Policies & Procedures
This class continues to evolve as I learn more about the requirements of teaching both on-line and in a case-based format. This semester is no exception. The scheduling of five cases in five weeks means you will be working hard from the first day of class..
Case-based Classes
A case-based class relies on the students learning the basic material on their own. The teacher (me) is available as a consultant, to answer any questions that may arise or to provide further explanations if the students have trouble grasping the available material. Some lecture periods will be devoted to question-and-answer sessions for this purpose. Other class periods will be based on a case where I lead the discussion (I refer to these as practice cases). For Payoff Tables, Decision Trees, and Transportation, there are lecture notes for these cases if I do not cover them; I do not have any lecture notes prepared for Linear Programming or Simulation. The remaining class periods will be based on the real cases (“real” because they affect your grades), either Q&A sessions about preparing the cases or the actual presentations. Thus, the emphasis of the class is on applying the course material to case problem rather than lectures trying to introduce the course material. The class is a lot more fun this way, but it does mean more work for all of us.
Cases
To begin with, as the syllabus tells you, there are five cases. Each student is required to work each case, turning in a full write-up for the first case (including the presenters of the first case, but they get a couple of extra days to finish the write-up), presenting one case as part of a group (group assignments will be made the first week of classes), and working the remaining cases as part of their group. The written cases are to be done individually. Each case will consist of a case statement (anything from a couple of paragraphs to several pages of information) and instructions specific to that case concerning formatting or analysis requirements. You will have two weeks (one week, during the Summer sessions) to work on each case. Cases are always due at the start of class on the day assigned. For on-line students, the “start of class” will be the same time as that semester’s face-to-face class, and will be announced at the start of the semester. My policy (as stated in the syllabus) for late cases - and late means anything after the start of class - is that they receive a zero. All work must be typed in Microsoft Word and submitted by attaching the file to an e-mail message (you do not turn in a printout of the case). Even on-line students will turn in their case write-ups via e-mail, NOT the digital drop box or Assignments function in Blackboard.
The full write-up is graded twice, once when initially submitted (see calendar for due date) and again when you re-submit it (due date to be announced) after making corrections. You will not necessarily get to earn back all points missed. The worse you do on the first submission, the fewer points you can earn back. Even though they are working on the write-up of the first case while the second case has been started, the presenters of the first case will be expected to take part in the discussion of the presentation of the second case.
The written case will be graded for content and grammar (including spelling). Content deals with how well you followed the instructions that will be provided with each case. All 100 points (out of 100) will be allocated to content. Grammar (including spelling) errors are usually 1 or 2 points off per error, and can only hurt your grade.
Presentations
For the presentations, group assignments are made (randomly) by me and are sent out after the drop/add period ends. With only five cases, the group sizes are a bit larger than I would like. Each student is individually responsible for knowing what group s/he is assigned, what case the group is assigned, for getting in touch with the group and for participating in the group’s work, both analysis and building the PowerPoint presentation. On-line students will have group pages in Blackboard and also Centra to facilitate communication. It is not the responsibility of the group to get in touch with any one member. If you have trouble contacting your group members, let me know right away. It is the individual student’s responsibility to let me know about any problem so I can help resolve it. If the group tells me that one or more students did not participate in preparing the case presentation, then any non-participating students will simply receive a zero for that case (both content and presentation). On the other hand, the group cannot shut out one member for any reason. Every student must be allowed to participate in the group’s work.
The presentations are expected to last approximately thirty minutes. Each member of the group should present for approximately the same amount of time. If one member has a significantly shorter presentation portion (and I allow for the fact that some people speak faster than others), then that student will receive a lower grade than the other members of the group. If you feel that your portion is too small, and the group cannot come to a decision, get in touch with me and I will make a determination. Divisions between segments of the presentation do not have to be logical, which may help make dividing up the presentation a little easier.
For on-line students, the presentations will be made via Centra, a software platform provided by the University that allows voice-over-the-internet communication. It also allows display of PowerPoint slides, Word files, Excel spreadsheets, and nearly any other application you can think of. I strongly (very strongly) prefer that the presentations occur on the night of the same day as the face-to-face class is presenting. This creates a difficulty given the asynchronous nature of the on-line class.
For those of you that don’t know this big word, it simply means that you are not required to be in attendance to this class at any particular time. This is a policy of the College of Business, and it is intended to allow on-line students maximum flexibility for completing the courses. I talked to our Assistant Dean for On-line Programs to ask how I could do this. The “asynchronous” policy does not prevent me from having time-specific aspects to the class, but it does require me to present the on-line students with options. Centra itself provides a lot of flexibility because it can be accessed from any web-connection, whether you are at home or traveling. For some businesses, however, even holding the presentations in the evening can be a problem. It is not, however, unreasonable for me to ask you to find one evening during the semester when you can be available.
