LEADERSHIP AND
TECHNOLOGY
HSS 408 Syllabus Professor James M. Lipuma Fall
2007
HSS 408 “Leadership and Technology,” is a Humanities
Capstone course that focuses on various aspects of personal as well as team
leadership and how technology is an integral part of leadership
development. The class will discuss the
meaning and roles of leaders along with the way technology affects leadership
today. Each student will be asked to research and present, in both
written and oral form, specific cases of current change in leadership as well
as the relationship of technology to the selected topic for the class to
discuss. The course utilizes one text:
Maxwell, J, C., (October 8, 2002). The
21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Workbook.
Attendance will be taken
randomly throughout the semester. A
greater emphasis is placed on participation rather than simple attendance;
however, you cannot participate if you do not attend. Absences and late work are excused only by
prior arrangements with the instructor.
Any late assignment is assessed a 10% reduction of grade per class day
after the due date. Throughout the
semester, there will be homework and paper assignments that each student must
complete in order to receive a grade in the class. There is an in-class presentation and a final
essay that is required for this class.
The papers handed in for
this course are to be college-level research papers. A college-level paper is type written, has
page numbers, contains references to research and includes a reference page at
the end for works quoted or otherwise referenced to in the document. Citations for the research used needs to be
included with the paper and should follow the APA format for citations. This means parenthetical citations within the
text with a reference page at the end of the document. Only works that are actually quoted from or referenced
directly should be cited. Do not list
all works that were read for the creation of the paper. This is not a bibliography but rather a
“Reference Page.” Please remember,
simply lifting text from a dictionary or encyclopedia is something found mainly
in high school. Though it may be
necessary to quote from these types of sources, rarely are they the only works
used for references.
It
should be stressed that the work for this class should be formal research
papers. There should be no contractions, spelling errors, punctuation errors,
or mistakes in grammar. Please be consistent
within the paper with abbreviations and other acronyms. Double-space the paper. Please use Times New Roman 12-point font, as
it is clear and easy-to-read. Your
margins should be a uniform 1-inch on all sides and the paper should minimize
large areas of white space within the text.
If you wish to have assistance with writing, the HSS department has a
writing tutor who can be contacted for assistance with all aspects of the
paper. The lead contact is Dr. Janet
Bodner (Bodner@njit.edu). You may also ask your professor, Dr. James
Lipuma, for further assistance or more detailed information. All assignments handed in for this course
should be original and the sole work of the student. The rules and procedures set down in the
student handbook as administered by the Dean of Students office will be used to
judge plagiarism. DO NOT PLAGIARISE. If you
are unclear about the rules, please see the NJIT student handbook.
Turnitin.com
will be used to check for plagiarized work.
All major writing assignments must be submitted to this page for
review. You will be able to view the
report and make revisions for the rough drafts of your work. You must register for an account and then log
into our class using the class ID and password provided. http://turnitin.com {Class ID: 1965765 Password: lead}.
PORTFOLIOS
Students
are required to submit a portfolio of their work in the class at the end of the
semester. All the work for the class
should be kept in a binder. The binder
is to be submitted at the end of the semester and should contain all work,
including rough drafts, completed in the class along with the completed front
matter that will be handed out electronically.
A Table of Contents should be included that lists all the material
contained in the portfolio along with the grade received (if any) on the
assignment. A copy of the syllabus and
assignments for the class should also be included at the beginning of the
portfolio. All work submitted should be
arranged in an easy to follow manner using separators and tabs. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your
accomplishment in the class and make an argument for the grade you feel you
deserve. The portfolios will be collected at the end of the semester and
reviewed by the department administration to assess the continuity between and
among different sections of the course as well as different courses. Students wishing to have their portfolios
returned should contact the department at the end of the semester to make
arrangements for pick-up of the work once the review has been completed by the
department. Part of your course grade
will be given for completion of the portfolio according to the guidelines given
in the binder. In addition, students
should keep their work in a series of word files in one folder with the
student’s name as its title so that if a problem arises, the electronic
portfolio can be submitted to Dr. Lipuma. It is also helpful if a student
wishes to discuss a course grade with the professor.
