Plsc 491 Sophomore Seminar

SYLLABUS PLANT SCIENCES 491 Sophomore Seminar Spring 2007

Instructors: Ed Deckard and Brenda Deckard

Office:		Loftsgard 270E and Loftsgard 62C
Office/Home Phone:		Ed: 1-8139; Brenda: 1-9422; Home 237-9753
E-mail Address:		edward.deckard@ndsu.edu.
		brenda.deckard@ndsu.edu
Office Hours:		Appointments or Drop-Ins welcome 8:00-5:00
		M-F

Class Time and Place:		Loftsgard 114, Wednesday, 1:00 - 2:50 p.m.

Text and Readings:		None required. We will provide hand-outs and additional materials are in the Plant Sciences Resource Center.

PLSC 491 Homepage:		http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/deckard/soph491/

I.	Course Description This course is designed to build on the speaking, writing, and interpersonal skills for our students. This course uses a service learning approach that includes science experimentation, writing assignments, peer-group activities, and multimedia presentations.

II.	Objectives Upon completion of PLSC 491, students will have: Improved their competence and confidence to work with community members, to work in diverse groups, and to develop and present their community product using multimedia tools. Improved their understanding and practice of the scientific method and experimentation. Learned and retained foundational knowledge, integrated knowledge with other subjects, and applied concepts to new applications. Interpreted and applied quantitative data. Expanded and refined written and oral communication.

III.	Beliefs That Guide This Course We believe students learn best when they actively participate in learning situations, when they take responsibility for their learning, when they are assessed fairly, and when the teacher has a relatively high expectation level of the student’s effort and performance. We also believe students learn best in situations where “Everyone is a Teacher, a Learner, and a Leader”. We believe that students want to be a community member and want to share their knowledge of food system issues with that community as well as learn from the community members.

IV.	Tentative Outline
	Jan 10	Introduction of Class Discussion of Group Project, Learning Journals, etc. How People Learn Best?

	Jan 17	Characteristics of Effective Groups Development of Lesson Plan for Group Project Development of Story-board

	Jan 24	Development of Story-board and Lesson Plan cont. Journal Discussion

	Jan 31	Final Draft of Lesson Plan for Group Project Completed

	Feb 7	Field Trip to Bennett Elementary School

	Feb 14	Field Trip to Madison and Jefferson Elementary Schools

	Feb 21	Field Trip to Bennett Elementary School

	Feb 28	Field Trip to Madison and Jefferson Elementary School

	Mar 7	Group Reports Helpful Hints for Using Presentation Software

	Mar 21	Outside Speaker Development of Multi-media Presentation

	Mar 28	Development of Multi-media Presentation Letter to Elementary Students due

	April 4	Development of Multi-media Presentation cont.

	April 11	Final Presentation Due; Preparation for “Celebration”

	April 17	6:00 p.m. Tuesday, “Celebration” and Large Group Discussion

	April 25	Course Wrap-up?

	May 2

V.	Change We believe that while we can take responsibility for drawing the initial map of where this course goes, the journey will change and detours will occur, depending on what happens along the way. This syllabus can be changed to take account of both your responses and ours.

VI.	Assessment Group Project Lesson Plan ............................. 50 points School Visits and Teaching........................... 200 points Collaboration with English students …….….. 50 points Letter of Goodwill ............................................. 25 points Written Assignments……………………....…. 75 points Celebration Activities ...................................... 50 points Final Project ………………………............... 200 points Journal of Group Activities .............................. 50 points Journal of Individual Activities ………....……. 50 points

VII.	Grading 90% of total points guarantees an A 80% of total points guarantees a B 70% of total points guarantees a C 60% of total points guarantees a D

Academic Honesty : All work in this course must be completed in a manner consistent with NDSU University Senate Policy, Section 335: Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct (http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/policy/335.htm). All students in this course are governed by the College of Agriculture’s Honor System. It is the responsibility of the students to report any violations of the honor pledge to the instructor, honor commission, or the Dean of the College of Agriculture.

STUDENTS WHO HAVE ANY DISABILITY WHICH MIGHT AFFECT THEIR PERFORMANCE IN THIS CLASS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SPEAK WITH THE INSTRUCTOR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMESTER