Comments
Dr. Grieve is a one of those professors that one has got to experience for his or herself. The class was truly a great experience. While the class is enjoyable that does not mean that an effort does not have to be made. Sets of take home questions are assigned in place of exams. Generally these are three questions which take generally 1 to 2 pages (per question) to give a complete answer, but do not be surprised if more is needed. This happens at least six times throughout the semester with a set due in place of the final. Generally you have 5 to 10 days to complete the set once it is posted on his website. But if the class gets behind, the time to complete may become shorter as well as the amount of time between sets. The answers must all be written in APA style and the use of proper grammar is required as not using either can drop the credit you recieve like a rock. He does accept late work, but with a penalty and he is something of stickler on that issue, which I felt showed great respect for those who were able to complete the assignment on time. If you do poorly on one set it will not destory your grade
There is an 8-12 page paper, which is relatively easy.
The rest of the grade is determined by quizzes. These are generally short with about 5 questions on each. If the quiz is given orally then it is three or four, and you may get to use your notes or a classmate.
Extra credit is available in a number of ways and incorporated in three ways. There is a limit to extra credit, but not really. Extra credit is available on most quizzes in the form of an extra question or two and on the take home questions which is generally five points. Extra credit on the take home is usually a 1/2 - 1 page response to an issue or video where you list the symptoms of a disorder and your opinion, prognosis, or treatment. So if there are six sets of questions and at five points a pop that equals 30 points of extra credit and the total points available is 300 or 350. These are not counted towards the extra credit that is limited. The additional extra credit comes from various things as coming to class when he as arranged for someone else to lecture the class or coming to class when attendence is just into double digits. The larger chunks of extra credit will come from participating in studies through study board and by finding recent articles in non scholarly publications about the topics discussed in class. Our class had to only turn them in, but he indicated that he may change the assignment to get students to read the articles as intended; a paragragh summary prehaps? Also perhaps a lesser known method of earning extra credit is by using sources outside of Dr. Grieve and the text when answering take home questions, however laundry listing a number of sources just to have them will most likely work against you.
The readings for class are important for the quizzes and class discussions. Notes are available online, but still take additional notes.
Lastly, you will learn a lot and hopefully enjoy the class. Dr. Grieve is an amazing instructor, who loves to teach and holds his students in high regard. If you need help he is willing to take the time to assist you in what ways he can, which is impressive when you take into consideration that he reads several plus pages from each student several times throughout the semester with a generally quick turn around of under a week; not to mention a slew of additional responsibilities with the university and department.