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| Home | General Info | Getting In | Policies | Calendar | Contact Info | Handouts | Teams | Project |
Students will be evaluated based on attendance and contribution to in-class discussions and sections, as well as timely completion of assigned readings and assignments. Think of this as an opportunity to stretch yourself and learn skills like teamwork, public speaking, persuasive writing, and defending your ideas, as well as the fundamentals of the entrepreneurial process. The teaching team will endeavor to create a supportive environment, where there is no penalty for taking a definite stance and expressing new ideas.
· There are only ten weeks in this course, barely the minimum necessary to cover the essentials of this topic. If you anticipate missing more than one class, please consider not taking the course. Although we all understand that "thing"s can always arise, more than one unexcused absence can cause a decrease in your course grade.
· If you expect to miss a class, please let the teaching assistants know ahead of time via email to e145-staff@lists.stanford.edu. It will be your responsibility to find out from your classmates or the teaching assistants what material was covered, what additional assignments were made, and to obtain any handouts you may have missed. Handouts will be available online.
· Important E145 assignments, announcements, and information will be posted on the course web site. Read all course web pages thoroughly and often, and never come to class without reading that day's online agenda. This is YOUR responsibility and you thus may not claim ignorance!
· Given the importance of class participation and its grading, we will do our best to get to know you quickly.
· Feel free to discuss the course and your learning progress with the instructors at any time. We are always happy to discuss items of interest. The teaching assistants are also available for questions you have about any issue. See the office hour times and locations.
· Given the pace of this course, we will do all that we can to use class time effectively and ask you to do the same. This includes starting and ending on time. Keep in mind that teaching assistants and instructors will keep track of attendance.
· Our distinguished guest instructors and speakers are aggressive, successful, and articulate. Interrupt and ask them questions at any time. They will be forewarned. They will display an earnest desire to help you understand entrepreneurship.
Class Sessions
Attendance is mandatory at all sessions, and more than one unexcused absence might adversely affect the student's grade. Students will be evaluated on their participation in classroom discussions, whether about the case under consideration or about the topic of the lecture. The grading of classroom participation is difficult because of an element of subjectivity not present in grading written assignments. Nevertheless, it is a vital part of the course. Most students feel comfortable in speaking up with thoughtful comments and questions, but some do not, and we wish to be fair to everyone. We will not be grading on "air time", but rather on the quality of the question or comment. Participating in classroom discussions, freely and without fear, is strongly urged. No opinion is held in disregard, and only through active discussion can we arrive at some consensus of reasonable action. It is never our intention to embarrass anyone -- if you are not prepared, let one of us know before class and we will not call on you.
All assigned readings are to be completed before the session -- see the E145 Course Calendar for a complete list. Each required reading has been specifically chosen to provide a certain insight or skill; thus, every assignment is mandatory. Though there is no way to verify that students have read the material before class, all E145 lectures, study questions, assignments, and exams assume a fundamental understanding of many concepts provided by the readings. Consequently, failure to keep up with the assignments will have an insidiously adverse effect on a student's grade.
Highlights denote the sections that convey core material for the course. When working on study questions and exams, these sections often provide the frameworks from which to begin analysis. As such, these sections are worthy of a second (or more comprehensive initial) read. Note that required readings not noted as highlights are extremely important for the course and students will be held accountable for material not included in the highlight sections.
Supplementary readings are suggested that provide additional depth and richness for the topics considered each day. These readings are not required. While we hope that you will return to these readings as time permits, you are not expected to have completed the readings prior to class. As your time permits, we highly recommend skimming the recommended readings - an investment that we believe can be very rewarding. The list of recommended books may be found here.
You are encouraged to discuss each session in advance with your fellow students. In fact, you are required to form a study group consisting of four or five other students and to then meet regularly before each class. These study groups will be formed around the time of the second class session. The study questions are helpful preparation aids for each case while meeting with your study partners. Use the study questions for each session to prepare for class; the answers are not to be included in any written assignments, although they may be used to focus and guide your homework discussion.
Unless stated otherwise, assignments are to be submitted via e-mail to e145-homework@lists.stanford.edu by 9 am the day of the session. We will accept assignments up until class time with some penalty. Please read the Case Analysis Guidelines for more specific information regarding these case assignments.
Discussion Board
Students are encouraged to post insights and articles related to course discussion topics to the class email alias: e145-class@lists.stanford.edu. The discussion forum will be read by the teaching team, and contributions will contribute to the individual participation grade.
Workshops will be held on selected Tuesday evenings (see the Course Calendar.) Facilitated by the E145 TAs, they will involve a workshop-formatted overview of key course concepts. You are responsible for the material covered at the workshops.
