Course Requirements
Homework Assignments
Homework Assignments are focused on a module’s concepts and their application in use. The assignment criteria are designed to address critical depth and integrated understanding. Each assignment is evaluated against criteria to measure a demonstrated level of understanding of the subject matter covered, quality of writing, and critical thinking employed. Submission of Homework Assignment in every module constitutes completion of an academic event.
Homework Assignment Submission
All Homework is required to be submitted by 11:55 p.m. Pacific Time on the due date, as evidenced by the date stamp given in eLearn. Prompt submission of assignments for assessment allows the instructor/graders to provide guidance and timely feedback.
Any homework assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a grade deduction using the following guidelines below:
- Assignments submitted up to 1 day after the due date will receive a 10% deduction.
- Assignments submitted more than 1 day after the due date will receive no credit for their work.
In other words, if you submit a Homework assignment which would have been rated 90% one day late, it will be graded as an 80% due to the late submission. If you submit an assignment, 2 days late, you will get no credit.
*** No work is accepted late in Week 8. The course closure deadline is the Saturday of Week 8. All work must be in by then.
No assignment can be accepted in draft form. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their work is fully submitted. Late penalties apply when work is not properly submitted. Students must resolve any draft form submission by the Tuesday following the due date or forfeit credit for the assignment.
Students must submit work in a manner that can be opened by the professor. Written assignments must be submitted in MS Word or PDFs. Excel files and Power points may also required depending on the assignment type.
These procedures and deadlines are in place to support the student’s ability to master the learning objectives and to complete all work within the session’s 8-week timeframe.
When you submit a document for a homework assignment, it is important to submit the document properly. Since your instructor will receive multiple assignments from you and many other students, you should perform the following:
Courses at ALU utilize APA style format, which requires a Title Cover Page for all written assignment.
Your cover page for all assignments will include the following:
- Your name
- Your assignment’s title (For example, Module 3 Assignment)
- The course prefix and title
- Your instructor’s name
- The date
In addition, ALU uses APA formatting. Therefore, all assignments should be double spaced and have both in-text and reference style citations. If you need assistance with APA, visit apastyle.apa.org
All students have been given access to Grammarly. If you do not have your access, please contact Student Services. Grammarly should be used to check your assignment before submission so that it is free from grammar, mechanics, and usage errors.
Discussion Board Posts
The Discussion Board allows students to participate in focused module discussions to share their ideas and understanding of module concepts and how these ideas apply to the forum topic. All communication should be both polite and professional. In addition, the discussion board is an academic forum, and all posts should be well-written and pertaining to the topic of the week.
All students must respond to the posted weekly discussions board posts (“initial posts”) NO LATER than Wednesday 11:59 pm PT. Responses to your peers (a minimum of two) are due no later than Saturday 11:59pm PT. Student who fail to submit responses as outline above will receive no credit for the posts; there are no late discussions will be allowed. If a student submits their initial post late, but responds to two peers within the appropriate time, they will only receive credit for the posts that were on-time. Posting in the Discussion Board weekly for each module constitutes completion of an academic event.
To meet the minimum Discussion Board requirements, for every module, students should:
Answer the question posted by the faculty on application of the module’s concepts.
Respond to other student’s posts, in no fewer than 5 sentences, contributing to the learning.
Acknowledge faculty’s feedback to the answer by further clarification of a point or a substantive response to the feedback. Otherwise, students may also discuss another original application of the module’s concepts.
Points for participation will be awarded based on the criteria found in the Discussion Board Rubric.
Here are a few recommendations to consider when responding:
- Comments should be substantiated and persuasively presented, whether it is the first original posting, acknowledging faculty’s feedback, or asking for further clarifications. Comments like “well done”, “oh I see”, “I agree”, etc. are NOTconsidered substantive.
- Posted comments from students should reflect understanding of the course objectives and original thought and reflection on the course topic and concepts. Repeating or listing topics that you agree with are not considered original thought.
- Comments should extend the thoughts and ideas offered by the other members of the cohort. The best contributions will reflect not only excellent preparation but interpretive and integrative thinking as well.
- Comments should show evidence of thorough reading and analysis of the material being studied and discussed. Consider finding other sources of information and incorporating them to keep the discussion going, asking follow up questions, and/or politely and professionally presenting a different viewpoint.
