Syllabus for LDR-435
LEADERSHIP PRACTICUM
This course offers a Practicum experience for students who have studied leadership in the School of Business and Management. It is the terminal course in the leadership studies area, and its intent is to allow students to make use of what they have learned about leadership. That is, it provides an opportunity to apply that learning to professional contexts in which they are currently involved—at work or otherwise—through a carefully designed project. In addition, the course requires that each student act as a leadership consultant (working as a member of a consulting team) to other students in the class, advising them on their leadership projects through both informal advice and formal, written critiques.
After completing this course, you should be able to:
You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbook is available from the University's textbook supplier, MBS Direct.
Cohen, D. S., (2005). The Heart of Change Field Guide: Tools and tactics for leading change in your organization. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Review Press.
ISBN-13: 978-1591397755
You are also encouraged to make use of the texts you used for previous courses in the leadership series, along with other resources from the library’s online electronic resources.
Leadership Practicum is a three-credit online course. It consists of three modules and is the terminal course in the leadership series. Students propose and carry out a leadership project, providing guidance throughout to their classmates and receiving guidance in kind from their classmates. Modules include learning objectives and activities. Module titles are listed below.
For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete module papers, propose and carry out a leadership project, and complete a final project paper. 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, this course requires you to participate in four graded discussion forums, and four peer reviews of module papers and the final project paper.
A unique feature of this course is the means by which it allows students make use of all that they have learned about leadership and to apply that learning to professional contexts in which they are currently involved—work or otherwise. This is accomplished through a carefully designed project in which students have the opportunity to exercise leadership.
Although a full description of the requirements of this project is presented throughout the modules and the final project paper area of the course, you will benefit from understanding what this project will entail. The project should include working closely with other people to effect or initiate positive change (e.g., influencing others, motivating others, coordinating others). Projects that do not involve interaction with people and effecting or initiating positive change—for example, ones involving only gathering information, shadowing a leader, or interning for a leader—are unacceptable, since they do not involve the exercise of leadership.
Examples of acceptable projects:
Examples of unacceptable projects:
From the first three weeks of this semester you will need to identify and work closely with a facilitator (your supervisor or some other individual) at the organization where you'll be doing your project. Be sure to print out the "Tips for the Organizational Facilitator" found in the Module 1 and present them to your facilitator. It is important that he or she understand the nature of this project. You will also need to share the Statement of Intent with your facilitator so they are in agreement with the nature and scope of your project.
Note: Your classmates will be offering critiques of your project throughout the course, and your classmates will offer feedback on your final project paper too. You, in turn, will be reviewing the papers of your classmates. This peer review and critique process will be figured into your final grade for the course. The goal in requiring both you and your classmates read and comment upon each other’s papers is to enhance your learning about how you and others conceptualize and resolve practical problems and opportunities that involve leadership in organizations. Therefore, you are highly encouraged to approach these opportunities to give and receive feedback in an open minded manner with an eye towards your own personal leadership growth and understanding.
The Leadership Project Statement of Intent rubric
This course does not have a midterm or a final examination. Instead, you will be asked to submit an analysis of your leadership project in a final project paper.
The final project paper is an opportunity for each student to discuss and analyze his or her leadership project. Your paper should be 10–12 pages in length (2500–3000 words) and should cover the following:
A full description of the paper and the requirements for completing it are found in the Final Project Paper area of the course Web site.
Your final paper should be well developed and convey your understanding of the readings and concepts. Your paper should be organized, coherent, and unified; it should also be free of spelling and grammatical errors.
The Final Project Paper grading rubric
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:
Thomas Edison State University is committed to maintaining academic quality, excellence, and honesty. The University expects all members of its community to share the commitment to academic integrity, an essential component of a quality academic experience.
Students at Thomas Edison State University are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.
All members of the University community are responsible for reviewing the Academic Code of Conduct Policy in the University Catalog and online at www.tesu.edu.
Thomas Edison State University expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the University insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty can take the following forms:
Thomas Edison State University is committed to helping students understand the seriousness of plagiarism, which is defined as using the work and ideas of others without proper citation. The University takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing are subject to discipline under the academic code of conduct policy.
If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, or without identifying it as a direct quote, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > “Citing Sources.”)
Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else’s. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.
Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.
Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.
For examples of unintentional plagiarism, advice on when to quote and when to paraphrase, and information about writing assistance, click the links provided below.
Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism
When to Quote and When to Paraphrase
Writing Assistance at Smarthinking
Acts of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism violate the Academic Code of Conduct.
If an incident of plagiarism is an isolated minor oversight or an obvious result of ignorance of proper citation requirements, the mentor may handle the matter as a learning exercise. Appropriate consequences may include the completion of tutorials, assignment rewrites, or any other reasonable learning tool in addition to a lower grade for the assignment or course. The mentor will notify the student and appropriate dean of the consequence by e-mail.
If the plagiarism appears intentional and/or is more than an isolated incident, the mentor will refer the matter to the appropriate dean, who will gather information about the violation(s) from the mentor and student, as necessary. The dean will review the matter and notify the student in writing of the specifics of the charge and the sanction to be imposed.
Possible sanctions include:
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