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Frequently asked questions in Dr. Drea's classes
How do I know what my grade is?The fastest and easiest way to check your average in the course is to keep track of your own scores on exams, quizzes, and assignments, then divide the sum of these by the points covered (to date) in the class. For example, if you have completed one exam (75 of 100 possible points), five quizzes (scores of 7, 8, 6, 10, and 9 out of 50 possible points), and one assignment (29 of 30 points), you have a current course average of 75 + 40 +29 = 144 points out of 180 - an average of 80%. Figuring your grade this way is a worst case scenario - remember, you can often drop your lowest quiz score. If your remaining quizzes were all 8 and above, the 6 and 7 would be dropped. Back to Top
How do I know what you want on assignments?I think this is a challenge for students in most courses. I try to make the assignments fairly specific, but I can't prescribe everything - part of learning is figuring some things out on your own. However, there are some things that are a given:
My best advice? If you aren't sure, ask me, either in class or outside of class. I'm pretty good at reading student work in progress and giving you a general assessment of whether you are on the right track or not. Be sure to allow me at least two days turn-around time. Back to Top
What about the notes on this web site? Do I have to use them?No, but it will probably help if you do. The web site provides you with an opportunity to discuss the content of the course (thereby increasing your participation grade), access to lecture notes, and a means to learn about announcements that might occur between class meetings. It is certainly possible to be successful in this course without using these resources, but the resources are there to increase your ability to be successful. It's equally important not to use the PowerPoint files as a substitute for taking notes in class. Printing the slides w/o taking notes or paying attention in class, and then studying the slides is a recipe for disaster on an exam. My exams typically do not ask you to repeat what was on a slide. Instead, they ask you to discuss an aspect of it. For example, a slide may only indicate the five steps to a process, and after walking through the five steps in a discussion, we might discuss which of the steps was most important and why. An exam question of "which of the five steps of the process is most important, and why" would be easy if you took notes, but impossible if you didn't take notes. Back to Top
How should I prepare for exams in this course?Different students have different learning styles - there is no single best way to learn, and there is no magic trick for getting a good grade in this course. I've surveyed students who have earned A's from me in the past as to what they did to be successful. These students had several different approaches to success, but shared some commonalties in their approach. These included being in class every day; taking good notes from the lectures and from the text; reading the text repeatedly; checking with me before the due date to see if assignments were being done correctly; and attendance at review sessions. These are suggestions - everyone learns differently. Back to Top
What happens if I miss a quiz or exam?If you miss a quiz due to illness or any reason (other than an absence for a university-sponsored activity), you will receive a grade of zero for that quiz. I generally do not do make-up quizzes for illnesses. You can usually drop a quiz during the semester, so be sure to attend all of the other quizzes. Since I cover the quiz answers in class with students at the end of each quiz, a make-up quiz would give the absent student an unfair advantage. If you are ill and going to miss an examination, you must contact me before the time of the examination. A makeup examination can be scheduled - the exam is likely to be a different examination than the one taken by students in class. You must also supply documentation of your illness and its severity from a physician. I also reserve the right to reject such documentation, if the illness was not severe or preventable. Failure to notify me in advance of the examination time or to supply documentation for the absence can result in a grade of zero for the examination. In short, please try if at all possible to take exams when they are scheduled, even if you are not feeling 100%. If you are absent because of participation in a university-sponsored activity (e.g., athletics, cheerleading, a workshop related to your academics), please notify me of these conflicts within the first two weeks of the semester and we will make an alternative arrangement for you to take the exam. Such make-up exams are usually scheduled earlier than the date for the rest of the class. Back to Top
What if I have a concern about you, Dr. Drea? Ok, this isn't a frequently asked question. In fact, no one has ever asked this, but it's a legitimate question since I'm the department chair (so who would you go to if the problem you have is with the department chair?) If there's something you don't like about one of my courses, your first contact should be with the instructor (me) - that's true for any class you are taking. That makes some students uncomfortable, as it's hard to tell someone in a position of authority that you don't like what they are doing. This is the real world, however, and one of the things you have to learn to do is to approach someone in a professional manner when you have a concern. I know very few faculty who react negatively when a student expresses a concern in a professional manner, such as "I know you are busy, but my group is concerned about having enough time to make the changes that you are proposing to our project. Would it be possible for us to receive your comments to us by Friday so that we could have the weekend to work on the changes to the project?" Telling other students or other professors of your concern without telling the professor is not an effective strategy for solving a problem, nor is approach an instructor and being unprofessional, such as "Can't you get our project back to us any faster? I have other classes too, you know." (Yes, I've heard that.) Always approach the faculty member first (and that means me if it's my class) in a professional manner, and you'll typically be pleased with the outcome. If we talk and you still have a concern about me, my supervisor is the Dean of the College of Business and Technology, and the office location is Stipes 101.
Are you related to the Dr. Dre?Not that I know of. Back to Top
Copyright © John Drea, 2006. All rights reserved.
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