Intro to Ethics (PHIL 2306)

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Cheating is: Copying from another student's exam.

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Cheating is: During a exam, using materials not authorized by the person giving the exam.

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Cheating is: Collaborating with another student during a exam without proper authority.

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Cheating is: Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or part the contents of an exam or paper.

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Cheating is: Bribing another person to obtain a copy of an exam.

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Cheating is: Plagiarism (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. which means using someone's work or someone's ideas and representing them to be your own. That "someone" may be another student, a friend, a relative, a book author, an author of material on a web site, etc. Do not take material from anywhere without giving proper credit or reference.  In other words, do not copy from an Internet source and paste it into your essay answer space. ADDITIONALLY: proper MLA-format must be used for a paper to be legal, so incorrect formatting can result in up to 50% grade reduction.

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Cheating is: Collusion, which means the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work offered for credit when you represent that work to be your own. 

Make certain you are familiar with the MLA format and handbook, and the MLA summary sheet provided by me the first day. If you ever have any question about what is cheating, what is plagiarism or what is unauthorized collusion, please contact me before you do anything or submit anything. It is much better to ask first than to get caught later.

Late Work:

Assignments may be accepted after the due date for five days only (Friday), but only with valid reason and only for no more than 50% credit. 

Incompletes:

Given proper documentation and communication, an incomplete may be considered for medical reasons.

 Student Attendance: 

You are expected to attend all lecture classes regularly; You are expected to log in on all online at least once a week . You are also responsible for materials covered during your absences. Instructors may be willing to consult with you for make-up assignments, but it is your responsibility to contact the instructor. Class attendance is checked daily. Although it is your responsibility to drop a course for nonattendance, the instructor has the authority to drop you for excessive absences.  You may be dropped from a course after accumulating absences in excess of 12.5 percent of the total hours of instruction (lecture and lab). For example:  For a three credit-hour lecture class meeting three hours per week (48 hours of instruction), you can be dropped after six hours of absence.

3-peaters: 

NOTICE: Students who take a course more than twice face significant tuition/fee increases at HCC and other Texas public colleges and universities. Please ask your instructor / counselor about opportunities for tutoring/other assistance prior to considering course withdrawal or if you are not receiving passing grades.

The Texas State Legislature has begun to impose penalties on students who drop courses excessively.  In 2007, the Legislature passed a law limiting students to no more than 6 total course withdrawals throughout their academic career in obtaining a baccalaureate degree. To help students avoid having to drop/withdraw from any class, HCC has instituted an Early Alert process by which your instructor will “alert” you and HCC student services of the chance you might fail a class because of excessive absences and/or poor academic performances.  You should visit with your instructor, a counselor, or HCC online Student Services to learn about your options. 

Students MUST visit with a faculty advisor, a counselor, or online student services prior to withdrawal from class.  If a withdrawal is to be given, this must be done prior to 8 July 2019 at 4:30pm at 4:30pm.  After that date and time, students will no longer be allowed to drop and will receive the grade that they earned.  Any remaining assignments not submitted will receive a zero; thus, students will be subject to receiving an F for the class.   Faculty will NO longer be allowed to give Ws on the final grade sheet; any faculty who wishes to withdraw a student will be required to process the drop BEFORE 8 July 2019 at 4:30pm.

Withdrawal Deadline:

It is your responsibility to withdraw officially from a class and prevent an “F” from appearing on your transcript. When considering withdrawal from a course, remember that:

• No grade is given and your transcript reflects no record of the course if you withdraw before the Official Date of Record.

• A “W” (indicating withdrawal) appears on your transcript if you drop a course after the Official Date of Record and before the final deadline.

• The final deadline to drop the course is

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS:

Receiving a W in a course may affect the status of your student Visa. Once a W is given for the course, it will not be changed to an F because of the visa consideration.  Since January 1, 2003, International Students are restricted in the number of distance education courses that they may take during each semester. ONLY ONE online/distance education class may be counted towards the enrollment requirement for International Students per semester.  Please contact the International Student Office at 713-718-8520 if you have any questions about your visa status and other transfer issues.

