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Section 1: General Information

Instructor Name (Last, First, MI): Mills, Shala A. Degree: JD Title: Chair and Professor Department: Political Science E-­‐mail: samills@fhsu.edu On-­‐Campus telephone: 628-5393

Will the proposed course be an overload course for this instructor?

No. Mills, will teach the course in-load.

If the course is to be team taught, provide information for the additional instructors. *Note: The course will not be “team taught” but two additional faculty, both of whom

are scholars on the AASCU Global Engagement initiative that created the Global Challenges curriculum, will serve as consultants to the course. They will occasionally guest-present in the course and will serve as faculty mentors for students on the undergraduate research component of the course.

Instructor Name (Last, First, MI): Hamlin, Darrell A.

Department: Criminal Justice E-­‐mail: dahamlin@fhsu.edu

Instructor Name (Last, First, MI): Whitaker, Brett L.

Department: Leadership Studies E-­‐mail: blwhitaker@fhsu.edu

1.1 Does the proposed course satisfy a general education requirement? Yes, it is an upper division integrative option in the current Gen Ed program.

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1.2 Does the proposed course meet a curriculum requirement for a major program?

Yes If yes, which program? BGS: Sustainability (It also counts toward the Sustainability Certificate. Political Science majors can count it toward their major in the Public Policy/Public Administration subfield.)

1.3 Has this course been offered before as an honors class?

Yes

If yes, when? Spring 2016

1.4 Will the proposed course be cross-listed with multiple departments? No, because it is already listed as an IDS (interdisciplinary designated) course.

1.5 Will the proposed course be offered as a full honors course (only available for honors credit) or an integrated honors course (with the option of different work for non-honors credit)? Full honors course (Non-honors students may enroll with permission. KAMS students are encouraged to enroll. ALL students will have the same “honors” expectations.)

Section 2: Course Objectives

2-1 After reviewing the NCHC & FHSU honors objectives provided on the following page,

describe how the course would appeal to, motivate, and benefit FHSU honors students.

If this is an honors section of an existing course, explain how the proposed course differs

from the existing course.

A. FHSU Honors Course Objectives and Outcomes

A. Objective: Attract high achieving students and retain them through graduation.

Outcome: Offer honors courses in a variety of educational disciplines.

The IDS 407: Global Challenges course, considers complex challenges facing the world through a cross-disciplinary lens that should be attractive to students from a wide range of disciplines.

B. Objective: Prepare a curriculum that offers a more challenging academic environment.

Outcome: Distinguish the honors course through implementation of a more rigorous grading scale.

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Unlike the non-honors section, the honors section will use a 93-100… grading scale. Moreover, the honors section will include an undergraduate research component that is not present in the non-honors sections, thus requiring students to delve more deeply into course content. The critical thinking and In the News assignments are different for the honors section as compared to the non-honors sections. The critical thinking assignment in the honors section will use the CAT App rubrics, which is a more rigorous grading rubric than the rubric that is built into the model course. Whereas the non-honors section has students submit an In the News assignment for each of 10 lessons (using the Bb discussion board), the honors students will only do 5 In the News assignments, but they will be more challenging in that students will be randomly called upon five times during the semester to share information with the class about a relevant news article they have read. They will also be encouraged to be prepared with information about the same news event as covered in a different news source, comparing how different news outlets shape news coverage.

C. Objective: Develop a supportive community for academically inclined students to connect with

students with similar goals.

Outcome: Engage students via a participation centered course delivery format.

The IDS 407 course is highly participatory in both non-honors and honors delivery formats. However, given the academically inclined nature of students in the honors section combined with their tendency to come to class well-prepared and to connect material across courses they have or are taking, both the quantity and quality of class discussion is even more significant in the honors section.

In particular, the honors section will deploy in-class, group discussions around critical thinking modules developed by the AASCU Global Challenges course creation team. These “CAT Apps” were developed under the guidance of Tennessee Tech’s Critical Thinking Assessment (CAT) pedagogy and assessment framework.

