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CIDM4350 Section 70 Data Mining Methods Semester/Year: Fall 2021

Professor: Dr. Liang (Leon) Chen Class Days/Times/Location or Other Format: Class is taught online. Office Location: Classroom Center 208-F Office Hours: Wednesdays noon – 6 pm and Thursdays, 9 AM - noon Office Phone: 806-651-2469 (If your phone call is not answered, please leave a voice message and I will reply to you at my earliest convenience, usually within 6 hours during the weekday daytime) Email: lchen@wtamu.edu (This is the best way to contact me and you are expected to receive my reply within 6 hours during the weekday daytime, so please check your buff email and WT class announcement regularly) Social Media: Keep up with the latest happenings of the Engler COB.

Terms of Use A student's continued enrollment in this course signifies acknowledgment of and agreement with the statements, disclaimers, policies, and procedures outlined within this syllabus and elsewhere in the WTClass environment. This Syllabus is a dynamic document. Elements of the course structure (e.g., dates and topics covered, but not policies) may be changed at the discretion of the professor.

WTAMU Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business Mission Statement The mission of the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business is to provide high quality undergraduate and graduate business education with a global perspective and ethical awareness. We accomplish this through emphasis on excellence in teaching, which is strengthened by faculty scholarship and supported by professional service. Learning Objectives of the WTAMU Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business Programs The Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business (COB) at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) seeks to prepare students in the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Professional Accounting (MPA), Master of Science in Computer Information Systems and Business Analytics (MSCISBA) and the Master of Science Finance and Economics (MSFE) degree programs for careers in

business and to foster their professional growth and advancement via key learning goals and objectives. The learning objectives of the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business are as follows:

Leadership

Communication

Critical Thinking

Business Integration

Core Business Knowledge

Global Business Environment

Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

Course Description This course provides students a study of the techniques, tools, algorithms and applications of data mining algorithms for the purpose of analytical processing and decision support.

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Course Objectives Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate a solid understanding on data mining purpose, tasks, process, algorithms, principles, and

practical issues;

2. Define a business problem which can be solved by data mining;

3. Identify and understand how your data for mining are gathered and stored;

4. Prepare the data for mining tasks, such as cleaning the data, identifying outliers;

5. Build data mining models using supervised and unsupervised techniques;

6. Evaluate the effectiveness of different data mining models;

7. Communicate data mining results to management and other non-technical audiences.

Map from COB Learning Objectives to Specific Course Objectives Course Learning Objectives AACSB Learning

Objectives ABET Student Outcomes Assessment

Plan

1. Demonstrate a solid understanding on data mining purpose, tasks,

process, algorithms, principles, and practical issues

Core Business Knowledge

NA Quizzes, exams

2. Define a business problem which can be solved by data mining

Business Integration

SO1. An ability to analyze a problem, and to identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution

Assignments

3. Identify and understand how your data for mining are gathered and stored

Crtical thinking SO2. An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the discipline

Assignments, exams

4. Prepare the data for mining tasks, such as cleaning the data, identifying outliers

Crtical thinking SO2. An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the discipline

Assignment, exams

5. Build data mining models using supervised and unsupervised techniques

Crtical thinking SO2. An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the discipline

Assignments, exams

6. Evaluate the effectiveness of different data mining models

Crtical thinking SO2. An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the discipline

Assignments, exams

7. Communicate data mining results to management and other non-technical audiences

Communication SO3. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences about technical information

Assignments, exams, group assignments

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Course Materials (Including text, calculator, internet connectivity, software, virtual programs, etc.) Books

1. Required textbook: “Data Mining for the Mass” (the 1st edition), Matthew A. North, ISBN-10: 0615684378, 2012. This book can be downloaded for free from RapidMiner Documentation via this link. Even though this book uses an older version of RapidMiner, but it provides a theoretical tour of data mining and includes practical cases and helpful instructions for data mining and RapidMiner. Two newer versions of this book are also available and acceptable in this course (the 2nd edition ISBN-10: 1727102479 and the 3rd edition ISBN-10: 1523321431, both of them can be found/purchased on Amazon).

