Annual Performance ReviewDepartment of Philosophy

Name: Colin MathersYear: 2015

List courses taught, enrollment, and rating for “effective teacher” and grade distribution. Attach syllabi to end of form.

Course Title Term Enrollment Rating for “Effective Teacher”

%As %Bs %Cs %DFW

Issues (07) Spring 36 4.53 53 19 17 11

Issues (12) Spring 39 3.79 33 28 15 23

Intro Spring 34 4.32 38 26 9 26

Moral Found.

Spring 31 4.33 39 48 10 3

Issues (08) Fall 35 4.19 34 20 17 29

Issues (11) Fall 35 4.23 51 29 11 9

Intro (11) Fall 37 4.36 49 22 5 24

Intro (10) Fall 7 4.75 57 29 0 14

List up to ten student comments from student evaluations which best represent assessment of your teaching.

NOTE: Comments from students 7-10 are selected as evidence for the efficacy of my instructor-made PowToon videos. Student 1: Probably my favorite class structure. Double the points for applying that structure to a philosophy course where it could have been general discussion for 15 weeks

Student 2: I have never, ever seen someone as understanding as him. Never in my life have I seen someone take in so much input from other people, process it, translate it for the class to understand AND criticize it in the most professional manner possible. This person has the patience of a God, and this ability of his is very rare in modern day. Honestly, to correct and/or critique every single opinion on a class-basis is quite a unique ability.

Student 3: Professor Mathers does a really good job of presenting the material in this course. I really like the idea of the workbook and how well it prepares you for the exams while also acting as your project grade for the semester, Its a lot nicer than having to deal with a large amount of

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work at one time. - Overall Professor Mathers was a great professor and I think he really cares about his students, I thought that it was awesome that he took the time to learn all of our names (My Only professor this semester who would even recognize me outside of class) that was something small but really meant a lot and made it feel like he actually cared about us. Thanks for a great semester!

Student 4: The structure in entirety of the class was well designed and thought out. The trivia questions made getting to class enjoyable, the one minute phone break made the desire to check your phone less desirable, and the stories on Fridays were always entertaining. The teaching methods were outstanding and all of the packets given were extremely helpful so that he students had everything in one place. I really enjoyed the types of questions that were given in the class and the group work was always helpful. Feedback from he professor was also always given and always helpful. Awesome teacher! I hope to take another class with Collin Mathers!

Student 5: Colin's passion for this course is evident and his daily anecdotes were engaging and relevant. Whether a student was ever correct or incorrect about their answer to a question he was always patient in allowing them to finish before critiquing what was said. His further elaboration on what was said by a student and clarification on it's correlation to the particular topic was effective and engaging. Finally, his ambition to learn all of the students names and address them as such is always refreshing to see in a moderately sized lecture.

Student 6: Professor Mathers did well at conducting effective classroom discussions and putting together an overall extremely well organized and comprehensive course. Also, learning everyone in the class' name right away made the class feel far more personal than other liberal arts classes that I've taken.

Student 7: I love the videos! The videos are probably the only way I would be able to follow anything in this class. You did a great job at communicating and sparking discussion. I am enthusiastic that I was able to be part of this class. Key Phrases were also an extremely helpful addition.

Student 8: He was highly organized and provided great out of class instruction with the videos. They were extremely helpful for learning the topics.

Student 9: Instructor enhance learning experience by having discussion in class about certain topic. Also instructor gave master key (blue pen ink) to the questions which helped on exams. Videos instructor created cleared up all the confusion the reading created. Also videos explained the reading clearly. Instructor also gave life lesson through story, class materials and videos. Overall the class was made fun by instructor.

Student 10: I liked his implementation of technology as a teaching aid so students would understand the concepts in a more visual manner.

Other relevant information including course development and modification, ongoing pedagogical practices, pedagogical experimentation, and pilot projects.

