Academic Skills

Course Description

The aim of this course is to further develop students’ basic academic skills. This course will practice and build on the skills learned in English 1~4. The first focus will be on improving sentence structure and academic essay writing. In-class writing as well as a short essay using the Online Homework Submission and Evaluation System will be required. Additionally, students will learn the basic principles of the scientific method and the engineering process and put those principles into practice. Finally, students will learn about proposal making via group work and informal group presentation.

Course Goals

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• use the eight basic sentence patterns to express written ideas
• explain the pros and cons of a situation in a written essay format
• understand the basics of the scientific method
• understand the basics of the engineering process
• listen to short lectures and understand the key words and main ideas
• make a group proposal and explain their ideas in a clear and concise manner

For more detailed information, check the Can-do Goals for this course.

Grading Criteria

Grades will be based on the following:

14 In-class Activities	In-class tasks are graded on a 4-3-2-1-0 scale. If all requirements of the task are completed at an exceptional level, you will receive 4 points; if they are fully met, you will receive 3 points; if they are adequately met, 2 points; if they are only partially met, 1 point; if you do not participate in the task or are absent, 0 points.	56 Points
1 Homework Assignment	10 points (no late homework is accepted)	10 Points
1 Quiz	14 points	14 Points
1 Group Proposal	20 points NOTE: A score of 0 for either the presentation materials section or presentation delivery section on your group proposal will result in an unsatisfactory grade ('F') for the course.	20 Points
Late to class, using your cell phone, chattering in Japanese, sleeping in class, no text, no dictionary	minus 1 point

Text

Academic and Media Skills: English Expeditions, Seibido Publishing Co., Ltd.

Note: You are required to purchase a copy of this text for this class. Any possession of a copy of this text (even if it is your own copy) from a previous semester will be considered a violation of academic honesty.

English-English Dictionary

You are required to bring an English-English dictionary to class every day. See the list of recommended dictionaries below for more information.

Course Schedule

Class	Weekly Topics	In-class Activities	HW	Quiz	Group Proposal	Agenda
1	Defining Skill Sets
2	Writing Skills	Sentence Patterns Brainstorming / Pros and Cons
3	Writing Skills	Outlining and Key Sentences
4	Scientific Method	Defining the Scientific Method
5	Scientific Method	Dependent and Independent Variables
6	Engineering Process	Introduction to Quirky, Edison Nation, and Kickstarter	HW6
7	Engineering Process	Engineering Process in Action
8	Engineering Process	Project Development
9	Writing Skills	Writing Feedback		Quiz
10	TED Talk	Note Taking
11	TED Talk	Discussion
12	TED Talk	Proposal Preparation
13	TED Talk	Proposal Preparation
14	TED Talk	Online Evaluations			Group Proposal
15	TED Talk	Online Evaluations Proposal Reflection			Group Proposal

Course Can-do Goals



Program-wide Standards

Grading Scale

90% or more, A+; 80-89%, A; 70-79%, B; 60-69%, C; below 60%, F

NOTE: At the end of your second semester, you will be taking a TOEIC-IP exam. You will then be re-streamed for your second-year courses based on the results of this achievement exam, your placement test, and the numerical average of all of your first-year English courses. Therefore, it is important to strive for not only a high letter grade, but also for the highest numerical grade that you are capable of.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend class regularly. Failure to attend class regularly may result in a reduction of the student's overall grade. Students will be penalized 3 'demerits' for each absence and 1 'demerit' for each 30-minute period they're late. Students who accumulate more than 15 'demerits' (the equivalent of 5 absences) will receive an unsatisfactory grade ('F') for the course, regardless of their actual score. As a rule, no make-up work will be given for unexcused absences.

NOTE: Students who fail to take the TOEIC-IP exam will have 5 points subtracted from the total score of EACH English class they are enrolled in.

English-English Dictionaries

You are required to bring an English-English dictionary to class every day. The following is a list of quality paper dictionaries for English language learners. You may use any other dictionary or you may elect to use an electronic dictionary.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Oxford University Press.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman Press.
Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, HarperCollins Publishers.

Online FAQs

A bilingual set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) has been prepared for each course, as well as a general set for the entire curriculum. You can access these FAQs from the menus on your English Expeditions home page. Please read all of your FAQs before your second meeting.

Extra-Credit Points

The English Expeditions extra-credit system is tied into the TOEIC exercises, in order to encourage all students to practice their TOEIC test-taking skills in preparation for the TOEIC examination. For more information on the TOEIC examination, see the TOEIC Exercises section of your Online Education text. The extra-credit point system is as follows:

Semester One	Semester Two	Semester Three	Semester Four
Correctly complete the following cycles of TOEIC exercises BEFORE their deadlines. Cycle 1 (1 point): April 30 Cycle 2 (2 points): May 30 Cycle 3 (3 points): June 30	Correctly complete the following cycles of TOEIC exercises BEFORE their deadlines. Cycle 1 (1 point): October 20 Cycle 2 (2 points): November 15 Cycle 3 (3 points): November 30 AND Score higher on the TOEIC test than you scored on the placement test.	Correctly complete the following cycles of TOEIC exercises BEFORE their deadlines. Cycle 1 (1 point): April 30 Cycle 2 (2 points): May 30 Cycle 3 (3 points): June 30	Correctly complete the following cycles of TOEIC exercises BEFORE their deadlines. Cycle 1 (1 point): October 20 Cycle 2 (2 points): November 15 Cycle 3 (3 points): November 30 AND Score higher on the second TOEIC test than you scored on both the first TOEIC test and the placement test.

NOTE: Students who have failed to score higher than 0 on any Homework Assignments or have been found in violation of our academic honesty policy are ineligible for extra-credit points.

