Assignment Expectations

Goals

By the end of this class, you should be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of major issues in information ethics such as free speech, copyright, and privacy.
Demonstrate an understanding of how technology impacts each of these issues.
Demonstrate an understanding of a variety of ethical approaches and how they can be utilized to discuss information ethics issues.
Demonstrate an understanding of the legal context within which debate about information issues takes place.

Expectations

You will be graded by the following:

Participation in class (35% of the grade)

Attend class sessions
Read the assigned readings before class
Participate in discussion groups

Follow discussion guidelines
Show active interest and involvement
Bring 2-3 sentences that summarize the main idea of the reading
Bring 2 points of discussion (these can either be questions or point of disagreement/agreement)
In small groups, participate at least once in each of the following 3 roles:
- Leader
  - Keep the group focused on the reading
  - Seek participation from all of the group members
  - When necessary, remind the group to follow the discussion guidelines
- Recorder
  - Summarize the discussion
  - Write neatly for the presenter
- Presenter
  - Briefly summarize the article
  - Summarize the discussion using the notes from the recorder
  - Answer any questions from the class

Participate in class exercises

Topic Papers (30% of the grade)

There will be one short topic paper on each of the following topics:

Free Speech: What is your position on free speech and/or censorship? You can talk about this in the abstract or focus on a concrete example.
Intellectual Property: What is your position on intellectual property? I will leave it up to you to figure out how you'd like to focus this topic.
Privacy

These topic papers will be graded by awarding up to 5 points for each of the following criteria:

The length should be 3-4 pages double-spaced using 10-12 point type and standard margins.
Use good grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Using MLA or APA style, properly cite 3-4 sources (these can be from class readings, but there will be 5 bonus points for citing a scholarly article, chapter, or book not read in class).
Use good essay structure (the essay should be clear and well organized with an introduction (including a clear position/thesis statement), supportive statements, and conclusion).
Provide appropriate support for your position/statements.
Exhibit critical thinking.
Show awareness of the appropriate laws.
Show ethical criteria for the position taken.

Overriding concerns include evidence of plagiarism or a failure to address the paper topic.
Late papers will receive 2 points off for each day that it's late (these add up quickly!).

Group Presentation (15% of the grade)

The group presentation will be graded by awarding up to 5 points for each of the following criteria:

The length should be 15 minutes for 2-person groups and 20 minutes for 3-person groups (plus/minus a couple of minutes is allowable but it should come as close as possible to the time limit--this means you should practice; there will also hopefully be about 5 additional minutes for questions)
Show involvement of all group members.
Be informative and reflect a good comprehension of the subject matter. Check your facts and make sure that they're accurate.
Go beyond what we've learned in class.
Show at least two sides of the issue (this is expositional so you should try to be fair and unbiased for the presentation)
Discuss either the legal component, the ethical component, or both (whichever way is the most relevant for your topic)
Be well organized and clear.
Make a good use of visuals.
Use good presentation skills that are engaging to the audience.

Final Paper (20% of the grade)

The final paper will be graded by awarding points for each of the following criteria:

The length should be 7-8 pages double-spaced using 10-12 point type and standard margins. (5 points)
Use good grammar, spelling, and punctuation. (5 points)
Using MLA or APA style, properly cite a minimum of 5 sources (these should be readings from outside the class and at least 3 need to be from scholarly sources; any source that is found on the Web should be evaluated for good quality--see Dale Vidmar's Evaluating Web Resources). (10 points)
Use good essay structure (the essay should be clear and well organized with an introduction (including a clear thesis statement), supportive statements, and conclusion). (10 points)
Provide appropriate support for your claims. (10 points)
Exhibit original critical thinking--each paper from your group should be different. (10 points)
Go beyond the presentation and give more depth to an aspect of your topic. (5 points)
Show the legal component of your topic. (5-10 points)
Show the ethical component of your topic. (5-10 points--whichever is more relevant to your topic, ethics or law, will be worth 10 points and the other will be worth 5 points)

Overriding concerns include evidence of plagiarism or a failure to address the paper topic.

Due dates are on the syllabus.