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Teaching Grant Awarded: GOLD Online Undergraduate General Education Grant, RIT, Office of the Provost, Summer 2015

Non-teaching Grant Awarded: Major Campus Events Grant (for 7th Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference), RIT, Division of Student Affairs, Fall 2015

New Pedagogical Model (for Introduction to Philosophy)

As a result of my involvement in the GOLD program, I created a library of found and self-made videos for my Introduction to Philosophy classes. In Fall 2015, my face-to-face Intro students were supplied with at least two videos per topic – a “primer” video to be viewed before reading the required essay(s) and a “lesson” video to be viewed after the in-class lesson. I mastered video production techniques at PowToon.com and created over 20 videos during the summer at the rate of one hour per one minute of final product. Below is a link to a sample. (Note: The title is misspelled deliberately to maintain control over access.)

https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/bcaHtjxT5RU/free-wil/#/

By shifting much of the instruction to videos, which could be viewed outside of class, I was able to devote more class time to active learning activities, such as discussions and team-based learning.

Major Enhancements on MyCourses for Face-to-face Students

Also, as a result of my involvement in the GOLD program, I now have webpages on MyCourses for each topic in my Intro and my Moral Issues classes. Each webpage contains the following 4 items:

Objectives states the skills and/or knowledge students can expect to gain from our examination of the topic.

Basic Idea boils down the ideas related to the topic to a core idea to help students see the bigger picture.

Readings provides the titles, source and page numbers for the required essays on the topic.

Videos provides links to all videos related to the topic for students to watch and re-watch as needed.

Development of Entirely Online Version of Introduction to Philosophy

In the GOLD program, I worked closely with course design consultant, Michael Starenko, and instructional technology consultants, Marybeth Koon and Joe Zelazny, to reconfigure my Introduction to Philosophy class for an entirely online delivery. Previously, I had used MyCourses for little more than announcements. Now, I am sufficiently well-versed in the tools of MyCourses to run a course without ever meeting students face-to-face.

Presentations devoted to pedagogy attended and classes observed (to learn from others’ pedagogical approaches):

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Observed Sandi Connelly’s Gen Ed Bio Class (March 3rd) Teachers on Teaching: Sandi Connelly “Safe Teaching Experiments”

(March 13th) Teachers on Teaching: Kristen Condry “Thinking About Thinking” (April

8th) Observed Sandi Connelly’s Gen Ed Bio Class (again) (April 9th) Teachers on Teaching: Rob Garrick “21st Century Teaching” (May 5th) Teachers on Teaching: Katie Terezakis “Reflection and Teaching”

(September 17th) Observed Mike Johansson’s Copywriting and Visualization class

(November 10th) Teachers on Teaching: Keri Barone “Success Strategies for Teaching

Online Courses” (November 18th)

Scholarship

Presentation: “Justifying Copyrights and Patents: A Utility/Desert Hybrid Account” Hale Ethics Series September 24, 2015

Service to the Department, College, University or Profession

My crowning achievement in 2015 was the launch of RIT’s successful Teachers on Teaching workshop series. I took the idea of a brown bag pedagogy workshop series to Teaching and Learning Services and helped shape the idea into a reality. Each of the workshops was well attended and also video recorded and available for viewing at:

www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/tls/content/teachers-teaching

Here is a list of presenters and topics in 2015: Sandi Connelly (COS): “Safe Teaching Experiments: Hedging Against

Risk” Kristen Condry (COLA): “Thinking About Thinking: Using Metacognition

to Tackle Teaching Pet Peeves? Rob Garrick (CAST): “21st Century Teaching: Using 21st Century

Technology Tools With Modern Models of Teaching” Katie Terezakis (COLA): “Reflection and Teaching” Corey Ptak (COS): “Applications of Poll Everywhere to Student-

Centered Learning Environments”

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Keri Barone (COLA): “Success Strategies for Teaching Online Courses” Jennifer Briggs (NTID) & Kellie Grasman (KGCOE): “Humanizing Online

With VoiceThread”

Another big idea that I brought to Teaching and Learning Services was also implemented in 2015. I proposed and helped shape the addition of a feature called Teaching Tips to RIT’s Teaching and Learning Commons. Teaching Tips is now prominently featured on the site’s main navigation bar. Teaching Tips allows faculty members to describe their own successful classroom strategies, read strategies submitted by others, and even request a tip from experienced colleagues.

