Copyright 2014 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E. - All Rights Reserved.
Instructor: Professor Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
Instructor's Email Address
The instructor's Email address is: Professor_Atkins@yahoo.com
1. Do not use the email option on the D2L course page.
2. Do not use the instructor's spsu.edu email address.
3. Only use the email address shown above.
How to Contact the Instructor
1. The instructor requests that all students contact him using email.
2. All emails should be addressed to the email address that appears above.
3. Emails sent to any other email address will not be processed in a timely manner.
4. Do not attempt to contact the instructor by fax or by telephone or by voice mail or by text messages.
Email Response Time
Student emails sent to the above email address will be answered within two business days after the day the student first transmits the email.
A business day is considered to be a normal workday, Monday through Friday, and it does not include Holidays, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, Spring Break, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, or the days between semesters. A business day is considered to end at midnight Eastern Standard Time.
Eastern Standard Time is used for all the components of this course.
If you procrastinate or if you are unable to find the time to work on an assignment until just before the assignment is due then the instructor is not responsible for monitoring his email account and answering your last minute questions just before the assignment submission deadline. The instructor will answer emails on a timely basis and that means sometime within a two business day time period after the day you first transmit your email to the instructor.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Textbook
There is no textbook for this course.
Software and Computer Hardware
Each student will need to use Microsoft WORD to complete the module assignments. The WORD files that you download from the course web site will be in "doc" format. When you complete the assignment you must save your solution in "doc" format and not the "docx" format. The "docx" format sometimes changes the original template and this makes it difficult to evaluate the document for grading purposes. Therefore, all WORD documents must be saved and transmitted using the save as a "2003 Word" file.
Students should not copy and paste an original WORD doc file into another software program, such as Microsoft Excel or any other word processing program or drawing program. If you then copy and paste the modified file back into a Microsoft WORD file and I have trouble opening it, reading it, or evaluating the information in the file then you will receive a significant grade point penalty, or a grade of zero, for not following instructions.
Each student will need to use Microsoft PowerPoint to complete the Research Report Assignment.
Assignments submitted using any format other than the format specified in the module instructions will automatically receive a grade of zero.
All online students will need to have working speakers and a microphone, or a good quality headset in order to participate in the Live Classrooms. This equipment will also be needed to make your Company Research Report PowerPoint presentation to the entire class.
Course Description
An orientation to the IET program and to the field of Industrial Engineering Technology.
Course Learning Objectives
1. Have knowledge of current industrial trends and standard equipment.
2. Demonstrate effective communication skills.
3. Understand the importance of timeliness and quality in all assignments.
4. Understand professional, ethical and social responsibilities.
5. Understand current social and global issues.
Learning Module Information
Academic Dishonesty: All module assignments are graded assignments and each student must do the work on the module assignment alone. Students may not work together on a module assignment and students may not share their work with other students. Students that do not follow these instructions will be committing academic dishonesty and they will receive a grade of zero on the assignment. Depending on the situation the students may also be dismissed from the course with a grade of "F" in the course.
Ink Color: The default color for typing all the information into the Learning Module Assignment Forms is black. Do not change the black type to any other color, such as red. Type your answers into the WORD documents using ordinary black type. If you submit documents with your answers typed in Red, or highlighted in any color, then you will lose 20 points on that assignment for not following instructions.
Number of Learning Modules: There will be Seven Learning Modules this semester.
Module Information: Detailed information about each Learning Module is contained inside each Learning Module.
Module Access: Each new Learning Module will be posted on the course web site approximately one week before the date the Learning Module will be discussed in the classroom. The student is expected to read all the material related to each Learning Module before the student attends the classroom during which the instructor will more fully explain the Learning Module. After the instructor has explained the Learning Module information to the entire class in the classroom, then the instructor will answer any questions the student may have about any of the content in that Learning Module. Students should not ask questions about the Learning Module until after the instructor has had an opportunity to explain the Learning Module in the classroom.
Module Due Dates: Module solutions are due on the date and at the time indicated on the Course Schedule.
Module Submissions: Hybrid and online students should submit their modules solutions using the Dropbox Tab on the Menu Bar on the top of the D2L screen. If the assignment consists of two or more files then you should submit them both at the same time in the dropbox.
Module Corrections: If you discover an error in your module solution after you have submitted it in the dropbox, and the deadline for submission has not yet passed, then you can resubmit the corrected solution in the same dropbox. Each new submission will erase and replace any previous submissions in the dropbox.
Module Verification: After you have submitted your Module Assignment in the correct dropbox then you should open the assignment inside the dropbox and make sure that it is the assignment that you want graded.
