Group Activities

For weighting, see Evaluation & Grading

No one can pay full attention that long on a regular basis.

So usually, but probably NOT always, we will break from lecturing at about the 40 minute mark for a group activity.

Nota bene:

1. The group activities are done in groups of ONE during pandemic, unless you can work with someone with whom you adequately safe.
2. Group Activities are a good learning mode and make good use of classtime, and so you are strongly encouraged to do them.

Rules of the group activity:

1. A group activity will usually be specified in the current IALs.

   The group activity will be carried out in groups of 2 or 3 usually.

   Introduce yourselves, make new friends, help your new friends like Euclid (fl. 300 BCE) in the figure below (local link / general link: euclid.html).

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2. Almost always, the group activity is just working your way through several of the homework questions for the current IAL lecture.

   Students should put their answers on a slip of paper.

   There is only ONE slip per group and all the students should put their names on it.

   Note it is academic dishonesty to put down the names of students who were NOT present or did NOT participate. It is shameful to cheat like this or any other way. It does NOT matter if the cheating is undetectable.
   The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.
   ---attributed to Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800--1859), but actually by Anonymous (see Wikiquote: Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay: Attributed).

   Your name should be PRINTED and include lastname---do NOT image you are the only Janeuf in the class.

   So NO names in cursive like John Hancock's signature (see the figure below: local link / general link: john_hancock.html) and NO runes like Gandalf (see the figure below: local link / general link: alien_runes.html).

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3. Usually there will be about 8 minutes for the group activity, about 2 minutes to take it up, and 1 minute or so for the absconders to abscond.

   The group activity slips should be handed at the end of class---or when you abscond during the group activity.

   Just put group activity slips on the front table as you head out.

4. You get one point for a group activity whatever your answers are.

5. I can miss group activity reports since I only glance at the group activity slips.

   Any corrections to the grade record for group activities (which can be checked by the students---see Posted Grade Records and Anonymous Aliases) must be done very soon after the date the corrections are asked for. I'm NOT going to consider corrections for dates long past when accurate memory of group activities done has faded from mind.

6. I give 7 drops for the group activity---so the group activity is only minimally an attendance encourager.

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7. There are special drops up to a LIMIT of 5 for religious holidays, official extracurricular activities, illnesses, emergencies, special education/career occasions, unavoidable absences, late registration, etc.

   Just let me know that you need a special drop. I just take your word for it.

   If you have 5 special drops and 7 ordinary drops already, and need more special drops, I will just drop the whole group activity item: see Dropping Whole Group Activity Item below.

8. Note that whenever one has lots of drops, one needs a tricky formula for accounting for them. You can understand it you try really really hard. It's given at Grade Record Interpretation: Note 4.

9. Group Activity Makeups: UNLV Policies for Faculty & All Teaching Staff require that students be given the opportunity to make up marked items missed for excusable absences: these being defined to be religious holidays and official extracurricular activities ONLY. However, there is almost nothing to make up in the case of group activities. The group activities can always be done by students working on their own time alone---but between special drops and ordinary drops, there will usually be no impact on a student's grade for missed group activities for excusable absences. However, if a student with an excusable absence does the group activity on their own and hands in or emails a group activity answer slip, they will receive the group activity mark instead of a drop or special drop.

10. Dropping Whole Group Activity Item: If you CANNOT attend class regularly at all for job or other reasons, I can drop the whole group activity item from your grade. If a person was coming to class all the time or nearly all the time, dropping the group activity item would be a disadvantage since they would likely get 100 % on the group activity. But if a person, CANNOT attend class at all, they would get zero on the group activity and that would lower their average by 10 % or so. So dropping the group activity would be good for that person.

    I require that students ask me to drop the group activity. I don't do it automatically if it improves your grade.

    You can ask to have group activity dropped up until the time grades are submitted to the registrar---but NOT after.

    People who have had the group activity dropped have to report readings by email and keep track of exam dates from the Course Website / Extended Syllabus: Exam Schedule. Remember the posted dates are only tentative until maybe a week before the exams.

Summer Semester Qualification 2:

For in-person-instruction courses for summer semester 90-minute periods, the group activity will be followed by a short break for 5 minutes or so. The group activity will typically start 5 to 10 minutes before the 5-minute-or-so break (see Summer Semester Qualification 1).