Student Course Reinstatement Policy: 

Students have a responsibility to arrange payment for their classes when they register, either through cash, credit card, financial aid, or the installment plan.  Faculty members have a responsibility to check their class rolls regularly, especially during the early weeks of a term, and reconcile the official class roll to ensure that no one is attending class whose name does not appear on the rolls.  Students who are dropped from their courses for non-payment of tuition and fees, who request reinstatement after the official date of record (OE date), can be reinstated by making payment in full and paying an additional $75 per course reinstatement fee.  A student requesting reinstatement should present the registrar with a completed Enrollment Authorization Form with the signature of the instructor, the department chair, or the dean, who should verify that the student has been regularly attending class.  Students who are reinstated are responsible for all course policies and procedures, including attendance requirements.  A dean may waive the reinstatement fee upon determination that the student  was dropped because of a college error.  The dean should note the nature of the error in a memo to the registrar with the appropriate documentation.

Instructor Requirements: 

Unit quizzes and arguments, six researched papers, and final project.

Program/Discipline Requirements: 

A minimum of 50% of the student’s semester average must come from writing assignments.

HCC Grading Scale:

A = 90 – 100

B = 80 – 89

C = 70 – 79

D = 60 – 69

F = 59 and below

Instructor Grading Criteria :  

Essay Assignments, Exercises, and Quizzes, and Examinations - 100 %  

Topical reading and writing assignments involve comprehension of essays and narrations and delving into specifics on the issues. The class is essay based, and proper formatting is essential for legal reasons. Essays will done using MLA style. Essays containing obvious spelling errors will have 30 points deducted from the total earned.   Poor diction and grammar will result in an additional 30 point deduction. 

Additional Items:

Access to the course is the student's responsibility, and course deadlines cannot be altered due to access interruption or equipment failure on the student's side.

To avoid confusion, all work for this class must be submitted within Eagle Online in the Assignment  Submission area.  Do not send any completed assignments to any non- Eagle Online email address.  Do not print work out to mail or drop off at a campus.  All written communication must be conducted within Eagle Online email.

Please note that for deadline purposes, the Eagle Online clock is the "official" clock, even if you are certain that your watch keeps perfect time.

Eagle Online USER ID:

Your Eagle Online  login user ID will be your HCC User ID (sometimes referred to as the “W” number).  All HCC students have a unique User ID.  If you do not know your User ID you can look it up by visiting the HCC home page:

o    From www.hccs.edu, under the column “CONNECT”, click on the “Student System Sign In” link

o    Then click on “Retrieve User ID” and follow the instructions.

Or use the direct link to access the Student Sign In page:

https://hccsaweb.hccs.edu:8080/psp/csprd/?cmd=login&languageCd=ENG

The default student password is “distance.”  Students will then be prompted to change their password after their first login. Please visit DE Technical Support website if you need additional assistance with your log in.

COURSE COMPONENTS:

This is a course about the origins of philosophical discourse and history of ideas, including the formalization of logic and sound argument, and its relation to our concept of knowledge and learning.   The standards of thinking and expression found in philosophy embrace every principle and method found in core critical thinking competencies.  Readings are taken from a range of primary sources provided the instructor from a discipline committee approved list, and may include a broad variety beginning with fragments from the Pre-socratics through works by Medieval philosophers including Augustine and Thomas Aquinas – this meets the reading criterion for the Basic Intellectual Competencies in the HCC Core Curriculum.   Selected readings must include works by Plato and Aristotle and are assessed by quizzes, exams, presentations, and discussions.

Students must write at least 3,000 words during this course.   This number is achieved in a variety of ways.   For example, course sections that incorporate assistance may include online submissions for required message board posts, research projects, and exam essays.  Non- Eagle Onlinesections achieve these same writing minimums with in-class essays and a major research project.    The evaluation of written work adheres to the professional teaching standards of philosophy for content, and correct grammar.   Students are advised that computer knowledge, word processing skills, and data base learning and research skills are necessary to complete this course  – this meets the writing, critical thinking, and computer literacy criterion for the Basic Intellectual Competencies in the HCC Core Curriculum.   While this is particularly true of course sections that are either offered online, or incorporate assistance, all sections require online research and computer generated work product.   Help is available for students who lack these skills upon entering the course.

This course is taught in large part using technology (PowerPoint presentations and Eagle Online ), but much of the comprehension and assessment elements come from the time-honor Socratic Method, where the instructor asks questions of the students to stimulate discussion and understanding; students are expected to do analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of the presented philosophical elements – this meets the listening, speaking, and critical thinking criterion for the Basic Intellectual Competencies in the HCC Core Curriculum

This syllabus is meant as a guide and is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.  If there are any changes made, the student will be notified in a timely manner.