When you receive the group assignments, you should immediately check you calendars to see if you can present on the day assigned. I have limited ability to switch you to other groups, so if you find a problem, you should let me know immediately. The longer you wait to let me know, the less I will be able to do for you. If the particular presenting day for the semester is a terrible day for you (for business reasons, not because it is your bowling night), then I can (very reluctantly) change the night of the presentation, though I will probably ask for particulars as to why the presentation must be moved. I also recommend that if your job is a potential problem, that you let your superiors know what day you will be expected to present, to try to minimize conflicts. Finally, emergencies do occur and will be addressed case by case. Overall, I simply ask that you work with me so the presentations for the on-line students can be as similar as possible to the presentations of the face-to-face students.
Non-presenting on-line students are not required to attend the Centra sessions, but that is greatly preferred. If an on-line student cannot attend the Centra session, they are expected to review the recorded session as soon as possible and to participate by posting questions to a discussion board that will be set up in Blackboard. The discussion boards will be closed after a short period, and failure to participate will result in a reduction to the “participation” portion of your grade. Some on-line students have complained that they found it hard to participate in the discussion boards because they would check in only once a week. My response to this is that you need to check in more than once a week.
Participation is now a separate portion of the grade (it used to be lumped in with “presentation”). It will be based on post-presentation questions and your responses to questions I ask in class (I don’t always do this – it depends on the semester). Whether you are face-to-face or on-line, failure to be involved in a post-presentation discussion will lower this portion of your grade. That means you have to prepare each case and ask questions of each presenting group.
On-line or face-to-face, every group member is asked to provide a quick report on how well each group member participated in the case analysis and building of the presentation (every group member is expected to participate in BOTH). I will provide a form for this, asking for a rating of each group member (you can do that as percentages or a ratings scale or words, or however you like) and providing an area for comments should you wish to make any. Please remember that this form is not the way to let me know about problems. You should make me aware of problems as they occur. The form simply provides me a record of each group member’s evaluation of the other group members. Should your group give you a bad evaluation, then I will contact you and ask for your response. With that in mind, if you are having problems with your group, then you should keep a record (e-mail is great for this, and so is Centra) of your participation. I am trying to see that group members who do not participate receive grades they deserve, while at the same time trying to prevent a student from being shut out by their group. It isn’t easy.
The presentations will be graded in two ways: once for content and once for presentation (including grammar and spelling). The content grades look at the analysis itself, much the same as I grade a written case, except that material not specifically covered in the presentation can be made up by providing correct answers to my questions. All the students in the group start with the same grade on content, which may then be changed based on the reported level of participation of each student in the group. The presentation grades consider first the completeness and organization of the presentation and then adjusts that overall grade for how well each individual handles his/her portion of the presentation and how well each individual answers questions.
Post-case questions can come from both the students and from me. Rather than interrupt the presenters with questions, a question-and-answer session will follow the presentation itself. You will also be expected to participate in the case discussion, asking questions of the presenters about the solution they present. You can have a lot of fun if you find a better solution than the one the presenters provide, but you must be able to show that your solution is better.
General Instructions for Cases
A separate set of instructions (General Instructions for Cases) has been provided that give an outline for each type of case and tell you the most common grammar mistakes I look for (spelling, since it is checked by Microsoft Word, should be automatically correct). These general instructions are in addition to any specific instructions provided with the cases themselves. I strongly recommend you review the “General Instructions for Cases” for each case, to avoid unnecessarily losing points.
Problem Assignments
Assignments will be distributed by the “Assignments” function in Blackboard, along with an announcement or e-mail message saying the assignment has been posted. The “Assignments” function will specify the due date. Students are expected to download the assignments and turn them in using the “Submit” button (NOT the “Save” button) on the “Assignments” page. Submissions via the Digital Drop Box will not be accepted.
Problem assignments are to be done at home and are open notes, but you may not discuss the assignment with other students. You may ask me questions, but if I fail to get back to you before the due date, you must still turn in the assignment. Most assignments will be similar to the homework problems and sample assignments posted on the web site. I am inconsistent in referring to these, sometimes calling them “quizzes,” which is what they used to be. Their purpose is to see whether or not you are grasping the mathematics of the techniques, so their focus is mathematics rather than analysis, and as such they are not expected to prepare you for the essay questions on the exams. A couple of the assignment topics, however will be chosen and placed on each exam, simply to make sure you are doing them.
Questions
Another part of your “participation” grade will be questions I ask you. As noted above, class periods not devoted to real case presentations will be practice case discussions or question-and-answer sessions. Question-and-answer sessions may deal with material covered previously, current material, or current cases (old cases should be dealt with in my office or via e-mail). If no questions are forthcoming on a topic or case, I may choose to ask questions of the students to be sure the material is being studied. The questions can be from the current topic (whatever the current case is covering) or from the next topic (since you should be reading ahead). For the on-line students, I usually send out the questions via e-mail and have you respond via the discussion boards. .
Tests
Test dates are shown on the calendar. With the exception of the “assignment” questions (see above), the exams are essay-based (and the final exam is cumulative). On-line students should arrange to join the face-to-face section for these tests (let me know so I can be sure I have a seat for you) or arrange for a proctor on that same day if at all possible. If not possible, you must get approval from me for the change of date (as close to the test date as possible). All proctors must be approved by COB Proctors, as mentioned in the syllabus.