What is the assignment?

Keep a notebook for our course and keep it up to date with

• notes on the reading – your preparation for class
• notes on class – presentations and discussions
• and notes on your research

You do not need pages and pages for each assignment and each class. Rather, I would suggest you write in your class notebook

• The key idea and a couple examples from the reading or class preparation (in half a page)
• An outline of what we cover in class – and a few key ideas (again, in a page or less)
• Notes for the research for your papers and presentations
• Keep these organized with dates and the names of readings and subjects

Why?

A good set of class notes is the best way to stay engaged with the material of the course – any course. The act of taking notes will help to organize your thoughts and to commit important ideas to memory. With this assignment we are practicing one of the fundamental skills of college.

Some details

I will ask you to turn your course notebook three or four times across the semester. I’ll give you credit for improvement across the semester.

I grade them on a 10 point scale:

• 10 – excellent notes – coverage of nearly all the readings and classes, including notes for days missed – clearly organized and labeled notes
• 9 – very good notes – might be missing a few days – might be missing a few preparation notes – but otherwise well-organized and labeled and including a few salient points from each day or reading
• 8 – satisfactory/pretty good notes – missing several days – or missing several preparation notes – or missing important points from class or preparation – or weak organization or missing labels
• 7 – poor notes – incomplete notes