Dropbox Information: The dropbox for each Module Assignment will appear on the D2L page on the day each Module Assignment is discussed in class. The dropbox will show the due date and time for the module to be submitted on time with no late penalty. However, the dropbox will remain open for late module submissions until the date and time shown when the dropbox will be closed. If you submit your module assignment in the correct dropbox on or before the due date and time for that assignment then it will be on time and no late penalty will apply. However, if you submit your module assignment in the dropbox after the original due date and time but before the dropbox closes then the appropriate late penalty will apply based on the date and time you submit your assignment in the dropbox. If the dropbox for a module assignment is closed then the module assignment will no longer be accepted or evaluated and you will receive a grade of zero on that assignment.
Module Submission Problems and Late Submissions: If you encounter a problem when you attempt to submit your file using the dropbox and you are unable to successfully submit your file using D2L then you should attach your file to an email addressed to:
Professor_Atkins@yahoo.com
In your email you must explain the problem you had with the dropbox and the steps you are taking to correct that problem so you can use the dropbox in the future.
If your email is time dated before the original due date and time for submitting the assignment then there will be no late penalty. But if your email is transmitted after the due date and time then the late penalty will apply.
If you have a problem with the dropbox and you are not able to resolve your problem within a reasonable period of time then you will receive a grade penalty for submitting assignments by email instead of using the dropbox the way the other students in class are using the dropbox.
Module Late Penalty: Any Module Assignment that is submitted late will receive a twenty-point grade penalty for each day or partial day that the assignment is transmitted late. The twenty-point grade penalty is incurred for each day late and it does include weekdays and weekends (Saturdays and Sundays). For example, if the Module Solution is received at any time during the first 24 hour period after the time it was originally due, then it will receive a 20 point late penalty. If the Module Solution is received between 24 and 48 hours after it was originally due, then it will receive a 40 point late penalty. For each additional 24 hour period the Module is late, it will receive another 20 point late penalty. There will be no exceptions and make-up module assignments are not possible. You may submit a Module Solution early but late Module Submissions will receive the grade penalty as explained in this paragraph. For example, the late penalty will apply if the module solution is submitted one minute late, or one hour late, or four days late. Students have approximately one week to complete each module assignment and students should not wait until the last second to submit a module assignment for grading. In order to avoid a late penalty module assignments may be submitted anytime after the module has been discussed in class and before the required due date and time for the module to be submitted.
Missed Modules: If the student does not complete a Learning Module Assignment then the student will receive a grade of zero on each Learning Module Assignment the student fails to complete.
Make-Up Learning Modules: There are no make-up Learning Modules in this course.
Module Grading: Each semester the instructor will drop the student's lowest Module Assignment grade before computing the student's average grade for the remaining Module Assignments (the average of six module grades).
Module Grade Feedback: Students will receive grade feedback on each Module Assignment within one-week after the Module Assignment was due. Grade feedback for each module will appear in the same dropbox in which the module was originally submitted. A summary of all the student's grades will appear under the Grades tab on the top right of the D2L course page.
Research Report Information
The Research Report Company and Due Date will be assigned to each student during the first class meeting.
The Research Report will consist of three components:
1. A typed report file using Microsoft WORD (25% of your grade on the Research Report).
2. A PowerPoint file (ppt) that summarizes the information in the WORD document (25% of your grade on the Research Report).
3. A presentation to the IET1000 class using your PowerPoint file (50% of your grade on the Research Report).
All three of the above components are due on the day of your presentation before class begins. If any one or more of the above components is not submitted on time then you will receive a late penalty as explained later in this section.
Each student will collect information on a company randomly assigned to the student and write a research report on the company. The research report must include references that show where the student obtained the information in the report. The body of the typed report should be between three to five pages in length, plus a cover page plus a bibliography. The Research Report must be typed in Microsoft WORD and submitted as a Microsoft WORD document (doc) using the Dropbox Tab on the Menu Bar on the top of the D2L screen.
Each student should summarize the information in the Mircosoft WORD document into a PowerPoint file.
Each student will also make a brief PowerPoint Presentation to the class about the company. The PowerPoint Presentation should be between three to four minutes in length. The student should provide some very general brief background about the company, such as when they were founded, how large they are, what types of products or services they provide, and how much the company earns each year in annual sales. The student must also discuss several different aspects of the company where an Industrial Engineer might perform a typical function for the company and include information about the normal annual salary of an Industrial Engineer at that company.