Co-presenter at TLS Media Services Course Media Film Festival: One of my PowToon videos was featured in the 1st "RIT Course Media Film Festival" October 21, 2015.  (See start in below link.) The goal of that event was to inspire other faculty to create their own course videos and utilize the video production resources available at RIT. During the follow up discussion, the brightest spotlight was shown on my PowToon video. I fielded multiple questions and explained to fellow faculty the process of making engaging media as well as how to find engaging videos that others have already created.

https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/tls/content/media-examples

Co-presenter at RIT’s 2015 New Faculty Orientation: I introduced new hires to the Innovative Learning Institute’s Teaching and Learning Commons. I explained how dialogs with people I met or got to know better on the Commons had made a huge impact on my teaching, and I encouraged attendees to join the conversation. My presentation included a PowToon video that I made especially for the event. (See below link.) (Time committed: 10 hours)

https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/bMQFBG1PTyn/rit-nfo-v3/#/

Coordinator of RIT’s 7th Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference: Tasks handled in 2015 include: designing, printing and distributing (on campus and on other area campuses) the call for papers, planning catering arrangements, recruiting colleagues to referee papers, working with the Philosophy Club to arrange for volunteers and to determine preferences for a keynote speaker, working with Visual Media student, Jessica Snowden, on event poster design, and securing (with much help from Brian Schroeder) Charles Scott (Vanderbilt/Penn State) as keynote speaker. (Time committed: Too many to count)

Community Representative on Rochester General Hospital Ethics Committee: Larry Torcello and I rotate duties in this capacity. New York State law requires the presence of a Community Representative during ethics consults. Requests for an ethics consult are, by their very nature, urgent. Larry and I have mostly staggered teaching schedules, which increase the chances that one of us is able to attend on short notice. (Time committed in 2015: 2 hours)

Gen Ed Assessment: I played a very active role in RIT’s assessment of its Gen Ed Ethical Perspective program. The staff members in charge of leading this endeavor were especially pleased with the detail I supplied in my data analysis. (I was informally awarded a “gold star” or

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something of that sort during our June retreat.) Having participated in similar tasks routinely for many years at St. John Fisher College yielded a wealth of experience for me to draw on. (Time committed in 2015: 10 hours)

Other achievements

My PowToon videos were featured in the Innovative Learning Institute’s October 13, 2015 newsletter. (See 1:28 – 1:42 in below link.) They served to illustrate what one could accomplish by participating in the GOLD Online Undergraduate General Education program.

https://youtu.be/VA5XmPbMqaA

One of my PowToon videos is prominently featured on RIT’s Teaching and Learning Services website. It can be found by moving a cursor over “Course Development” on the main navigation bar and then selecting “Media Examples” from the dropdown menu.

https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/tls/content/media-examples

Fall 2015 Introduction to Philosophy SyllabusInstructor: Colin MathersE-mail address: crmgsh@rit.eduOffice Phone Number: 475-5395

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Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays: 1:00pm – 1:45pm Fridays 11:00am-11:45am (and by appointment)

Office: Liberal Arts-A311 (in basement)

Course Description: The course is designed to introduce students to a variety of philosophical topics. In addition, the course is designed to help students develop the tools of critical thinking that are essential to thinking clearly about issues of all sorts.

Required text: Reason and Responsibility (15th Ed.) by Feinberg & Shafer-Landau

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites, and there is no special level of preparation (before taking this course) expected of students who enroll in this course.

Format: The principal activity of this course will be working on and discussing exercises about basic philosophical topics. Many of our exercises will be done in the classroom in a group setting. Students will be engaged in active learning throughout the course. The remaining exercises are to be done as homework. There will generally be some lecture to supplement the exercises.

Final grade: The final grade will consist of grades from 3 exams (16.66% each), course project (40%), attendance (7.5%) and participation (2.5%). Course grades are based on the math, not on what grade one needs for financial aid or other purposes. Don’t tell me about such needs; it’s your responsibility to ensure that your grade meets your needs.

Exams: Each exam will consist of 8 short answer questions. You will be asked to answer 7 (10 points each.) Exam questions will be drawn from the workbook exercises and in class lessons. Exam questions ask you to demonstrate what you’ve learned from the course. No credit will be given for answers that are “made up” based on your prior knowledge.

How am I doing in this class? Due to fact that the student assessment procedures entail extensive record keeping and constant updating of those records, I do not plan to post these details on MyCourses. You are invited to ask for updates whenever you want them. Just e-mail me.

