Information:
- Course Overview: For students with little or no background or previous study of Spanish or those who place into course via Spanish placement exam. Development of communicative abilities within an integrated skill approach (speaking, listening, reading, writing). Introduction to the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Includes written and oral assignments of language structures and vocabulary. Conducted entirely in Spanish. Closed to native speakers of Spanish. Due to the nature of the course and the process of learning a second language, you will be expected to complete a significant amount of work on your own outside of class, and to treat in-class time as a precious commodity, focused principally on speaking and listening. See the Course Objectives for what a successful student will be able to do with the language at the end of the course.
- Placement Test. If you have studied Spanish previously (high school or college), you are required to take the placement test prior to enrollment in the course. No exceptions. Complete information on placement testing can be found here. Prior to the start of the class fill out and submit this Google Form to verify that you are enrolled in the correct class. If you have forgotten your score or lost your paperwork follow these instructions in order to find your score. If you have not studied Spanish previously you do not need to take the placement test. Note: Unless you have met FL proficiency with another language you do not receive graduation credit hours for this course.
Textbook Package: MindTap for Plazas: Lugar de encuentros, Cengage Learning, 5th Ed., 2019. The access code for MindTap for Plazas can be purchased through the NC State bookstore, or online. There are various options regarding cost ($100-$146), duration of access (4-24 months) and media (electronic + a loose-leaf textbook). The course code is: SECTION 001: MTPP-STCQ-P1SC and SECTION 002 - MTPN-PN4N-C3WL. For best results, use a computer (not your phone) and use Chrome for your browser when completing all MindTap activities. Watch this video to learn how to navigate MindTap. See additional information on the Spanish Lower Division page. (Note: Cengage offers a free 7 day trial if you are waiting on your book key to arrive.) If you find that you are in the wrong section in MindTap, visit this url, getenrolled.com, to get in the correct section. If your email address is being used as your name, fix the problem by visiting this link.
- MindTap Activities:
Fully engaged participation in the learning process is expected. Use the learning activities (Ready!, Learn it!) to learn the concepts and then use the application activities (Practice it!, Use it! Got it!) to practice, develop and refine your language proficiency. The activities can be completed on any Internet-enabled
computer with speakers/headphones, including in the HSS Language Labs. You receive an aggregate MindTap grade each week. You will receive full credit for each week's assigned activites if you complete the activities ACCORDING TO the course
schedule and if you earn at least 80% for all activities. (Note: punctuation is graded; the activities requiring a course mate are optional, and will help you prepare for class.) Complete the assignments well in advance of the deadlines on the course
schedule. You are responsible for meeting all deadlines for all class material starting with the first day of class, regardless of when you register for the course. (See the NCSU attendance regulation 02.20.03.) Your two lowest weekly MindTap scores will be dropped at the end of the semester. If you do lose your home/office/apartment internet connection, the Cengage Mobile app can be used to complete most Mindtap and other course assignments. If you are having a technical issue with MindTap, please inform your GTA and then visit the Cengage Support Services Portal for troubleshooting help, including Live Chat, or calling 1-800-354-9706. Track a MindTap outage here: https://techcheck.cengage.com/.