The undergraduate research component of the course it team based, thus encouraging students with similar goals to collaborate in studying a particular challenge and then presenting their research together as a poster presentation.

D. Objective: Create connections with an array of FHSU faculty members, as well as students, regardless

of degree program.

Outcome: Offer honors courses in a variety of educational disciplines.

The IDS 407 course is an interdisciplinary course that approaches complex global challenges through multiple disciplinary lenses. Students will be able to consider these issues not only from the perspective of their major field of study, but also through the perspectives of other disciplines. Three faculty from three separate disciplines will collaborate in the design and delivery of the course, and they will each serve as research mentors for the undergraduate research component of the course. Students are welcome (indeed, encouraged) to approach faculty from other disciplines to serve as additional faculty mentors for their undergraduate research project in the course.

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E. Objective: Develop intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and analytical skills to better prepare

students for future goals.

Outcome: Demonstrate knowledge learned through a minimum of two writing and critical thinking

assignments.

Critical thinking is a key learning objective in IDS 407.

The AASCU Global Challenges course curators who developed the model course have received training from Tennessee Tech’s Critical Thinking Assessment (CAT) team, and CAT Apps (critical thinking applications) have been designed around the Global Challenges content. The CAT Apps and their associated grading rubrics will be used in each of the course’s 10 lessons.

The model course includes a Global Village blog. The honors section of the course expects a richer degree of research and a higher quality of writing associated with the blog assignment. The blog consists of a research-based writing assignment for each of the ten lessons.

Only the honors section of IDS 407 includes an undergraduate research component. This group assignment pairs teams of 2-3 students to collaborate around a topic of mutual interest. Students will complete an abstract, literature review, poster presentation and executive summary. They will submit drafts of each of these items to their undergraduate research mentor(s), respond to critique, and then submit final drafts.

The critical thinking and writing activities associated with this course are designed to increase knowledge, build skills, and engage students in a rich and exciting level of study.

F. Objective: Demonstrate the ability to gather, analyze, evaluate, and use information.

Outcome: Create a final capstone project to assess comprehension of honors course.

Throughout the semester students will be required to gather, analyze, evaluate and use

information.

The “In the News” assignment is designed to keep students attuned to how the global

challenges are unfolding around the world during the semester. Students are encouraged to

not only use the FHSU digital subscription to the New York Times for this assignment, but also

to read other news sources and compare information about the same event as it is covered in

different media outlets, thus increasing students’ awareness of bias and spin, leading to more

critical evaluation of news media.

The Global Village Blog requires students to use a wide range of research outlets to learn more

about the global villager they were assigned at the beginning of the semester. Throughout the

semester they add to their blog using information they have learned through research about

how each challenge covered in the course relates to the country of their villager. Throughout

the semester they must also read the blogs of classmates to see how different countries may

impact or be impacted by these challenges in different ways.

The undergraduate research project is a final capstone project for the course, requiring

students to make connections across the course content and in relation to other courses they

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are taking. In particular, students are encouraged to select research topics that will facilitate

application of their major field of study to the content of the IDS 407 course.

G. Objective: Recognize and exhibit the development of intellectual, social, and leadership abilities.

Outcome: Engage students via a participation centered course delivery format.

The IDS 407 honors course involves significant participation-centered delivery. The “blended”

format of the Global Challenges course moves much of the content into a well-designed, interactive

online format, thus maximizing the opportunity for using classroom time for discussion and

collaboration rather than for lecture. The collaborative critical thinking assignments foster

intellectual and social growth. The team-oriented approach to the undergraduate research project

further develops intellectual, social and leadership abilities in students and simulates the real

world where work is often team-based.

B. National Collegiate Honors Council Objectives

H. Objective: To help students develop effective written communication skills (including the ability to

make effective use of the information and ideas they learn).

Students written communication skills will be developed and assessed in the essay-based mid-term and final exams, in the various components of the undergraduate research project, and in the Global Village blog. Emphasis on “development” is clear through the requirement of drafts for each element of the undergraduate research project, thus providing a formal venue for feedback and improvement. The on-going development of the blog through each of the 10 lessons in the course also provides the opportunity for student writing to develop based on feedback as the semester progresses.

