February 19

Flex Time Failures
I have tried everything I can think of to make this class work. The class itself argued that not having specific due dates/times would help everyone accomodate the class to their schedules and yet, rather than having more participation with flex time, we have had FAR less. People failed to post their drafts, and only one person properly completed peer revision by posting sample paragraphs/projects into the forum. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.

Therefore, this is the last week I will attempt the flex time format. In order to continue it, two things must happen:

1. There must be SIGNIFICANT discussion of Blackmore in the forum (I won't quanitfy "significant"--that would defeat the purpose of flex time).
2. All papers must be emailed to me by THURSDAY 7PM. I'll be out of town this weekend, and if I don't have all the papers, I cannot guarantee that I will hand them back on time.

If these two things do not occur, I will implement one of the following alternatives:

1. Forum-based requirements. This means everyone will have to make a minimum number of postings, of a minimum length, by set due dates. If you do not make the postings, you will be counted as absent and four or more absences risks failure for the class. In addition, there will be a half-letter grade penalty for not having a draft, and an additional half-letter grade penalty for not completing peer revision. Final drafts not handed in by the specified time will be marked down one full letter grade PER DAY that the work is late. In other words, we will go back to the old system with even more requirements and penalties.
2. Non-forum based requirements. Since there seems to be only marginal interest in the forum, the second possible alternative involves short written assignments due twice per week directly to me. These assignments will be graded. They will include things like summaries of the arguments of the essays, sample projects, practice paragraphs, and more.

I'm not sure I have many other choices. And I am also not sure I find previous justifications for flex time acceptable given the performance so far. If you cannot post AT 1:10, for example, then all that means is that you will have to manage your time so that you get the postings or written work in BEFORE that time. What it comes down to is this: if you are not spending 160 minutes per week on this class, then you are deceiving yourself. That's 160 minutes of "classroom" time--you can expect to spend even more on the papers. The reasoning behind this class was to provide a way for students to take 101 when a regular class would not fit into their schedules. BUT, there is a crucial difference between "not having time for a regular class in your schedule" and "not having time for this class." If you do not have the time in your life (as a whole) for this class, then you should not have taken it. To be sure, online Expos was NEVER intended to take LESS time than a regular class--just the SAME amount of time in different places.

I hope I have made myself clear. When we first ran this class, it had a 100% failure rate, due, in large part, to lack of student participation. I am trying to avoid repeating history. If the class can rise to this challenge, then we can maintain a looser format. But if not, things will change RADICALLY next week.

And, finally, I want to apologize to those few students who have demonstrated they can handle a flex time format. I'm sorry that your participation is not enough to maintain the class as a whole, and am even more sorry that you will be forced to accomodate much more draconian measures. I see no alternative.

My Comments on Drafts
I had intended to provide some basic safety net of peer feedback for everyone by making comments on the paragraphs and projects posted in the forum. Since there is (practically) nothing there, I cannot do that.

Discussing Blackmore
Susan Blackmore's essay is challenging--not only in the complexity and slipperiness of the term "meme" but also in that it challenges our basic notions of something like free will. We need to explore this essay on both fronts by thinking hard about what is and is not a meme and then thinking about the implications of her argument. Please see the forum for threads to initiate this discussion.

To Do for Next Class:

1. Begin discussing Blackmore.
2. Turn in final draft of paper 2 by emailing it to me at barriosb@rci.rutgers.edu by 4PM on Thu, or alternatively by emailing it to barrios@optonline.com by 7PM on Thu. If I do not receive the papers on time, I cannot guarantee I will return them to you on time.