Participation (20 Marks)

In many points throughout the year, you will be asked to work in class or tutorials using the lab manual portion of the POL 242 website. This lab work will not be graded, but your attendance and willingness to contribute to the discussion surrounding these assignments and to present your work in class/tutorial will be.  The TAs will be present in these sessions, guiding students in their work, as well as judging which examples might be used in class, sometimes to show what was done correctly, and other times to highlight common difficulties and problem areas.

It must be emphasized again that you will not be judged on the content of your work in these lab sessions (that is, unless you do not participate), but on your willingness to engage in the class dynamic.  There is nothing to lose in having a “wrong answer,” only something to be gained. And thus, there is nothing to fear in sharing your work with others in the class. In data analysis, we are constantly finding that we have the “wrong answer” in front of us, and it is only through the testing and re-testing of hypotheses that we gain a greater understanding of the topic at hand. So expect some bumps along the way and join in! 

Assignments