Applied Liberal Studies

APLS 490 Internship/External Experience
Fall 2021 Syllabus

Part 1: Course Information

Instructor Information

Instructor: Sharon Oliver-Whitehurst, Divisional Budget Officer for Academic Affairs/Adjunct Professor
Office: Room 304, Truth Hall, 1700 East Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD 212151

Office Hours: By appointment
Office Telephone: 443-885-4681
E-mail: sharon.whitehurst@morgan.edu

Course Description

During this course, students will undertake a significant experiential learning opportunity, typically with an internship/external professional experience with a company, non-profit, governmental, or community organization. The internship/external professional experience represents an educational opportunity that will help students apply and put into action what they have learned throughout the rest of their Morgan State coursework in a “real-world setting.” Through meaningful, in-depth reflection and analysis, students will gain an understanding of the connections between their field experience and Morgan coursework. Students will explore how the integration of their experiences has prepared them to solve specific problems and/or lead within their field.

Textbook & Course Materials

Required Text

• All texts will be provided through online modules. 

Course Requirements

• Internet connection (DSL, LAN, or cable connection desirable)
• Access to Canvas
• Computer with a webcam/mic, or, an Android or iPhone where you can record and upload video.

Course Structure

This course will be delivered entirely online through the course management system Canvas. You will use your Morgan Network account to log in to the course from at http://morgan.edu/canvas

Technology used in this Course

 

Technology	Accessibility Statement Link	Statement to Learners
Canvas	Canvas Accessibility Statement	Canvas is Morgan’s Learning Management System (LMS).  It is used for all online and hybrid courses.
Adobe Reader	Adobe Accessibility Statement	Adobe Reader is software you will use to view PDF documents.  The PDF documents are found in each of the Course Modules.
Panopto Video Capture system	Panopto Accessibility Statement	Panopto is a video capture tool. It will be used throughout the course to display video content.  The Panopto videos will play in your browser, and may also be viewed with assistive technology. You will find Panopto videos throughout the course.
YouTube Videos	YouTube Accessibility Statement	YouTube is a service that displays videos.  You will find YouTube videos within many of the Course Modules.  YouTube videos are embedded directly within Canvas, so you do not have to access them outside of Canvas. However, each YouTube video embedded in Canvas will also have a link to the video located on YouTube itself.
Microsoft Office Applications	Microsoft Office Accessibility Statement	You will be required to create Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents to complete projects in this course.
Flipgrid	Flipgrid is Accessible for Everyone	Flipgrid will serve as one of our discussion boards (the other will be a normal text-based discussion board). Instead of writing out text responses for every discussion board prompts, you will record a video responding to some prompts. You can also post a video in response to someone else's video.

 

Part 2a: Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. articulate significant insights and their importance gained during internship/external experience
2. explain connections between insights and ideas/concepts in their Morgan coursework
3. demonstrate how the integration of external and classroom experience/learning has prepared them to solve complex problems in their chosen field. 

You will meet the objectives listed above through a combination of the following activities in this course: 

 

Students will be evaluated based on the assignments below. Each assignment will be graded using a rubric that evaluates the degree to which the student has met the learning outcomes and fulfilled the objectives of the assignments. Complete details regarding the assignments can be found within the Canvas site for the course

• Video and Written Discussions: Throughout the semester students will be required to post an initial response to discussion prompts as well as reply to their peers. Students will be graded based on the discussion rubric for the quality of their responses.
  
  

• Section Drafts of ePortfolio: The final project for APLS 490 is broken into sections to be completed throughout the semester. Students will complete and submit drafts of each section during the semester. After review, the student will receive feedback on the draft. The feedback that the student receives should be acted upon and integrated into the final project.
  
  

• Final Internship/External Experience ePortfolio: The culminating project in this course helps students articulate the connections made between their internships/external experiences and their coursework at Morgan State. Further, the final project gives students the opportunity to outline how they can use this cohesive learning to lead and/or solve specific problems within their chosen field.

Part 2b: Internship/External Work Experience Requirement

Prior to enrolling in APLS 490, students must have either begun an approved internship experience or have completed a significant number of hours in an approved external professional experience. The expectation is that students should complete a minimum of 400 to 500 hours worth of professional work/internship experience.

Students should refer to the Applied Liberal Studies program coordinator for information regarding approved internships/professional work experiences. 

Part 3: Assignments 

All assignments are outlined in the Course Summary section on this page. Individual assignment point values are listed within the assignment. Assignments in this course have been broken into groups. Please see the table below to see the weight of each assignment group. 

Assignments are weighted by group:

Group	Weight
Writing Intensive Assignments	65%
FlipGrid & Written Discussions	25%
Creative Assignments	10%
Total	100%

Important Note: Activity and assignment details will be explained in detail within the Canvas course site. All assignments are due by 11:59 pm on their due date. If you have any questions, please contact your instructor.

 

Part 4: Grading Policies

Late Work Policy 

Be sure to pay close attention to deadlines. Every assignment in this course builds upon the previously submitted assignment. Because of this your work must be on time. 

Late work will only be accepted with prior approval from the instructor. You must seek approval before the due date to turn in late work. 

