Technical Requirements

For this course we recommend the minimum World Campus technical requirements listed below:

Course Schedule

[Printer Friendly Version]

• Note: All due dates reflect North American eastern time (ET).

  Course Length: 16 weeks

DUE SUNDAY AT MIDNIGHT, NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED

NOTE: All due dates reflect North American eastern time (ET).

Note: If you are planning to graduate this semester, please communicate your intent to graduate to your instructor. This will alert your instructor to the need to submit your final grade in time to meet the published graduation deadlines. For more information about graduation policies and deadlines, please refer to Graduation at the Chaiken Center for Student Success.

Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.

Grading

This course is set up in fifteen lessons. Within these lessons you will need to complete two required assignments; a discussion board forum and a lesson activity.  With each of the Five Components there is a graded quiz comprised of multiple choice questions. A final exam will also be required on the last week of the semester and this exam will consist of five short essay questions drawn from the five component subjects of the course.  Assignments are due on Sunday at mid-night.

Discussion Board Forums: Criminal justice is a field in which there are many different opinions. To promote student engagement and critical thinking, these discussion board forums will ask you to critically analyze a particular question and respond to it in an academic manner (a manner that isn’t personal opinion, but academically based).  Students are expected to post their own individual response and to receive full credit students should provide some credible response, comment, or reply to another student's forum post.

Grades for your discussion board forums will be based upon:

• Does the answer directly address the question?
• Does the student critically analyze the course material?
• Is the response thorough enough to show a deep level of understanding, analysis, and application?
• Does the student provide relevant examples to back up their response? This may include weblinks, references to the course text, referring to other academic sources.

Discussion board forums must:

• Demonstrate strong critical thinking skills as evidenced by analyzing and evaluating relevant theories, literature, and data
• Demonstrate personal application of concepts – use relevant personal/professional examples
• Be submitted by the appropriate and established deadlines
• Use clear, concise language and appropriate terminology (do not use text message format, abbreviations etc.)

Lesson Activity: Each week, students will complete a lesson activity. Lesson activities are provided to enhance what students have learned in the textbook, lesson notes, and supplemental material for that week's topic. Lesson Activities will focus on active learning and critical thinking and will encourage the student to use internet search resources and other public domain or open sources to combine current events and relevant case studies that are locally relevant to the student.

Grades for your lesson activities will be based upon:

• Student’s ability to articulate definitions, concepts, and theories from all lesson sources including textbook, lesson notes, and supplemental materials
• Application of definitions and concepts to current issues within the criminal justice system
• Ability to apply and link core concepts with relevant examples to propose new decision making and problem solving solutions to criminal justice topics

Lesson activities must:

• Demonstrate strong critical thinking skills as evidenced by analyzing and evaluating relevant theories, literature, and data
• Demonstrate active learning through higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, evaluation)
• Demonstrate personal application of concepts – use relevant personal/professional examples
• Be submitted by the appropriate and established deadlines

Quizzes: The course quizzes are provided as a practice tool to gauge comprehension of terminology and concepts. The questions are pulled randomly from a database of questions, and will consist of multiple choice answers. Correct answers for these questions will be provided to the student after quiz submission. The quizzes are graded.  The quizzes have a total of 20 questions and there is no time limit however students are expected to take the quiz in one setting.

Final Exam: Your final exam will be comprised of five short essay questions. Each question should be thoroughly answered and must show evidence of a) critical thinking skills (did student read the material, understand the material) and b) application (is the student able to provide relevant examples, integrate course book, forums, and activities). The test should be completed no later than the deadline provided by the Course Instructor (please keep in mind if you are graduating this is even more important) and late exams will not be graded. Your final exam is cumulative, meaning that you will be tested over all five of the component lessons content.

Required components will count for the following:

Students are required to submit all Lesson Assignments by the due date to receive full credit.

The grading scale for the course follows Penn State University guidelines and consists of:

Please refer to the University Registrar's information about University grading policies.

If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.

For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.

Academic Integrity

According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity (for undergraduate students in undergraduate courses) and policy GCAC-805 Academic Integrity (for graduate students and undergraduate students in graduate courses), an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.

Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity or GCAC-805 Academic Integrity as appropriate). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.

How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and others, as well as a civil community.

In cases where academic integrity is questioned, procedures allow a student to accept or contest/appeal the allegation. If a student chooses to contest/appeal the allegation, the case will then be managed by the respective school, college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. Review procedures may vary by college, campus, or school, but all follow the aforementioned policies.

All academic integrity violations are referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response, which may assign an educational intervention and/or apply a Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, or Expulsion.

Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page.

University Policies

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities, including World Campus. The Disabilities and Accommodations section of the Chaiken Center for Student Success website provides World Campus students with information regarding how to request accommodations, documentation guidelines and eligibility, and appeals and complaints. For additional information, please visit the University's Student Disability Resources website.

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.

Students with disabilities participating in internship, practicum, student teaching, or other experiential learning opportunities as part of their degree requirements may also be eligible for reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access and opportunity. These accommodations are determined through an interactive process involving the student, their University supervisor, and the site supervisor. Student Disability Resources can assist students with identifying potential barriers, facilitating accommodation requests, and coordinating with University supervisors to promote inclusive learning experiences.

For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.

In order to protect your privacy, course access is limited to those individuals who have direct responsibility for the quality of your educational experience. In addition to the instructor, a teaching assistant or college administrator may be provided access in order to ensure optimal faculty availability and access. World Campus technical staff may also be given access in order to resolve technical support issues.

1. Students are responsible for online course content, taking notes, obtaining other materials provided by the instructor, taking tests (if applicable), and completing assignments as scheduled by the instructor.  As a general rule, students should plan on logging into the course at least three times per week and spending at least three hours per course credit per week on the course, e.g., if the course is three credits, the student should plan on spending at least 9-12 hours per week on the course, just as they would in a residence course.
2. Students are responsible for keeping track of changes in the course syllabus made by the instructor throughout the semester.
3. Students are responsible for monitoring their grades.
4. Students must contact their instructor (and teammates when working on any collaborative learning assignments) as soon as possible if they anticipate missing long periods of online time due to events such as chronic illnesses, death in the family, business travel, or other appropriate events. The instructor will determine the minimal log on time and participation required in order to meet course responsibilities. In the event of other unforeseen conflicts, the instructor and student will arrive at a solution together.
   1. Instructors may require students to provide documentation with the class absence form or other written notification for events such as illness, family emergency, or a business-sanctioned activity.
   2. Conflicts with dates on which examinations or assignments are scheduled must be discussed with the instructor or TA prior to the date of the examination or assignment.
5. Students are responsible for following appropriate netiquette (network etiquette) when communicating with their instructor and classmates. For reference, see the Academic Success Kit.
6. Behaviors that disrupt other students’ learning are not acceptable and will be addressed by the instructor.
7. For severe and chronic problems with student disruptive behavior, the following will be applied for resolution:
   1. Senate Committee on Student Life policy on managing classroom disruptions: Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
   2. Penn State Values.