2. Recommended book: “Data Mining Techniques: For Marketing, Sales, and Customer Relationship Management”, 3rd edition, Gordon S. Linoff, Michael J. A. Berry, ISBN-13: 978-0470650936, 2011.

3. Optional: “Data Science for Business: What You Need to Know about Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking”. 1st edition, Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett, O’Reilly Media, Sebastopol, CA, ISBN-13: 978-1449361327, 2013 (P&F for abbreviation). Available at Amazon.

Software

1. RapidMiner Studio 9.9: Please click https://rapidminer.com/products/studio/ to download the

appropriate version to fit with your operating system and then install it on your computer. After you

install it, please use your WT email address register a free account and then to upgrade your RapidMiner

to an educational version so that you can use the full function (details will be provided on WTClass).

2. Microsoft Office 2010 or above, including at least Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

3. Any other software that may be used throughout this semester as complementary tools.

4. Optional: R Studio Desktop (available at https://www.rstudio.com) and R (available at https://www.r-

project.org/). For more details about using R, please check our DataCamp course: Introduction to R.

Others 1. DataCamp: A invitation link will be sent to your WT email address. Please follow the instruction to join

our class group on DataCamp. You will be required to complete some courses or chapters on DataCamp as a partial fulfillment of a learning activity or assignment.

2. PPT Slides, videos, lab instructions, and any other materials, which will be posted on WT Class.

Course Grading Policies Your performance in this course is evaluated by the following three components:

Learning Activities (8%, 80 points): four assigned learning activities (20 points for each).

Quizzes (18%, 180 points): six individual quizzes (30 points for each).

Individual Homework (20%, 200 points): four individual homework assignments (50 points each).

Group Assignments (24%, 240 points): four group assignments (60 points each).

Two Exams (30%, 300 points): two individual exams (150 points each)

Your final letter grade will be assessed based on the following point accumulations:

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Letter grade of “A”: 90% (900 points) or higher

Letter grade of “B”: 80% (800 points) up to, but lower than 90% (900 points)

Letter grade of “C”: 70% (700 points) up to, but lower than 80% (800 points)

Letter grade of “D”: 60% (600 points) up to, but lower than 70% (700 points)

Letter grade of “F”: lower than 60% (600 points)

Attention: Discussion about grading is welcome within a week after the grade is published. After that, no argument nor discussion will be accepted. Course Assignment, Examination, and or Project Policies This is a practice-intensive course, so please reserve at least ten hours each week exclusively for this course including online participation, assigned readings, quiz, lab section, and homework. Learning Activities Learning activities are used to promote active learning and/or encourage mutual learning and engagement among students. In total, there are four assigned learning activities. Learning activities include participation in online discussions, completion of required tasks or labs, and any other assigned learning activities. Each learning activity must be submitted before the deadline; otherwise, a zero point will be assigned. Online discussion is one type of learning activities in this class. Students are expected to participate in online discussion on suggested topics. The following are examples of good contributions to class participations:

Raising relevant and insightful questions;

Making comments that build on the ideas of others;

Helping other students contribute their ideas;

Offering your own ideas to help analyze cases to develop sound course of action;

Sharing your own personal experiences in a way that adds to better understanding of topic being

discussed;

Sharing your takeaways from this course, the optional textbook, or any other assigned source.

What you CANNOT do (misconducts) in online discussions include:

Seeking or sharing the answers to our ongoing assignments, quizzes, or exams.

Discussing the ongoing homework assignments, quizzes, or exams.

Any other misconducts raised by the instructor throughout the semester.

