Course Syllabus

Instructor: Dr. Amaliya Blyumin; email amaliya.blyumin@gcccd.edu

You should use the Canvas Inbox to email me.  Most of the time, I reply to all your questions within 24 hours, except for the weekend or holidays. Please let me know if you have comments or questions.  My goal is your success.  

I will be in contact with you through weekly announcements on the home page, class discussions, timely feedback on your assignments, and notices of missing assignments.

Required Course Materials

College Success is a free e-textbook, however, if you would like to purchase a hard copy, please let me know. 

Time Required for This Course

If you were taking this course as a traditional face-to-face course, you would spend 3 hours in class each week plus an additional 3 hours preparing for the class.  In an online class, you will save time in attending class, but will need more time for reading and writing.  Plan to spend 3-4 hours a week on this course depending on your reading and writing skills. 

Each week you will be reading a chapter in your textbook, College Success. You will also complete discussions based on what you read on weekly bases. Main idea of discussion posts is to show that you have read the material and thought about how you can apply the material to your personal life. Please note that I view and grade all your work online. Each discussion worth 20 points per week.  The discussions provide a way to interact with other students in the course.  

Some weeks have assignments to apply the concepts you have learned in the course, the points for assignments vary.  

Participation

Online students participate in class by completing the module for each week. The module generally consists of reading one chapter in the online text, participating in the weekly discussion, and completing assignments. Begin the week by logging into Canvas on Monday and work steadily to complete all work for the week by Wednesday and/or Saturday at 11:59 pm. Waiting until the last minute to begin can result in incomplete or unsatisfactory work. 

Late Work

If you miss an assignment, complete it as soon as possible for full credit. However, if you miss the discussion, you may submit it for the partial credit. You can always view you current total points and grade on Canvas under Grades in the left margin.  

Expected Behavior

We all learn best when there is a positive environment for learning.  Treat everyone in the class with respect.  If you disagree with a comment by the professor or another student, just state your opinion without judging the value of other's ideas. I value a diversity of opinions as long as you are not attacking others.  Civil and polite discussion is encouraged while expressing hostility toward others is not allowed.  If you have concerns about the course or opinions expressed by others, please contact me using the information posted above.  

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is "the commitment from students, faculty, and staff to demonstrate honest, moral behavior in their academic lives” (International Center for Academic Integrity, 2021). 

The assignments in this class are designed to help you build skills that are essential for your future academic pursuits, and/or success in the workplace. To that end, it is imperative that you engage with our class work with honesty, integrity, and an eagerness to learn. Please remember that learning can entail challenge, struggle, and sometimes even failure. I’m here to help you be as successful as possible.

I realize that sometimes different instructors have different expectations, and it can be unclear what is allowed from one class to the next. If you are ever unsure about whether something is okay, please feel free to ask me in advance, before you submit your assignment–you won’t get in trouble for asking! I strive to make this class equitable, engaging, valuable, and manageable. If there is ever an aspect of this course that you feel is making it hard for you or other students to be successful, please let me know.

In this class, plagiarism, cheating, unauthorized collaboration, using others’ ideas, words, or images without citation, purchasing course materials or assignments, selling course materials or assignments, and/or outsourcing class work to other people or to chatbots (or artificial intelligence-based tools, like ChatGPT) are not permitted. Those are all forms of academic misconduct. Any attempt to obtain a grade by means other than honest effort is a form of academic misconduct.

If I ever have any questions about your work, I’ll reach out for a meeting, and we’ll discuss what happened and how to move forward from there. Please keep in mind that I take academic misconduct seriously and report it to the Chair of the English Department and the Dean of Student Affairs. The college tracks incidents of misconduct to ensure that students aren’t engaging in multiple violations across different classes or semesters. Academic misconduct can be grounds for earning a zero on the assignment(s) in question and may result in sanctions such as suspension. 

All forms of academic misconduct, like cheating and plagiarism, are harmful to you and your success, your instructors, your classmates, and the college as a whole. Let’s work together in this class to learn and grow with integrity.

Grading

Grading is based on the points you receive on your quizzes, journal entries, discussions, and assignments.  Here is the grading scale:

A 1000 - 900 100 %-90 %
B 899 - 800     89%- 80%
C 799 - 700     79%- 70%
D 699 - 600     69% - 60 %
F Under 599

Check your grades anytime by clicking on Grades in the left margin. Total points and grades are updated weekly so that you always know your current grade in the course. 

Grading Breakdown

Syllabus Quiz 20
Discussions 16 x 20 = 320
Successful Behavior Assignment 50
Personality Summary Paper Assignment 120
Career Research Paper Assignment 200
Cultural Plunge Assignment 150
Educational Planning Assignment 100
Advise to the Future Students Assignment 40

Total of 1000 points

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Evaluate career, academic and personal goals through in class activities and written assignments.

•  This SLO will be evaluated based on various assignments that include Successful Behavior, Career Research Paper, Cultural Plunge (you may find description of each assignment under Modules). 

2. Create an educational plan using various academic resources such as the college catalog, transfer resources and/or career research websites.

• This SLO will be evaluated based on Educational Planning Assignment (you may find description of each assignment under Modules).

Course Objectives 

Students will be able to:

1. Describe various motivational strategies and apply them to their success in college.
2. Describe vocational interests, values and personality theory to evaluate appropriate careers and college majors.
3. Identify learning strategies that will facilitate productivity in college.
4. Demonstrate lifelong success skills that facilitate optimal communication, critical and positive thinking.