Learning Agreement

Journalism 1115

Instructor: Professor Cathy Stablein

Office: SRC 1560

Office phone: 630-942-2650

E-mail: stablein@cdnet.cod.edu

Student name ___________________________________________________________

Semester/Year __________________________________________________________

Students enrolled in Journalism 1115 (Feature Magazine Lab) must choose an available laboratory experience in writing, editing, photography, page design and layout, advertising, and circulation for the campus feature magazine, Chaparral. Students are assigned to the campus feature magazine staff, with a focus on non-fiction, assignment writing. The course may be taken four times for credit. During the regular semester, classes will meet one hour a week in a workshop setting, except for finals week which will be used for magazine production. All writing will be stored digitally on campus and input in the QuarkXpress page layout system for publication in Chaparral. Students must accumulate the remaining time through their laboratory activities. Total minimum course experience time must equal a combined 30 hours of class and lab work during the regular semester. Because of the specific class objectives, all work must be completed within the semester in which the student enrolls for Journalism 1115. No grades of “Incomplete” can be granted. ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE BEFORE OR ON THE LAST WEEKDAY OF THE REGULAR SEMESTER SCHEDULE, BEFORE THE START OF THE FINAL EXAMS/CULMINATING ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE.

A. General Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of the course the student should be able to

1. Apply magazine style writing techniques

2. Develop story ideas by using brainstorming techniques in a writers' workshop environment

3. Apply professional research to magazine article writing

B. No textbook or supplementary materials are needed. However, students must

submit their writing in plain text via an assigned campus e-mail address. No

attachments will be accepted. Assignments will be written in many drafts before

final publication in the Chaparral feature magazine at the end of

the semester, except for the Summer Semester when no magazine is published.

C. Topical Outline:

1. Magazine niche markets and readership

2. Magazine writing styles

3. Brainstorming techniques for idea development

4. Draft development for magazine articles

5. Magazine packaging

6. Cover designs

7. Folio design

8. Developing magazine themes

D. Methods of Evaluating Students:

Students will be evaluated on successful completion of their laboratory experience at home and on campus, ability to adhere to the instructor’s guidelines, and participation in the classroom workshop.

E. Course guidelines

The instructor reserves the right to assign and evaluate available laboratory

experiences to meet course standards.

F. Student Rights and Responsibilities

The college Board of Trustees maintains a Student Code of Conduct from Board

Policy 5715 as stated on pages 49-53 in the College Catalog. The Catalog is in

print and available online for reference.

Plagiarism – The college Board of Trustees also maintains Course-Related

Academic Integrity Policy 5050. This is an excerpt from that policy:

Plagiarism occurs when a student uses language or ideas from materials without

acknowledgment and/or when the work is copied from other sources and is

submitted as the student’s own. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not

limited to,

a. Copying a phrase, a sentence or a longer passage from a source and

submitting it as one’s own.

b. Summarizing or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas without

acknowledging the source.

c. Submitting group assignments individually as one’s own independent

work.

Disciplinary action will be pursued in all instances in which it is determined that academic dishonesty has occurred. Disciplinary action may include, but is not limited to,

1) Assignment of a failing grade for a test, examination or assignment.

2) Assignment of a failing grade for a course.

3) Student disciplinary sanction under Board Procedure

G. Students will be required to account for all time spent on course assignments.

While students will average at least 2 hours a week on assignments, including

class, assignments can be spread over a shorter timeframe. Depending on the

length of assignment, students may be asked to write several shorter

assignments or one long assignment to meet class requirements.