Quizzes Quizzes are used to check and improve your understanding of course materials, including PPT slides and assigned readings, which are posted on WT Class. Quizzes are open book, open slides, and open notes. Six quizzes will be conducted throughout the semester every other week as a regular part of class. It is your responsibility to check and complete online quizzes on time. If you miss the deadline of a quiz, you will receive a zero point. Students must complete each quiz individually. Students are NOT allowed to share or discuss any quiz questions when the quiz is still active. After the due time of each quiz, the answers to each question will be provided. Therefore, there will be no “make-up” opportunities for quizzes and late submissions will be assigned to a zero point. Even though a student misses the deadline of a quiz (i.e., receiving a zero point), s/he still has

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to complete the missing quiz in order to get access to the next quiz. The coverage of each quiz is specified as below:

Quiz 1 covers course materials in Weeks 1 & 2

Quiz 2 covers course materials in Weeks 3 & 4

Quiz 3 covers course materials in Weeks 5 & 6

Quiz 4 covers course materials in Weeks 8, 9, & 10

Quiz 5 covers course materials in Weeks 11 & 12

Quiz 6 covers course materials in Weeks 13 & 14

You may take each quiz up to 2 times before the deadline and but your grade is the higher of the two attempts. After your first attempt, you can view your score on each question and then you can decide whether or not you want to retake it. In your second attempt, questions and answers may be displayed differently. For calculation questions, you may get different numbers in your second attempt. Therefore, read the questions and answers carefully in each attempt.

Typically, a quiz may include multiple choice, multiple answer, True/False, and calculation questions. There is only one correct answer in a multiple choice or True/False question, so you will get either zero or full point on this question; there is at least one correct answer in a multiple answer question, so choosing a wrong answer or missing a correct answer may decrease your grade on this question. If you are not familiar with multiple answer questions, you can read the brief description below.

A multiple answer question is an extension of the multiple choice question. In this case, students must select all correct answers, rather than selecting one correct answer. Research shows that a multiple-answer question tends to be a better discriminator than a multiple choice question with the same number of choices because the multiple answer question has many more potential responses. In our quizzes or exams, we may have some multiple answer questions. The following rules are used for grading your multiple-answer questions:

1) Getting one correct answer receives partial positive points. For example, if a question has four correct

answers, getting one of them will receive 25% of points.

2) Getting one incorrect answer receives partial negative points. The portion of negative points will be

determined later.

3) The minimum point a student can get from a multiple answer question is zero (no negative points in

total).

4) Choosing all the answers (correct and incorrect) receives zero point except that all of them are correct.

Using Rules 2 and 4, we can compute the portion of negative points for selecting an incorrect answer. Each

incorrect answer is assigned as −100%

𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 points. For example, if a multiple answer

question has 2 incorrect answers, each incorrect answer is assigned -50% points given that the total point is no smaller than zero. Combing all the rules, a student’s total points from a multiple answer question is determined as below:

𝑀𝑎𝑥 ((∑ 𝑃𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 + ∑ 𝑁𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠), 0)

Example: a multiple answer question (6 points in total) has four correct answers (each is worth 1.5 points) and two incorrect answers (each is worth -3 points). Your grade will be computed as below:

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# of correct answers selected

0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4

# of incorrect answer selected

0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2

Positive points earned

0 0 0 1.5 1.5 1.5 3 3 3 4.5 4.5 4.5 6 6 6

Negative points earned

0 -3 -6 0 -3 -6 0 -3 -6 0 -3 -6 0 -3 -6

Total points earned 0 0 0 1.5 0 0 3 0 0 4.5 1.5 0 6 3 0

Homework Assignments

Homework assignments will be essential for successful completion of the course and develop your data mining skills. In total, there are four homework assignments for this class, starting from Week 4. It is your responsibility to check homework assignments posted in WT class at least once every week. Homework assignments must be completed individually. Copying someone else’s answers will not be allowed, nor having someone else do your assignments for you be allowed. It is important that every student must work on homework individually unless stated otherwise, and they must turn them in on time. I accept late assignments up to one calendar day late. Assignments submitted after the deadline but less than one day late will get a late penalty of 20%. Assignments that are more than one day late will NOT be accepted and a zero will be assigned for that assignment grade. Identical homework will not be accepted and, as required by the university policy, the case will be reported to the university authority for necessary action. Please note that identical homework means identical algorithms or identical descriptions or identical solutions, etc. Copying solutions from any web site will be regarded as cheating and the case will be reported to the university authority. Submitted work must be presented in a professional format.

