Midsemester grades posted!

Dear Class,

I have finished grading for the first half of the semester. You can see your assignment grades for homework and papers by visiting turnitin.com. You can see your midterm exam grade and participation grade on Blackboard, by going to: Tools—My Grades.

“Mid-semester Grades” reflect your performance in the class so far. These are based on all available grades up until now. You should receive one of the following letters:

P: Passing (>65%)

BL: Borderline (55%-65%)

F: Failing (<55%).

I strongly suggest arranging a meeting with me on Zoom if you received a BL or F.

Please note that only about 46% of the points available for the semester have been determined so far. This means there is still significant opportunity to change your grade!

I have also added a category to the grade center for class participation. It reflects your score out of 100 available points for the first 8 classes of the semester. If your participation grade is low, it is usually because you are either not attending class (or in some cases you are coming late) and/or you are not verbally participating in class. Changing these patterns of behavior can significantly increase your score, and in many cases it is still possible to raise this score to 100%! For details, look at the participation policy in the syllabus.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Dr. M

Argument Paper 2 due next before class (Tuesday Nov. 9)

Dear Class, 

As we discussed in class tonight, the next argument paper is due on turnitin.com before our next meeting (on Nov. 9). 

I have moved the location of the assignment. You can now find the (unchanged) assignment description linked below (or under the “Assignment” menu): 

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/-macdougallphil3211fa2021/argument-papers/

Exam grades posted

Dear Students, 

Midterm exam grades have been posted on Blackboard. 

You can see your score for the midterm by going to “Tools,” then “My grades.” You can see which answers you got wrong and right by clicking on “Midterm,” then clicking on the “Calculated Grade.”  

We can talk about the exam on Tuesday. 

Best,

Dr. M

Midterm Exam tonight, beginning at 5pm!

Dear Class, 

Remember that our midterm is tonight. The test opens at 5pm. Please try to start before 6pm, so that you have enough time to finish the exam before the lecture begins at 7:20pm. 

See you tonight, and best of luck on the exam!

Dr. M

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/-macdougallphil3211fa2021/2021/10/19/mid-term-exam-next-tuesday-10-26/

Mid-term Exam next Tuesday, 10/26!!

Our Mid-term Exam is coming up next Tuesday, 10/26!!

The test will be 75 minutes long and will be administered on Blackboard. You should receive an announcement to your email at 5:00pm, when it becomes available. You can also find it under “Content” in Blackboard after 5:00pm.

The exam is open book and open notes. I recommend that you study carefully for it by filling out the study sheet ahead of time. Most of the questions require understanding concepts, not simply repeating answers from the study sheet. I will be available in our regular Zoom forum or on email from 6pm on, if you need to contact me for some reason.

You can start it any time between 5pm and 7:20pm. However, please try to start by 6pm at the latest, so that you can take the full 75 minutes and still be on time to our 7:20pm session. I will take attendance for our class session on Zoom at 7:20pm sharp!

Do NOT plagiarize from the internet. Utilizing answers from class materials and lectures is acceptable. Plagiarism from the internet is grounds for a zero score on the test.

If you need a special exception you need to contact me. If for some reason you don’t contact me and also don’t take it at the appointed time, you will need a documented excuse (either medical or related to bereavement) for permission to take it at another time.

Don’t forget to download the review sheet and fill it out before the test! And let me know if you have any questions.

Dr. M

Reminder: First Argument Paper due Tues, 9/27

Dear Class, 

I wanted to remind all of you about our first paper, due this Tuesday on turnitin.com before class (i.e. before 6pm). 

The reading you should interact with is the assigned reading for that day. 

You can see instructions for the paper here: 

Go to “Assignment Overview,” under “Assignments.”

Scroll down to ”Three Argument Papers”.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Dr. M