Attendance
Students are expected to be punctual and to attend all classes. Please don’t be late to class! It is very distracting for the instructor and your classmates.
Attendance is very important, so students in earn Attendance Points for coming to class. The roll sheet will be circulated each day in class (starting the second class period), and each student must sign his/her own name. It is not allowed for a student to sign for another person. Be sure to sign the roll sheet each day! If a question arises as to whether or not a student was in class, the roll sheet is the written record that will be consulted. Please come to class and be on time! If you accidentally arrive late, please sit near the door. Please note: A person who arrives 10 or more minutes after class begins receives no points; a person who leaves class early (without prior approval) also receives no points. Students earn one point per day of attendance.
Exams and Excused Absences
There will be five lecture exams (100 points each). See the “schedule” link for exam dates.
Please note: Correct spelling is very important on exams. Just a few letters of difference can mean a whole different word…. For example, antibiotics and antibodies; gilt and guilt; graph and graft; agonistic and agnostic; wether, whether, and weather; kid and kit; buck and duck; snout and snot; etc. (these are actual examples from student answers). The essay questions on exams will say to use complete sentences, and students must do so in order to receive full credit. An exam answer must be complete and accurate in order to receive full credit. For example, if a question asks: “Where in the dog’s GI tract are most of the nutrients absorbed from?,” grading would be as follows for three different answers:
– “large intestine” is incorrect and receives zero points
– “small intestine” is correct and receives full points
– “intestine” is not specific enough and cannot receive any points (because the author may have meant “large intestine”)
Please remember this is a college course and exam answers will be graded accordingly. Full credit for an answer is equivalent to an “A+” grade for that question.
Make-up Exams
Make-up exams will not be allowed except for excused absences (see next paragraph), and only if arrangements for anticipated absences were made with Dr. Moore in advance. If a student misses an exam and has an unanticipated excused absence, he/she must contact Dr. Moore as soon as he/she returns to campus; if Dr. Moore approves the absence, the exam must be made up before the other students have the graded exam handed back in class. If a student misses an exam and does not have an excused absence, a grade of zero will be recorded unless the student takes the exam later the same day; in that case, 70% of the points earned will be recorded in the grade book as the score. Graded exams will be handed back in class one week after the exam is given; make-up exams for excused absences must occur before the other students receive their graded exams back.
Excused Absence
An excused absence must be documented in writing and must be approved by Dr. Moore. Examples of excused absences include a visit to the infirmary or doctor’s office, attendance at a funeral for a family member, or a mandated court appearance. Routine doctor visits, such as to the optometrist or dentist, are not excused absences because the student has the opportunity to schedule those appointments at a time that does not conflict with classes. Please let Dr. Moore know ahead of time when you know you cannot make it to class. In an emergency situation where you are unable to notify me, you must contact me the day you return to campus (even if it is not a day when our class meets). I have voice mail and e-mail, so you can call or e-mail at any hour of the day or night.
Note: alarm clock failure and car trouble are not considered to be excused absences.
The university attendance regulation is online at:
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-03
Written Regrade Policy
The Written Regrade Policy is designed to allow students to explain their answers if they are confused or concerned about the grading of any of the questions on an exam and think the answer(s) should have received more points. To submit a Written Regrade Request:
- Write your concern/explanation on a separate sheet of paper. You do not need to re-write the question(s) you want Dr. Moore to re-evaluate, but you do need to list the number for the question(s) and for each number, write your explanation of why you think you should have received more points. If your explanation involves confusion about a web page we used, please print the web page and point out the confusing part.
- Don’t make any marks on the exam. If a student makes any marks on the exam, even if it is just question marks or arrows, the exam is not eligible for a Written Regrade Request.
- Put the request on top of your exam, fold the exam & paper lengthwise, and turn it in to Dr. Moore within one week of the exam being handed back to the class.
Grading
Total Points
5 Lecture Exams, 100 points each = 500
Lecture Attendance = 35
TOTAL POINTS = 535
A+ = 97% to 100%
A = 91% to 96.9%
A- = 90% to 90.9%
B+ = 87% to 89.9%
B = 81% to 86.9%
B- = 80% to 80.9%
C+ = 77% to 79.9%
C = 71% to 76.9%
C- = 70% to 70.9%
D+ = 67% to 69.9%
D = 61% to 66.9%
D- = 60% to 60.9%
F = <60%
Please note: Instructors do not give grades; a student earns his or her grade. Please do not ask Dr. Moore to change your grade at the end of the semester. Please do not ask to be allowed to do make-up or extra work at the end of the semester.
Incomplete Grade for the Course
It is very rare for a student to receive an Incomplete in this course. A student who has attended regularly and successfully completed the exams, but who cannot complete the final fourth or less of the class due to unforseen and unpreventable circumstances, might be granted an incomplete. Arrangements must be made prior to the time grades are recorded at the end of the semester, and granting an Incomplete is up to Dr. Moore. Any student who stops attending class, but has not made arrangements with Dr. Moore, will not be granted an incomplete. An Incomplete must be made up within one regular semester unless an extension is granted; otherwise the Incomplete will automatically convert to an F. A student who receives an Incomplete should not register for the course the following semester. The burden of fulfilling an incomplete grade is the responsibility of the student. The university policy for Incomplete grades is located at:
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-50-03
Credit Only (S/U) Grading
Students who are taking this course to fulfill a requirement for their major (including the CALS Group A elective) or for the Animal Science Minor must take this course for a letter grade. Students who are taking this course as a Free Elective may choose to change to S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) grading if they do so prior to the deadline set by Registration & Records. In order to receive a grade of S, students are required to take all exams, and students must earn a grade of C-minus or higher as outlined below in the Grading section of this syllabus. For more details, refer to:
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-15
Auditing the course
If a student chooses to change the course to Audit, the credit hours change from 3 to 0 (but the student is still required to pay full tuition for the course). Note that the course does not count toward graduation or toward the Animal Science Minor if the student changes it to Audit. If a student changes the course to Audit, he/she must attend all lectures (no more than three absences) to get recognition for having audited the course. Students who are auditing are not required to take lecture exams. For more details, refer to:
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-04