Homework assignments are based on lab sections, which involve analytics software. Please start each homework earlier (do not wait until the last day) to clear any technical obstacles or problems. If a homework assignment requires you to take a few screenshots, you must follow all the requirements to provide reliable screenshots (typically with date and time on them); otherwise, a penalty of up to 50% of your grade on the particular homework will be applied. Group Assignments

Teamwork in workplace is very important, especially for data mining tasks. In order to sharpen your teamwork skills in data mining, each student is required to finish four group assignments (e.g., conducting a mini project, exploring new or advanced DM algorithms, packages, or functions) throughout this semester. Each team will be formed with 3-5 students by the third week (due September 12). Every student is expected to actively and almost equally participate in group assignment and group project. Your active participation is very important to develop your virtual collaboration and communication skills. After each group assignment, each team member is required to evaluate their teammates’ performance in the group assignment. Students who fail to make an equal or significant contribution to their group assignments may receive a penalty based on teammates’ evaluation. A late submission of group project deliverables, with the permission from the instructor, will receive a zero point.

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Exams Examinations are intended to gauge your understanding of the course material covered. There will be two

examinations. In addition to the textbook reading assignments, the exams will cover any materials discussed in the class and any presentation made until that point in the class. You must complete each exam before the deadline; otherwise, a zero point will be assigned. No make-up exam is ordinary given. In case of emergency absence, notify the instructor before the exam.

Each exam is open book, open slides, and open notes. You have only one attempt for each exam. It is an individual exam, so you are NOT allowed to collaborate with anyone else or share your anything about the exam with anyone else. Discussion of anything related to the exam during the exam period is NOT allowed, either. Any question about the exam should be directed to the instructor. Students violating these rules and the Student Code of Ethics in any exam will be reported to the Dean’s office and are subject to penalties described in the West Texas A&M University Code of Student Life, which may include suspension from the University. Classroom Conduct Students should use their WT Buff emails to communicate with the instructor. When sending an email to the instructor or another student in our class, please follow golden email etiquette rules:

Consider the purpose of your email.

Include a clear subject matter, and don’t shout.

Always use an appropriate greeting (Don't use laid-back, colloquial expressions such as “Hi” or “Hey”

without appropriately addressing the recipient’s name; however, if you are writing in a chain of emails

where the context has already been established in a prior email or even by phone, then it’s fine to write

with no greeting).

Reply in a timely fashion (always reply within 24 hours).

Always spell check.

Include a signature block.

Know that people from different cultures speak and write differently.

Don’t hit reply all or CC everyone.

Our course includes discussion boards and other opportunities to collaborate with and provide feedback to fellow participants. Our Learning Community offers space for participants to extend their conversations with course-takers from across the country. Maintaining appropriate etiquette for online forms of communication—or netiquette—is crucial to ensuring that these discussion forums offer a rich learning experience for all participants. Participants in the Course are asked to kindly follow six norms for proper netiquette:

Actively participate. The Course experience is more enriching when it includes a greater number of voices and perspectives. By actively participating, course-takers have an opportunity to engage in discussions that further their understanding of different practices and prepare them to effectively implement what they have learned in their own work.

Read and respond to the discussion threads. The Course is designed to be taken in cohorts because research shows that learning is enhanced by engaging in meaningful discussions. A discussion does not take place by solely reading and responding to the initial prompts, but rather by reading other course-takers’ posts and providing feedback, offering encouragement, and sharing relevant resources.

