Course Policies

Stay in touch

Should any problems arise, please contact me by email at the earliest opportunity! My email is castro@indiana.edu. If you do not contact me in a timely fashion, I will not be able to help you. This is especially important for deadlines! If a deadline passes and you did not tell me anything beforehand - at least a few days - you will have to accept a lower score. You should also keep good records, in case you have to prove that something happened.

You should check your email once a day, in case there are announcements or I need to talk to you.

Canvas allows comments when you turn in assignments. Sometimes I leave a comment there. If you respond there, however, Canvas will not notify me of your comment! Therefore, to make sure I hear you, please send me a direct email when you want to tell me something. I will not be able to see or respond to comments left in the "comments" field of submissions.

Talk to me

Sometimes there are sensitive issues. Please do not use classroom time or email to discuss these. Do not keep them to yourself, either! Come and see me. Check my office hours on the contact page. Stop in. If you can't make those times, email me for an appointment. You do not have to tell me why you want to talk. We can set up a meeting time and you can just come in.

Pay attention

Please pay close attention to instructions in assignments and in class! If you misunderstand something, just ask. I will be grading your assignments assuming that you understood what you were being asked to do. If you do not understand and do not ask about it, you will have to accept a lower score.

Work hard

You should try to work like a dedicated and mature professional as much as you can. If your work is late or incomplete, you will almost always get a lower score. Anything more than three days late receives a zero score.

Also, please keep in mind that my grading scheme is "Easy B, hard A." The default grade for any assignment is 80%. This means, if you do a good job and hand it in on time and get everything basically right, you get a 4/5, or 8/10, or 40/50, or 80/100, depending on the total points. That's the normal grade for good work. To get a higher grade, you have to do something beyond the ordinary.

Finally, be aware that evidence of hard work is more important to me than brilliance. Nobody can really tell how smart or creative a person is on the basis of a single class. If I get to know you, and I hope I do, I will learn all about your talents, personality, and style. But right now I don't know you at all, and I don't rely on how smart anybody looks. I form my impressions based on how hard a person works, how dedicated they are. Hard work doesn't guarantee an A, but it does guarantee you the best grade you can get.

Be a good student

As faculty, we are told to closely follow university policy as regards academic honesty. Here is the language given to me by the Office of Student Ethics Links to an external site.:

"As a student at IU, you are expected to adhere to the standards and policies detailed in the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct Links to an external site.. When you submit an assignment with your name on it, you are signifying that the work contained therein is all yours, unless otherwise cited or referenced. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged. If you are unsure about the expectations for completing an assignment or taking a test or exam, be sure to seek clarification beforehand. All suspected violations of the Code will be handled according to University policies. Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment, reduction in your final course grade, a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities, and must include a report to the Dean of Students who may impose additional disciplinary sanctions."

Also:

"Several commercial services have approached students regarding selling class notes/study guides to their classmates. Please be advised that selling a faculty member's notes/study guides individually or on behalf of one of these services using IU email, Canvas, or Oncourse violates both IU information technology and IU intellectual property policy. Selling notes/study guides to fellow students in this course is not permitted. Violations of this policy will be considered violations of the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct and will be reported to the Dean of Students as a violation of course rules (academic misconduct). Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment for which the notes/study guides are being sold, a reduction in your final course grade, a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities."

There is a form that I am supposed to fill out whenever I think there has been academic misconduct. I give you a punishment that fits the infraction, then I am supposed to fill out the form and report you. After the report is in, you have the right to go to the Office of Student Ethics and make an appeal. I promise, I will do whatever they say. My job, though, is to report you if it looks like you have done something wrong. Please be careful! I do not like sending students to the Ethics office, but if I have to do it, I will.

Here is a presentation that explains what academic misconduct is. Download Here is a presentation that explains what academic misconduct is.