CONTACTING THE PROFESSOR
Office: Culimore—Room 420 Phone: 973-642-4743 http://web.njit.edu/~lipuma
Lipuma@NJIT.edu Fax: 973-642-4689 Office Hours=TR-10-11:30, 4-5
GRADING
SYLLABUS
WEEK |
SUBJECT MATTER |
|
ASSIGNMENT DUE |
|
1 |
Introduction |
WebCT Handout |
WebCT1-
Introduction/Definition |
|
2 |
Reviewing the
Basics |
WebCT Handout |
WebCT 2—Definitions
2 |
|
3 |
What is Leadership,
Types of Leaders & Leading |
WebCT Handout |
WebCT 3—What is
Leadership |
|
4 |
Individuals, Groups
& Teams/Teamwork Process |
Maxwell: P. ix – 50 |
WebCT 4 & Leadership Topic |
|
5 |
Technology and
Conceptions of Leaders |
Maxwell: P. 51-143 |
Group Oral Report |
|
6 |
The 21 laws of
Leadership |
Maxwell: P. 144-246 |
Group Oral Report |
|
7 |
The 21 laws of
Leadership |
|
Group Oral
Report WebCT 5 |
|
8 |
The 21 laws of
Leadership |
WebCT Handout |
Leadership Proposal |
|
9 |
Moral Purpose & Relationships |
WebCT Handout |
|
|
10 |
Knowledge and
Coherence |
|
WebCT 6 |
|
11 |
How to Make a
Change |
|
WebCT 7 &
In-class Orals |
|
12 |
Project
Reviews—In-class Orals |
|
WebCT 8 & In-class Orals |
|
13 |
Project
Reviews—In-class Orals |
|
Decision Diary Review |
|
14 |
Project Reviews /
Summation |
|
End of Semester
Reflection |
WebCT
will be used to handle some homework submissions along with out-of-class
communications and participation. You
must register for a WebCT account and log yourself into this class. This can be done at Http://webct.njit.edu with your UCID. These assignments are part of the class
participation grade. Some class files
and assignments will also be posted on WebCT for you to download. You should write all posts for WebCT in MS
Word or another word processing program before posting and then paste them into
a blank submission page as well as keep the file with all your posts so that
the file can be placed in your portfolio.
Do not attach assignments to WebCT or use it as an email to contact the
professor. It is designed for class
interaction. Late assignments will not
count towards participation grades.
WebCT 1—Introduction/Definition Introduce yourself to the class. Then, define the following terms in your own
words: Leader, Leadership, Responsibility, and Technology. You may use outside sources but I do not want
you to just copy and paste or retype what they have written.
WebCT 2—Definitions 2 Define the following: Groups, Teams, Goal, and
Success. You may use outside sources but
you must use your own idea of what these words mean. If you use a source, please indicate it
properly in the APA style.
WebCT 3—What is Leadership Each student should find and summarize an article
about what is leadership or different leadership styles. The final summary will be submitted as an MS
word document attached to an email to Dr. Lipuma’s e-mail:Lipuma@NJIT.edu
WebCT 4—Ethics and Choices For this
summary, please find an article about an ethical choice an individual had to
make. Explain the situation that led to
the choice and the ethical dilemma it posed for the person facing the decision
as well as the culture the decision was made within. Explain what you would have done in their
position. Finally, give the general
rules you follow when making choices?
Please post this on WebCT as well as submit it to Dr. Lipuma as an MS
word document attached to an email to Lipuma@NJIT.edu You may also wish to check this on
Turnitin.com but this is an optional step.
WebCT 5—Groups Dynamics Please present
your view of the difference between the groups and teams in which you have
taken part. Did you play a role in
making the interaction move towards one or the other of these types of
collections of individuals? Could you
have done something differently to influence how the task was
accomplished? Give an argument why teams
or groups are better from your perspective and cite outside references from
reputable print sources to support your ideas.
