Upon completion of this course students will be able to correctly:

• Explain the basic philosophy, objectives; and scope of career and technical education programs (in general) and of their specific program of interest..
• Describe the evolution of career and technical education in America.
• Discuss the roles of, expectations for; and competencies needed by career and technical education and teachers in public schools.
• Discuss professional organizations and professionalism as it relates to career and technical education.
• Identify and analyze current trends and issues from career and technical education literature.

1. Teacher Interview – 10% of your grade

You will interview a career and technical education teacher. This teacher should be in your academic disipline.  You will be expected to find the answer to a list of questions. You will write a final report where you summarize what the teacher said in response to each question. This report should be typed and will probably be 2-3 pages in length. The week of Thanksgiving, you will report on your interview in class. Your typed report will also be due Thanksgiving week.

From time to time you will be asked to react to a question, write a 1/2 page paper sharing your thoughts about a situation, formally share your experiences, etc. These "mini-assignments" will be graded and will constitute 10% of your grade.  There will be 5-10 weekly assignments.

During this semester you should select two articles to read from appropriate professional journals. The first article will be from TECHniques (which is journal for all Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers; this journal is published by the Assocation for Career and Technical Education. This journal will either be in the main library or in the Learning Resource Center on the 4th floor of Poe Hall. You will have to figure out where it is.)

The second article will be from a journal in your CTE area.  For most of you, this will be the Agricultural Education Magazine (again it will either be in the main library or in Poe Hall). If you are in Marketing Education, the Journal of Marketing Education may be appropriate. Technology Education students should choose School Shop/Tech Directions. If in doubt, ask the instructor for guidance.

You are to prepare a 1 - 1 1/2 page abstract for each article. Articles selected should deal with the general topics listed among the course objectives provided in the syllabus, and different topics must be addressed in each of the two abstracts.

The format for the article abstract should be as follows:

Title Page: Title of Article, Author, Journal, Volume, Year, Pages
Your Name, Abstract #, Due Date

Brief Description of the Content: (approximately 1/2 page)

Summarize the major ideas or points presented by the author. This can usually be done in one paragraph, but be certain that enough is included to describe the article.

Your Position: (approximately 1/2 page)

Either take a position (agree or disagree with the author) and provide reasons for your position or provide a rationale for the importance of what the author had to say.

Due Dates:

The journal article abstracts will be due on the following dates: (Please note the policy for late assignments)

Journal Abstract #1  Class 4
Journal Abstract #2  Class 9 

This assignment will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Description of the Content - completeness - 5 points
Your Position - content, organization - 15 points
Writing style, grammar, organization, appearance - 5 points
Total 25 points

4. Tests – 40% of your grade (each test will count 20% of your grade)

There will be a midterm and a final exam, as noted in the course topics.  The exam will be mailed to a proctor identified by the student and will be administered by the proctor.  Students who prefer to come to campus to take the exam can schedule the exam with the instructor during the week the exam is due.  Note: Midterm exam will include course material up to the exam, and the final exam will include course material from the midterm to the end of the course.

Students are expected to attend and actively participate in classes. Students with excused absences will be allowed to make up assignments or examinations missed. Students should notify the instructor prior to the activity when they are absent due to university related trips, etc.

Policy on Late Assignments:

While recognizing that one feature of distance education is to allow flexibility in the time to complete the course assignments, it is still an expectation that weekly assignments be completed in a reasonable period of time.  This prevents students from getting too far behind in the course and allows the instructor to assign grades in a consistent manner.  Therefore, students are allowed no more than two weeks to complete an assignment without penalty.  If a student is not able to complete the assignment(s) during this time frame, they should notify the instructor and explain the reason for a late assignment.  The due date for all assignments is the Friday of the week of the lesson unless specified otherwise in the instructions for the assignment. Late assignments (more than two weeks late) will result in a 10% deduction in the grade for the assignment unless the student receives prior approval from the instructor. This policy allows for some extra time if work loads or class loads are high in any one week, but only allows one extra week to complete the assignment without penalty.

Assignments turned in over a month late will result in a 20% deduction.

