2011 Course Requirements

2011 Course Requirements

COURSE PARTICIPATION:

COURSE (not CLASS) participation is a major component of your grade.  That includes commenting on this blog, on the class e-mail list (once it’s set up), talking in class, and your reading responses and blog post.

Your actual class participation (i.e. talking in class) grade has two pieces:  mandatory panel participation and then speaking when not on panel.  As a requirement, you must participate on a panel, meaning that you can be cold-called on the day you chose for panel.  Participation in panel is mostly a check/check minus affair — check pluses for panel participation are extremely uncommon and unlikely to be given at all.  However, you can improve your class participation grade by meaningful participation during days when you are not on panel the good old fashioned way — raising your hand.

Signup for panel may be found here.  (along with the blog post signup)

WRITTEN REQUIREMENTS:
Four Reading Responses, One Blog Post

READING RESPONSES:

As per class vote, there will be no intermediate deadlines.  You are responsible to turn in all written work prior to the end of the semester.  Reading responses should be two pages long, reacting to or otherwise making use of the course material (as explained in class).  Reading responses are submitted by emailing them to papers@yalelawtech.org

The following guidelines apply:

1) You may not write two reading responses in a single week.

2) You may not do both a blog post and reading response for the same class without prior approval.

3) Reading responses on a particular subject must be turned in no later than 3:30 on the day of the class that covers that subject.

BLOG POSTS:

Signup for blog posts can be found here.  (along with the panel signup)

Blog posts must be made prior to 3:30 the day of the class they are about.

MIDTERM:

The midterm will be given out in October.  It will be a take-home — distributed in-class on Wednesday and due by Sunday at 11:59pm. You should not need more than four hours to take the exam — we are giving you multiple days because we understand that scheduling a single four-hour block that would be convenient for all students is impossible. The midterm is open notes, open course materials, open internet, open google. (“Phone-a-Friend” “Voip-A-Friend” “gChat-a-Friend” et seq. are not appropriate.) There will be a word limit.

FINAL or GROUP PROJECT:

We will have a final that will be similar to the midterm (it will be appropriate to take in a single sitting but it will be a take-home exam). Instead, you can opt to do a group project.  If you decide to do a group project and want to take the final anyway (because you had so much fun with the midterm) you may do so for extra credit (check plus/check minus, graded by Brad).