Grading: Grades will be based on attendance, paper searching & selection, weekly reports, and a final research summary & notebook of materials. All work for the semester will be compiled in a lab notebook and submitted to the instructor, appropriately divided and labeled.

The class curve will be based on the highest grade received by someone in the course on each assignment. The sum of these high scores will be used to set the start of the curve. From that point, the following percentages will be applied in determining letter grades: 100-97% = A; 96-93 = A-; 92-89 = B+; 88-85 = B; 84-82 = B-; 81-79 = C+; 78-76 = C; 75-73 = C-; 72-70 = D+; 69-67 = D; 66-64 = D-; <63 = F.

	Attendance: Attendance will be taken at the start of each class period. Early departures will be treated as absences, as will late arrivals. Students with "perfect attendance" will have their grades raised a partial letter. Perfect attendance is defined as no more than one absence for the entire semester. For each absence after 2, a partial letter will be deducted from the student’s final grade. Explanations of absences/lateness /early departures are not necessary. Missing a class is not an excuse for turning in an assignment late or making-up a quiz, exam, or oral.
	Exam: There will be a final paper worth 40% of the course grade. The exam format will be a summary and critique of the selected topic area papers. The specific requirements will be provided Week 13 and the paper will be due at the start of the last class meeting. There are no early, late or make-up exams for any reasons.
	Homework: By week 4, students will select topic areas of interest. These topics should be personally interesting or useful to help motivate reading and writing! The topic areas should also be broad enough to allow for relatively easy completion of the weekly searches, but narrow enough to allow for topic understanding. Example: My topic of media violence is appropriate, but aggression or media alone would be too broad. Topics must be approved by the instructor and will be approved on first-come-first-serve basis. Duplicate topics will not be permitted.            Beginning week 5, students will conduct weekly literature searchers of professional and semi-professional literatures on their approved topics. Weekly search requirements will match information covered in lecture (e.g., Week 6 will involve searching for a text or popular press chapter/article and the written assignment will be due Week 7). An appropriate paper found for each assignment must be highlighted, referenced and critiqued. The instructor will provide specifics on the writing requirements. APA referencing format must be used. Standard English grammar is expected in preparation of papers. Additionally, assignments must be word processed, double-spaced, and stapled. A maximum of 4 pages is permitted per assignment. Late assignments will not be accepted. There are no make-up assignments. The weekly papers are worth 55% of the course grade.
	Research notebook: At the end of the semester, all work must be submitted a notebook. Notebooks will be graded based on completeness, neatness, and overall organization. It is suggested that students use section dividers, prepare a table of contents, and type all entries. The notebook is worth 5% of the course grade.

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