Classroom conduct: In exchange for leaving phones put away during ALL classroom activities, including group work sessions, I will insert one “phone break” each class session. Due to their distracting nature, no laptops or tablets in class. (I’ll announce specific occasions when those who have an eTextbook may use electronics to view readings in the classroom.)

The Course Project is worth 40% of the final grade. Unlike projects that require little to no work early in the term and impose a heavy work load later, this project requires a balanced effort throughout the term. This balanced effort will help you digest material regularly and will help prepare you for the exams. This project is to be maintained in a standard size notebook (3-ring binder or spiral-bound) where solutions to assigned exercises and amendments and additions to those solutions are kept.

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Formatting Requirements: When solutions are due, I may collect and score a pair of exercises. The rest will be covered in class that day. Therefore:

Students who opt to handwrite solutions must pre-number the notebook by the second week of class. Number the front of the first page “1” and the back “2” and so on so that the lower odd number is always on the front and the even number that is one higher is on the back.

Students who opt to type and print out solutions must bring 2 copies of solution sets to class – one copy to submit and one to keep for reference during class. (Keep in mind that only the announced pair will be scored, not the entire set.)

If you opt to type and print out your solutions, you must also submit each set of solutions by the due date to that week’s dropbox in MyCourses, where they will be processed through Turn-It-In. (Typed and printed exercises that haven’t been submitted to the dropbox will only receive conditional credit – the score will not count without the dropbox submission.)

Grading of written/typed solutions: 12 pairs of exercises will be collected, and at least 18 of the 24 exercises will be assigned numeric scores ranging from 0 to 5. Up to 6 of the 24 will be graded PASS/FAIL/0. (PASS, when used, applies to any answer that would score 3 or higher, but in the record book it has the same value as a 5, and FAIL has the same value as a 2.) If you submit a complete workbook (with original answers and corrections) at the final exam, I will drop your 2 lowest pairs. These written/typed responses are worth 30% of the final grade.

Rubric for written/typed submissions:

0 1 2 3 4 5

Response does not even attempt to solve the exercise.

Response seems to attempt to solve the exercise but very widely misses the mark.

Solution has the general idea, but fails to provide any supporting detail.

Solution has the general idea but fails to provide adequate supporting detail.

Solution either (a) has one or more minor inaccuracies but provides very good supporting detail OR (b) is accurate and provides good supporting detail.

Solution either (a) has one or more minor inaccuracies, very good supporting and offers original insight into solving the problem OR (b) is accurate and offers excellent supporting detail.

Grading of oral solutions: Students will be called on randomly to share their solutions to in class. These responses will be graded PASS/FAIL/0. If you submit a complete workbook (with original answers and corrections) at the final exam, the 2 lowest oral scores will drop. This includes any 0’s received while absent. These oral responses are worth 10% of the final grade. If you give a complete answer in class and do not get an email from me later that week, you may safely assume that you received a PASS.

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Exercises assigned as homework are not a group project – you are required to supply your own answers for each homework exercise. For each exercise assigned as homework, unless otherwise stated, students must handwrite or type and print out a minimum of 3 sentences.

The goal of these exercises is to demonstrate comprehension of the readings and apply what you learn in the classroom. If you miss a class, you will need to get notes from a classmate before you can write solutions to exercises pertaining to that lesson. When an exercise calls for an effective use of ideas from the classroom, no credit will be given for answers that are “made up.” If you are stumped by an exercise and you are not missing notes, you may e-mail me for a hint.

During the review session, you must write amendments and additions whenever your original answer could be improved upon. When exercises call for your own example and your original example is inadequate, you will need to include a new example after receiving pointers in the review session. For those who opt to handwrite, I recommend using black ink for your work and blue ink for the ideas given in the review. You are required to make it very clear which is your work and which is not in the workbook.

When you will be absent on a due date, you may submit all of the exercises assigned as homework to the relevant dropbox for credit, but they must be submitted before the start of the class in which they are due. When you are absent and submit on-time work to the dropbox, you must also hand in a hard copy upon your return and write “dropbox” on the sheet. Submitting all due exercises to the dropbox on time earns you credit for those exercises that are scored and those you were called on to give orally. Late homework submissions are accepted for feedback only (no credit.)

