Waterfowl and Wetlands Ecology and Management Fall 2003 - Grading*

ITEM % of Total Exam I 20 Exam II 20 Final Exam 20 Lab Quiz and Practical 20 Student Lead Discussion 5 Oral Presentation (Student Symposium) 15

Exams

• Exams will be cumulative and may include some take-home work. 
• Identify your exams using your SS#, so I can be as objective in grading as possible. 

Student Lead Discussions

• 5 minute summary of scientific paper(s)
• Student leads subsequent discussion 

Oral Presentation

• 15 minute presentation with appropriate media
• 5 minutes question and answer period
• You can not have the same topic for the discussion and presentation
• Both presentations can be a more in-depth exploration of topics considered in class

Grades will be assigned as follows:

• >89.9% A
• 80-89.9% B 
• 70-79.9% C 
• 60-69.9% D

* This class meets the requirements for O/2 Oral-Intensive designation.

General Guidelines:
a. A minimum of 15% of the final course grade should be based on effectiveness of oral communication. This minimum is proposed so that a student's
failure to attend to the oral communication aspects of his or her work in an "O" designated course will have an important effect on his or her final grade for the course, while at the same time not overshadowing the importance of subject matter mastery.
b. Attention to oral communication in "O" designated courses must be developmental, in that students need the opportunity (i) to receive intermediate
instructor assistance in developing presentational competency, (ii) to utilize their communication competency across the span of the semester, not
just in a final project, and (iii) to receive instructor feedback on the success of their efforts at each stage. 
c. These guidelines distinguish between courses emphasizing Group projects and those emphasizing Public presentations. The guidelines for courses
emphasizing public communication are further divided according to the number of students regularly enrolling in a given course, i.e., Small Class (less
than 12 students), Medium or Large Class (at least 12 students), and Large Class (at least 20 students). **Note specifically that under guideline 5 for a Large Class, a given course fulfills only half of the "O" intensive requirement, so that a student must take two such courses (hence the designation
"O/2"). Under each of the other sets of guidelines, a single course would fulfill the "O" requirement.

Specific Guidelines for "O/2" Designated Courses Emphasizing Public Communication in Large Class Contexts (Regularly enrolling 20 or more students):
a. Each student must take at least two "O/2" designated courses to meet the Core Curriculum requirement for oral intensive coursework.
b. Each student must be involved in the individual preparation and delivery of at least 2 course related presentations one of at least 5 minutes duration and one of at least 8-10 minutes duration, to an audience of about 20 persons. 
c. The 8-10 minute presentation, must be a formal individual presentation, and must involve questions from the audience and responses by the presenter.
d. All presentations must have a clear introduction-body-conclusion organization, appropriate to the discipline.
e. All presentations should receive evaluation by the instructor on oral communication competency (including responsiveness to audience questions), as well as on subject mastery.
f. Students must receive, as part of the course structure, information/instruction on effective speaking, on organization of material for effective
presentation, and on development and use of media and visual aids.