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Embrace the diversity among course-takers. Our participants belong to a community of learners that benefits from the exchange of diverse perspectives and experiences. We expect that all course-takers are respectful of these differences.

Be timely. Research shows that discussions are most beneficial when people respond to one another in a timely manner. We ask that you do your best to stay on the same schedule as your peers to maximize learning for all course-takers.

Be specific. We encourage you to offer specific evidence from the videos or your own class experiences when posting to the discussion forums. Citing evidence whenever possible not only allows you to effectively support your ideas but also helps paint a picture for your readers, who may have different perspectives or who have had different experiences.

Use an appropriate tone and language. Without nonverbal cues, humor and sarcasm can be mistaken as cold or insulting. Please pay special attention to your use of tone and language before submitting posts in the discussion areas.

In order to develop a better sense of learning community, you are encouraged, but not required to display your avatar image on WTClass. See the instruction below:

Step 1: click the icon in the top right corner

Step 2: click “Personal Information”.

Step 3: click “Personalize My Settings”.

Step 4: Upload your favorite pictures, professional,

casual, etc. and then submit it. Make sure your picture

is appropriate. You will see your avatar image in our

group discussions.

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Course Topics - Tentative Calendar of Readings, Topics, and Due Dates

Week

Start Date

End Date

Topics Readings Tasks to Complete

0 8-18 8-22 Prepare for This Course Syllabus & Resources in Get Started Folder

DataCamp Registration

1 8-23 8-29 Introduction To Data Mining Ch. 1 in North Ch. 1 & 3 in Linoff & Berry

Introduce yourself

2 8-30 9-5 Data Warehousing, OLAP, Data Mart

Ch. 2 in North Ch. 17 in Linoff & Berry

Quiz 1 Install RapidMiner

3 9-7 9-12 Data Preparation Ch. 3 in North Form your group Learning Activity 1

4 9-13 9-19 Classification and Decision Tree

Ch. 10 in North Ch. 7 in Linoff & Berry

HW1 Quiz 2

5 9-20 9-26 Classification: Naïve Bayes Supplementary materials Ch. 7 in Linoff & Berry

HW2

6 9-27 10-3 Classification: Neural Network & Model Comparison

Ch. 11 in North Ch. 8 in Linoff & Berry

Group Assignment 1 Quiz 3

7 10-4 10-10 Exam 1

8 10-11 10-17 Clustering and K-Means Algorithm

Ch. 6 in North Ch. 12 & 13 in Linoff & Berry

HW3 Learning Activity 2

9 10-18 10-24 Advanced Issues of Clustering

Ch. 14 in Linoff & Berry Other materials

Group Assignment 2

10 10-25 10-31 Discriminant Analysis Ch. 7 in North Quiz 4 Learning Activity 3

11 11-1 11-7 Market Basket Analysis and Association Rule

Ch. 5 in North Ch. 15 in Linoff & Berry

HW4

12 11-8 11-14 Text Mining Ch. 12 in North Ch. 21 in Linoff & Berry

Group Assignment 3 Quiz 5

13 11-15 11-21 Special Considerations In Data Mining

Ch. 13 & 14 in North Quiz 6 Learning Activity 4 14 11-22 11-23

15 11-29 12-3 Group Assignment 4

16 12-6 12-10 Exam 2 (Due December 10, 2021)

Note: this tentative schedule is subject to changes, which will be announced in advance; typically, each quiz, homework, and exam will be posted on the start date and due on the end date. . Some key dates in Academic Calendar:

September 6, 2021: Labor Day— no classes

September 8, 2021: Last Day to Drop (not withdraw) and be eligible for refund

October 29, 2021: Last Day to Drop or Withdraw 5PM (granted grade of X)

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November 24-26, 2021: No Classes & Thanksgiving Holiday

December 2, 2021: Last Class Day

December 3, 2021: Dead Day

WTAMU Paul and Virginia Engler COB Student Code of Ethics Each student enrolled in COB courses accepts personal responsibility to uphold and defend academic integrity and to promote an atmosphere in which all individuals may flourish. The COB Student Code of Ethics strives to set a standard of honest behavior that reflects well on students, the COB and West Texas A&M University. All students enrolled in business courses are expected to follow the explicit behaviors detailed in the Student Code of Ethics. Code of Ethics

Do not use notes, texts, solution manuals, or other aids for a quiz or exam without instructor authorization.

