There will be three examinations in this course, two Midterm Exams and a Final Exam.  Each will generally follow approximately the same take-home format, except that for the final exam there is a closed-book, closed-notes, in-person part.


Note:  Everything to involved in this course up to the date of an exam, may be covered by the examination:  text readings, cases, other readings, discussion board topics, lectures, and any other tasks and activities that are part of this course.  Your individual thoughtfulness will be an essentail component of your grade on each exam.  Therefore, collaboration between students can prove to be counter-productive. More importantly, in this ethics course, exam-related collaboration violates academic integrity.


Mid-Term Exams and Final Exam:  Two Parts

Each of the two mid-term exam, and two of three parts of the final exam, are "take-home" exams, available to the student at the Course Documents section of the Blackboard site for this course. The allocation of points between types of questions (e.g., multiple choice versus essay) will vary from exam to exam, and the number and amount of points of (each type of) questions will vary from exam to exam.

• Note: before taking an exam, carefully read the Blackboard Student Assessment Guide.
• Note: before taking an exam, also carefully re-read all of the information on the Quzzes and Survesy page of the syllabus.
• For example, never email exam answers or any other other online work to Prof. Spalding.  Work done on Blackboard is not accepted in hard copy, by email, or in any other format or media.  Noncompliance with these instructions (by attempting to email work to Prof. Spalding) will result in negative points, not positive points.  (A zero is at least better than negative points!)

Part One (the multiple choice/true false portion) is completed on Blackboard in the same manner as quizzes.  Carefully re-read the Quizzes page of the syllabus prior to taking each exam.

Part Two (short essay) is also separately completed on Blackboard in approximately the same manner as quizzes.  Use complete and proper sentences:
Each Midterm Exam consists of two parts:


• Part One (multiple choice) must be completed in one sitting within one hour.  This is done in exactly the same manner as Quizzes.
  
• Part Two (short essay) must be completed in one sitting in one hour. Use your own words, and follow each of the recommendations below.  Each essay may be as long as a maximum of 500 words, and is graded on content, clarity, thoughtfulness, reasoning, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and scholarly tone.  Of these, thoughtfulness is the most important, but all affect the grade.
  
• Essay Exams are Windows-Sensitive.  Never attempt to take an exam from an unstable connection, because if you lose your connection during the exam you will be locked out and lose all credit for the exam (exams may not be taken more than once on the Blackboard system).  Also, do not have other software or windows open on your computer when you are ready to take an exam.  If you attempt to multi-task during an exam, you run the risk of being locked out of the exam.  If you are locked out, you will likely receive zero credit for that exam.
• Essay Exams are Graded Manually.  Upon completion and submission of your essay exam, you will receive a status notice ("Needs Grading") and a score of "Grade Not Available."  In addition, if you View your Grades in the Tools section of Blackboard, your Grade will have a black or blue or purple or gray exclamation mark ! .  If you click on that exclamation mark and receive your status notice about the essay exam needing grading, and grading not available, this indicates that you have successfully submitted your essay exam.
  
• Check for Padlocks!  If you start to take an exam and you do run into a problem or interruption prior to hitting the  button, you might see a padlock  symbol instead of a grade when you attempt to View your Grades in the Tools section of Blackboard.  In any event, always View your Grades to check for a padlock immediately after submitting any online multiple-choice or essay exam. Unless you are able to have your essay exam reset, you will end up receiving zero credit for that exam, because a padlock  symbol is an indication that none of your work was received on Blackboard.
• If you start to take an exam and you do run into a problem or interruption prior to hitting the  button, and you see a padlock  symbol  instead of a grade when you attempt to you View your Grades in the Tools section of Blackboard, there is a small chance that you will be able to ask Prof. Spalding to reset your  exam (and even then, probably no more than once per semester).  Email Prof. Spalding right away (remembering to follow the email protocols for this course), asking him to reset your exam, so that:
• (1) IF you email Prof. Spalding plenty of time prior to the deadline for the exam; and
• (2) IF Prof. Spalding happens to receive and read your message in plenty of time prior to the due date and time for the exam; and
• (3) IF you have not already established a habit or pattern of asking for your quizzes and exams to be reset, then Prof. Spalding may, in response to your email request, agree at his discretion to "clear" your failed attempt to take the exam.  (Note, if the error message is simply that you took too long to complete and submit the exam, your exam will not be reset.  Instead, a score of zero will eventually be assigned on the Blackboard system.)  And, then,
  
