Instructor: Dr. Pamela E. Mack

Contact information:

• Email: pammack@clemson.edu (I try to respond to emails within 24 hours on class days)
• Please use the Blackboard discussion board for questions about the course.
• Chat may be available using Blackboard Virtual Classroom--suggest a time
  
• Office phone: 864-656-5356 (I am happy to talk on the phone but will not keep regular office hours: please email me to set up a time for a phone conversation).  If your email isn't working you can call the department office at 656-3153 and ask them to email me a message.
• Office: Hardin B06 (please email to set up a time if you want to come by my office--I would like to meet anyone in person who can easily stop by)

• to learn to examine the impact of technology on society and think about to what extent technology can change history.
• to gain an understanding of how social forces shape the development of technology.
• to see how the engineering profession and engineering education have changed over time.
• to learn how to evaluation historical information.
• to practice analytical writing on topics related to these objectives.

The participation policy for this course is as follows:  Students are expected to do all assignments by the deadlines assigned or make special arrangements with the professor in advance.  You are responsible for the material in the assigned readings and the course web pages listed on the syllabus.  If unexpected problems arise please contact the professor as soon as possible.  Any student who has done fewer than half the assignments due two weeks after the class begins will be dropped from the course.

Blackboard discussion questions (bb) will be posted most days on the Blackboard learning system.  This is a required assignment for the course, rather like the journals some other courses assign.   The goal of the Blackboard discussion is to allow more discussion of the reading and the lectures than is possible in class. You can read comments left by others and add your own for everyone to read.  You may respond to directly to the question asked or respond to another student.  I will place a new discussion topic on the system every other day. To a limited extent you will be able to go back and comment on topics from previous days, but topics will be closed to further comments after two to four days.

Your participation in this system will be graded from 1 to 10 on the basis both of quality and quantity. Contributions to the internet discussion should be thoughtful comments on the reading and/or the professor's notes  and/or the comments of other students, usually one or two paragraphs long (150-400 words).  To get an 9 or 10 you need to say something new and worthwhile about the question (not just repeat what other students have said).  Personal experience is appropriate and grammar and spelling are not important so long as your point is clear.  Your grade for the Blackboard discussion board will be the sum of your grades, not to exceed 100 points (there will be at least 12 topics).  You will get only one grade per topic, but if you write more than one post on a topic all your posts will be taken into account in deciding your grade for the topic.  Posts after the deadline for that topic will receive no credit.

Quizzes will be multiple choice tests based on the reading.  Quizzes are found by going into Blackboard and clicking on assignments and then on quizzes.  Quizzes 1-9 will be 10 questions each.  I want you to have plenty of time but I do want people to do the reading before taking the quiz, so you have one hour to do the quiz (which should take most people about 10 minutes).

Two tests will be due by the end of the day July 11 and 24.  The final exam is due by midnight (the end of the day) on Aug. 6. The tests will be made available for at least 24 hours.  Both the tests and the final exam will be essay tests and open books and notes will be permitted.  On the tests you will write one essay of 500 to 1000 words from a choice of two questions.  See General instructions for online tests.  The tests, the argument project, and the final exam will be handed in via Blackboard and screened by the Turnitin plagiarism detection system.  (This system does keep a copy of your paper--if you have a problem with that please speak to the professor.)   

Field experiences:   You can earn these credits in several different ways.  Each field experience is worth 20 points, so you must do at least 5.  These will be handed in on Blackboard.  You may do more than 5 but your grade cannot exceed 100.

• You can attend a lecture or other program relating to the issues discussed in class.  Get the professor's approval of the program you have identified and write about it after you attend.
  
• You can rent and view up a film from a list provided by the professor and write a critique of the film. 
  
• You can do a reading project, as assigned by the professor, and turn in a write-up.
  
• You can go to a historic site or museum in the area where you are located and write a write-up of it.  This one is worth 20 points if you just hand in a write-up and 40 points if you put your write-up in the form of a web page illustrated with photographs that your classmates can view

The argument project will be an exploration of a controversial aspect of the relationship between technology and society.  No two students can write on the same topic; please check the topics already posted before deciding on yours.  More details.

Research can be primarily on the web, but note that some of the books and many of the journals in the Clemson library are available electronically.  For books go to http://libcat.clemson.edu/ and change "view entire catalog" to "electronic resources."  For electronic journals go to: http://hw4sm7zh5k.search.serialssolutions.com/

Project steps:

• Step 1 (20 points): post a topic statement and an annotated list of at least 8 sources
• Step 2 (20 points): write and post a controversial argument about your topic.  Back up your argument with web links.
  
• Step 3 (20 points): write replies challenging at least two of your fellow students' argument postings, including links to web sites giving a different point of view than that of the argument initially posted.  One of your posts must be the first reply to another student, while the other must reply to a student who already has at least one reply.
  
• Step 4 (10 points): write a critique of  a web site cited by another student.  You must pick one that has not yet been critiqued.
  
• Step 5 (100 points): write a paper of 1000 to 1500 words that considers both sides of the issue and submit it using the Blackboard assignments link.  Due July 31
  
• Step 6 (20 points): write and post a proposal for a new law that should be passed to deal with issues raised in your topic
• Step 7 (20 points): write and post two responses to two other students' recommendations of new laws.  One of your posts must be the first reply to another student, while the other must reply to a student who already has at least one reply.

The higher grades will go to papers that exhibit logical thinking, an analytical framework, specific evidence, the ability to inform and communicate, sound organization, and a concise and coherent argument. In this paper the premium will go to those that make a persuasive argument.  Late papers (step 5) will be penalized five points for each calendar day late.  Very late papers will be penalized no lower than a 65 if the paper merits at least a 75.

It is cheating to copy portions of a argument paper, exam, or discussion board posting from a book or web site or from the online class notes, even if you change a few words, unless the words are quoted and the source is given.  It is poor writing for more than about 20% of your paper to consist of quotes.

The exams for this course are open book.  You may consult your book, your notes, or web pages.  You may study with other students before the exam is posted, but once the exam is posted your work must be entirely your own--you may not discuss the exam questions with any person except the professor in any format (voice, chat, IM, etc.).  You are on your honor on this part; please do not abuse it or I will have to go to timed tests.

This syllabus is a contract between the professor and the students.  The professor reserves the right to make changes in special circumstances, but will discuss any changes with the students.

Class Schedule:
I have tried to organize this schedule so you can see clearly what is expected of you each day and also the material I will make available to you.  Summer school classes meet on Saturday July 12, according to the official university calendar, but there will not be assignments due that day.

The first summer I taught this course I made work due by 5 pm each day, so that I would be available to deal with technical difficulties.  Because of many complaints from students I will give you until midnight this time.  If the work shows up as posted by the end of the day, I will count it.  Work that Blackboard shows as posted the day after it is due will get no credit (unless the syllabus specifies a penalty for lateness for that particular assignment).  If you aren't sure of what you are doing please post earlier in the day so help will be available.  I will sometimes but not always check email in the early evening, but I go to bed early.