COVENANT

Technology, Cognition and Education

Faculty Responsibilities

The faculty teaching team agrees to the following aims and obligations as a framework for excellence in delivering our program.

General:

(1) The program should focus on the following

exploring the connection between technological change and fundamental mental processes,
examining the implications of this connection for education,
explaining the historical changes in the status of representations,
giving specific consideration to the cognitive impact of literacy, quantitative techniques, visual perspective, film and video technology and electronic media in historical context.
providing "hands-on" experience in using computer and video technology including modeling using spreadsheets, imaging and web design, and use of analog video.
introducing students to active learning, seminar participation and writing

(2) Since the program is aimed at first year students, faculty will make special effort to introduce material appropriate to student preparation.

(3) Since the program is a team-taught interdisciplinary program, faculty will strive to push the boundaries of their disciplinary training and take active interest in the other subject matter areas that are covered in the program

(4) All members of the team will participate fully in not only the delivery but also the planning for the program

SPECIFIC:

The faculty teaching team will fully participate in all designated program activities.

Faculty will be assigned one of the seminar groups with whom they will meet at the times and on the topics indicated by program schedule. Each faculty will read and provide written feedback to his or her seminar students for the major writing assignments. Faculty will conduct an evaluation conference for these students and prepare a draft student evaluation. Faculty will prepare an "in-house" evaluation Fall Quarter in electronic form disk and assemble the final, two quarter evaluation also in electronic form for each student in their Winter Quarter seminar.

Faculty will be expected to organize and deliver lecture and workshop sessions as indicated on an annotated schedule. Other members of the team are expected to attend sessions as possible and carry out appropriate supplemental roles as arranged.

Faculty will be available to meet with students during office hours and by appointment as indicated on the syllabus.

Faculty will attend and actively participate in faculty seminar. They will have prepared by reading the designated text. Faculty in charge of Tuesday Morning General Session will facilitate the faculty seminar on that text.

Faculty will attend the Business meeting and carry out the following other (administrative) assignments as well as other tasks to be assigned equitably:

Thad—coordinate, lead business meeting, handle advising, act as program mediator, supervise writing tutors

JuPong—coordinate retreat, supervise program aides, organize film/video components

David—monitor program budget, liaison with computer center

Rachel (fall only) —liaison with bookstore, handle scheduling,

Faculty will hold a joint evaluation conference early in Spring Quarter for which each member of the team will prepare a written self-evaluation and draft evaluation of each of the other members of the team in accordance with the faculty handbook requirements. A final version of the evaluation will be conveyed to each of the other faculty.

Credit and Evaluation Policy

The evaluation process is a central feature of education at Evergreen. It is part of the learning process. In the act of writing self and faculty evaluations students reflect on their learning for a quarter. The evaluation conference is an important opportunity for the student and faculty to communicate about their perspectives on the quarter's work. Students are required to submit a self-evaluation quarterly and an individual faculty evaluation for each faculty when they finish the program in order to receive credit.

Credit is not the same as positive evaluation. Students receive credit for fulfilling minimum requirements and standards. The evaluation is a statement describing the quality of the student's work. It is possible for a student to receive credit but receive an evaluation that describes poor quality work. It is also possible for a student to attend regularly yet receive no or reduced credit because of unsatisfactory performance. If the faculty think you are in danger of getting less than full credit we will inform you as soon as the problem is clear. Students receiving less than the full credit for which they are enrolled may be asked to leave the program after Fall Quarter. Incompletes will be permitted in only exceptional circumstances and only given after consultation with the full program team. Evaluation will be based on how well students satisfy the following requirements:

AGREED UPON STUDENT REQUIREMENTS

(1) ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION--Students are expected to attend, be on time and participate in all program activities. In case of unavoidable absence students should inform their seminar leader before class by phone message or E-mail. If you miss class, you should arrange with your fellow students to find out what occurred, get a copy notes if appropriate, view videos if possible, and obtain any information about assignments announced at the session. Several absences constitute grounds for possible reduction of credit. Sign up sheets will be circulated at program activities to record attendance. It is the student's responsibility to locate and sign these sheets. Further, seminars and other group activities are not "spectator sports." Consequently, students should take an active role in discussion. Students are expected to be alert and sober in class and at program activities. In particular, no alcohol or other drugs will be permitted at the program retreat. Students who significantly disrupt class may be asked to leave and in cases of serious or continuing disruption may be dropped from the program with resulting loss of credit

(2) READINGS--Students are expected to complete all the assigned reading prior to the seminar or class in which they are discussed and should reflect this reading in their seminar comments or questions.

(3) ASSIGNMENTS--Students are expected to complete and submit all assignments on time. The faculty responsible for evaluating them will return them with an evaluation in a timely manner.

(4) GROUP WORK-- Students are expected to work in various groups within workshops. Group collaboration is generally encouraged and in some cases required; however, plagiarized work on take-home examinations or other work designated as "individual" is not acceptable and may be noted in evaluations, result in loss of credit, and in flagrant cases be referred to the Deans for further action. Plagiarism includes any unattributed direct quotation as well as the misrepresentation of the work of others as your own. It includes but is not limited to

A student paper that chiefly consists of sentences copied intact (or with only a few words changed or rearranged) from one or more sources, with or without reference to the author, without explicit use of quotation marks, italics or appropriate indentation to indicate direct quotation,

Sections of an assignment that are copied exactly (or with only a few words changed or rearranged) from one or more sources without reference to the author.

A paper or other assignment submitted by one person as their own but authored by another person

A graphic, figure, chart or graph reproduced without the identification of the source, including but not limited to material downloaded from the Internet

(5) SEEKING HELP--Students are expected to take the initiative in seeking help from faculty or program aides whenever significant difficulty exists with the pace or content of the program.

(6) EVALUATION--Student Evaluation conferences on will typically be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of Evaluation week with Seminar Faculty. Faculty will set up a schedule near the end of each quarter; students should plan to be on campus at that time for their conference. Students are expected to write a self -evaluation at the end of each quarter and faculty evaluations before leaving the program. A draft of the self-evaluation will be submitted to seminar faculty. The evaluation of faculty may be submitted at the conference or delivered to the faculty secretary to be held until after a faculty evaluation of student work has been completed.

(7) FORM OF WRITTEN WORK--All papers, abstracts, draft evaluations and other substantial blocks of written material should be submitted in typed form and be proofread before submission. Students are encouraged to use a word processor for this purpose.

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

Evergreen has long promoted the policy that conflict and grievances should be first dealt with face-to-face. Grievances between students, between students and faculty or among faculty should first be dealt with between the parties themselves. Should no satisfactory resolution be obtain the following procedures should be followed:

unresolved student-student disagreements should be discussed with the students' seminar leader(s)
unresolved student-faculty disagreements should be brought to the attention of other members of the faculty team who will attempt to mediate the dispute.
unresolved faculty-faculty disagreements should be discussed by the team as a group.

If grievances still remain unresolved students or faculty should follow the college-wide grievance procedures, which involve contacting the campus grievance officer or academic deans as outlined in the Student Handbook and other college documents.

In addition, students are more generally bound by the Evergreen Social Contract, a copy of which is attached. Continued enrollment in the program constitutes acceptance of this covenant.

Thad Curtz, JuPong Lin, David Paulsen, Rachel Scherr