The following grading scale will be used in this course:

A+: 97-100% 
A: 93-96% 
A-: 90-92%
B+: 87-89%
B: 83-86% 
B-: 80-82%
C+:77-79%
C: 73-76% 
C-:70-72%
D+: 67-69%
D: 63-66%
D-: 60-62%
F: Below 60%

Assignment of grades is NOT based on a normal (bell) curve.

Both faculty and students at North Carolina State University have a responsibility to maintain academic integrity. An informational brochure about academic integrity is available from the university and students are encouraged to obtain a copy. Additional information is contained in the NCSU Code of Student Conduct. Academic Dishonesty Scholarly activity is marked by honesty, fairness and rigor. A scholar does not take credit for the work of others, does not take unfair advantage of others, and does not perform acts which frustrate the scholarly efforts of others. The violation of any of these principles is academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes the giving, taking, or presenting of information or material by a student with the intent of unethically or fraudulently aiding oneself or another person on any work which is to be considered in the determination of a grade or the completion of academic requirements. 

The Honor Pledge - The students and faculty of NCSU believe that the willingness of students to affirm and adhere to the essential values of honesty and integrity in all their academic endeavors is exemplified in the Honor Pledge: I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this test or assignment.

It is university policy that all students sign the Honor Pledge on tests and assignments for each course as specified by the instructor. 

This course does not have a lab.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 mandate that the faculty provide reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities.  These accommodations are based on the premise that students with disabilities need an equal opportunity to acquire information and demonstrate what they have learned; not have an advantage over others in the class.  This does not mean lowering class standards, but it may mean having students learn and express knowledge in a different mode. 

All students registered with the NC State Office of Disability Services for Students (DSS) will provide the instructor with an accommodation letter.  This letter verifies that appropriate medical documentation is on file and that the student has a substantiated disability requiring effective reasonable accommodations. Accommodations for which the student qualifies will also be included in the letter.  If you have not registered with the DSS and have a learning disability, you should register in Suite 1900, Student Health Center. 

If you have a documented disability, please schedule an appointment with the course instructor to discuss academic accommodations. 

This course requires an interview with a CTE teacher, preferably an agriculture teacher.  This may require a visit to a school to conduct the interview.  The university does not provide transportation to interview a teacher.  It is the responsibility of the student to arrange for transportation.
 

No textbook is required for this course. However, students will read selected articles from professional journals in career and technical education.

If you are enrolled for this course through North Carolina State, you have complete access to the NCSU library. The URL that 
explains all the library resources available to you is http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/distance/ If you need help logging into the library please contact the NCSU course instructor. 

1. Each week you will click on the class link that corresponds to that week. You should complete the lesson some time during that week.

2. When you go the the weekly lesson, you are to first view the list of objectives for the lesson. This is your guide as to what you should learn.

3. Next, complete the pretest. You will receive a score immediately after you take the pretest. The pretest is designed to serve as an advanced organizer for the lesson materials (in other words to motivate you to learn). You should not expect to score high on the pretest. If you did, there would be no need to take the class. Please type your e-mail address in the block that asks for it at the end of the pre-test. This lets me know you have completed the pretest. It has no bearing on your grade unless you are on the borderline. If you are on the borderline and have completed all the pretests during the semester, your grade will be bumped to the higher grade.

4.  One of the benefits of taking a course on-line is the opportunity to experience a multitude of varied materials found on the Internet. Under the list of learning activities there will be a list of web sites, journal articles, papers and other materials to be reviewed. In this class we try to utilize the power of the World Wide Web (WWW). You are to visit each site that is listed under the learning activities and read or view the materials. For some of the materials, you might need to have the Acrobat Reader on your computer. If you don't have this program, it can be downloaded for free.

5. On most weeks you will complete an assignment that relates to the weekly lesson that is to be completed and e-mailed to the instructor of record for the course.  The e-mail address is jim_flowers@ncsu.edu  You might want to print out the worksheet early in the lesson and then refer to it as you complete the various learning activities.

6. You should establish a standard time every week to work on this class and then do it if you are taking the course on the web. You don't want to get behind because it will be hard to catch up.