The Extra-Credit points available for each course are outlined in the chart below.  Blue cells  only apply to Fall classes.
Note: TOEIC Bridge-IP scores will be converted to TOEIC-IP scores for all calculations.

No Academic Honesty Violations	HW > 0	TOEIC Exercise Cycles Completed by Deadline			TOEIC-IP Exam						Extra- Credit Points
		1	2	3	Took Exam	Score Gain	TOP 5 Score	TOP Gain Class	Score > 200	Score < 20% Drop
											10
											10
											10
											10
											6
							OR	OR			5
							OR	OR			4
							OR	OR			3
							OR	OR			3
							OR	OR			2
							OR	OR			1
											0
											0
											0
											0
							OR	OR			-5
							OR	OR			-5
							OR	OR			-5

Guidelines

The following guidelines are designed to make your English classes run a bit more smoothly. Please take the time to read each of them carefully and ask questions if any of the points are unclear.

Classroom

• No chattering when someone else (especially the teacher!!) has the floor.
• In-class tasks must be completed in English. English classes meet only once a week for 90 minutes. If you speak Japanese while you're in English class, you're wasting possibly your only chance to practice English every week.
• Use only a ballpoint pen for text-based exercises. It is important to learn from your mistakes and if you use a pencil, you'll probably end up erasing your mistakes. If you find that you've made a mistake, cross it out with a single line (so that you can still read it and learn from it!).
• Attendance is taken only once per class. If you come late, be sure to write your name on the blackboard so that the teacher can mark you present after class.
• Turn off all portable telephones during class and remove them from your desk during class.
• Do not do homework from other classes during your English class.

Textbook

Language courses in the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering are designated as lectures. You are required to devote two hours of study outside of class for every one hour inside the classroom. The following are suggestions to help you use the textbook, both inside and outside of the classroom, to its fullest.

• Since we only have a few minutes together each week, it is important that you thoroughly prepare for each class. Fully complete each assignment, writing as many details as possible, before you come to the classroom. If you are absent, check your syllabus for the scheduled assignment.
• Always, always, always bring your text to class! If you've forgotten your text, then borrow one of your classmates' and make copies for the lesson that we will be covering in class that day. You cannot expect to do well in class if you don't have your book. Remember, if you don't bring your text to class, you will have one point deducted from your in-class exercise score for that day.
• Although we may not have time to cover every section of each unit in class, you are still responsible for the entire unit. Therefore, when reviewing each unit, make sure that you review the entire unit.
• Do NOT open your textbooks in the classroom, including before class begins, until your teacher instructs you to do so.

The Academic Honesty Policy for S&E English Classes

The following will be considered violations of our academic honesty policy:

1. Copying answers from another student's exercise, quiz, etc. before or during class.
2. Showing your exercise, quiz, etc. to another student before or during class.
3. Using any form of 'cheat sheet' in performing an exercise, quiz, etc.
4. Taking copies of an exercise, quiz, etc. (including unused copies) outside of the classroom. (This includes taking pictures of the exercise, quiz, etc.)
5. Using writing instruments or telephones during feedback of an in-class exercise, quiz, etc.
6. Copying answers from another student's exercise, quiz, etc. while it is being administered.
7. Copying any portion of a homework exercise from another student.
8. Allowing any portion of your homework exercise to be copied by another student.
9. Copying (or closely paraphrasing) portions of a homework assignment from other sources (printed matter, the Internet, etc.) and presenting it as your own, regardless of whether you acknowledge the source. This includes using translation software to translate any portion of your submission into English.
10. Sharing Rainbow or English Expeditions User IDs or Passwords with another student.

Any of the above violations will result in a score of 0 for ALL exercises on that day, as well as forfeiting your chance for extra-credit.

理工学部英語授業における「不正行為」に関する取り決め

不正行為は、いかなる理由があれ一切認められません。以下のような行為は、不正行為とみなします。

1. 他者のQuiz, Exercise(予習用課題、復習用課題を含む)の答えを勝手に盗み見たり、写させてもらったりした場合
2. 他者にQuiz, Exercise(予習用課題、復習用課題を含む)の答えを写させた場合
3. Quiz, Exercise等において、カンニングペーパー等を使用した場合
4. Quiz, Exercise等の答案(未使用のものも含む)を不当に持ち帰った場合 (カメラ付き携帯等による撮影も含みます)
5. Quiz, Exercise等のフィードバックの際、筆記用具、携帯電話等を手にした場合 (正答を盗もうとしたとみなします)
6. その他、Quiz, Exercise等の実施を妨害する行為、他者の受験を妨害する行為、 替え玉受験等も、不正行為とみなします。
7. Homework Assignmentにおいて、他者のAssignmentの一部または全部をコピーした場合
8. Homework Assignmentにおいて、他者に自身のAssignmentの一部または全部を コピーさせた場合
9. Homework Assignmentにおいて、書籍やWWWのサイトから得た情報をそのまま、 もしくは改ざんの後、断りなく(引用を明記せずに)、自身のAssignmentに盗り入れた(すなわち著作権を侵害した)場合(英語の授業で課されるassignmentの多くは、引用を明記する、しないにかかわらず、一切の引用を認めていません) 。これには翻訳ソフトの使用も含みます。一旦日本語で書いて、それを翻訳ソフトを利用して翻訳して提出することは、それがたとえ一文であっても許されません。
10. RainbowやEnglish ExpeditionsのユーザーIDやパスワードの授受があった場合

上記、および上記に類する「不正行為」があった場合は、当該学生の当該科目における、その日の得点を0点にするとともに、Extra-credit pointsはすべて無効になります。