- Daily Assignments / Participation / Attendance. You are expected to attend fully each class session (see the NCSU Attendance Policy) during the semester and actively participate in the language learning process. Regardless of course modality (F2F or OL-SYNC) you should arrive to class early, having already dressed, eaten, gone to the bathroom, be out of bed, and be ready to work. For F2F, we will maintain social distancing, wear masks the entire time, sanitize our hands with the hand sanitizer and participate in all of our small group work carefully. Ensure that your attire (including your mask) does not incite negative reactions/emotions. For OL-SYNC, you will need access to a computer connected to a consistent, broadband internet connection, with a functioning microphone, and a webcam that will need to be on the entire class period with you visible, present and accounted for at all times, every day. (Not enabling your webcam the entire time, or attending only a portion of the class without prior approval from your GTA will be considered an absence.) Download the Zoom Client here rather than use the browser-based Zoom. Inform others of your schedule so that you are not interrupted and be sure that anything in your Zoom presence (attire and background) will not materially impact the Zoom session/experience nor incite negative reactions/emotions. Use your NCSU preferred name as your Zoom name. The Zoom links for office hours and class sessions are found at the top of this page. (Be sure to refresh this page each day you visit.) For F2F and OL-SYNC, to properly prepare, participate and earn a "4/4" for each day of class, you are expected to complete and submit the assigned MindTap activities (see the course schedule) prior to 8 AM on the day indicated, plus prepare any "¡A conversar!"activities included in the eBook pages and the multi-person MindTap activities as needed (orally, written out, etc.) in order to complete them during the class session (without the use of electronics); plan on two to three hours of preparation outside of class for every hour in class. Your daily grade reflects your preparation for class, as well as your active engagement with the instructors and your course mates in the learning process during class. Each class session will include opportunities
for full-class, large-group, and paired work (F2F or through breakout rooms in Zoom). Your daily
participation is expected, appreciated, evaluated and recorded through quizzes
and daily observation. See the participation rubric for additional details. Except to provide for an accommodation, or unless explicity instructed by the professor, all electronic devices are to be silenced and stowed for the duration of the class (both F2F and OL-SYNC); failure to do so will result in your being invited to leave the classroom and earning a "0" for the day. The three lowest daily participation scores will be dropped at the end of the semester (to allow for late enrollment in the course, general sickness (e.g 24-hour flu, stomach bug), career fair, doctor's appointment, missed alarm, job interview, wedding, visiting a sick relative, etc.)
- Absences. Attendance is mandatory and required for a successful completion of the course. Each unexcused absence (or excused absence not made up) after 3 will result in a 1% deduction from the overall final grade, regardless of when you begin attending the class. Contact your GTA prior to any absence, if possible, or as soon after the absence as possible. COVID 19-related absences will be considered excusable; documentation need only involve communication with your GTA. Documentation for other types of excusable absences must be provided within two days of the student's return to class in order for the documented absence to be considered for designation as an excusable absence. (See the "Make-up work" section below, and sections 3.1 and 3.2 of the NCSU Attendance Policy). Absences involving complicated/confidential situations (funerals, etc.) may need to be managed by your contacting absence-verification@ncsu.edu. If the course is currently full, students not attending the first two days of class will be subject to disenrollment.
- Testing. Quizzes will happen in one of two ways. Either the instructors will select at random one of the MindTap "practice it" activities submitted prior to class to serve as the daily quiz, or an in-class quiz will be given over material assigned for the day. If in class, they are timed and simple. They are intended to facilitate your on-time arrival to each class, and to encourage you to actively engage in the process of preparing all the assigned activities prior to attending each class session. If you miss a daily quiz you earn a "0" for that quiz. The two lowest
quiz scores will be dropped at the end of the semester. Hourly tests will concentrate
on each current chapter, but of necessity include material from all
previous chapters. An expectation sheet will be provided for each hourly exam and the final exam. The Final Exam will
be comprehensive, and administered
on the date/time indicated on the course schedule. Please review and add to your calendar the exam dates found in the course schedule. All five exams are administered through Moodle, during the designated class time slot, using Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor. Use this link if your computer is having trouble downloading LockDown Browser; Chromebooks are not compatible with the Lockdown Browser. If an emergency arises and you must miss an exam, contact the instructor as soon as possible.
- Make-up Work / Late Assignments.
