COURSE SYLLABUS
BUSINESS LAW I
BUS 185 ONLINE
8 WEEK Section – August 26 – October 20, 2009
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INSTRUCTOR |
Susan
Mitchell, J.D. Attorney at Law District
Chair, Business Administration Program Office
Location: Office
Hours: 10 am -12 pm, M-Th , and Tuesday noon online @ wiziq.com from 12:00 to 12:30
pm Phone:
515-964-6869 Fax: 515-965-7135 Email:
sjmitchell@dmacc.edu |
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COURSE DESCRIPTION |
This course is designed to give an introductory overview
of the sources of law of the American legal system. The
course will also cover the basic structure of our court systems. Other major topics will include tort law, criminal law,
contract law and sales law. |
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TEXTBOOK(S) |
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COURSE
COMPETENCIES |
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GENERAL
POLICIES GRADES |
Skills and Talents you will need for this course: Students will be required to read and write at the
college level. In addition, the online student must
have the following skills and talents:
Grades will be based on the total
number of points you accumulate during the semester. I
will assess a certain number of points for each exam, threaded discussion,
assignments, assignments, etc. I will always tell you of the
number of points the project is worth at the time of the assignment. Your grade will be based on the
following:
The following grading scale will be
used in this course:
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ACADEMIC
DISHONESTY |
Academic
Dishonesty will not be tolerated. See DMACC
Educational Services Procedures ES 4670.
Violation of this policy will result in a zero grade for the
assignment or test or an F final grade depending on the severity of
the violation. Here are some examples of +academic misconduct as defined in
the policy: 1.
Engaging in any form of plagiarism, which is defined as the appropriation of and use of another
person's writing, and passing off as the product of one's own efforts, or
copying any work and submitting it as original work. 2.
Falsifying with respect to any examination,
paper, project, application, recommendation, transcript, or test, or by any dishonest means whatsoever, or by aiding or
abetting another student to do so. 3.
Using materials or collaborating with another
person (or persons) during a test, or any other assignment without
authorization. 4.
Substituting for another student, or
permitting another person to substitute for oneself,
to take an examination, course, or test, or to provide the work for any
assigned project. 5.
The acquisition of grades, academic
credits, degrees, honors, awards, certification, or professional endorsements
by means of cheating. 6.
Failing to comply with the policies of the
student's program or department stated in College publications. If I determine that an academic
violation has occurred, an Academic Misconduct Report Form, with all
documentation attached, will be filed in accordance with the policy
referenced above. |
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EXAMS |
There will
be five exams covering each unit and class discussion materials. Exams are designed to assess your understanding of the
material and concepts. To prepare yourself for a
unit exam, study the reading assignments, class assignments, study games, and
the on-line study guide for each chapter. When you
are ready to take an exam, log on to the course, go to the exam site, and
submit your answers. Allow 90 minutes for each
examination. Exams must be taken within the
scheduled time. The deadlines are
listed below. The exams will be available one lesson prior to
the listed deadline. I will score the exams and post the results in the
gradebook within 5 days after the close of the
testing period. You will receive each
question one at a time and WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REVISIT THE QUESTION ONCE
YOU MOVE ON TO THE NEXT QUESTION. You
may take exams late; however, there will be a 20% penalty regardless of the
excuse for taking the exam late. Unit One
Exam: Lessons 1, 2, & 3 --Deadline is 11:59 pm, Sept. 11,
2009, ( Unit Two
Exam: Lessons 4, 5, & 6-- Deadline is 11:59 pm, Sept. 22, 2009,
( Unit Three
Exam: Lessons 7, 8, & 9 -- Deadline is 11:59 pm, Oct. 1, 2009,
( Unit Four
Exam: Lessons 10, 11, 12 & 13. -- Deadline
is 11:59 pm, Oct. 13, 2009, ( Unit Five
Exam: Lessons 14 and 15-- Deadline is 11:59 pm, Oct. 20, 2009, ( |
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EMAIL
SYSTEM |
I will be communicating with you through the email system
within WebCT. Please check for
messages every day. |
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ASSIGNMENTS |
Most Lessons have one or more
assignments. The purpose of the
assignment is to help you review the major concepts of the chapter, to
allow me to assess your understanding of the material, and to challenge your
critical thinking skills. This is your opportunity
to tell me all that you have learned about the
subject. Please explain your answers in detail. Don't just give me the shortest answer possible. Yes/No answers are unacceptable. You should refer to examples, charts, and
concept summaries in the textbook.
Open the lesson and cut and paste the
assignment into a file that is in Microsoft Word. Save the file in a location
you can remember. Entitle the file: your last name, the lesson. For example my assignment file names would
be: Mitchell, Lesson 1A, Mitchell,
Lesson 1B, Mitchell, Lesson 2, etc. Next while working in this same
file, prepare your answers below each question. Save the file again. When you are ready to submit your
assignment for grading, go back into WebCT and open the assignment tool on
the left side of the course. Open the
appropriate assignment and look for the link that says “Add Attachment” which
is located below the empty textbox. What you will see will look like
this:
“Add Attachments” Link Follow the directions under “My
Computer” to find your file saved on your hard drive or wherever. If done properly you will now see your assignment
listed below the empty textbox.
