CORE 202-02: Ethical Topics in Written and Oral Communication
Ethical Reasoning and the Environment
T/R 3:30-4:45, CRN 11339, Young 406
Maria Bowling
702 Fairfax, B-203, 831-6554, (C) 239-2583
Office Hours TR 9:45-10:45 and by appt.
mbowling@radford.edu/www.radford.edu/~mbowling
Course Description: Further development of students’ skills in reading, writing, oral communication and logic, including a broad introduction to the methods of ethical reasoning. Students will become familiar with an ethical issue and reason through the questions surrounding it. Students will also strengthen their skills in the recognition, analysis, and evaluation of written and oral arguments. Students will continue to develop competency in information literacy as they read and critique persuasive writing and communication with respect to ethical topics and create their own line of reasoning regarding an ethical topic. Readings and major assignments will center on environmental and political issues.
Course Activities: Throughout the semester, you will be required to read and analyze varying viewpoints on a particular topic, write about what you’ve found, work in small groups to produce a multimedia project, and write a persuasive essay arguing for a particular ethical course of action. We will also engage in peer review and produce multiple drafts for each major assignment.
Materials:
Boss, J. (2010). Think: Critical thinking and logic skills for everyday life. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Radford University, (2009). University Core A handbook. Pearson Custom Publishing.
(plus the Core A Online Supplement)
Walker, Melissa J. (Ed.). (1994). Reading the environment. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.
Also: (1) a method for saving your work and backing it up such as a flash drive.
(2) funds for photocopying your sources and several copies of your drafts (~$30-$45).
(3) reliable internet access.
*Class announcements will be made frequently through email, so be sure to check yours regularly.
Attendance and Participation: Both formal and informal group work are major components of this course; therefore, excellent attendance is required. Keep in mind that your absences will usually affect your classmates’ ability to perform their tasks. However, because life happens, you have three “emergency/sick” days to use without penalty. Be very careful in using them. After you miss your allotted sick days, you will begin to lose attendance and participation points at a rate of 2 points per absence. Also, if you miss important group meetings, peer reviews, etc. you will lose additional points associated with that project. If an emergency arises, please contact me and your fellow group members as soon as possible.
In-class writing activities cannot be made up for in-class writing points, but should be completed if they are also part of a larger project portfolio.
Quizzes may not be made up.
If a long-term emergency arises, let me know as soon as possible.
MAJOR PROJECTS
Reading Logs and Textual Analysis Project: 220 points
(4-5 pages)
For this project you will read, view or listen to at least six sources on one or more environmental topics and analyze the ethical arguments inherent in each. This will work best if you find alternate viewpoints on the same issue or perhaps two related issues. You will be working toward drawing some conclusions about which ethical perspectives the authors use and how effectively they make their case. You will also analyze logical fallacies and the overall strength of their arguments. You will analyze the sources individually in your reading logs and then make a more comprehensive analysis of the authors’ ethical claims in your textual analysis paper. Your sources for this paper should include essays from mainstream magazines and newspapers, academic journals, web casts of news sources such as Meet the press and Face the nation, and archives of radio talk shows.
Textual Analysis Logs: 10 points each, total 60 points
Rough draft: 40 points
Peer review participation: 20 points
Final draft: 100 points
Researched Argument Project: 250 points
For this project, you will work in a small group to research the ethical implications of an environmental or political issue. Your findings will be reported to the group in the form of a multimedia project. The group will appropriately cite all sources and hand in a project portfolio that includes group meeting notes, a reference page and copies of all sources.
Group notes: 50 points
Group/Instructor Conference and Progress check (rough draft) 50 points
Presentation 75 points
Portfolio 75 points
Op/Ed Persuasive Essay: 170 points
(3-4 pages)
This essay will target a general readership and be modeled on op/ed pieces that are commonly found in mainstream news magazines such as Time. You may use the same topic as previously researched for your textual analysis or group argument. Your main task here is to arrive at your own viewpoint of the subject and make an appropriate ethical argument for a particular course of action. Your reference list should cite both the articles that contain ideas you use to support your position and those that you refute. Copies of these articles will be turned in with your drafts and final essay.
Op/Ed Logs, 10 points each, 40 points
Rough draft 30 points
Peer review 10 points
Optional Conference: 5 points extra credit*
Final draft 90 points
*I may strongly encourage you to schedule a conference after I read your draft.
Attendance and Participation: ~80 points
You will earn two points for every class period for which you attend class and are on time, attentive, and do not engage in any distracting behaviors. These behaviors include sleeping, texting, making random unnecessary statements, excessive yawning, and behaving in an intolerant manner toward the instructor or your fellow students. Computers may be used only to take notes, not for web surfing, checking email, etc. (25 x 2=50 points, if you do not use your “sick days” you may earn up to 6 “bonus” points.) If you are present but come in late or act inappropriately, you may lose one or both of your points.
The other 30 points will come from in-class activities that I collect during the semester. You can earn three points per activity, sometimes more if your work is of exceptional quality. In-class activities cannot be “made up” for activity credit; however, if the activity is one of the exercises leading up to a larger project, it should be completed so that you can include with the materials required for the project.
Quizzes: ~70 points
I will give a 10 point quiz on the readings about every other week for a total of up to seven quizzes. However, I retain the right to give a quiz at any time. I will often give bonus questions on the quizzes that come directly from class lectures and discussions; therefore, listening carefully can help your quiz grade and help you make up missed quizzes.
Total points = +/- 790 points. I will convert your points to a 10 point grading scale with 90-100% equaling an A, etc. For example, if you earn 650 out of a possible 790 points, you will earn an 82.2% or a B.
LATENESS AND LATE WORK: All work is due at the beginning of class. Do not walk in late with a log or other assignment and expect full credit, this encourages you to miss part of class to finish printing, typing, etc. After the first five minutes of class, you will lose 10% of the grade on the assignment. Logs will not be accepted more than one class period late (meaning, you can turn a Tuesday log in on Thursday, but after 3:35 on Thursday, I will not accept it.) Other assignments will earn a 59% if two class periods late and a 0 after. This applies to points for drafts. The computer center in Walker opens at 7 a.m. and is open late into the evening. Computer “crises” are not legitimate excuses for late work. Plan your time accordingly.
Weather Emergencies: Although I live at the top of a quite steep hill, I also have a reliable four wheel drive vehicle and will most likely be able to make it to class in bad weather if the university has not cancelled classes. I will send out an email if for some reason I don’t think that I can make it. If this occurs or classes are cancelled by the university, be sure to check your email for changes in assignments.
Academic Honesty:
Work turned in for this course must be original work produced by you for this course; you may not use parts of papers you’ve previously written or others’ work (including classmates’ or web sources.) All sources for each assignment must be copied and turned in with each draft. Photos and videos must be credited in your References page along with print sources. In text citations must be used for ALL ideas that are not your own, whether quoted or paraphrased. The penalty for plagiarism is almost always failure of the course.
All Radford students must comply with the University Honor Code which states “By accepting admission to Radford University, each student makes a commitment to understand, support, and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception.” For more details, please review the Academic Integrity materials on the following web site:
http://www.radford.edu/%7Edos-web/academicintegrity.htm.
Disabilities Resource Center:
Please contact the Disabilities Resource Center if you feel that you qualify for any classroom accommodations. I will be happy to help you with these accommodations as soon as I receive the appropriate paperwork and we meet to discuss your needs.
LARC:
The Learning Assistance and Resource Center can also help you in strengthening your skills. Please contact them M-F from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to make an appointment or go to their office in room 126, Walker Hall.