If you make your presentation to the class in the classroom at SPSU, then on the day of your presentation you must bring a copy of your PowerPoint Presentation to class on a Flash Drive, so you can easily load your presentation into the special software in the computer at the front of the class. If you do not bring a copy of your presentation with you to class on a Flash Drive then you will lose ten points for not following instructions.
Dropbox Submissions: A copy of the PowerPoint Presentation ppt file must be submitted in the dropbox at the same time as the Mircosoft WORD doc file. Both files must be submitted in the dropbox before you give your presentation to the class on the day of your presentation.
Hybrid students and online students may make their PowerPoint presentation to the class in the classroom at SPSU and use the equipment in the classroom to make their presentation. Online students also have the option to make their presentations using their equipment wherever they are connected to the live classroom.
Practice Opportunity for Online Students: At the end of each regular class meeting, any online student may practice loading a simple PowerPoint file into the online classroom software. The practice file can be a simple ppt file that contains two PowerPoint slides. It does not have to be your finished PowerPoint presentation file. This will give you a chance to verify the procedure for loading PowerPoint files into the classroom software. If you have problems then you can resolve those problems before the day of your presentation.
If you do not complete your Research Report on the date assigned to you, then:
1. You will receive a five-point grade penalty for being one week late.
2. You will receive a twenty-point grade penalty for being two weeks late.
3. You will receive a fifty-point grade penalty for being three weeks late.
4. You will receive a grade of zero for being four or more weeks late, or anytime after the end of class on September 25, 2014.
Optional Final Exam
Optional Final Exam: If a student is satisfied with his or her average overall course grade then the student does not have to take the Optional Final Exam. However, if the student is not satisfied with his or her average grade, then the student may take the Optional Final Exam. In the student takes the Optional Final Exam then the Optional Final Exam will count 20% of the student's grade in this course and the student's other grades will count a total of 80% of the student's grade in the course.
Final Exam Grade: If a student decides to take the Final Exam and the student receives a grade on the Final Exam that is equal to or lower than his or her weighted average grade then the grade on the Final Exam will not be used to lower the student's grade in this course. However, if a student receives a higher grade on the Final Exam than his or her weighted average grade then the Final Exam grade will be used to increase the student's weighted average grade in this course. In other words, the Final Exam could increase a student's grade in this course but the Final Exam cannot lower a student's grade in this course.
Final Exam Posting Date: The Final Exam will be posted on the D2L page for this course on the date indicated on the Course Schedule. The exam questions will not be available prior to the date and time indicated on the Course Schedule. All students, including online students and hybrid students, will need to access the Final Exam on the D2L course page on the date and at the time the Exam is to be given. All students, including online students and hybrid students, will need to type their answers to the Final Exam questions into a Microsoft WORD document.
Final Exam Submission: Hybrid and online students should submit their Microsoft WORD Final Exam Answers using the Dropbox Tab on the Menu Bar on the top of the D2L Home Page for this course.
Final Exam Submission Problems and Late Submissions: If you encounter a problem when you attempt to submit your Final Exam using the Dropbox Tab and you are unable to successfully submit your file using D2L, or if you miss the deadline for submitting the exam and you wish to submit your exam late, then you may attach your file to an email addressed to:
Professor_Atkins@yahoo.com
If your email is time dated before the deadline for submitting the Final Exam then there will be no late penalty. But if your email is transmitted after the deadline then the late penalty will apply.
Number of Questions: The Final Exam will consist of five discussion questions. You should select and answer any four of the five discussion questions. Each discussion question will be worth 25 points. If the student answers all five of the discussion questions then the last question will not be evaluated or graded and only the first four questions will be graded by the instructor.
Final Exam Format and Student Answers: The Final Exam will be open book and open notes and open internet. You may use the internet as a resource but you must document any web sites that you use to answer any of the exam questions by including links (web addresses) to those web sites. A student may not consult or work with anyone else while composing his or her answers to the exam questions. The student should answer the exam questions using his or her own words. The student may refer to any reference source the student desires but the student should not copy the information from another source and then submit that information as his or her own work. If you copy and paste information from a specific reference then you must include that information inside quotation marks and also state where the information came from. No more than 10% of an answer to any exam question may be directly copied and pasted from another reference source. You should summarize the information from other sources to maximize your grade. To receive a passing grade on each exam question you will need to include more information than what was presented in the Lecture Transcript for this course. If you simply copy or reword the lecture transcript as your answer then you will receive a failing grade for the exam question.
Time Limit: The Final Exam will be posted on the Course Web Site on the date and at the time indicated on the Course Schedule. The student has a maximum of 120 minutes after the exam questions have been posted on the Course Web Site to answer any four of the five questions and then submit his or her answers using the Dropbox Tab on the Menu Bar on the top of the D2L Home Page for this course.