Finally, go to the bottom and click “Submit”. “Are you sure you want to submit
assignment?” Click yes. Lastly, you will see a confirmation message
and you will know that the assignment has been submitted properly. To double check,
you can go to the “submitted” tab at the top of the assignment tool.
Look at these
tabs You should see your assignment
under this “Submitted” tab. Please do not send them as an
attachment to your email. Please note there are two assignments for
Lesson 1 and two corresponding assignment links (1A & 1B) for Lesson
1. I will accept assignments late;
however there will be a 20% late penalty for late assignments. See the timeline below. |
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THREADED
DISCUSSIONS |
Threaded discussions are designed to
simulate classroom discussions. The class is
divided into two groups for threaded discussion purposes only. If your last name begins with the letter A
– M you will always participate in Group 1 discussions. If your last name begins with the letter N –
Z you will participate in Group 2 discussions. You are welcome to read the discussions in
both groups (each has a different question) but you will only get points for
your participation in the correct discussion group. For each threaded discussion, you
will have an opportunity to respond to my questions as well as the comments
from your classmates. The threaded discussion will
close the same day as the closing date for the lesson in which it is found. You may post a comment any time prior to the closing
date. Check the threaded discussions on a
regular basis because a student may be responding to your comment and this
may necessitate a further response from you. Please
remember there are rules for this type of interaction. You
may attack the concept but never the person making the comment.
Not every lesson has a threaded discussion. There are
6 threaded discussions. These
threaded discussions are found in Lessons 1, 2, 4,
6, 10, and 14. You will receive 7 participation points for each
threaded discussion in which you thoughtfully participate. For each
threaded discussion you will receive 5 points for your direct response and
one point for each response you give to another student (2 is the maximum
number of student responses for points). You must participate in all 6
discussions. The threaded discussion points therefore equal 42
points . . . 7 points for each threaded discussion times 6. See
the grading policies. You may
not participate in threaded discussions past the deadline. |
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TIMELINE |
You are required to complete this course work in the semester
you enroll for the class. You should work at the
rate of one lesson approximately every 4-5 days.
Below is a timetable to follow throughout the semester. Please
print this timetable and keep it by your computer. You may submit exams
and assignments late with a 20% penalty. You will not be able
to post answers to the threaded discussions past these deadlines.
Please work ahead if you know you will not have access to the internet for a
couple of days.
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EXTRA
CREDIT IMPORTANT
DATES |
At the end of the semester I will
released a short assessment quiz for everyone to complete by Oct. 20.
You will want keep this in mind as you review the graded assignments and
exams. Don't just learn this material for your
"short-term" memory only. This assessment will be cumulative
of the entire course and will be 34 multiple-choice questions long (2 questions
per course competency).
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SAFEGUARDS |
Back up every piece of work you do on disk, and print out a hard copy. Email attachments aren't always compatible
with everyone's software, so send your message as part of the regular email
message. If your message is a long one, it will be
easier to do the message in Word and then cut and paste it into the email
message. Odd things can happen in cyberspace; emails
get lost, servers go down, and logins are impossible. Don't wait for the last moment to get
things done. Allow time for the unexpected when
meeting the deadlines for exams, assignments, threaded discussions
and reports. If you do not hear from
me in a week, contact me via email or phone. |
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PARTICIPATION |
Think of this online course like a regular class. If you were taking this 15-week class on campus, you
would be required to attend class 3 hours a week. Therefore, I
expect you to logon to this course every day to look for messages in the
message center, email messages, responses to the threaded discussions, etc. Find a regular time that you can devote all your
attention to doing your work online, away from the TV, and family or
roommates, just like you would if you were going off to a campus class. |
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SPECIAL
NEEDS |
It is the policy of DMACC to
accommodate students with disabilities.
Any student with a documented disability who requires reasonable
accommodation should contact the special needs coordinator at 515-964-6850
voice or 515-964-6810 TTY. |
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SMART
THINKING STUDENT
SERVICES |
As a student at DMACC you are
eligible for a number of services provided by our college. These
include the use of the |
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DMACC
ONLINE INFO . |
Click here to go to the DMACC webpage for information on
buying books, financial aid, instructors’ web pages, and to find out about
the online advisor. http://www.dmacc.edu/online/ |
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DISCLAIMER |
This
syllabus is representative of materials that will be
covered in this class; it is not a contract between the
student and the institution. It is subject to change without
notice. Any potential exceptions to stated policies and requirements will be addressed on an individual basis, and only for
reasons that meet specific requirements. If you have any problems
related to this class, please feel free to discuss them with me. I hope your online experience is rewarding and meaningful. If you follow the format outlined above, read the text book, and regularly participate online, you should do
great. Good Luck! |
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Susan Mitchell, DMACC, 2009,
All Rights Reserved
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Des Moines Area Community College Home Page