Syllabus for APS-401
CURRENT TRENDS AND APPLICATIONS IN APPLIED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Current Trends and Applications in Applied Science and Technology is designed to provide knowledge on the identification, analysis, and synthesis of current trends and incremental changes in the technical area of study. Students apply the knowledge in the assessment of the potential impact of a current trend or incremental change influencing a discipline, while recommending an action plan or additional investigation.
After completing this course, you should be able to:
There are no textbooks required for this course.
Web links to recommended readings are included in each Module. You should also search journal articles through the research databases for your final project. Log into the myEdison portal and locate the My Resources section. Under the Educational tab, you will find links to several resources.
Current Trends and Applications in Applied Science and Technology is a three-credit online course, consisting of four modules. Modules include topics, learning objectives, study materials, and activities. Module titles are listed below.
For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete written assignments, finish a final project, and take an ETS Proficiency Profile test. See below for more details.
Consult the Course Calendar for assignment due dates.
One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in this document.
In addition to an ungraded Introductions Forum in Module 1, Current Trends and Applications in Applied Science and Technology requires you to participate in eight graded online discussion forums. For this course, you are required to make a minimum of four comments on the responses of at least two other classmates. Your initial posting should include more than three resources, which must be referenced using APA style.
Communication with the mentor and among fellow students is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online discussions involves two distinct assignments: an initial response to a posted question and subsequent comments on classmates' responses.
You will be evaluated both on the quality of your responses (i.e., your understanding of readings and concepts as demonstrated by well-articulated, critical thinking) and quantity of your participation (i.e., the number of times you participate meaningfully in the assigned forums). Responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, professional, and respectful.
Meaningful participation in online discussions is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered value-adding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate, the reading, or your mentor, state and support your agreement or disagreement.
For posting guidelines and help with discussion forums, please see the Student Handbook located within the General Information page of the course Web site.
You are required to complete four written assignments. The written assignments consist of specific topics defined in each course module focusing on the areas below:
This expertise is vital when developing and commercializing new applications. The course consists of readings and discussions in general science and technology issues and trends, and the application of the material to specific areas of technology. The latter is accomplished via the development of a course project by each student in their science and technology area of interest. Each written assignment is structured to build upon the previous ones. The final project will contain the four written assignments combined as an integrated document including all of the changes made based on the instructor’s feedback.
Prepare your written assignments using whatever word processing program you have on your computer. Include your name at the top of the paper, as well as the course name and code and the semester and year in which you are enrolled.
Before submitting your first assignment, check with your mentor to determine whether your word processing software is compatible with your mentor's software. If so, you can submit your work as you prepared it. If not, save your assignment as a rich-text (.rtf) file, using the Save As command of your software program. Rich text retains basic formatting and can be read by any other word processing program.
For help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information page of the course Web site.
Throughout this course, you will submit four written assignments separately, which will ultimately comprise your final project. Your paper should be logically organized, cohesive, and incorporate any feedback that your mentor gave on your assignments. Consult the Course Calendar for when the final project must be submitted.
For help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information page of the course Web site.
This course requires that you complete an assessment called the ETS® Proficiency Profile. This test, offered through Educational Testing Service (ETS), measures general academic knowledge and skills in the core areas of reading, mathematics, writing, and critical thinking. It is a widely accepted standardized assessment tool that will provide the University with important data to assess its overall quality and effectiveness in meeting the general education needs of our students. It serves as a valuable tool in helping us measure progress in achieving established learning goals and evaluate the effectiveness of our programs.
The ETS Proficiency Profile is administered in a non-proctored, online format. It should take you no longer than 45 minutes to complete. The confidentiality of your responses and scores will be protected. Your individual score will not be recorded, but you will receive a certain percentage of your overall grade (see Syllabus for details) for completing the assessment. Consult the course Calendar for the due dates for taking this test.
Please use the following link that explains the steps involved in taking the exam, including the system checks that must be completed prior to taking the exam: ETS Proficiency Exam Instructions. Please read all instructions prior to taking the exam and allow extra time to complete the system checks.
To receive credit for completing the ETS Proficiency Profile, post a comment about the test and your experience taking it to the ETS Proficiency Profile discussion forum. In your posting, indicate the date on which you took and completed the test. For students taking a Guided Study version of the course, you may be asked to submit this information as an assignment instead of posting it to a discussion forum. Your mentor will verify your participation and will give you credit for it. Upon completing the test, you will receive a confirmation email from ETS. Retain this email for your records as verification that you completed the test.
Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:
All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:
A | = | 93–100 | C+ | = | 78–79 | |
A– | = | 90–92 | C | = | 73–77 | |
B+ | = | 88–89 | C– | = | 70–72 | |
B | = | 83–87 | D | = | 60–69 | |
B– | = | 80–82 | F | = | Below 60 |
To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or better (for an area of study course) or D or better (for a course not in your area of study), based on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., exams, assignments, discussion postings, etc.).
To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:
Consider the following study tips for success:
To ensure success in all your academic endeavors and coursework at Thomas Edison State University, familiarize yourself with all administrative and academic policies including those related to academic integrity, course late submissions, course extensions, and grading policies.
For more, see:
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