• (4) IF you still have time prior to exam deadline, and IF Prof. Spalding has agreed to reset it (#1 through #3 above), you will then be able re-taket the exam "from scratch" and hopefully earn more than the zero that would otherwise have been earned.  You will likely have different exam question(s) than you had on your first attempt to take the exam.
• No guarantees, of course, so the earlier you take each exam (for example 20 hours before the deadline rather than 2 hours before the deadline), the more likely you will be able to complete it on time.  If you wait until two or three hours prior to the deadline to take your exam, you will have assumed the risk of not leaving Prof. Spalding sufficient time to receive and act on your request in time for you to re-take your exam prior to the deadline, and you will therefore receive a zero for that exam.
• If you are unsuccessful in having your exam reset in time for you to re-take it, consider that  you have invested all of your 30 "slack" points into that exam.  But in the future, find your way to a more reliable computer and internet connection (such as a campus lab or library computer), and be sure to re-read this page regarding multi-tasking and the opening of too many windows.
• Note: 95 percent of all Exam computer-related problems pertain to the student's computer and connection.  Never assume that the problem is with Blackboard, the Wayne State computer system, or the quiz itself.  If you experience any problems with an exam, your best and most reliable solution is to find your way to a better computer and connection.  Of course, it is also important that you follow the recommendations on this page as well.  But if you are in the habit of always assuming that computer-related problems are the fault of "the network" or some external technical glitch, try to break that habit in this course.  Start your troubleshooting by moving to a better computer and connection. If you are using a dial-up connection, move to a high speed internet connection.  If you are using wireless access, move to an Ethernet or hard-wired access.  If you are using a laptop, move to a desktop.  Etc. Campus computers (in the libraries and campus computer labs) are among the more reliable connections.
• Warning:  if you run over the time allotted for the exam, even by one second, you will also not receive credit for that exam.  If you start to take an exam and and take one second longer than the allotted time prior to hitting the  button, you will likely receive a red exclamation mark ! (or possibly a red question mark ? or a padlock  symbol) instead of a grade.  When this happens, the red exclamation markor other symbol will eventually be removed, but will be replaced by a zero.

Additional Notes Regarding the Writing of Essay Exams.

1.  Avoid alliteration.  Always.
2.  Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3.  Avoid cliches like the plague.  (They're old hat)
4.  DON'T use bold, underlines, italics, CAPITAL LETTERS, and other stylistic flourishes simply for EMPHASIS!
5.  Ampersands & abbreviations, etc. are N.A.
6.  Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7.  It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
8.  Contractions aren't necessary.
9.  Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10.  One should never generalize.
11.  Eliminate quotations.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
12.  Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
13.  Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly
superfluous.
14.  Be more or less specific.
15.  Understatement is always best.
16.  One-word sentences?  Eliminate.
17.  Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
18.  The passive voice is to be avoided.
19.  Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
20.  Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
21.  Who needs rhetorical questions?
22.  Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
23.  Eschew obfuscation.
24.  You should not address your writing to the second person (i.e., you should not use the word "you").  I don't recommend that you or I use the first person, either (i.e., I should not find the word "I" or "me" or "my" when I read your paper).
25.  The word "feel" is not "fair", so don't feel like it would be fair to yourself if you were to use either word.

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For More Information on Test Taking, See:

• Multiple Choice Exam Tips

 
Last Revised 03/31/2009. Copyright 2000 and 2009:  Albert D. Spalding, JD, CPA/CFF.  All rights reserved.