT’S WORK, even in part. DO NOT GIVE YOUR PAPER TO ANOTHER STUDENT TO TURN IN AS THEIR WORK.

• If you do either of these, at a minimum you will receive zero (0) points for the assignment AND a number of points equal to that of the assignment will be further deducted from your total. For example, for a 100 point assignment, you will get 0 for the assignment, and 100 points will be further deducted from your total.
• In addition, and you may be dismissed entirely from this class.
  

DO NOT COPY SOMETHING FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE WITHOUT A COMPLETE REFERENCE TO ITS ORIGINAL AUTHOR (Author, Title, Year, Publisher, Page numbers, and Access date and URL for Web material). Points will be deducted from assignments if you do not properly reference your sources. Using quotations from other sources should be kept to a minimum and only used where relevant..

• The following WWW site on doing research and avoiding electronic plagiarism is recommended reading for anyone doing research on the WWW: http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/internet/research.htm