The daily participation grade reflects both your preparation for class, as well as your active participation in the many opportunities for individual, pair, small and large group language work during class. Therefore, the active FL classroom experience, represented by your daily participation grade, is problematic to make up. The Attendance Regulation (review here: REG 02.20.03) requires instructors take attendance in 100- and 200-level courses. Excusable absences include: required COVID-19 testing and/or symptoms, required military duty or court attendance, religious observances, significant illness, funeral service of a family member, or instances in which the student is representing the university in an official capacity. Contact your GTA prior to ANY anticipated absence, and as soon as possible after an unanticipated absence. After contacting your GTA, excusable absences (and associated quizzes) MAY be made up by first preparing all activities associated with the day to be made up, then providing your documentation (doctor's note for significant illness, obituary, court summons, etc.) and spending 30 minutes in a Zoom session during your GTA's office hour reviewing the day's activities; the make-up session must occur within 1 week of returning to class. Excusable absences that are not made up will remain as absences. We do drop several low grades at the end of the course (see #4, #5 and #7). If you will/did miss an hourly/final exam, contact the instructor (and CC your GTA) ASAP to see if anything can be done. Regarding other assignments/projects, late work is generally not accepted. Plan ahead for problems, assume that everything may not always go as planned (particularly with technology), identify a secondary Internet source as needed, and complete
assignments and homework ahead of time. Please visit with me if you have questions or concerns about this.
- Projects & Oral Assessment. There will be a series of projects assigned during the course of the semester, principally dealing with oral assessment, and will include a culminating oral assessment conducted during the final week of classes. These projects are assigned, accessible and due as indicated on the course schedule. Scores will be based on the
individual project rubrics.
- Grades. Your grades are posted using a PIN assigned by the instructor. Your PIN
- Credit-only / Audit / Incomplete. Credit-only students must earn a 70% or higher to pass the course with an "S". Students auditing the course complete everything but the hourly and final exams, and must earn 70% or higher for a grade of "AU". To audit the course, fill out the form here. A grade of "Incomplete" is only assigned per university policy. Note: If you plan to meet graduation requirements using Spanish courses, you must successfully complete this course for credit (letter grade or s/u) in order to take FLS102.
- Academic Integrity.
Regardless of discipline, honest and rigorous scholarship is at the foundation of a Research I institution. All instructors of foreign languages at NC State take very seriously the principle of academic integrity. (See sections 7-13 of the Code of Student Conduct, accessible from the web site of the Office of Student Conduct.) You are expected to have read the entire NCSU Code of Student Conduct. You and your instructor will follow both the spirit and letter of that code. When you submit any assignment for the course, include the statement "This is my work; I did not receive any unauthorized assistance in completing this assignment." The copying or sharing of answers under any circumstances, or looking at another student's work during a test or a quiz is a violation of the code, as is using Google Translate, or similar A violation of the code will result in my submitting a RAIV with a minimum recommended sanction of academic integrity probation and a score of "0" on the item, or a '0" for the course, along with additional sanctions. Please see important, additional departmental policies here, including policies dealing with the textbook. Finally read this recent letter from the Office of Student Conduct.
- e-Mail Etiquette. Use e-mail judiciously. If you have a question, before sending an e-mail to the professor or GTA's, first look for the answer in this syllabus, in the FAQ, or the Current Issues list (click on "Current" link on the top of this page). Include a meaningful subject in the subject line, and include "FLS101" and your section # so that your work will be directed to the appropriate e-mail folder and not to the spam folder. Begin your e-mail with "Srta. Bertke", "Dr. Despain," etc. Be courteous. Use your first and last name to sign your e-mail. If you must e-mail the professor, CC your GTA. Create an e-mail folder in which to store, through the end of the semester, a copy of all correspondence for this course. Dr. Despain does not check e-mail on Sunday, and checks only sporadically on Saturday.
- Accommodations for Disabilities. Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with the Disability Resource Office at Holmes Hall, Suite 304, 2751 Cates Avenue, Campus Box 7509, 919-515-7653. For more information on NC State’s policy on working with students with disabilities, please see the Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Regulation (REG02.20.01). Students with diagnosed disabilities schedule an appointment with the professor during the first week of classes to discuss academic accommodations. This student/professor meeting occurs after the professor receives official documentation from the DRO.