I. Objective: To help students develop effective oral communication skills (while recognizing that not all

students are comfortable talking a lot in class).

Frequent classroom discussion provides weekly opportunities for students to practice oral communication skills. More formally, the “In the News” assignment is an oral assignment in the honors section. Students will need to come to class prepared to be called upon at random to present and discuss their news articles. This fosters real-world oral communication skills by preparing students to be able to “up to speed” on information about their work and to be able to respond in the work place to questions raised by colleagues and/or supervisors. While the Global Village Blog is primarily a written assignment, in the last lesson of the course students will be required to orally discuss their semester-long blog together with what they learned from their peers’ blogs posts.

J. Objective: To help students develop their ability to analyze and synthesize a broad range of material.

This course is ideally suited to deliver on this objective. The very goal of IDS 407 is to develop students’ abilities to analyze and synthesize a broad range of material regarding the key drivers of change that are impacting the 21st century world.

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K. Objective: To help students understand how scholars think about problems, formulate hypotheses,

research those problems, and draw conclusions about them; and to help students understand how

creative artists approach the creative process and produce an original work.

The entire course is designed to help student think more deeply and critically about the greatest problems facing the world today. The critical thinking CAT Apps used in this course are designed to help students think like scholars. The undergraduate research project will develop their ability to formulate hypotheses, research problems, and draw conclusions. The Global Village blog often develops as a “creative” assignment for students. Many choose to write their blogs as a first person narrative, creatively developing the voice of their villager (especially if their assigned villager is a child!)

L. Objective: To help students become more independent and critical thinkers, demonstrating the ability

to use knowledge and logic when discussing an issue or an idea, while considering the consequences of

their ideas, for themselves, for others, and for society.

This is THE ultimate goal of this course. It is designed to help students think about the very real and enormously serious consequences the entire planet faces because of dramatic changes in population, resources, technology, information, economies, conflict and governance. The whole point of the course is to develop students as critical thinkers and problem solvers who possess the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to address these global challenges.

Section 3: Course Syllabus

Please attach the copy of syllabus for the proposed course

Section 4: Verification

By signing this form, I___________________ confirm that I have discussed this

application in detail with my Department Chair and the College Dean and received

permission to submit this application. Additionally, I agree to provide feedback to the

committee during and after the initial offering of the proposed course. I also agree that

all financial arrangements, including compensation associated with teaching the

proposed course as an overload, will be completed by the Office of the Provost.

Faculty Signature Date

Department Chair Signature Date

Dean of College Signature Date

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IDS 407: Global Challenges (Honors Section) Spring 2017

Instructor Information

Instructor(s) Contact Information

● Shala Mills

● Chair and Professor of Political Science

● Rarick Hall 356

● Office Hours (by appointment)

● Samills@fhsu.edu

● 628-5393 About the Instructor(s)

● B.A. History, Baylor University J.D., University of Kansas

● http://www.fhsu.edu/polisci/Mills

Faculty Mentors Associated with this Course

Darrell Hamlin (Associate Professor, Criminal Justice)

○ dahamlin@fhsu.edu ○ Rarick Hall 233 E

Brett Whitaker (Instructor, Leadership Studies)

o blwhitaker@fhsu.edu

o Rarick Hall 235D

FHSU Course Description and Learning Objectives The purpose of this course is to educate and encourage the development of globally competent citizens and leaders. The course is designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be engaged, responsible and effective members of a globally interdependent society. Most importantly, students will be asked to think deeply about their world (including its future, current issues, its impact on their local area, and our personal responsibility as global citizens).