For each exercise assigned as group work, unless otherwise stated, students must handwrite a minimum of 2 sentences. (Time often will not permit longer answers.) As groups sizes of 3 to 4 people provide the best learning opportunities, groups should not collaborate with other groups – when possible, put some space between groups. When you finish, call me over for feedback that will help you maximize your score. You are encouraged to ask for feedback as you work. Also, you may submit (for full credit) collected exercises assigned as group work within one week of their collection if you were absent the day they were collected.

If you are typing and printing out homework solutions, you will need an auxiliary notebook for handwritten, in-class group work exercise solutions. Please follow the numbering guidelines (lower odd number goes on the front and the even number that is one higher goes on the back) to keep these exercises lined up properly. (They are labelled with a “G” in the exercise list.) The same rubric applies for group work exercises, but less detail will be required due to time constraints.

Attendance/attention and participation together are worth 10% of the final grade. Attendance/attention is worth 7.5%. To earn attendance/attention credit, one must be present, awake and paying attention to course activities. You will not receive credit for a session in which you check your phone during that session’s activities. If you need to leave the room during class activities, you may. However, it is not OK to make a habit of leaving during class

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activities.

Every student gets a no-questions-asked one week bye. If you must miss more than one week’s worth of class and would like to make up an absence, please contact me for instructions for a make-up assignment. There is a small bonus for students who miss only one or zero classes. MISSING MORE THAN THE EQUIVALENT OF 3 WEEKS WORTH OF CLASS WILL RESULT IN AUTOMATIC COURSE FAILURE UNLESS DOCUMENTATION OF YOUR EXTENDED HOSPITALIZATION OR DEATH IN YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY IS PRODUCED (IN A TIMELY FASHION.)

Participation is worth 2.5%. Full credit for participation is earned by contributing a comment, a question or an answer (other than when giving a forced response during workbook reviews) in at least 10 different class periods during the course. Classes meeting for more than 2 hours are broken into 2 periods in the record book. (Only contributions regarding the content of the course count toward participation. Although they are important too, questions about the course itself, such as questions about exams and assignments, do not count toward the participation grade.) Students can earn double participation points by sharing thoughtful answers to optional workbook questions. Talking out of turn may result in the subtraction of one point from course total, which is up to 400, per infraction. (If you want to say something, raise your hand and share it with the class. Other talking diminishes the quality of our learning environment and may be penalized.)

Note Taking: The content of the lessons is somewhat different from the content of the textbook. To do well on workbook exercises, group work and exams, it is necessary to have thorough and up-to-date notes from the lessons. When you miss class, you are advised to get missing notes from a classmate as soon as possible.

Academic Dishonesty: Submitted exercise solutions that too strongly resemble other submissions will be treated as academic dishonesty. Zeros will be given for any of 2 or more sets of work whose similarity is too strong and any related zeros will not drop from the workbook grade.

Grading Scale: 93 to 100 A, 90 to 92.99 A-, 87 to 89.99 B+, 83 to 86.99 B, 80 to 82.99 B-, 77 to 79.99 C+, 73 to 76.99 C, 70 to 72.99 C-, 67 to 69.99 D+, 63.0 to 66.99 D, 60.0 to 62.99 D-, 59.99 and lower F.Course Grades: All posted course grades are final, unless an error in calculation is involved. THERE ARE NO EXTRA ASSIGNMENTS THAT MAKE UP FOR POOR WORKBOOK OR EXAM PERFORMANCE. Some of your course grade is based solely on effort; attendance and attention is a good example of a purely effort-based part of your course grade. Some of your course grade is performance based; the exams are good examples of performance-based parts of your course grade. There is no guarantee that great effort will result in the grade you want. Nor will I change your grade based on your testimony regarding how much effort you put into it.

Note: If you struggle with the assigned readings, you are advised to also read the editor’s chapter introductions. Use the index to locate the chapter introduction that corresponds to the

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assigned reading. These introductions do a nice job of highlighting the main ideas and putting the readings in a helpful context.

Evaluations: Because I take your comments seriously and your responses allow me to reflect on my teaching and course delivery, I encourage you to participate in SmartEvals for this course so as to achieve as close to a 100% participation rate as possible. 

Disabilities: RIT is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. If you would like to request accommodations such as special seating or testing modifications due to a disability, please contact the Disability Services Office. It is located in the Student Alumni Union, Room1150; the Web site is www.rit.edu/dso. After you receive accommodation approval, it is imperative that you see me during office hours so that we can work out whatever arrangement is necessary.