WebCT 6—Importance of Relationships For this
assignment, please explain your view of how relationships are important to your
interactions in groups and teams as well as describe why or why not you need to
be concerned with this. Support your
point of view with a reference to an expert from at least one reputable
source. Please post this on WebCT as
well as submit it to Dr. Lipuma as an MS word document attached to an email to Lipuma@NJIT.edu
You may also wish to check this on Turnitin.com.
WebCT 7—Selfevaluation Give an accurate and honest assessment of your own
leadership style and skills. What do you
feel is your greatest leadership strength and why? What skill or skills do you feel you need to
improve the most and why?
WebCT 8—Good Leaders Please write a brief account of what you feel a good
leader should do. What characteristics make a person a good leader? Bring a
printed copy of the written work to class as well as submit it to Dr. Lipuma
via email to his NJIT account at Lipuma@NJIT.edu
Throughout the course, you
must maintain a written decision diary that keeps your thoughts about some
decisions you made. Be sure to start
with the situation you faced, the factors you knew about and what was the
selection of alternatives you had.
Explain what you did as you made the decision. Afterwards, comment on the outcome of the
decision and what you might have done differently. Try to see other options that you did not
know about. Was there some piece of
information or knowledge that would have helped you make a better
decision? Keep a log of the decisions
you make in the diary and after several weeks look back over what you have done
to find trends or see patterns of interactions in which one decision had an
effect on future decisions you made. At
first, the decision you write about will be things from class or from the
assigned topic, however, you are welcome to write about other decisions you
make during the semester outside of class. You will find a folder on WebCT that
is only accessible to you and the professor.
This is where you should write your diary entries. You should also keep a copy of the entries in
a Microsoft Word file dated at the start of each new entry. It is suggested to write at least one entry
each week. It is important to reflect on
the previous week's group or class discussion and how the lessons covered
throughout the semester tie together so that your learning and understanding
are shown in the diary you are keeping.
DO NOT neglect your
diary and try to write all of your entries at once when it is to be
reviewed. Journals will be reviewed and
evaluated on your 1) conceptual clarity 2) writing and expression 3) degree of
reflection and depth of discussion. WebCT will keep the record of when you
wrote but in case of problems, the Word file will be a backup and a way to
include the diaries easily in your portfolio.
Initial Entry, Autobiography— The first entry in your journal should be a brief
history of your academic and personal life to explain what has brought you to
this class. Afterwards, give an
evaluation of your own strengths and weaknesses. In particular look back over your academic
career and give insight into the courses you have taken and what skills these
courses have provided to you with a focus on different aspects of
leadership. How would you assess yourself
as a leader and what skills do you feel you might need to improve?
Diary 1—
Look back at the words you defined.Have you changed your mind, why or why
not? What do you think of writing
definitions?
DIary 2—You
will write and post an article summary on WebCT. Explain why you chose the article, how it
relates to the class and what is your opinion of the topic discussed in the
article.
Diary 3—Discuss
the topic you have chosen for the semester project and the thesis for your
work. Give insight into how you became
aware of the leader you chose and why you chose him or her.
Other Entries—You
should include the WebCT assignments in the journal as well as your own
comments about group presentations or more about your own work. In either case, the journals should show your
thinking and learning during the class.
Final Entry—The
last journal entry you write should cover what you feel you have learned in the
class and what you feel the class has provided you as a student. In particular, comment on what you have
learned from the assignments in the class and how they have worked to teach you
the course materials. Also, give any
other comments or criticisms you would like.
Group Oral and Comments
Each student will be assigned a
group to work with throughout the semester.