Do not copy the work of others and/or allow others to view your answers or copy your work during a quiz, exam, or on homework assignments.

Do not allow other parties to assist in the completion of your quiz, exam, homework, paper, or project when not permitted.

Do not work with other students on projects or assignments without authorization from the course instructor.

Properly cite and specifically credit the source of text, graphic, and web materials in papers, projects, or other assignments.

Do not forge the signature of an instructor, advisor, dean, or another student.

Provide truthful information for class absences when asking faculty for excused absences or for a make-up for a quiz, exam, or homework.

Provide truthful information on your resume including work history, academic performance, leadership activities, and membership in student organizations.

Respect the property, personal rights, and learning environment of all members of the academic community. This includes posting, sharing, and otherwise distributing the course materials outside of this course without expressed permission of the faculty, college, university, or system.

Live up to the highest ethical standards in all academic and professional endeavors.

Students violating the Student Code of Ethics will be reported to the Dean’s office and are subject to penalties described in the West Texas A&M University Code of Student Life, which may include suspension from the University. In addition, a violator of the Student Code of Ethics may become ineligible for participation in student organizations sponsored by the COB and for recognition for College academic honors, awards, and scholarships.

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COB Student Resources Link The COB has developed a Student Resources repository (e.g., APA writing style information, business core reviews, facilities, and other helpful supplements), which can be found on the COB Website. Additionally, WTAMU has developed an Academic Study Skills information site to assist students (e.g., study habits, supplemental instruction, tutoring, writing and math skills), which can be found on the WTAMU Website. For WTAMU Writing Center information (for students needing writing assistance, guidance, and feedback), please visit their website. Student Travel Opportunities In multiple business courses, there may be opportunities for student travel supplemented by student fees. If you have an interest in such opportunities as they become available, please notify a faculty member. Dropping/Repeating the Course Should a student decide to drop the course, it is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the final drop dates and adhere to the WTAMU Add/Drop policy. Any student participating in the course after the WTAMU posted drop date will be considered active and a grade will be administered at the end of the course for that student. Students are charged a fee for any course attempted for a third or subsequent time at WTAMU other than a non-degree credit developmental course or exempted courses. Scholastic Dishonesty It is the responsibility of students and instructors to help maintain scholastic integrity at the University by refusing to participate in or tolerate scholastic dishonesty. Commission of any of the following acts shall constitute scholastic dishonesty. This listing is not exclusive of any other acts that may reasonably be said to constitute scholastic dishonesty: acquiring or providing information for any assigned work or examination from any unauthorized source; informing any person or persons of the contents of any examination prior to the time the examination is given in subsequent sections of the course or as a makeup; plagiarism; submission of a paper or project that is substantially the same for two courses unless expressly authorized by the instructor to do so; submission of a paper or project prepared by another student as your own. You are responsible for being familiar with the University's Academic Integrity Code, as well as the COB Student Code of Ethics listed in this document. Academic Integrity All work must be completed individually unless otherwise stated. Commission of any of the following acts shall constitute scholastic dishonesty: acquiring or providing information for any assigned work or examination from any unauthorized source; informing any person or persons of the contents of any examination prior to the time the exam is given in any subsequent sections of the course or as a makeup; plagiarism; submission of a paper or project that is substantially the same for two courses unless expressly authorized by the instructor to do so. For more information, see the Code of Student Life.

