For Miscellaneous assignment 3, I asked students to read my course syllabus, which I've titled (Not Quite) Everything You Need to Know to Survive SamR's Tutlrial, and to summarize key points from that reading. Here are the points they've come up with. (I've edited their comments when appropriate.)

Summaries from: Trevor Austin, Ted Cooper, Azul Freedom, Christine Gerpheide, Becca Mackenzie, Scott McIntyre, Matthew Montemore, Emmanuel Munoz, Anthony Oliveri, Siddharth Srivastava, and Sam Tape

Late Work

• Late work is heavily penalized, if accepted at all.
• Don't procrastinate because the penalty for late work is gruesome.

Academic Honesty and Proper Citation

• Part of the academic endeavor is a notion that academics must follow high standards of honesty in their academic work, and one important purpose of academic work is integrity.
• Citations are important in papers as are their format.
• Bibliographies should use APA format(slightly modified).
• When presenting author's names and an author is not presented in the text, but is the product of a company the organization should be used as the author. If both the author and organization are not named then use Anonymous as the author.

Discussion

• A better discussion should contain the following elements: 1. It should focus on a central claim or thesis. 2. It should be supported by strong evidence. 3. It should demonstrate a continuity of ideas.
• Be active in class discussions- but not so active that you drown out everyone else.
• Discussions should flow and connect statements that are made.

Reading

• In order to get the outcomes expected from reading, it probably is best to read through the text at least twice if not three times.
• When reading it should soon be your second nature to look for the structure of the argument and everything else about the reading including the importance of each paragraph and to question the claim that the author is making.

Miscellaneous

• Sam often calls on students in class, but it is OK to say I'm not sure.
• The basis for Tutorial at Grinnell is to guide all 1st years on their path as lifelong learners and to develop a number of requisite skills that are all interconnected.
• Assignments are graded to help us indentify some of the areas that need improvement, and learning is done more from doing an assignment then receiving an actual grade. Not all assignments will be graded because of this.
• Other people are normally better at finding mistakes in what we have written, and therefore in order to improve writing skills it may be helpful to build a support group of friends who can critically read and hopefully give you honest feedback on your writing.
• Knowledge on the subject is vital to the success of any paper you're writing.
• Understanding where your audience is coming from and the perspective they come with as well as their knowledge on the subject should have an effect on your writing style.
• Revisions, time, and critiques from others can only make your final product better.
• There are three categories on which SamR grades: correct syntax, elegant style, and powerful substance. To excel in this Tutorial you must impress with two of the later categories (the syntax should be correct regardless.)
• Quotation Learning is an interactive process. You learn by asking, discussing, and answering questions... few topics can be learned passively: you need to experiment with ideas... to fully grasp (them).
• Quotation Grinnell notes that A and A- represent exceptional work. To me, exceptional means going beyond solid, acceptable, correct work. Exceptional work entails doing more than is assigned or doing what is assigned particularly elegantly. Work limited to mastery of the core materials is B-level work.
• Style, syntax, and substance!
• We have to put together an editing portfolio.
• You believe that our doing the work is the point, and not always your grading it. Therefore, we only find out after we hand in assignments whether they'll be graded or not.
• website citations should include not only the url, but also the author, title, site, and modified/accessed dates, in accordance with the format presented on page 25
• You prefer that, in cases where the author is not readily identifiable but an organization of some kind clearly produced it, the organization be listed in place of the author. "Anonymous" seems to be a last resort.
• It is useful to be able to identify a given section of a reading's role in the structure of the argument it makes. We may even be expected to do so.
• Other people are useful in the writing process because they can find mistakes and indecipherables more reliably than the author, whose involvement is often too intimate for the obvious to be apparent.
• There's a Convocation entitled: "Jane Addams Becomes a Christian Humanist"
• It's very important to be on time for every class ready to go, and turn in all assignments on time. If you do your best work in class, you will not fail Tutorial.
• It's the student's job to come talk to Sam whenever he/she has a problem in class whether they do it face to face, or anonymously on the comment page.
• It's a good time to already start thinking about a topic for you Tutorial project as you will need to have a clear idea of that topic by the third week of class.
• The final grade for the class is calculated using 11 parts each worth 10%. The part with the lowest grade is dropped when your final grade is calculated.
• Do not be afraid to be called on in class. "I don't know" and "I'm not sure" are acceptable answers. Be advised, this may not hold true if caught sleeping or spacing off in class.
• Students may help each other develop answers to homework, but each student is excpected to develop a final version of the assignment that is their own.
• Complete all the required work and attend class.
• Interact with the professor and students in Tutorial to help improve learning.
• Reading and writing both require an understanding of the author's argument.
• Argumentative work should be read carefully, accurately, repeatedly, and thoughtfully.
• You cannot write well the first time you write or when you write without revision.
• A discussion should fovus on its continuity.