This class is designed to introduce you to the Tourism industry which is the
third largest employer in the United States and the number one employer world-wide.
The course is not intended to "sink your ship" but there is a fair amount of
academic rigor involved.
Some students who take this class earn "D's" or "F's" when they could have easily
earned a "C" or better.
Students who do well:
Do an "in depth" job on answering homework questions and complete all homework
assignments.
Write complete answers to all discussion board questions AND write full responses to the postings of at least three other students.
Read and study the text, review the class notes, find answers to the study questions, and study for exams -- most test questions come from the text and class notes.
Read all news items and supplemental readings and review them again before taking the exam -- several test questions always come from news and supplemental readings.
Follow all instructions -- for example use the correct format for sending homework to the instructor.
Don't wait until the last minute to do the semester project so it is well written and submitted on time. There is a specific format for the semester project -- please refer to the course syllabus and follow the format exactly as written.
Students typically don't do well in this class for the following reasons:
They don't do the homework -- a "zero" on a homework assignment is approximately
2.5 percentage points off your FINAL average. If you receive a "zero" on
a homework assignment, a final average that would have been a 91, or an "A",
is now an 88.5 -- a "B"! If you choose to take a zero in anything during the semester, I will not move a grade up. Just because you have an "A" on all the exams,
that does not guarantee you an "A" in the course.
They consistently turn their homework in late. Late homework assignments lose points for every day or part of a day they are late (50 points off for up to 24-hours late and a grade of "zero" 24-hours or more late). A homework assignment that would have been a 90 is a 40 if it is 8-hours late!
They don't do a discussion board. Discussion boards are worth approximately 2.5 percentage points
on your final average -- 'nuff said.
They don't do everything they need to do on the discussion board. The requirement
is to post your answer by midnight on a Thursday and respond to at least three
posting of other students by the following Tuesday. To get full credit, you
must do everything and before the deadlines. There is no grace period or "makeup" opportunities for discussion questions, once the board closes, your grade will be determined by what you have posted.
They don't read and follow instructions provided in the syllabus, FAQ's, exam
information, announcements, emails etc. (its really not that hard). This plays
a role in the "Attention to Detail" grade.
They don't read the news items and supplemental readings so they can't answer
several questions on the exams.
They don't study for the exams.
They don't do the semester project, hand it in late, and/or don't follow the format specified in the syllabus. Late projects lose
a significant number of points for every day or part of a day it is late (see the course syllabus for details).
If a student chooses to take a zero in any assignment, their final average will not be rounded up. For example, a 79.4% as a final average will remain a "C" whereas for a student with no zeros, it would be rounded to a "B".