Sequence of Topics: All dates for reading and workbook assignments TBA in class and on MyCourses.

Values - Read: Chisholm (168-174)Knowledge - Read: Cornman, et al. (180-182) &

Descartes 1st, 2nd & first 2 pps of 3rd Meditition (199-208)Moral Rightness - Read: Mill (597- last full pp on 603 & first full pp on 605-607)Justice – Read: Rawls (574-580) (Note: This essay is not about criminal justice.)Ethics of Belief – Read: Clifford (125-129) & James (133 & 135) (Sections VII and IX only)Pascal’s Wager – Read: Pascal (142-145)Existence of God – Read: Rowe (47-55) & Rowe (34-44) Problem of Evil – Read: Mackie (100-107)Mind – Read: Jackson (324-327) & Churchland (335-343)Free Will – Read: Kane (425-429) (Sections I and II) & Pereboom (443-446 & 449-455) (Sections 1-2 & 5-8 only) Psychological Egoism – Read: Feinberg (501-508) (Sections A, B & C only)

Fall 2015 Introduction to Moral Issues SyllabusInstructor: Colin MathersE-mail address: crmgsh@rit.edu

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Office Phone Number: 475-5395 Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays: 1:00pm – 1:45pm

Fridays 11:00am-11:45am (and by appointment)Office: Liberal Arts-A311 (in basement)

Course Description: In this course students receive instruction in effective forms of reasoning about morality. Students will be challenged to engage in such reasoning and to identify weaknesses, where they exist, in the reasoning of authors featured in the textbook. Students will not be required to agree with the instructor’s views about what is morally right and what is morally wrong.

Required texts: Item 1: Ethics for Modern Life (6th ed.) edited by Abelson and Friquegnon

Item 2: eChapter 17: Proposed Standards of Right Conduct: from Reason and Responsibility: Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy (15th ed.) by Feinburg and Shafer-Landau (available for $4.99 from publisher at cengagebrain.com)

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites and there is no special level of preparation (before taking this course) expected of students who enroll in this course.

Format: The principal activity of this course will be working on and discussing exercises about moral issues. Many of our exercises will be done in the classroom in a group setting. Students will be engaged in active learning throughout the course. The remaining exercises are to be done as homework. There will generally be some lecture to supplement the exercises.

Final grade: The final grade will consist of grades from 4 exams (12.5% each), course project (40%), attendance (7.5%) and participation (2.5%). Course grades are based on the math, not on what grade one needs for financial aid or other purposes. Don’t tell me about such needs; it’s your responsibility to ensure that your grade meets your needs.

Exams: Each exam will consist of 6 short answer questions. You will be asked to answer 5 (10 points each.) Each exam covers half of the course. Exam questions will be drawn from the workbook exercises and in class lessons. Exam questions ask you to demonstrate what you’ve learned from the course. No credit will be given for answers that are “made up” based on your prior knowledge.

How am I doing in this class? Due to fact that the student assessment procedures entail extensive record keeping and constant updating of those records, I do not plan to post these details on MyCourses. You are invited to ask for updates whenever you want them. Just e-mail me.

Classroom conduct: In exchange for leaving phones put away during ALL classroom activities, including group work sessions, I will insert one “phone break” each class session. Due to their distracting nature, no laptops or tablets in class. (I’ll announce specific occasions when you may use electronics to consult the eChapter in the classroom.)

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The Course Project is worth 40% of the final grade. Unlike projects that require little to no work early in the term and impose a heavy work load later, this project requires a balanced effort throughout the term. This balanced effort will help you digest material regularly and will help prepare you for the exams. This project is to be maintained in a standard size notebook (3-ring binder or spiral-bound) where solutions to assigned exercises and amendments and additions to those solutions are kept.

Formatting Requirements: When solutions are due, I may collect and score a pair of exercises. The rest will be covered in class that day. Therefore:

Students who opt to handwrite solutions must pre-number the notebook by the second week of class. Number the front of the first page “1” and the back “2” and so on so that the lower odd number is always on the front and the even number that is one higher is on the back.

Students who opt to type and print out solutions must bring 2 copies of solution sets to class – one copy to submit and one to keep for reference during class. (Keep in mind that only the announced pair will be scored, not the entire set.)

