Welcome to FLS 201! I hope the class will be an enjoyable and productive experience for you. I will do my best to make class time interesting and engaging, to make requirements clear, and to treat all students fairly. Thank you in advance for doing your part to contribute to a positive experience for everyone involved.
Very Important Links:
Syllabus and Objectives
General Information for Lower Division Spanish
Oral Assessment Rubrics and Information
Honors Project: Inquiry Notebook
Instructor: Susan Navey-Davis navey@ncsu.edu
Assistant Department Head for Student Affairs
Foreign Languages and Literatures
Campus Box 8106 North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8106
919-515-9288
Office: 321 Withers
Office Hours: 8:00-9:00 Mon, Wed and Fri, 11:15 - 12:00 Mon, Wed and Th, and by appointment
Required materials: Plazas: Lugar de encuentros (Hershberger, et al) *third edition*. Each student must have a hard copy student edition textbook to bring to class each day and a Quia account for completion of Workbook and Laboratory activities. Quia course code for fall 2011: KNCFA976
Grading: 30% Chapter tests
30% Preparation and Participation
10% Assessment of Oral Communication Skills
30% Final Exam
Chapter tests: A test will be given at the end of chapters 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. Dates are on the syllabus and information about test formats will be provided. No grades are dropped. Make-up tests are given only with proper documentation of university-approved absences.
Preparation and Participation: Preparation consists of completing assigned homework activities from the textbook, online workbook and online lab as assigned. All assigned textbook and workbook activities must be completed before coming to class to the day assigned. All lab activities for a chapter must be completed before the test on the chapter. Online activities must be done as many times as necessary to receive a score of 100% in order to receive full credit. For "En contexto" sections of text, answers to "¿Comprendiste?" must be written and brought to class. For "Encuentro cultural" sections of text, each student must write at least one sentence in Spanish about each of the six sections and bring the written sentences to class. For the "¡A repasar!" sections of the text, all answers must be written and brought to class. Participation consists of arriving on time, staying the full class period and being actively involved and on-task in all class activities. Please note that all personal electronic devices must be turned off during class. Any use of such devices will result in a reduction of your participation grade. See participation rubric at http://fll.chass.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/rubrics.pdf for a more complete description of behaviors that are associated with grades of A, B, C, D and F in partcipation.
Assessment of Oral Communication Skills: Each student will be evaluated on oral communication skills through one in-class presentation (Presentational Communcation) and one out-of-class conversation (Interpersonal/Conversational Communication) with the professor. Opportunities for presentations and conversations follow chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 and will take place in class the day after the chapter test. Conversations may be scheduled within one week of the completion of a chapter. Email the professor to arrange an appointment for a conversation. All presentations and conversations must be completed before chapter 15. Students may do more than one presentation and/or conversation and count the highest grade. Failure to complete at least one presentation and/or one conversation will result in a grade of 0.
Final Exam: The final exam is comprehensive because of the nature of the course. A format will be provided one week prior to the exam, posted at http://fll.chass.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/final/index.php. Day and time of the exam are determined by the university exam calendar posted at http://www.ncsu.edu/registrar/calendars/examfall.html and changes can be made for university-approved reasons only. The final exam can never be taken early.
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory because of the nature of the course. Each student is evaluated in every class period and activities are designed based on participation by all students. Students receive participation points each day that they attend and participate in an appropriate way, therefore, any absence will result in a loss of participation points. If a student has an excused absence, documentation must be provided in the next class that is attended in order for the absence to be excused. In addition, there is a penalty for excessive absences. If a student has more than three unexcused absences, five points will be deducted from the final grade. Each additional unexcused absence will result in a loss of one more point.
Academic Integrity: Students are required to adhere to the Code of Student Conduct http://www.ncsu.edu/student_conduct/code_conduct/ Violations will be reported. Please read the information on the Spanish Lower Division General Information page http://fll.chass.ncsu.edu/spanish/lower_division.php > Academic Integrity carefully. In many cases, it is acceptable for students to work together, studying outside of class, in order to improve their skills and prepare for tests, etc. It is not, however, acceptable for students to collaborate on work that is submitted as their own. It is not possible and should not be necessary to specify all behaviors that are acceptable and unacceptable but it is clear that copying more than a word or short phrase from a book, copying from another student, using an online or electronic translator, or receiving help from a person who has skills in Spanish and then submitting work as your own is a violation of the Code of Student Conduct. The Honor Pledge must be signed on all tests, quizzes, presentations, compositions and other work submitted as a student's own.
Plus/Minus Grading: Plus/minus grading will be employed.
A+ = 97.0-100, A = 93.0-96.9, A- = 90.0-92.9
B+ = 87.0-89.9, B = 83.0-86.9, B- = 80.0-82.9
C+ = 77.0-79.9, C = 73.0-76.9, C- = 70.0-72.9
D+ = 67.0-69.9, D = 63.0-66.9, D- = 60.0-62.9
F = 59.9 and below
Honors Section: See link above for Honors Project information.
Top Five Suggestions For Success:
1. Obtain and use course materials as assigned and take advantage of resources that are available. Ask questions if anything is not clear.
2. Understand components of final grade and, in particular, take Preparation and Participation requirements seriously. Appreciate the impact of each component on the course grade.
3. Understand course policies and recognize that policies are created and enforced in an effort to treat all students equally and fairly. Special treatment should not be expected.
4. Act with integrity, following the honor code and treating other students and the professor in a professional manner whether interacting in person or using other forms of communication.
5. Assume responsibility for your behavior and your performance.