AS310 Course Policies and Procedures

Course policies are intended to promote and improve learning and to encourage and reinforce professional behavior in AS310 students. Each student is responsible for knowing and abiding by the provisions of this document.

Communication  The course web site (http://webfac.db.erau.edu/~rogers/as310) ) is the source for course documents. The AS310 Blackboard site is used primarily for communication (announcements and email).  To ensure you do not miss important course communications, you should daily check o the AS310 Blackboard site for announcements. o your ERAU email for course communications.  Note that if you forward ERAU email to another email account, there is a distinct possibility that the forwarded mail will be categorized as SPAM and remain undelivered. It is recommended that you use your ERAU email account for university communications.  To communicate with the course instructor, please send me email as opposed to leaving a message on my office telephone.  You and you alone are responsible fore keeping current about information promulgated in course communications.

Class Attendance  On-time class attendance is required.  Class absences or tardiness are neither excused nor unexcused; they are merely absences or tardiness.  ERAU computer time is used to determine the class start time. If you are not seated by the class start time ready to begin the lecture, you are late.  Attendance of less than 50 minutes of a 60 minute class constitutes an absence.  Every 2 late arrivals or early departures count as an absence.  To facilitate checking attendance, you will be requested to occupy the same seat during each class period. Attendance is also verified by means of a sign-in sheet which will be passed through the class during most class periods. These documents are used to determine class attendance in the event that a question arises as to whether or not you attended.  Dispatcher student absences must be made up. This is an FAA requirement and cannot be waived or modified by the instructor. To make up a missed class, read the relevant material in the Course Notes.  Each student is initially awarded 3 bonus attendance points (AB). For each absence after the end of the add-drop period, AB is reduced by 1 point, with negative values of AB possible. Your AB is added to your exam/ quiz average to compute your final numeric average. See the Grading section below for details.  Extended consecutive absences due to prolonged illness or university authorized or required travel off- campus are dealt with on an individual basis. Be sure to contact the instructor immediately if you experience such a situation.

Grading  Three factors influence your numeric course grade: o Your average on three equally weighted hour exams (EA). o Your average on 9 quizzes, the 9th of which is double weighted (QA). Except for Quiz 9, a quiz grade is determined from the average of the Quiz Worksheet (homework) and the group score on the quiz completed during in-class group work. However, if you fail to submit a substantially complete Quiz Worksheet, your Quiz Grade for that quiz will be recorded as 0, because you were unprepared to participate in group work for that quiz o Your attendance record, as reflected in the value of your attendance bonus score (AB). As explained in the Class Attendance section above, the initial value of your AB is +3. For each class absence, your AB is decremented by 1 point. The highest possible average in the course is 103, achievable only by students with a perfect attendance record. Each absence decreases the highest possible average by 1 point. Absences in excess of 3 decrease the highest possible average in the course below 100. See the next bullet.  Your final numeric average is computed as 0.75*EA + 0.25*QA + AB. For example, suppose your quizzes and exams average is 86.3 and you have 1 absence. Then your AB is 3-1 = 2, and your final numeric grade is 86.3 + (2) = 88.3. By contrast, if you have accumulated 5 absences, your AB is 3-5 = -2, and you final numeric grade is 86.3 + (-2) = 84.3.  Numeric grades are rounded to the nearest integer when determining a letter grade.  The grading scale is A: 90 and above; B: 80-89; C: 70-79; D: 60-69; F: 59 and below.  Grades are posted and regularly updated at the course web site (http://webfac.db.erau.edu/~rogers/as310) The Blackboard grade book is not used.