Each group will be responsible for assisting other group members with
writing and working on in-class assignments and exercises. These group activities can be commented on in
the diary for the class. Each group
will make an oral report beginning week 5 dealing with the laws of leadership
presented by John C. Maxwell in which Maxwell’s irrefutable laws are summarized
and discussed with the class supplemented by examples of each in
During the final
oral report portion of the class, each student will need to comment on and
critique the presentation of the other group members. The comments will be posted on WebCT as well
as submitted as a report to Dr. Lipuma as an MS word File attached to an email
to Lipuma@NJIT.edu as well as sent
to the other group members.
LEADERSHIP
PROPOSAL
Each
student will be required to submit a written and oral report on a good leader
during the semester. This project will
ask each student to explain and critique a leader with regard to the ideas
presented in class by summarizing and examining an example of good leadership
in society today. Afterward, each
student should explain his or her own view of leadership and how this relates
to the leadership style presented and how it can be improved. Beforehand, each student must submit a
project proposal that presents a review of the paper for the topic chosen. This
written proposal report is an explanation of the situation selected,
description of the opinions on the leadership demonstrated, along with the
research conducted to support it. It is
expected that a clear justification for the arguments given will become
apparent by the review given during the leadership proposal paper. Though all the details will not be included
at this time, the proposal should include a separate Title Page, tentative
Table of Contents or paper outline, and a clear statement of the thesis. In addition, an annotated bibliography should
be included, which gives references being considered for the paper along with a
summary of what information that reference provides and why it might be useful
to the report. Remember, this is still a
research paper and must contain citations.
This means parenthetical citations within the text with a references
page at the end of the document. The
proposal must be submitted to turnitin.com as well as submitted as an MS Word file attached to an email to Dr. Lipuma’s
account Lipuma@NJIT.edu
LEADERSHIP ESSAY
Each student will be required to submit a written
report based upon the proposal submitted earlier in the semester. This project will ask each student to
summarize and critique an example of good leadership in a particularly
difficult situation. Begin your report
by clearly identifying, summarizing, and critiquing an example of good
leadership in a particular situation since World War II (preferably 1980). Begin by giving the reader an awareness of
the situation and environment in which the leadership activity happened. Next, provide a summary of the actions taken
by the leader to respond to the situation and the results of those actions. Finally, give an analysis of the leadership
style using the terms presented by the class texts. Do not just relate a story of what happened
at some time in some place. You must
analyze, critique, and make arguments.
Afterward,
each student should explain his or her own views on the case and leadership in
general. Begin with your own opinion of what is leadership and how it should be
done. Next, give some insight into the
important characteristics you feel a leader should have and how this relates to
the leadership style presented in the case study. Finally discuss how the leader’s style might
be improved. The paper should be approximately 8-12 pages long. It can be
longer, if necessary, in order to accomplish the objective of persuading the reader
of your points. Due to the length and nature of the work, it should
contain a separate Title Page, an Abstract, and a Table of Contents that lists
corresponding section headings along with a separate list of tables, charts,
and any other figures used in the paper. Remember, this is a research
paper and must contain citations. You must use the APA format for
citations. This means parenthetical citations within the text with a
references page at the end of the document. The essay must be submitted to
turnitin.com as well as sent as an MS
Word file attached to an email to Dr. Lipuma’s account Lipuma@NJIT.edu
LEADERSHIP
ORAL REPORT
Each
student will be required to make an oral presentation discussing the issue
addressed in the leadership proposal and written paper. The oral presentation will explain the issue
chosen by the student and the pertinent details related to that topic and the
class. The intent of the oral presentation
is to inform the class and promote discussion.
Each presentation will last for approximately 15 minutes including time
for questions and should explain the situation, the leader, the actions taken
and why these make the leader a good example for that particular situation.
End of Semester Reflection:
The end of semester assignment
asks you to reflect on what you have done in the class. It will ask you to explain the sources and
information you used to build and document your work in the class. You will also explain how you thought
critically about the work and revised it throughout the semester to arrive at
the final semester essay. This will be in the front of your final portfolio
along with an argument for the grade you feel you deserve in the course.
Good luck and if there are other
questions, please contact me.