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FAQ
-- Frequently Asked Questions
This
is a University-level course; the only difference from classroom-based
courses is the mode of delivery. There are requirements,
standards and
deadlines which must be observed. Distance education course
are
NOT
easier than classroom-based courses. Students must manage
their
time
and submit assignments when they are due without the structure and
supervision associated with a classroom-based course. Time
management
is essential. Many students find distance education courses
more
difficult because the courses require the student to take greater
responsibility for time management and completion of assignments.
Students cannot delay submission
of
assignments; there are specific dates by which assignments must be
submitted, just as with classroom-based courses. Students can
work
ahead or do course work at times convenient for the student, but
students MUST submit assignments on or before the due dates.
You MUST read and understand the
FAQ and
Course Instructions. The course instructions are very
complete.
Multiple courses with large numbers of students are taught
each
term.
Students may believe that it is easier for them to ask a
question
by
e-mail instead of re-reading the FAQ and Course Instructions,
but
student must remember that it is a tremendous waste of Faculty time to
ask questions via e-mail that are explained in the FAQ and Course
Instructions. When there are 200-300 students in the courses
taught by
a faculty member, responding to one e-mail question may take 3 minutes
MULTIPLIED by 300 which is 900 minutes or 15 HOURS for one question.
Yes, it is taking 2 minutes with ONE student but EVERY
student in
all
the courses deserve the same consideration of having 2 minutes of time
to answer a question which is answered in the FAQ and the Course
Instructions.
Class size could be limited to
15-20
students, which is what many faculty have done to reduce the time
demands of answering procedural question associated with a course; but,
it is my belief that University-level students should be able to read,
comprehend, and follow instructions, requirements, and standards which
are provided in the FAQ and Course Instructions on the class site thus
allowing more students to have the opportunity to take the courses
during a semester/term. The FAQ and Course Instructions are
provided
and are accessible 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week so that the students
can consult the FAQ and Course Instructions when required.
GENERAL
QUESTIONS
EXAMS
QUIZLETS
CTQ or CRITICAL
THINKING QUESTIONS
D/P or
DISCUSSION/PARTICIPATION
RWB or REAL WORLD
BIOLOGY ABSTRACTS
ON-LINE GRADEBOOK
COURSE EVALUATION
GENERAL QUESTIONS
I am Dr. Tim
Mulkey. I am an Associate Professor of Life Sciences. You can find more
information at http://baby.indstate.edu/mulkey
You can e-mail me
(the best method; mulkey@biology.indstate.edu
) or call my office (812-237-2418) or if you are on campus, come by my
office (Science Bldg 259). The departmental FAX number is 812-237-3378.
In an emergency, you can call my home phone, 812-877-9735.
Web-based courses
are courses that provide students who are time and/or place bound with
the opportunity to take courses without the normal restrictions
associated with traditional classroom-based courses. The courses are
intended for students who are at a distance and are unable to attend
classes on campus. The courses also provide students who have other
conflicts, such as scheduling conflicts, with an opportunity to take
the courses. Different instructors have different styles of web-based
courses. In the courses I have developed, everything is provided over
the web. All assignments and exams are completed over the web.
Web-based courses are NOT the same as correspondence courses that were
popular several years ago. Web-based courses are semester/term-based
just like classroom-based courses. You are expected to complete the
course within the semester/term. The courses do allow you flexibility
in when you work on the assignments, but you should be aware that there
are deadlines on completion of certain aspects of the courses.
In
a web-based course, you must use formal writing
skills.
Assignments
in UNIVERSITY LEVEL COURSES should be submitted in PROPER ENGLISH, with
correct spelling, correct punctuation, and correct
capitalization.
This course is NOT an IM or "chat" session with friends; this is a
UNIVERSITY COURSE with FORMAL assignments which require proper use of
the English language.