Quizzes
Not all courses have quizzes. When courses have a quiz assigned, all students must complete it during that week that it was assigned and submit it NO LATER than Saturday 11:59 pm PT. If a student is unable to complete a weekly quiz by the end of the week in weeks 1-7; the student must submit a request for an Academic Exception with the form in the Student Center in eLearn within 48 hours of missing the quiz deadline with documentation of extenuating circumstances. Attach the documentation directly to the form. Please note that because the quiz is open for the entire week, extenuating circumstances must truly have impacted a significant period of time.
If a student has not submitted all work by the Saturday night of Week 8, and if there are extenuating circumstances with documentation, then the student may use the Academic Exception Request form to request a course Incomplete. More information is found below.
Grading Scale:
Abraham Lincoln University has established the following grading scale. All faculty are
expected to comply with this scale:
| Grade | Description | Scale | Quality Points |
| A+ | Excellent | 97-100 | 4.00 |
| A | 94-96 | 4.00 | |
| A- | 90-93 | 3.67 | |
| B+ | Above Average | 87-89 | 3.33 |
| B | 84-86 | 3.00 | |
| B- | 80-83 | 2.67 | |
| C+ | Average | 77-79 | 2.33 |
| C | 74-76 | 2.00 | |
| C- | 70-73 | 1.67 | |
| D+ | Below Average | 67-69 | 1.33 |
| D | 65-66 | 1.00 | |
| D- | 60-64 | 0.67 | |
| F | Failure | Below 60 | 0.00 |
| P | Credit Earned/Pass | NA | 0.00 |
| I | Incomplete | NA | 0.00 |
| W | Withdraw | NA | 0.00 |
Academic Policies
The following are academic policies that are important for students while studying at ALU. The policies listed below do not constitute all the policies of the University and student should refer to the University catalog for other policies related to their studies.
Academic Integrity
Academic honesty is highly valued at Abraham Lincoln University. Students must submit work that represents their original words or ideas. Students must make it clear the extent to which external sources were used. Words or ideas that require citation include, but are not limited to, all hard copy or electronic publications, whether copyrighted or not, and all verbal or visual communication when the content of such communication clearly originates from an identifiable source. Students also may not use generative AI programs unless the assignment calls for it or the instructor gives permission to use it.
It is possible that an act of academic misconduct may not be discovered until credits are issued or a degree is awarded. In such a case, ALU reserves the right to revoke credits or degrees based on discovery of improper scholarly conduct.
Individual instructors may fail a student for an examination, assignment or course that contains a violation of the ALU academic honesty policy. The instructor may refer the circumstances to the Academic Standards Committee for review and final action. The Dean of the relevant academic department may fail a student in an exam in a course or expel a student for cheating or plagiarism.
No credit will be given for homework that is not the original work product of the submitting student. Students will receive credit only for their own original work. Plagiarism may be grounds for dismissal from the University.
Attendance Requirements and Deadlines
Attendance in online courses is defined as completing an academic event within a seven-consecutive calendar-day period. Students who do not complete an academic event at least once in any seven consecutive-calendar-day period are sent, via email, a notification, which indicates students must complete an academic event within the next seven consecutive calendar days or they will be withdrawn from the course. In this case, an academic event is referred to as completion of a discussion board, submission of homework assignment, case study or completion of a quiz/exam.
All required academic events must be completed by Saturday 11:55PM. Instructors will respond and grade within 72 hours. Under extenuating circumstances, the student should complete the Extension Request Form if they need additional time to complete assignments. All students are expected to complete the course within the eight-week time-frame specified by the University.
Course Extensions and Incompletes
Incomplete grades and Course Extensions may be approved if there are extenuating circumstances. Students are required to contact their faculty to alert them of such circumstances and complete the Academic Exception Request form found in the Student Learning Center, Moodle.
Formal requests for course incompletes must be requested by Saturday of Week 7 using the Academic Exception Request form for approval by the appropriate academic administrator.
Student Progress and Participation
Students must progress through each course at a steady pace to ensure course completion within eight weeks. Since ALU students study online, traditional attendance is not recorded; however, academic events are recorded for the purpose of determining attendance status. Academic events include, but are not limited to, submission of a class assignment, participation in a threaded discussion, completion of a quiz or exam, or completion of a tutorial.
Attendance in online courses is defined as completing an academic event within a seven-consecutive calendar-day period. Students who do not complete an academic event at least once in any seven consecutive-calendar-day period are sent, via email, a notification, which indicates students must complete an academic event within the next seven consecutive calendar days or they will be withdrawn from the course. In this case, an academic event is referred to as completion of a discussion board, submission of homework assignment, case study or completion of a quiz/exam.
