The class consists of two one-hour lectures on Monday and Wednesday (at 10 a.m. and repeated at 4 p.m.) and several tutorial sections. Students should attend the lec­ture on Monday and on Wednesday every week, and at­tend their assigned tutorial section once a week from Week 2. It is also a good idea to make a habit of attend­ing the same lecture (either morning or afternoon) each week so you get to know other people in class. This class is based on a weekly cycle we will follow for the whole semester. The steps in the weekly cycle are:

• Read the required readings (and, if you want to know more, read recommended readings)
• Think about what they say and what you think of them.
• Write something about what you’ve read, and submit it to your tutor.
• Eat some brain candy. Explore the topic of the week through new media, and see how the week’s issues enter into contemporary cultures.
• Ask questions, discuss, and listen in lecture and tutorial.
• Receive feedback from tutors about your ideas.
• Lather, rinse, repeat…

In other words, all of parts of the class—lecture, tutorial, readings, and your ideas—all fit together. By completing this cycle each week, you can be sure that each week builds to the next, and by the end you will have constructed an edifice of knowledge rather than collected bits and pieces of information. For all the pieces to come together, you have to do something for this class every week for the whole semester. You can read more about what we do in lecture and tutorial in “What we do in class.”

It's a proven fact that the more time you spend in class, the better you do, the more you understand, and the more fun the whole class is. We want you to come to lec­ture and tutorial every week.

If your tutorial meets at an inconvenient time or clashes with another class, you have a limited amount of time in which to change it. Run, don't walk… to MyUni at http://myuni.sydney.edu.au/ before Fri­day, August 7. In MyUni, you can block off the times when you cannot attend class. This can force a change in your tutorial, if your schedule otherwise permits it. After August 7, Ryan cannot help you switch tutorials. Sorry! The lecture and tutorial schedule is listed under “Class Schedule” on Blackboard for your reference. However, just be­cause a tutorial fits your schedule does not mean you will be al­lowed to go to that tutorial.

The Faculty has asked us to include this reminder:

The Faculty requires satisfactory attend­ance at classes as a minimum condition of com­pletion of a Unit of Study.

Attendance below 80% of tutorials/seminars without written evidence of illness or misadventure may be penalised with loss of marks.

Attendance at less than 50% of classes, re­gardless of the reasons for absences, will automatically result in the > student’s case be­ing referred to a Department examiners’ meeting for a determination as to whether the student should pass or fail the unit, or, if a pass is awarded, the level of penalty that should be applied.

What this means in real terms is that you must attend tu­torials. There are 11 tutorials in this semester. It is reas­onable that you may miss one or two without documenta­tion, but anything more than this may be penalised. It is a good idea to show documentation (such as a medical certificate) if you have to miss a tutorial and you have a valid excuse.