Everything will be
done on the web ... there will be no "live" class periods. The course
has been designed to be "asynchronous"; you are not required to be
present on-line at any specific times. You work at your own pace,
within reason. This allows students to arrange the course around their
schedule, and not have to arrange their schedule around the course. I
will be available on-line, usually for a few hours a week, in the
Biology Chatroom that can be reached from the Course Materials page;
these times will be posted on the Announcement page. There is also a
"Video Conference" link on the Course Materials page; this link
provides a one-way video feed from my office and a chat box. You can
often contact me through this link; use the chat box on this page to
send a message to see if I am available (the camera is usually pointed
at the door to my office instead of at me).
Students taking
web-based courses should be aware of the commitment they are making.
Students work on course materials as their schedule permits. This
requires that the student be very organized and self-motivated. Because
of the freedom associated with the course, some students are not
successful because they tend to procrastinate and do not set up a
regular schedule for working on class assignments. Even though the
student is allowed to work at their own pace, they must be aware that
certain deadlines are established in the course which must be observed.
Students taking
web-based courses must be "self-starters". You do not have formal class
meetings during which the instructor will remind you to complete
assignments and provide other encouragement or incentives to do the
assignments.
Web-courses
typically require as much time as a classroom-based course. They are
NOT easier or less time consuming. They do allow you to fit the course
to your schedule. You should anticipate spending 3-6 hours a week on
the assignments of a 3 credit hour course during the typical semester.
The length of a summer term is one-third the length of a regular
semester, so you should anticipate spending 3x the time-commitment
during a summer term.
Ideally, the
workload of a web course is identical to a classroom-based course. In
reality, successful students find that the workload is often greater.
You will find that assignments and activities have been developed for
web-based courses to replace the classroom interaction of traditional
courses. These assignments require extra time commitments on the part
of the student and the instructor. DO NOT assume that because a course
is web-based that it is easier and requires less time than its
classroom-based counterpart. The opposite is true.
You can log into
the course materials at any time; you work at your own pace. To keep
things organized, the material will be presented in 15 Units; you
should plan to complete a unit each week during a regular semester or 3
units each week during a 5-week summer term. Each unit of course
material is written so that it will provide you with what I usually
cover in "live" lectures and handouts. No textbook is needed. One unit
will be opened for access each week during a regular semester;
initially, I will open two units at the beginning a semester. During a
summer term, all units are accessible from the beginning of the term.
This will allow you to work ahead if desired and even complete the
course early. Typically, you should anticipate that each unit of
material will take about 3 hours to cover, on average. Again, you
progress through the materials at your own pace. But, do not fall
behind the unit per week pace (3 units per week during the summer)
because it is often difficult to catch up if you get too far behind. In
an attempt to keep students moving through the course material at a
similar pace to allow for interactions in the bulletin boards/forums,
the exams are scheduled for specific periods of time throughout the
semester (they can be taken at any time during the short summer terms).
You should complete all assignments, such as Critical Thinking
questions, Discussion/Participation submissions, and Real-World Biology
abstracts, in the units leading up to the exam prior to taking an exam.
At this time, no
textbook is required. All the course materials is found on the webpages
provided.
Yes, you can work
at your own pace ... within reason. You can fit the work required by
the course into your schedule; but this doesn't mean you work on the
course every couple of weeks. You must work on the course every week to
be successful. You might find time on Mondays at 1 AM to devote to the
course, but you should devote time EACH week to the course. If a
conflict prevents your work on the course for a week, make sure that
you spend extra time the following week to catch-up; or time the
preceding week to work ahead. Working at your own pace DOES NOT mean
postponing work on your assignments until the last week of the course
and trying to complete everything within the last few days.
You should register
for the course in the same manner as you register for any other course.
When you are registered, the Registrar's office enters you into
"Banner", the University's database system. A few days before the
semester begins, the students are entered into the course delivery
system's database and usernames/passwords are generated. At that time,
I send out e-mails to the students who are enrolled. I use the e-mail
address that the University has on file. If you are unsure about what
e-mail address the University has on file or wish to use a different
e-mail address, you can fill out the form found on the course
description page that is listed in the Course Schedule. From that
course description page, you will find an on-line description of the
course and a link to a form entitled "Request Username and Password for
Course". This form requests some basic information including an e-mail
address to which the "startup" e-mail message will be sent.