Learning Objectives

Knowledge - Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

Describe important global issues

Understand and analyze issues in the contexts of world geography, history and political science

Describe the current global nation state system

Explain the interdependence of events and systems

Understand how local events relate to world trends

Describe how one’s culture and history affects one’s world view and perspective

Skills - Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

Obtain relative information related to global issues

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Analyze and evaluate the quality of information obtained

Think critically about problems and issues

Make decisions with a worldwide perspective

Engage in forecasting and forward thinking

Communicate effectively both in writing and verbally

Communicate and interact effectively across cultures

Take action to promote positive change locally, nationally and internationally

Attitudes - Upon completion of the course, students will be encouraged to:

Be open to new ideas and perspectives

Value differences in people and cultures

Be intellectually curious about the world

Reflect on one’s place in the world in connection with humanity

Engage in an ethical analysis of issues and have empathy for one’s fellow human beings

Feel a sense of responsibility to serve as an agent of change

FHSU SUBTOPICS AND THEMES

In addition to examining seven global trends (population, resources, technology, information, economies, conflict

and governance) and futures perspectives (possible, probable and preferable), three related subtopics will be

integrated into this course to expand and enhance the learning experience. First, students will be asked to study

current national and international events and issues and their relationship to the global challenges. What current

issues illustrate the challenges? What current solutions to today’s problems can improve the future consequences

of that trend? Secondly, students will be asked to examine the relationship between the seven challenges and

their local environment. Is your local environment likely to experience the same trends recognized by these seven

global challenges? What impact will these international trends have on your area? Thirdly, students will be asked

to look within themselves and explore where they can participate as an engaged global participant.

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AASCU Global Challenges Curriculum Overview

An interdisciplinary team of faculty from a dozen campuses associated with the American Association

of State Colleges and Universities have developed a curriculum aimed at educating globally

competent citizens. These AASCU Global Engagement Scholars have conducted extensive research –

pedagogical and disciplinary—to create an effective set of learning tools to facilitate deep learning

about global issues. The course will make use of the AASCU Global Challenges Curriculum. The

following is an excerpt from the AASCU Overview.

The study of global issues is more critical than ever now that we have truly become a "global village,"

and the decisions that we make in the next few years, whether those decisions are made in Beijing,

Brussels, Brazil or Buffalo, will determine the collective future of this village. Together we are

confronted with many pressing and often competing global challenges that demand thoughtful

responses and solutions.

Population is growing at an alarming rate in some regions; environmental concerns are everywhere;

global resources appear to be dwindling; national security eludes many countries, especially as

terrorism has become an international phenomenon; and human rights are violated in a variety of

ways. These crises certainly represent significant problems facing our world today; on the other

hand they provide opportunities for us to bring about changes that will significantly increase the

ongoing quality of life around the world.

The purpose of this course is to educate and encourage the development of globally competent citizens and

leaders. The course is designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be engaged,

responsible and effective members of a globally interdependent society. Most importantly, students will be asked

to think deeply about their world (including its future, current issues, its impact on their local area, and their

personal responsibility as global citizens).

This course integrates resources from The New York Times and a variety of other sources into a repository of

materials for college faculty and students to study a series of global challenges. The course is structured around a

framework of Seven Revolutions, seven key worldwide trends identified by former Center for Strategic and

International Studies (CSIS) analyst Erik Peterson. The Seven Revolutions initiative is a research effort at CSIS that

begins with the ambiguous question - What will the world look like in 2025?

The Global Challenges shaping our world in the foreseeable future are:

Population

Resources

Technology

Information

Economies

Conflict

Governance

Because of the diverse nature of these seven global challenges, students will be exposed to multiple academic

fields of study in this course. The objective of this interdisciplinary course is that students will develop both a

comprehensive understanding of some of the major global issues, as well as a heightened appreciation for how

diverse topics are interrelated.

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Pathway to Citizenship: This course may be one of many you

have already taken along your path to becoming an engaged

global citizen, or it may be your first introduction to the path.

The journey is long. One course over a series of several weeks

cannot possibly provide you with the knowledge base, skill set,

and attitudes that you need to be a global citizen, but it is an

important component. At the conclusion of the course, you

will be farther along the pathway to global citizenship.

A globally competent citizen: The general goal for this course

is for students to become more knowledgeable about global

issues and to move toward being a globally competent citizen.

