Course Orientation

 

This page includes information to help you successfully complete this course.

Getting Started 

Read each item in the Start Here Module. It includes important information about the course, including the course syllabus, course schedule, course requirements, instructions for taking tests, and instructions for completing assignments.

Setting Your Notification Preferences CRITICAL 

Please set up your Notifications to alert you by email that something has occurred with the course on the Canvas website. You can select how and when you want to be notified when various events occur within a course. You will be notified whenever there is a change in a due date, an updated assignment, or a message (Announcement) sent from within Canvas. Canvas supports notification through email, SMS text message, Twitter, and Facebook. You can choose to receive notification alerts immediately, daily, weekly, or never, and you can select multiple accounts. Failure to do this task will increase the chances you might miss a timely alert, Due Date change, or assignment. If you do miss assignments or due dates, your responsibility has not been met. Be advised.

For instructions, see http://guides.instructure.com/s/2204/m/4152/l/73162-how-do-i-set-my-notification-preferences.

 

POSTING YOUR PHOTO:

Follow these instructions:  How To Post A Photo Image in CANVAS.pdf Download How To Post A Photo Image in CANVAS.pdf

 

 

 Participation  CRITICAL

 

5% of your lecture grade is based on participation (requires attendance). Each student starts with 104 points and each class you miss, you lose 4 points.  I will have "sign in" sheets in every class. You MUST sign in, in order to receive credit. IF you leave before class is over, you also lose the points (unless you have cleared this with me before hand). In addition, participation in Learning Catalytics exercises WILL affect your daily credit. You must participate in ALL, to receive credit. (You do NOT have to have correct answers, just participate.)

At the end of the semester,  your attendance score will be factored into your grade. It's not large enough to cause you to fail. However, it could be the deciding factor that pushes you over the "hump" to the next grade level if your participation score is in the 90's or a 100!  I have also been known to bump students 1 point IF they are on the edge, and IF they have a high attendance average (>90%). From my previous semesters' data, THIS affects about 15-20% of students, and RAISES their grade to the next letter (C to B; B to A). YOU might be one !

 

Completing Each Unit

You can find all the modules on the Modules page. Read the assigned chapters for each Unit. WATCH the Movie for each chapter (1 hour). Download and bring the slide printouts for each chapter to class to assist in you taking notes. Complete the assignments and take the weekly tests for each chapter in each unit. Take the Practice Tests by the due dates on the Course Schedule.

I strongly recommend that you access the course daily to read any messages or announcements.

Are You Ready for an Online Supplemented Course?

Here's a word of caution for those of you who are taking your first course with online enhancements. This course will require you to spend at least 1-2 hours of time on line each week in addition to the 3 hours in the classroom, and some students find that the online activities take more time. 

This is not a self-paced course. You must meet the established deadlines for completing the assignments and tests. The flexibility of an online enhancements allows you to choose the time of day or night to "enter" the virtual classroom and complete additional tasks.  In addition, it allows us to complete some things outside of the classroom, so we have more time in classroom for more important things and discussion.

UNIT  STRUCTURE

Each Module will be composed of files containing Lecture Slides, Movies, Summaries, and Handouts for each Chapter. You should download these, print them out, and bring to class. This saves you much headache in taking notes.

BEFORE CLASS you should read the chapter material, OR watch the Chapter Movie or both. You should come to class prepared. This takes some discipline, but will make all the difference to your success rate. THE CLASS will consist of discussing and going over key concepts in the chapter and movies and their practical applications. IT will not be the traditional lecture going from slide 1 through 50. This is why you need to prepare before class. We may participate in a Learning Catalytics exercise using your smart phone, Laptop, to iPad. This is like a sample Pop Quiz.

Also in each module there will be an on-line quiz for each chapter. You should read the chapters, watch the Chapter movie, attend class and take notes, review those materials, and THEN take the Chapter Quiz before the deadline. There may also be additional study guides and charts in each module to assist you in your preparation. There are Movies of all the lectures in that Unit. Thus, if you need to review a certain topic for the exam, you can use all of these tools for review. These "movies" are NOT meant to be used as a substitute for regular class attendance. (Your attendance score will suffer if you miss very many classes.) I provide lots of tools for your use to assist you to become as successful as you can.

{Philosophy: I am not trying to provide crutches for you and your preparation. However I realize you have a tremendous amount of information to absorb and so I make efforts to lighten part of the load. I hope that this will give you more time to actually study the materials and to learn their contents and concepts.}

 

Chapter Outlines

ONE powerful tool for learning new, complex material is to Outline the chapter. I have provided a document to assist you in learning this. NOW be clear, it will take more time than reading alone !  HOWEVER IF you do this, you will know the Chapter beginning to end  like the back of your hand. It will require more "up front" time, but you won't need to study as long for the Quizzes. Overall, you'll likely spend the SAME amount of TIME you would the traditional methods BUT you will know it better. An alternative to outlining from scratch is to use the Chapter Summary as a guide and add your own notes and items. I can almost guarantee you an "A" if you outline each chapter. It's impossible to do that and not blow away each exam. I will prepare outlines Summaries for the first 2-3 chapters (Unit 1). Then you're on your own.

 

Chapter Quizzes

AFTER you have read the chapter, watched the Chapter Movie, and attended the class lectures, you can take the Quiz over that chapter. You should review and memorize as much material as possible - just like you were preparing for the Unit Exam. A good place for review is the Study Outline at the end of each Chapter, but you'll need more than this- this is just a good starting point. The deadline for each Chapter Quiz is midnight Sunday night so it gives you the entire weekend to complete this. The Quizzes are structured to allow you approximately 1 minute per question. There are usually 20-25 questions and each test is different (I usually provide 2 X questions and the program draws from the pools, so no 2 tests will be exactly alike.) IF you have prepared well, you should be able to go through the quiz and have 5-10 minutes remaining. You CAN check a few answers you are unsure of at that time. This IS permitted; I want you use this as a learning experience. BUT be advised, you will not have time to look up every question. Therefore, you can't go in "cold" or poorly prepared and do well. You only get ONE attempt at the Chapter Quiz; make the most of it. This exercise should prepare you well for the up-coming Unit Exam. (I hope you can see that each level of structure prepares you for the next level.)

Chapter Quiz: ~ 10-12 Multiple Choice (MC); 1-2 Tough Questions (MC); 5-7 True-False, and 1 set of Matching (4-5 items)

 

Class Discussion / Review

IN CLASS, we will have Discussions about the chapter material and its concepts. Applications of the chapter's principles will also be presented. In addition, we will have REVIEW SESSIONS online in which you will need to go to the chat function in order to participate in the review. In those chat sessions, there may be some discussion of specific topics and concepts. I highly recommend you attend these. If you have questions or comments, drop by !!  Attendance is voluntary, but I will be here for you. This is another tool I provide for YOUR success.

 

How many chances do I get? Chances.pdf Download Chances.pdf

There is now 1 more - you can get 5 Bonus points on a Chapter Quiz by watching the Assigned Movie and answering 5 BASIC questions correctly !!

 

 

How to Download the Free Adobe Reader

Some of the files in this course are PDF files and require Adobe Reader. If you don’t have Adobe Reader on your computer, use this link to download the free Adobe Reader: http://get.adobe.com/reader/ Links to an external site..

Getting Help

For information about navigating this course and using the student tools, see the Canvas Guides and the student videos.