The Office of
Distance Learning sends out a form letter and CD to students enrolled
in web-based courses. The CD provides a copy of a web-browser. You do
not need this CD to take the course unless you do not have a
web-browser on your computer. You can use any web browser through any
internet service provider (ISP) to access the course materials. I
repeat, you DO NOT have to use the software on the CD that you may have
been sent by the Office of Distance Learning. But, through previous
experience, it appears that Firefox version 2
or later is the best
web-browser to use. The quizzes, exams, etc. use forms. Early versions
of Netscape and all but the very latest versions of Microsoft Internet
Explorer have "bugs" that can cause problems with many forms used here
and elsewhere on the Internet. So, I would suggest that you use
Netscape, Firefox, Opera, or Mozilla if possible; Firefox version 2 is
very stable, is free and has many add-ons that increases it's
functionality. If you have problems with your web-browser,
e-mail me with your mailing address and I will send you a copy of the
latest version of Netscape, Firefox, Opera,
or Mozilla on a CD-ROM. Netscape, Firefox, Opera, or Mozilla
should work
without any problems no matter what Internet provider you are using.
Browsers provided by some Internet Service Providers
(especially
AOL)
are very "buggy" and often cause problems with accessing sites on the
Internet; again Firefox version 2 appears to be the most
stable web-browser at this time.
Working at your own
speed means that you can take 3 hours to complete a unit of material or
take 6 hours, depending on your needs. But, you are expected to work on
the course on a regular basis, not postpone completing assignments
until immediately before an exam or until the end of the course. During
a typical semester, you are required to complete all assignments in one
unit of
the course each week. During a summer term, you should complete all
assignments in 3 units of the course each week. Some activities are
designed to promote interactions between students taking the course. If
you are not completing the course in a timely manner, your lack of
participation is depriving other students of the interactions afforded
by the course. Thus, if you decide not to complete the assignments in a
timely manner, your grade is penalized and I will take steps that will
allow the students who are completing their assignments as required not
to be impacted by your lack of participation in the course.
You can use any web
browser through any internet service provide to access the course
materials. You DO NOT have to use the software on the CD that you may
have been sent by the Office of Distance Learning. But, through
previous experience, it appears that Netscape version 4.0 or later is
the best web-browser to use. The quizzes, exams, etc. use forms. Early
versions of Netscape and all but the very latest versions of Microsoft
Internet Explorer have "bugs" that can cause problems with many forms
used here and elsewhere on the Internet. So, I would suggest that you
use Netscape if possible; version 7.2 is very stable; version 8.02 is
the latest version available. If you have problems with your
web-browser, e-mail me with your mailing address and I will send you a
copy of the latest version of Netscape on a CD-ROM (it is about 18
megabytes so it takes a long time to download over a modem). Netscape
should work without any problems no matter what Internet provider you
are using. Browsers provided by some Internet Service Providers
(especially AOL) are very "buggy" and often cause problems with
accessing sites on the Internet; again Netscape version 4.0 or later
appears to be the most stable web-browser at this time.
PDF is the
abbreviation coined by Adobe Software that stands for Portable Data
Format. This data format is intended as a universal data format that
allows for documents to be accessed on any computer system. PDF files
can be accessed using a free software program called "Adobe Reader" or
"Adobe Acrobat Reader". Most computers have this software installed;
many software packages that you may have purchased automatically loads
this software on your computer because the instruction manuals for the
software are distributed in this format. Most web-browsers
automatically install a "plug-in" so that PDF files access over the web
can be viewed from within the web-browser. If your computer does not
have Acrobat Reader, you can download and install this software. You
will find the free version of the software on the Adobe website at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
An "Incomplete
Grade" can be assigned to provide a modest amount of time for
completion of a course. University regulations state that an Incomplete
Grade should only be assigned if a substantial portion of the course
has been completed and a modest amount of additional time is required
to complete a limited number of assignments. Incomplete grades are not
intended for students who postpone working on the course throughout the
semester/term and suddenly realize that they will not have enough time
to complete the course during the final days before the end of the
semester/term. If unforeseen circumstances prevent you from working on
the course for an extended period of time, you should contact the
instructor AT THAT TIME to inform the instructor of the circumstances.