Students will achieve key learning objectives related to

knowledge, skills, and attitudes associated with becoming a

globally competent citizen.

Knowledge and Skills. Upon completion of the [AASCU curriculum], students will be able to:

1. Identify issues and impacts for key global challenges, drawing from various disciplines

2. Explain the relationships between and among global challenges

3. Employ credible resources in learning about key global challenges (information literacy)

4. Analyze political, economic, social, and/or environmental impacts of key global challenges

5. Evaluate various approaches and/or solutions to key global challenges

6. Create a solution towards a more preferable future for issues related to one or more key global challenges

Attitudes. Upon completion of the [AASCU curriculum], students will have:

1. Developed a sense of global empathy (i.e. how these trends are affecting and being affected by different groups

of people)

2. Recognized the importance of key global challenges

3. Acquired an intellectual curiosity about key global challenges

4. Developed an interest in taking action and being engaged locally or globally

In attempting to accomplish these objectives, we will incorporate a variety of learning activities, all of which will be

organized online. The Internet provides a valuable source of information regarding global issues, and you will be

provided a rich repository of Web-based resources and guidance in searching for additional resources. These

resources will be organized within your learning management system. Students are encouraged to participate in

additional outside learning activities, such as attending campus presentations and using interactive technologies to

understand global issues.

Required Readings

Global Challenges Student Guide: this guide is used throughout the course and its contents are included in each

lesson. While each lesson begins and ends with content from this guide, you may find it easier to download the

entire Student Guide using the embedded .pdf file.

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National Intelligence Council Global Trends 2030 Report: this report is used throughout the course. In each

lesson, you will be assigned pages to read in this report. Please note: assigned page numbers refer to the page

numbers in the actual report, not the pages on your Adobe Reader or Preview tools. As with the student guide, you

may wish to download the attached .pdf file.

New York Times: Enrollment in this course includes a digital subscription to the New York Times with access to

digital archives. New York Times articles and other features are assigned in each lesson and may also be used for

course assignments and additional activities. Your instructor will provide additional details about your subscription.

Online Resources: A variety of online resources, including videos on You Tube, are utilized throughout this course.

For each lesson, you are expected to watch the assigned videos and explore linked websites, as noted. These

resources have been selected from a variety of sources and together, provide an interdisciplinary approach to the

global challenges presented in this course.

Additional Readings: Additional readings may be assigned.

Course Outline

Part I Introduction and Overview

Lesson 1: Introduction

Part II Studying the Global Challenges

Lesson 2: Population

Lesson 3: Resources

Lesson 4:Technology

Lesson 5: Information

Lesson 6: Economies

Lesson 7: Conflict

Lesson 8: Governance

Part III Strategic Leadership, Call to Action

Lesson 9: Global Citizenship

Lesson 10: Summary and Integration

Assignments and Grading

Student performance in this course will be based on the following assignments and activities:

Assignment Course Points

Quizzes (10 at 10 points each) 100

"In the News" New York Times (NYT) Discussion (5 at 20 pts each)

100

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Critical Thinking Activity (10 at 10 pts each)

100

Global Village Blog (10 at 10 pts each)

100

Undergraduate Research Project

Abstract (100 points)

Literature Review (100 points)

Poster (100 points)

Executive Summary (100 points)

400

Midterm 100

Final 100

TOTAL 1000

Quizzes: Students will complete a 10 question/10 point lesson quiz with each lesson. The quizzes are online,

open note, and automatically graded. Students will have up to 5 attempts for their best score. The graded quiz

attempts will reveal only the raw score and will not reveal which questions were correct/incorrect. Each lesson

has a pool of quiz questions, thus each quiz attempt will launch a somewhat different set of quiz questions.