If you opt to type and print out your solutions, you must also submit each set of solutions by the due date to that week’s dropbox in MyCourses, where they will be processed through Turn-It-In. (Typed and printed exercises that haven’t been submitted to the dropbox will only receive conditional credit – the score will not count without the dropbox submission.)

Grading of written/typed solutions: 12 pairs of exercises will be collected, and at least 18 of the 24 exercises will be assigned numeric scores ranging from 0 to 5. Up to 6 of the 24 will be graded PASS/FAIL/0. (PASS, when used, applies to any answer that would score 3 or higher, but in the record book it has the same value as a 5 (and FAIL has the same value as a 2.)) If you submit a complete workbook (with original answers and corrections) at the final exam, I will drop your 2 lowest pairs. These written/typed responses are worth 30% of the final grade.

Rubric for written/typed submissions:

0 1 2 3 4 5

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Response does not even attempt to solve the exercise.

Response seems to attempt to solve the exercise but very widely misses the mark.

Solution has the general idea, but fails to provide any supporting detail.

Solution has the general idea but fails to provide adequate supporting detail.

Solution either (a) has one or more minor inaccuracies but provides very good supporting detail OR (b) is accurate and provides good supporting detail.

Solution either (a) has one or more minor inaccuracies, very good supporting and offers original insight into solving the problem OR (b) is accurate and offers excellent supporting detail.

Grading of oral solutions: Students will be called on randomly to share their solutions to in class. These responses will be graded PASS/FAIL/0. If you submit a complete workbook (with original answers and corrections) at the final exam, the 2 lowest oral scores will drop. This includes any 0’s received while absent. These oral responses are worth 10% of the final grade. If you give a complete answer in class and do not get an email from me later that week, you may safely assume that you received a PASS.

Exercises assigned as homework are not a group project – you are required to supply your own answers for each homework exercise. For each exercise assigned as homework, unless otherwise stated, students must handwrite or type and print out a minimum of 3 sentences.

The goal of these exercises is to demonstrate comprehension of the readings and apply what you learn in the classroom. If you miss a class, you will need to get notes from a classmate before you can write solutions to exercises pertaining to that lesson. When an exercise calls for an effective use of ideas from the classroom, no credit will be given for answers that are “made up.” If you are stumped by an exercise and you are not missing notes, you may e-mail me for a hint.

During the review session, you must write amendments and additions whenever your original answer could be improved upon. When exercises call for your own example and your original example is inadequate, you will need to include a new example after receiving pointers in the review session. For those who opt to handwrite, I recommend using black ink for your work and blue ink for the ideas given in the review. You are required to make it very clear which is your work and which is not in the workbook.

When you will be absent on a due date, you may submit all of the exercises assigned as homework to the relevant dropbox for credit, but they must be submitted before the start of the class in which they are due. When you are absent and submit on-time work to the dropbox, you must also hand in a hard copy upon your return and write “dropbox” on the sheet. Submitting all due exercises to the dropbox on time earns you credit for those exercises that are scored and those you were called on to give orally. Late homework submissions are accepted for feedback only (no credit.)

For each exercise assigned as group work, unless otherwise stated, students must handwrite a minimum of 2 sentences. (Time often will not permit longer answers.) As groups sizes of 3 to 4

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people provide the best learning opportunities, groups should not collaborate with other groups – when possible, put some space between groups. When you finish, call me over for feedback that will help you maximize your score. You are encouraged to ask for feedback as you work. Also, you may submit (for full credit) collected exercises assigned as group work within one week of their collection if you were absent the day they were collected.

If you are typing and printing out homework solutions, you will need an auxiliary notebook for handwritten, in-class group work exercise solutions. Please follow the numbering guidelines (lower odd number goes on the front and the even number that is one higher goes on the back) to keep these exercises lined up properly. (They are labelled with a “G” in the exercise list.) The same rubric applies for group work exercises, but less detail will be required due to time constraints.

Attendance/attention and participation together are worth 10% of the final grade. Attendance/attention is worth 7.5%. To earn attendance/attention credit, one must be present, awake and paying attention to course activities. You will not receive credit for a session in which you check your phone during that session’s activities. If you need to leave the room during class activities, you may. However, it is not OK to make a habit of leaving during class activities.

