Assessment
Most first-year classes in History are full year (two semester) courses. We do this so that students who arrive at university have time to settle into class and get accustomed to the expectations of university. The First-Year Seminar program is designed specifically to address this, focusing not only on disciplinary content (i.e. teaching you facts about the past) but also teaching skills fundamental for academic success.
This is why this class is designed to start off slow, getting you to question what you already know about the Middle Ages and teaching you the building blocks of historical analysis/writing. I hope that you are able to experience the class as collaborative, not competitive. You are all starting off together and I want you to see each other as peers, colleagues and potential friends from whom you all can learn. Assignments are thus designed with the expectation that you can work together with others or that you see/read other students' work and learn from it. Your peers can be inspiring.
At the end of the term, you also will be responsible for writing up an evidence-supported self-assessment of your participation and work (see Process Letter), taking your written work, participation and other qualitative features into account.
Evaluation
Fall term will be weighted as 40% of the final grade and Winter Term as 60%. We will weight the Fall term less, since the traditionally, it is a period of adjustment for first year students.
Fall Term
Assignment | Weight |
25% | |
40% | |
5% | |
25% | |
5% |
Winter Term
| Assignment | Weight |
|---|---|
Participation | 25% |
Roll&Race Exercise | 5% |
Timeline Exercise and Presentation | 10% |
Timeline Cards (supplement) | 5% |
Character Design (first draft) | 15% |
Character Design Presentation | 5% |
Character Design (second draft) | 15% |
Peer Review | 5% |
Historical Context/ Game Mechanics | 15% |
Bonus Marks
Students can earn bonus marks by participating in optional supplemental activities:
the professor will host weekly game afternoons to familiarize students with the range of historical themed games (and have fun)
the History Undergraduate Society (HUgS) may organize events, like a field trip to the WarGame exhibit at the Canadian War Museum
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