“In the News” Assignments: Content in this course is relevant to news and events in our local community

and around the globe. Throughout the course students will explore the timely and relevant nature of the course

content by making a regular practice of reading the news. The In the News Assignments take the following general

form:

Instructions: Use your bundled subscription to explore the NYT digital articles. Begin (or if you already do so, then

continue) a practice of reading the news every day. Use the NYT features to set up alerts regarding topics of

particular interest to you as well as topics related to this course. In the "Further Thoughts and Additional

Resources" section of each lesson you will find links to "Times Topics" with updated articles on select issues related

to this lesson. You may use the Times Topics to help focus your reading on course-related topics. Each class period,

come to class having selected a New York Times article (from a recent week) that relates to any topic covered in the

lesson that is the subject of that particular class period.

Part A: (REQUIRED for full credit)

Have the article handy (as a print copy or on your mobile device) and be prepared to share the following

information with the class:

"Topic: Headline" (e.g. "Aging: Japan votes today on benefits for its older population")

1. How does this topic relate to this lesson?

2. What are four facts you learned from the article.

3. How does the article relate to "possible", "probable", or "preferable" futures.

Part B: (OPTIONAL, for extra credit)

We use the NYT in this course because our campus has a digital subscription and because the NYT partnered with

AASCU to support this Global Challenges curriculum. There are, however, many other sources of news and

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information that are of value in thinking about the course content. To enrich your experience in the course,

consider looking for articles in other news media that cover the same story covered by the NYT article you have

selected.

1. How are the articles similar or different? (Headlines, sources of information, facts included, …)

2. How does reading one news source or another impact what someone might “know” about this news event or

how they might “feel” about the event? In what ways does media matter?

Grading for this assignment:

Five times during the semester each student will be called upon to share his/her news item. Students will be called

on randomly. Depending on the class schedule and time available for this activity on a particular class day, the

instructor may call on no students, one or two students, or several students.

Students who are absent when called upon will receive no credit.

Students who are present but unprepared with a news item will receive no credit.

Students who are present and prepared to share Part A with the class will receive full credit of 20 points for

that In the News Assignment.

Students who are present and prepared to share Parts A and B with the class will receive full credit of 20 points

PLUS 10 points of extra credit. (In other words, being in class and prepared every day with both a NYT article

and an article from a different news source covering the same topic makes it possible for a student to gain up

to 50 extra credit points in the course.)

Critical Thinking Activity: Each lesson is accompanied with challenging questions to consider related to the

lesson’s content. Students must use the standards of accuracy, precision, and logic from the “University

Intellectual Standards” as criteria for their participation in the activity. Critical Thinking Activities are an in-class

activities. Depending upon the lesson, students may work individually or in groups. Depending on the lesson

students may write a short reflective essay, fill out a worksheet or rubric, or engage in oral discussion. Each Critical

Thinking Activity is worth 10 points.

The Critical Thinking Activities will be graded on the basis of:

Participation

o Students who are absent on the day of the Critical Thinking Activity for a particular lesson will

receive no credit unless they “make up” the activity by completing an essay as per the

instructor’s directions for that lesson. Each lesson is different, so please see your instructor for

guidance as to the content and timing of the “make up” activity. ALL make ups must be timely

(ie: completed within a few days of the missed activity).

o Students who are present on the day of the Critical Thinking Activity but do not engage in the

activity (ex: they do not participate appropriately in discussion with their peers, they are

disengaged, they are distracted or distracting others with inappropriate use of social media, they

are otherwise being inattentive during the activity, they do not complete any written activities

associated with the activity…) will not receive credit and will not have an opportunity to “make

up” the assignment.

If the activity involves writing an essay or completing a worksheet, then the quality of the completed task

will be evaluated as part of the grade. There may not be “right” or “wrong” answers to questions

presented in the activity, in which case the evaluation will be based on the quality of thinking

demonstrated in the written activity.

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Global Village Blog: One way to gain a valuable perspective on our world is to examine how people in

different countries are affected by global issues and trends. The global village activity provides an opportunity to

simulate being a "global village" that is in many ways representative of the seven billion people who currently

inhabit the earth. Each student will be asked to take the role of one individual from a specific country, but will in

turn represent millions of people who have a similar background. The activity is set up for the class to have a

proportionate number of people from the various continents and countries of the world, with half of the class

being female and half male, and ages and residence (urban or rural) also being representative. Each student will

conduct independent research to more fully describe the characteristics of the person they will be in the global

village, adding to their blog during each lesson with information specific to how that lesson’s content impacts and

is impacted by their villager and his/her country. The blog will be completed online as per the lesson directions

and according to the class schedule. Your instructor will periodically ask students to share information about their

global villager in class discussion.