Final Exam Late Penalty: If the Final Exam is submitted late then it will receive a twenty-point grade penalty for each five-minute time period (0.01 Minutes to 5.00 Minutes) that the exam is submitted late. For example, if the exam is submitted 1 minute after it was originally due, then the exam will receive a 20 point late penalty. If the exam is submitted 7 minutes after it was due then it will receive a 40 point late penalty. If the exam is submitted 13 minutes after it was due then it will receive a 60 point late penalty. If the exam is submitted 19 minutes after it was due it will receive an 80 point late penalty. If the exam is submitted 20.01 or more minutes after is was due then it will receive a 100 point late penalty or a grade of zero.
Final Exam Feedback: Grades on the Final Exam questions will be posted in the same place where the student originally submitted the Final Exam for grading.
Evaluation
Your final grade in this course will be determined using the following weights for each component of this course:
Component
Without Exam
With Exam
Weekly Module Assignments
70%
56%
Research Report
30%
24%
Optional Final Exam
0%
20%
Total ...........
100%
100%
Grade feedback for each assignment will appear in the same dropbox in which the assignment was originally submitted.
A summary of all the student's grades will appear under the Grades tab on the top right of the D2L course page.
Letter grades are based on the following numerical grades:
A = 90 to 100
B = 80 to 89
C = 70 to 79
D = 60 to 69
F = 59 and Below
Attendance Policy
1. All students are expected to attend all class sessions beginning with the first class session and continuing all the way through Final Exam Week.
2. Students who miss class for any reason are not exempt from the material covered during the class the student misses.
3. The instructor is not responsible for assisting students catch up on class material when the student is absent from class.
4. Your attendance will not directly impact your grade in this course unless you are absent for a Exam, or a Presentation, or if you fail to complete an Assignment on time.
5. If you do not attend class on the day of your Research Report Presentation, then a late penalty will be applied. If you do not make a presentation to the class then you will receive a grade of zero on your Research Report Presentation.
6. It should be noted that students who attend class on a regular basis normally perform better on the Assignments, on the Research Report Presentations, and on Exams.
7. However, simply being present in class does not guarantee that the student will receive a high grade or a passing grade in this course.
Disruptive Behavior and Academic Dishonesty
From the SPSU Catalog: "A faculty member reserves the right to remove any student from his or her course if the student's behavior is of a disruptive nature or if there is evidence of academic dishonesty."
Disruptive behavior is any student behavior that the instructor believes is of a disruptive nature. Disruptive behavior includes talking to another student or talking on a cell phone after class has begun and after the instructor has started talking.
All of the following are examples of Academic Dishonesty (Cheating):
1. To have another person take an exam for you or complete an assignment for you instead of doing the work yourself.
2. To copy the answers from another person and then submit those answers as your own.
3. To submit the work done by someone else as if you did that work yourself.
All of the following are examples of Plagiarism:
1. To copy the work done by another person and then submit that work as if you did it yourself.
2. To pass off as one's own the works or ideas of another person without giving proper credit to the other person.
3. To rephrase or reword or rearrange the work of another person without giving credit to the other person for the work that person did.
Plagiarism Detection: Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com site.
Penalty: Any type of Disruptive Behavior or Academic Dishonesty by a student may result in the student being expelled from the course and the student receiving a grade of "F" in the course. This grade of "F" will appear on the student's official SPSU transcript. If the student has a repeated history of either Disruptive Behavior or Academic Dishonesty at SPSU then the student may also be expelled from the University.
Disability Statement
From the SPSU Catalog: "A student at Southern Polytechnic State University who has a disabling condition and needs academic accommodation has a responsibility to voluntarily identify him/herself as having a disability by scheduling an appointment with the Disability Services Coordinator as soon as possible."
Professional Behavior
All students are expected to abide by the professional ethical behavior standards as published in the SPSU catalog.
Contact Information for Technical Problems and Academic Issues
If you have a technical problem then please contact SPSU technical support at http://helpdesk.spsu.edu for assistance.
If you have an academic issue then please contact your instructor for assistance.
Contact Information for the Course
If the student needs to contact the instructor then please send the instructor an email at the email address that appears at the top of this Syllabus. Emails sent to any email address other than the one at the top of this Syllabus may not be received by the instructor and if they are received they may not be processed in a timely manner. Therefore it is the student's responsibility to address all student emails to the instructor at the email address shown at the top of this Syllabus.
Instructor: Professor Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.