- Adverse Weather/Technical Issues. From time to time adverse weather or server down time disrupts our lives. Read the complete adverse weather policy for more info. Check e-mail, local news, the NCSU home page, or call 513-8888 for the latest information. Plan ahead for possible Internet outages by identifying alternative Internet sources and by completing your activities well in advance of the deadlines. Planned/announced or sporadic unplanned server down time or losing your primary Internet source are not viable excuses for not completing your work on time.
- Electronically-hosted Course Components. Students may be required to disclose personally identifiable information to other students in the course, via electronic tools like email or web postings, where relevant to the course. Examples include online discussions of class topics, and posting of student coursework. All students are expected to respect the privacy of each other by not sharing or using such information outside the course.
- Foreign Characters / Accents. The written work you submit must include all the appropriate commas and periods, diacritical marks (tildes and stress marks), upside down question and exclamation marks. These are all essential elements of the written language. There are a number of options available to do this on your computer and they can be found by visiting the Foreign Characters page.
- Tutoring. In addition to using the 10 GTA's and the professor, visit the FLL department's tutoring page for tutoring options, including computer-based tools.
- Library Use. Studying in the library is a good thing. A reference
librarian is available by phone, e-mail, and chat to help you with
searches. A vast array of electronic resources is available from off-campus
through the library's web site.
- NC State University Policies, Regulations and Rules
Students are responsible for reviewing the PRRs which pertain to their course rights and responsibilities. These include: http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-04-25-05 (Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy Statement), http://oied.ncsu.edu/oied/policies.php (Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity), http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-11-35-01 (Code of Student Conduct), http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-50-03 (Grades and Grade Point Average), https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-15 (Credit-Only Courses) and https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-04 (Audits).
- Supporting Fellow Students. As members of the NC State Wolfpack community, we each share a personal responsibility to express concern for one another and to ensure that this classroom and the campus as a whole remain a safe environment for learning. Occasionally, you may come across a fellow classmate whose personal behavior concerns or worries you. When this is the case, I would encourage you to report this behavior to the NC State Cares website. Although you may report anonymously, it is preferred that you share your contact information so they can follow-up with you personally.
- Student Ombuds. The Student Ombuds is a confidential resource (to the extent allowable by law), that provides a sounding board to discuss concerns related to your university experience - be they academic, personal or interpersonal, if it is important to you, it is an issue you can discuss with the Ombuds. The Student Ombuds provides information, discusses university policies and procedures, and helps students navigate their time at NC State. You can learn more about Student Ombuds Services and schedule an appointment by visiting http://ombuds.ncsu.edu/.
- Food & Housing Insecurity. Any student who faces challenges securing food and/or housing or has other financial challenges and believes this may affect their performance in this course is encouraged to notify the
professor if you are comfortable in doing so. Alternatively, you can learn more about the Pack Essentials program and available resources by visiting https://dasa.ncsu.edu/pack-essentials/.
- Career Services. Career Services are available through the Career Development Center. Your career contact is Dr. Woody Catoe. Make appointments through ePACK – ncsu.edu/epack. Students in other Colleges can use the same link to find information and access services.
- Protect the Pack: Section 001 is scheduled as a Face-to-Face course. According to mandated NCSU guidelines we will practice the five essentials: Wear a face covering, practice good hand hygiene, maintain social distance, stay home when sick, follow university and PH authorities. All of us will be masked at all times while in the classroom and use hand sanitizer as we enter, filling in the available seats in your designated row, avoiding uncessary proximity to others. Witherspoon Student Cinema (WSC) holds 477; our course cap is 100. Be aware that one of the main purposes of in-class time is to engage in the target language in small group conversations. There will be a seating chart. Here is the coronavirus FAQ.
- Bias Reporting: The OIED Bias Impact Response team offers a system and processes that invite NC State students, faculty and staff to document and proactively address the impacts of bias-related incidents, behaviors, and actions. To learn more or to submit a report, please visit https://diversity.ncsu.edu/bias-impact or email bias_impact@ncsu.edu.