The characteristics that each student should describe include the following (note: while you will be expected to

discuss all of these characteristics in your opening blog when you create your avatar for this assignment, you

should return to these characteristics as the lens through which you consider each of the challenges throughout

the semester as you add to your blog) :

1. Name: (Should reflect regional language)

2. Age: (assigned)

3. Gender: (assigned)

4. City and country of residence: (Do not just state this; describe your city, town, or countryside that you

reside in).

5. Ethnicity: (What is your ethnicity? [This should reflect the most common ethnic group for your area]

What are some of the other ethnicities represented in your region? What are ethnic relations like in your area?)

6. Religion: (What is your religion? [This should reflect the most common religion for your region.] Don’t

just state what it is, explain it. What do you believe in? What religious ceremonies do you participate in? What

other religions are represented in your region? What are the relationships between the different faiths like in your

region?)

7. Marital status/family life: (Are you married? Single? Have children? Have parents? Have siblings? What

family members live with you? What role does everyone play in the family?)

8. Life expectancy: (You should list this not only for your global villager, but also for the opposite sex.

Discuss why life expectancy in your area might be so high or so low.)

9. Language: (This should reflect the most common language for your region as well as any other languages

you may have learned. Where did you learn these languages? Are there other languages represented in your

region? What are they?)

10. Annual income: (How far does your money go? Do you have just enough for the bare necessities? Or not

enough? Do you have disposable income? Can you buy things you want rather than just things you need?)

11. Education level: (What level of education does your villager have? How does this compare to the average

level of education for your region?)

12. Occupation: (Describe your occupation. How many days/hours do you work? What is the work like?

Strenuous? Tedious? Fun? Exhausting? How did you get this job? What kind of education/training did you need?)

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13. Nature of communication with others: (Do you mostly have face to face communication with people? Do

you have a land line phone in your house? Do you have access to a community phone in the village? Do you have

a cell phone? Does everyone have a cell phone or just a few people? Do you have a computer? Do you have

access to the internet? Do you engage in social networking such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.?)

14. Nature of transportation used: Do you simply walk? Do you have a bike? Do you have a motorcycle? Do

you have a car? Do you take public transport such as a bus, train, subway, taxi?

15. Other relevant information about this person: (such as what types of foods do you eat? What is your

favorite? What do you do in your leisure time? Do you have hobbies? What are they? What types of things make

you happy? Music? Festivals? Dances? TV? Movies? Sports? Etc., What’s locally available to you.)

16. Images: Include as a minimum a map showing the location of your region in the world, a map showing

your location (town/city) within your country, a photo of the surrounding area (city or countryside), a photo of

you, and a photo of your house. (You might also consider including photos of your family, you at work, photos

representing your hobbies or interests, photos of the foods you like to eat, or any other things you described

above. The more visuals you include, the richer your profile will be.)

Undergraduate Research Project: The students in this honors section of IDS 407 will undertake a group

undergraduate research project.

Students will work in groups of 2 or 3. Students should form their groups based upon shared interests in a

particular challenge. Ideally, this project will involve focused research on global challenges related to the

individual student’s field of study. That does not mean that teams should only be comprised of students from the

same major. Solving the world’s most pressing challenges requires not only deep expertise in one’s discipline, but

also the ability to think across the multiple disciplines whose expertise may relate to the problem. So, for example,

a group project around water challenges might involve students with majors in Biology, Geology, Political Science

or Chemistry – all of whom may have disciplinary expertise/interests that offer solutions to the challenge.

Each team will have a faculty mentor (one of the team teachers for this course).

