Teaching Resources

Teaching Technologies:

Blackboard

Blackboard is an online class platform that can be used both inside and outside the classroom. Class discussions, readings, and class presentations can be posted on the site. For more information and to access Blackboard click here. Contact the John Burton Library Staff for assistance if required.

NING

At times, some faculty will host a “group” on the in-house social e-network- the S-CAR Community Network (NING). See: http://icarcommunity.ning.com/. Contact the John Burton Library Staff for assistance if required.

Other Teaching Resources

Advancing Student Scholarship:

Promoting Research Methods- S-CAR's GMU Research Librarian Liasion Gretchen Renolds is available to  offer workshops tailored to your course. In addition to offering an overview of the GMU library resources, and an introduction to research strategies,  Gretchen offers individualized research appointments for students (and faculty), assists in sourcing difficult materials, and can place new book purchases requests for the GMU Library.  Some faculty are starting to require their students to book appointments with Gretchen to ensure that they are utilizing the library properly.  Gretchen Reynolds can be reached at greynol3@gmu.edu, or x38267

Zotero- Similar to endnotes, this free bibliographical software for students is invaluable for conducting long term research. It offers multiple bibliographical formats and an easy citation tool that downloads references into documents in seconds. Web-based, it facilitates instant on-line research referencing.  The GMU Libraries offer Zotero workshops regularly throughout the semester.

Faculty Teaching Resources:

The Faculty Center Network- Promoted by the Bookstore, this online e-library offers thousands of potential textbooks for consideration.  Each book has a brief description and indicates if it has been used by other schools as a textbook.  See here for more information. 

GMU Teaching for Excellence-This excellent resource is for both new and experience teachers. In addition to extensive online resources, the center also offers workshops, individualized consultations and conferences. See http://cte.gmu.edu/ for more information.

Textbook and Desk Copies

   Textbook orders- Faculty are required to submit textbook orders to the Bookstore a minimum of two months before the beginning of the course. Please notify the Bookstore if you are not ordering books. To order textbooks please follow the link found at the bottom of the John Burton Library website (http://scar.gmu.edu/library) or at http://scar.gmu.edu/john-burton-library/11931. A recent State law has been passed, obligating GMU faculty to submit textbook orders in a timely fashion.

   Desk copies- Once the Bookstore has placed their order, the John Burton Library can order desk copies for the graduate courses. The CAR office orders the texts for undergraduate courses.  Please remember that it can take 2-3 weeks before desk copies arrive.  After they arrive, the John Burton Library staff will send an email inquiring if you wish to pick up the textbook or if you would like to leave it as a reserve copy in the Burton Library for your students.  At times, especially if there is insufficient course attendance, a desk copy order may not be fulfilled.

For more information about the process for ordering textbooks please follow the "Desk copies" link to the upper right of this page or click here.

Course Reserves and E-reserves

While the John Burton Library and Resource Center may have materials be placed on reserve, the GMU Libraries usually manage the book and video reserves and e-reserves for courses. Please abide by copyright laws: 1 article, 1 chapter, or %10 of the book. To see more detailed guidelines see either  here or here.

   For course reserves- Books, articles and videos can be placed on reserve at a campus library of your choice. Materials can be ordered from other GMU libraries to be placed on reserve. For more information or to place reserves click here.

   For e-reserves- The Library requests that you submit in person either a clean photocopy of the material (no black edges) or a clean (again, no black edges) pdf on a thumb-drive to the Library front desk. If you wish, the John Burton Library has scanning equipment to turn books into pdfs. When the reserves become available, you will be given a password to give to your students so they can access it from the GMU Library website. For more information, click here.

Course packs

Faculty are invited to promote student photocopying of e-reserves from the Print Center. Copyright laws would apply if a faculty member wishes to create and have course packs printed. The copy center is located in School of Law library. For more information, see here.

Syllabi

It is requested that syllabi be available on the S-CAR website before the first week of class. Please forward a copy of your syllabi to the John Burton Library and Resource Center staff (scarlib@gmu.edu) for posting and for S-CAR archives. The John Burton Library and Resource Center staff may be able to assist with photocopying of syllabi for classes. 

Each faculty member at S-CAR is requested to include the following standard text regarding George Mason University Honor Code as part of his or her course syllabi (please feel free to copy and paste):

     "All George Mason University students have agreed to abide by the letter and the spirit of the Honor  Code. You can find a copy of the Honor Code at academicintegrity.gmu.edu. All violations of the Honor Code will be reported to the Honor Committee for review. With specific regards to plagiarism, three fundamental and rather simple principles to follow at all times are that: (1) all work submitted be your own; (2) when using the work or ideas of others, including fellow students, give full credit through accurate citations; and (3) if you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment, ask for clarification. If you have questions about when the contributions of others to your work must be acknowledged and appropriate ways to cite those contributions, please talk with the professor.

     S-CAR requires that all written work submitted in partial fulfillment of course or degree requirements must be available in electronic form so that it can be compared with electronic databases, as well as submitted to commercial services to which the School subscribes. Faculty may at any time submit a student’s work without prior permission from the student. Individual instructors may require that written work be submitted in electronic as well as printed form. S-CAR’s policy on plagiarism is supplementary to the George Mason University Honor Code; it is not intended to replace or substitute for it.

 English Language Institute:

The English Language Institute offers free English language tutoring to non-native English speaking students who are referred by a member of the GMU faculty or staff. For more information contact 703-993-3642 or malle2@gmu.edu.

The Writing Center:

The Writing Center is a free writing resource that offers individual, group, and online tutoring. For general questions and comments please contact us at wcenter@gmu.edu or call: 703-993-4491."

 ~~~ (end copy and paste)~~~

Classroom Support

Keys to Truland Bldg. room 647 and 648 are available from the front desk or, after hours from the John Burton Library and Resource Center. 

S-CAR through the JBL supports rm 647 and 648 AV technologies. For all other classroom technology issues- please contact: (703) 993-8226 or see here

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