Every student gets a no-questions-asked one week bye. If you must miss more than one week’s worth of class and would like to make up an absence, please contact me for instructions for a make-up assignment. There is a small bonus for students who miss only one or zero classes. MISSING MORE THAN THE EQUIVALENT OF 3 WEEKS WORTH OF CLASS WILL RESULT IN AUTOMATIC COURSE FAILURE UNLESS DOCUMENTATION OF YOUR EXTENDED HOSPITALIZATION OR DEATH IN YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY IS PRODUCED (IN A TIMELY FASHION.)

Participation is worth 2.5%. Full credit for participation is earned by contributing a comment, a question or an answer (other than when giving a forced response during workbook reviews) in at least 10 different class periods during the course. Classes meeting for more than 2 hours are broken into 2 periods in the record book. (Only contributions regarding the content of the course count toward participation. Although they are important too, questions about the course itself, such as questions about exams and assignments, do not count toward the participation grade.) Talking out of turn may result in the subtraction of one point from course total, which is up to 400, per infraction. (If you want to say something, raise your hand and share it with the class. Other talking diminishes the quality of our learning environment and may be penalized.)

Note Taking: The content of the lessons is somewhat different from the content of the textbook. To do well on workbook exercises, group work and exams, it is necessary to have thorough and up-to-date notes from the lessons. When you miss class, you are advised to get missing notes from a classmate as soon as possible.

Academic Dishonesty: Submitted exercise solutions that too strongly resemble other submissions will be treated as academic dishonesty. Zeros will be given for any of 2 or more sets of work whose similarity is too strong and any related zeros will not drop from the

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workbook grade.

Grading Scale: 93 to 100 A, 90 to 92.99 A-, 87 to 89.99 B+, 83 to 86.99 B, 80 to 82.99 B-, 77 to 79.99 C+, 73 to 76.99 C, 70 to 72.99 C-, 67 to 69.99 D+, 63.0 to 66.99 D, 60.0 to 62.99 D-, 59.99 and lower F.

Course Grades: All posted course grades are final, unless an error in calculation is involved. THERE ARE NO EXTRA ASSIGNMENTS THAT MAKE UP FOR POOR WORKBOOK OR EXAM PERFORMANCE. Some of your course grade is based solely on effort; attendance and attention is a good example of a purely effort-based part of your course grade. Some of your course grade is performance based; the exams are good examples of performance-based parts of your course grade. There is no guarantee that great effort will result in the grade you want. Nor will I change your grade based on your testimony regarding how much effort you put into it.

Note: If you struggle with the assigned readings, you are advised to also read the editor’s chapter introductions. Use the index to locate the chapter introduction that corresponds to the assigned reading. These introductions do a nice job of highlighting the main ideas and putting the readings in a helpful context.

Evaluations: Because I take your comments seriously and your responses allow me to reflect on my teaching and course delivery, I encourage you to participate in SmartEvals for this course so as to achieve as close to a 100% participation rate as possible. 

Disabilities: RIT is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. If you would like to request accommodations such as special seating or testing modifications due to a disability, please contact the Disability Services Office. It is located in the Student Alumni Union, Room1150; the Web site is www.rit.edu/dso. After you receive accommodation approval, it is imperative that you see me during office hours so that we can work out whatever arrangement is necessary.

Planned Sequence of Topics: All dates for reading and workbook assignments TBA in class and on MyCourses.

Relativism [Read Rachels “Morality is not Relative” - PDF in MyCourses in “Content”.]Treatment of Animals [Read Regan (451-460).]

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Divine Command Theory [Read Plato (580-middle of left side on 586 in eChapter).]Abortion [Read Warren (247-261).] Moral Pluralism [Read Ross (610-616 in eChapter).]Physician-Assisted Suicide [Read Callahan (201-202, 210-215 only).] Utilitarianism [Read Mill (597- last full pp on 603 & first full pp on 605-607 in eChapter.]Famine Relief [Read Singer (321-331).]Capital Punishment [Read Pojman (272-281).]Fairness [Read Rawls 574-580 in eChapter.] Affirmative Action [Read Dworkin (417-423 only).]Kantian Ethics [Read Kant (590-end in eChapter).]Human Cloning [Read Harris (501-509).]

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