The abstract is your team proposal for the project. Your team must identify a particular challenge about

which you are concerned. It should outline the general topic and the specific ways that your team will

research information relative to the topic in order to better understand one or more problems associated with

this challenge. Your abstract should identify and articulate what it is that you hope to better understand

about this challenge as a result of your research. Your team must meet with your faculty mentor to discuss

the abstract. (50 points, team grade)

The annotated literature review is the research for the project. Your team should list the references you

relied upon in researching the topic, together with a short (typically one paragraph) description of what the

reference has to say about the subject under research. Citations may be in either MLA or APA style. Good

research will incorporate references from magazines, journals, books and websites. (100 points, team grade)

The poster presentation is the product of your research. Think of your poster presentation as a sort of “public

service” project. Use the poster to educate your peers about the challenge. You might focus on identifying

causes of a problem or on proposing solutions to a problem. Either approach must be evidence based and

must be bolstered with references. The poster presentation will be shared in class and displayed in a public

forum (to be determined later). The “poster” will be developed using Power Point (see assignment directions

distributed in class). (100 points, team grade)

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Note: Students are welcome, but not required, to submit their posters to the SACAD event (please see SACAD

timelines for deadlines and direction. Participation in SACAD may result in moving due dates for project up in

order to have final poster ready in time for SACAD submission). Participation in the SACAD event adds 50 extra

credit points to the UR project. Receiving an award at SACAD adds 100 extra credit points to the UR project.

The executive summary is a brief summary of the research represented in the poster presentation. The

summary should be a single page, single-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman. It should briefly describe the

results of the research and explain what the poster is about.

Taken together, the abstract, annotated literature review, poster and executive summary should comprise a

coherent and clear description of the research project and its results.

Midterm and Final Exams: You will have both a midterm and final exam in this course. Details will be

announced in class.

Grading Scale

A 92-100%

B 83-91%

C 70-82%

D 60-69%

F 0-59%

Class Attendance and Participation

Regular class attendance and participation is expected. Many of the graded assignments and activities require

attendance. In addition to losing points for missed in class activities, your instructor may lower your overall grade

based upon poor attendance or participation.

Student Help Resources

Students have access to academic services, technical support and student services at Fort Hays State University.

You can find the resources online at http://www.fhsu.edu/vp/Student-Services/

University Policies

Academic Honesty Policy

Membership in the FHSU learning community imposes upon the student a variety of commitments, obligations and

responsibilities. It is the policy of FHSU to impose sanctions on students who misrepresent their academic work.

These sanctions will be selected by appropriate classroom instructors or other designated persons consistent with

the seriousness of the violation and related considerations… Students participating in any violation of this policy

must accept the consequences of their actions. Classroom instructors and/or university review/appeals

committees and administrators will assess the sanctions for violation of this policy. The seriousness of the violation

will dictate the severity of the sanction imposed. More information can be found at

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http://www.fhsu.edu/academic/provost/handbook/ch_2_academic_honesty/

Statement of Accessibility and Services for Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out assigned course work and if you wish to

seek any accommodations for this course, you must contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). SSD is

located in the Kelly Center, Picken Hall, Room 111, 785-628-4401. SSD will review your documentation and

determine, with you, what academic accommodations are necessary and appropriate for you that can be

accommodated in this course. All information and documentation of your disability is confidential and will not be

released by SSD without your written permission. Students can find more information at

http://www.fhsu.edu/disability/get-access/ Instructors who need help to create instructional materials for

students with special needs can seek help from the Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning Technologies

(CTELT), 785-628-4194.

Use of Computing Resources

Fort Hays State University (FHSU) provides computing resources and worldwide network access to its faculty, staff,

and students for legitimate administrative, educational, and research efforts. As a member of the FHSU electronic

community it is your responsibility to use computing resources ethically and responsibly. Members of the FHSU

electronic community are expected to use computing resources ethically, and to exercise reasonable care in

utilization of FHSU information systems or their components. More information related to privacy, responsibilities,

things forbidden to do and use of email can be found at

http://www.fhsu.edu/academic/provost/handbook/ch_1_computing_resources/