Classroom Deportment  Private conversation in class or obvious inattention (e.g. sleeping, reading newspaper, &c.) is not allowed.  Cell phones, pagers, personal digital devices, cameras, and similar electronic devices may not be used in class and must be stored in a backpack or similar container. Please store these devices in your backpack or book bag before you enter the classroom. Your cell phone should be turned off or placed in silent mode while stowed. Each violation of this policy will result in the loss of one AB attendance bonus point.  Laptop computers and iPads may be used in the classroom to access the course web site or take electronic notes. Any other use of such devices—for example surfing the web, texting, making photographs, or using email—is not permitted.  Digital calculators may be used in class, but calculators with Internet connectivity are prohibited.  Drinks may be brought into the classroom and consumed during class but not during exams. Food other than drinks is not allowed. Please deposit drink containers in the trash or remove them from the classroom as you leave.  Please adjust your personal habits so that it is unnecessary for you to leave the classroom during class hours.  Students who repeatedly fail to abide by classroom deportment policies may be dropped from the class at the discretion of the course instructor.

Missed/Late Work  You are required to take exams with your assigned section at the scheduled times. A grade of zero is recorded for a missed exam unless the absence is due to debilitating personal illness/injury, an act of God (e.g., automobile accident enroute), or current death or imminent death in the immediate family.  In the unlikely event that you miss an hour exam, contact the course instructor in person or by telephone IMMEDIATELY (within hours, not days) to schedule a makeup date. Failure to do so will affect your being allowed to make up the exam.  Homework assignments are due at the beginning of the scheduled class period. A grade of zero is recorded for a late or missed assignment, and a makeup is not possible.

Academic Integrity  Any breach of academic integrity may result in a grade of F for the course and in suspension or expulsion from the University. After consultation with the Department of Aeronautical Science chairperson, the Dean of the College of Aviation, and the ERAU Daytona Beach Chief Academic Officer, a note of any such incident will be entered in your permanent ERAU academic record.  When completing course homework (Quiz Worksheets) cooperation (group work) between students is encouraged as long as learning takes place. However, you should complete a homework assignment before you arrive at class to submit it. Copying quiz answers from another student in the classroom on the day a quiz is due, or allowing other students to copy your answers, is a breach of academic integrity.  Repeated failure to abide by class policies is deemed to be an offense against academic integrity.

Academic Achievement and Study Effort  AS310 is an academically challenging technical course. “Sit and listen” during the class lectures without supplemental effort is unlikely to result in a high grade. For most students, significant study outside the classroom is required to assure satisfactory progress. The recommended outside study effort is 4-5 hours per week. Please devote this much study time at least until the first exam. Thereafter let your grade on the first exam influence the amount of your weekly outside study effort.  Complete homework (Quiz Worksheets) with great care. Such effort will be amply repaid when you take an hour exam. Always submit your best work. If you wouldn’t take an assignment to a job interview as an example of your best work, it isn’t your best work. A homework or quiz grade may be substantially lowered at the instructor’s discretion if a paper is unprofessional in appearance or fails to follow the instructions for its preparation.  Download and print (one side of the page only) the Course Notes from the AS310 web site and study them carefully. Put the Course Notes in a binder and bring them to class each day.  Take notes on the class lectures, preferably on the back side of the Course Notes page containing related information. Note-taking reinforces learning. The information written on the white board during class lectures complements the online Course Notes. Neither one is a substitute for the other.  History has shown that some students underachieve (D or F) on hour exams through a lack of study effort —particularly on the first exam. Please don’t let yourself become one of these underachievers.

Taking Exams. To take an hour exam, you will need  Pencil and eraser.  A digital calculator (calculators with Internet connectivity may not be used). If your calculator has aviation functions, you may not use these functions during an hour exam.  Supplemental Materials for AS310 Aircraft Performance (Dr. R. Rogers' Sections Only). No notes or other annotations are allowed in this reference document.  An 8.5” x 11” piece of paper on which you have written any information you think will be useful during the exam. This paper is prepared PRIOR to taking an exam.  A plastic transparent draftsman’s triangle or straight edge  No other materials are allowed during an hour exam.

Showing Work on Quizzes and Exams. To receive full credit for a homework, quiz, or exam answer involving a calculation, you must show how you obtained the answer. (This requirement doesn’t apply to questions where you pick the correct numeric answer from a list.) A correct numeric answer without adequate substantiating work is awarded a maximum of half-credit. Detailed information on showing work may be found on page 3 of Part I of the Course Notes.