Viewpoints/External Websites Disclaimer The views expressed in this document, web-based course materials, and/or classroom presentations and discussions are those of the professor and do not necessarily represent the views of West Texas A&M University, its faculty and staff, or its students. Views expressed by students are likewise those of the person making such

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statements. It is understood and expected that each individual within this course will respect and allow individual difference of opinion. Neither the professor, the COB, nor WTAMU are responsible for the content of external websites discussed in the classroom and/or linked to via online course materials, emails, message boards, or other means. Referred websites are for illustrative purposes only, and are neither warranted nor endorsed by the professor, COB, or WTAMU. Web pages change frequently, as does domain name ownership. While every effort is made to ensure proper referencing, it is possible that students may on occasion find materials to be objectionable for reasons beyond our control. Acceptable Student Behavior Classroom behavior should not interfere with the instructor’s ability to conduct the class or the ability of other students to learn from the instructional program (Code of Student Life). Unacceptable or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Students engaging in unacceptable behavior may be instructed to leave the classroom. Inappropriate behavior may result in disciplinary action or referral to the University’s Behavioral Intervention Team. This prohibition applies to all instructional forums, including electronic, classroom, labs, discussion groups, field trips, etc. Technology Requirements All technological requirements for the successful completion of this course are the responsibility of the student, including access to a working computer and/or to a device with secure broadband Internet connection, data storage and retrieval, and state-of-the-art security. The student is responsible for all technological problems not related to WTAMU, including but not limited to equipment failures, power outages, and internet breakdowns. Furthermore, students are responsible for all necessary technical and operational skills for completing this course, and for being familiar with WTClass (the Blackboard Learning Management System) both in a general sense and in a specific sense as pertaining to this course and any materials stored within. The professor is not responsible for any technical matters related to WTClass. Students must contact the IT Service Center at 806-651-4357 or itsc@wtamu.edu if they have problems accessing and/or using the WTClass environment. Students are also encouraged to consult the Student Technology Support Portal at students.wtamu.edu for help with WTClass. Physical or Educational Access - ADA Statement West Texas A&M University seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified persons with disabilities. This University will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to register with Student Disability Services (SDS) and to contact faculty members in a timely fashion to arrange for suitable accommodations. Contact Information: Student Success Center, CC 106; phone 806-651-2335. Title IX Statement West Texas A&M University is committed to providing a learning, working, and living environment that promotes personal integrity,

civility, and mutual respect in an environment free of sexual misconduct and discrimination. Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based

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on sex and gender are Civil Rights offenses subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories such as race, national origin, etc. Harassment is not acceptable. If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted, you can find the appropriate resources here:

WTAMU Title IX Coordinator- Georganna Ecker-

titleIX@wtamu.edu or call 806.651.3199

WTAMU Counseling Services – Classroom Center 116, or call 806.651.2340

WTAMU Police Department – 806.651.2300, or dial 911

24-hour Crisis Hotline – 800.273.8255, or 806.359.6699, or 800.692.4039

For more information, see the Code of Student Life.

Evacuation Statement If you receive notice to evacuate the building, please evacuate promptly but in an orderly manner. Evacuation routes are posted in various locations indicating all exits, outside assemble area, location of fire extinguishers, fire alarm pull stations and emergency telephone numbers (651.5000 or 911). In the event an evacuation is necessary; evacuate immediately do not use elevators; take all personal belongings with you; report to outside assembly area and wait for further information; students needing assistance in the evacuation process should bring this to the attention of the instructor at the beginning of the semester. Copyright All original content in this document, all web-based course materials (be they text, audio, and/or video), and/or classroom presentations are subject to copyright provisions. No distribution without the express written consent of the author. Students are prohibited from selling (or being paid for taking) notes during this course to or by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of the professor.

* Syllabus template approved by COB Curriculum Committee May 2021. Annual review of the syllabus is a formal part of the COB continuous improvement process.