A late penalty of 20% may be assessed on any work submitted after the due date. 

Course work will not be accepted 7 days after the due date. Assignments that are not submitted within 7 days of the due date will automatically be given a score of zero in the grade book. 

Viewing Grades in Canvas

Points you receive for activities and assignments will be posted to the Canvas Grade Book. Click on the Grades link in the menu area.

Timeline for Returning Work

Typically you will receive activities and assessments back, with grading and comments, one week after you have submitted it. Your work will be returned in such a fast manner because you will need the returned assignment to complete future assignments. 

Final Grades

This course is offered as a Pass/Fail. Students must earn a C or better in order to pass the course. 

Your final grade is calculated in a percentage score out of 100%. Please refer to the table from Part 3 of this syllabus for the percentage of points per assignment group type. There are no extra credit or participation points for this course. Final grades assigned for this course will be based on the percentage of total points earned and are assigned as follows:

 

Letter Grade	Percentage	Performance
A	93-100%	Excellent Work
A-	90-92%	Nearly Excellent Work
B+	87-89%	Very Good Work
B	83-86%	Good Work
B-	80-82%	Mostly Good Work
C+	77-79%	Above Average Work
C	73-76%	Average Work
C-	70-72%	Mostly Average Work
D+	67-69%	Below Average Work
D	60-66%	Poor Work
F	0-59%	Failing Work

 

Rubrics:

Every activity you complete, and every assignment you submit will be graded based on a rubric. Please refer to individual assignments for their associated rubric. This course uses rubrics so that grading is objective and free from personal opinions.

 

Part 5: Course Policies

Participation

You are expected to participate in each activity and every assignment. In addition to completing all assignments, you are expected to check the Canvas course site for updates and announcements regularly. During weeks in which a discussion is occurring, you should be participating in the discussion multiple times. This means that you will be logging into the course throughout the week. 

Build Rapport

If you find that you have any trouble keeping up with assignments or other aspects of the course, make sure you let your instructor know as early as possible. As you will find, building rapport and productive relationships are vital to becoming a capable professional. Make sure that you are proactive in informing your instructor when difficulties arise during the semester so that we can help you find a solution.

Complete Assignments

All assignments for this course will be completed through Canvas unless otherwise specified. As mentioned in the Late Policy, you are not allowed to submit late work unless you have prior approval from the instructor. It is imperative that you submit all assignments on time. 

Understand When You May Drop This Course

It is the student’s responsibility to understand when they need to consider dropping a course. Refer to the Morgan State Course Schedule on the Academic Calendar for dates and deadlines for registration. After this period, a serious and compelling reason is required to drop from the course. Serious and compelling reasons include: (1) documented and significant change in work hours, leaving student unable to participate, or (2) documented and severe physical/mental illness/injury to the student or student’s family.

Incomplete Policy

Under emergency/special circumstances, you may petition for an incomplete grade. An incomplete will only be assigned if there is proper documentation of the emergency or exceptional circumstances. All incomplete course assignments must be completed within the next semester of enrollment.

Inform Your Instructor of Any Accommodations Needed

Morgan State University is committed to providing barrier-free education to disabled individuals and is actively working to bring its facilities and programs into full compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 

If you require accommodation due to a disability, please contact the Office of Student Disability Support Services (SDSS) to register.  More information regarding the intake procedure can be found on the SDSS website: http://www.morgan.edu/SDSS

It is your responsibility to request an accommodation from SDSS before or at the beginning of the semester. 

Morgan’s Disability Support Web Site

Commit to Integrity

As a student in this course (and at this university) you are expected to maintain high degrees of professionalism, commitment to active learning and participation in this class and also integrity in your behavior in and out of the classroom.

Morgan State's Academic Honesty Policy & Procedures

The principles of truth and honesty are recognized as fundamental to a community of scholars and teachers. Morgan State University expects that both faculty and students will honor these principles, and in so doing, will protect the integrity of academic work and student grades.

Read more about Morgan State's Academic Integrity Policy in the Getting Started Area of our course.

Definitions

At Morgan State, “cheating” is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic work through the use of any dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means.”

“Plagiarism is a form of cheating.  At Morgan State, “plagiarism is the use of distinctive ideas or works belonging to another person without providing adequate acknowledgment of that person’s contribution.”

Important Note: Any form of academic dishonesty, including cheating and plagiarism, may be reported to the Office of Student Affairs.

Course policies are subject to change. The instructor reserves the right to change any statements, policies or schedules as necessary.   It is the student’s responsibility to check Canvas for corrections or updates to the syllabus.  Any changes will be posted in Canvas.

Part 6: Completing APLS 490 over multiple semesters

Students who enroll in partial credits of APLS 490 over the course of multiple semesters will only complete the coursework outlined above during their final semester of APLS 490. Traditionally, students who split up APLS 490 over the course of multiple semesters are engaging within their internship during their entire enrollment. While these students will not be expected to complete the ePortfolio project (and related coursework) during the initial semester of APLS 490 they will be assigned three alternative assignments to complete. Additionally, the Coordinator of the Applied Liberal Studies program will check-in periodically with the student's supervisor at their internship to ensure that all duties and responsibilities are being fulfilled by the student.