DO NOT wait until the end of the term to provide excuses concerning why
you have not completed assignments due weeks/months before.
You should e-mail
the instructor with your request for an Incomplete Grade about 1-2
weeks before the end of the semester. Do not wait until the last few
days of the semester to make your request. In your request, you should
provide an explanation of why you have not completed the course
assignments. You should provide a date for completion of the course
assignments. Current Incomplete Grade forms require a date by which all
assignments will be complete; most instructors prefer that the student
provide this date instead of setting an arbitrary deadline.
You should provide
a date by which you will complete the course assignments in your
request for an Incomplete Grade in the course. Typically, a few weeks
of extra time is granted; at the most, instructors may allow to the end
of the following semester/term. Longer time periods are rarely granted.
ISU has tightened the
regulations
concerning incompletes to address past abuses of the
system.
As stated
in ISU regulations, incompletes are for VERY short periods of
time
to
allow for a FEW late assignments to be IMMEDIATELY submitted after the
last day of the course. The MAJORITY of the assignments in a
course
MUST have been submitted to be considered for an incomplete.
If you have
familiarity with e-mail and the web, you are aware of "unwritten rules"
concerning how you communicate with others. Written communications can
be more easily miss-interpreted because verbal communication presents
clues through the tone of voice and body language. There are over
32,000 pages on the web that discuss the e-mail and web "etiquette". If
you are new to the web and e-mail, it is wise to read a few of these. A
few examples are:
http://clarendon.globalnetlink.com/NETIQUETTE/netiquet.htm
http://www.t2mn.com/articles/email.html
http://web.nwe.ufl.edu/writing/help/email/etiquette.html
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/ITD/Email/staff-etiquette.htm
http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/gmead/etiquete.htm
http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/it/email/etiquette.html
http://www.ideacafe.com/fridge/email/diplomacy.html
http://www.med.sc.edu:81/CCR/Etiquette.htm
http://a-s.clayton.edu/krobinson/etiquett.htm
http://www.techonemedia.com/lincolnnet/email_etiquette.htm
http://dekalb.dc.peachnet.edu/~jbenson/csci1401/email/sld013.htm
When submitting assignments, you
should use proper English. This is a University-level course
and
you
are submitting formal assignments in the course.
Written assignments should not
be
submitted in ALL capital letters. All capital letters are
difficult to
read. I will capitalized individual words/phrases, use bold
or
highlighted words, or other methods to emphasize information in
responses/follow-ups. This is done to emphasize
information/points
which appears to be overlooked or not comprehended. My
responses
are
concise; I read all submission. I provide feedback if there
are
any
problem/deficiency in any submission so that students can redo/
rewrite/ resubmit the assignment to receive credit for the assignment.
This does not allow time to praise or compliment students who
provide
satisfactory submission because time is used to provide feedback so
that students are able to make the corrections required to receive
maximum points for their assignments; some students interpret this as
being "rude", "over-critical", "mean", "hostile", "abrasive",
"offensive" or "unfriendly": IF I wished to be "rude", or "offensive"
or "abrasive" I am VERY capable of being such and there would be NO
mistake with the interpretation.
Praises and compliments do not
provide
students with feedback that allows them to correct and resubmit
assignments to improve their learning and grade in the course.
University-level students should be able to accept and learn from the
feedback provided and not require constant praise and compliments to
motivate them to do the work required in the course.
This is a university
course. When
taking a university course, it is an academic setting.
Faculty
teaching a course should be addressed by their academic title.
EXAMS
The exams are
on-line. You do not have to go to a location where the exams are given
and proctored?
Four times during
the course, you will take on-line exams. You should take each exam when
you complete the units preceding the exam link on the Course Material's
page schedule. You should complete all assignments leading up to the
exam prior to taking the exam. Check the schedule on the Course
Materials page to see the two week period when the exam(s) should be
taken. The exams should be taken individually; they are NOT "group"
efforts (yes, the server tracks when and where the exams are accessed).
You will only be able to take the exam once. Do not access the exam
before you are ready to take it. The exams are timed; you will have an
hour to do the exam. A clock is provided on the exam web page so that
you know how long you have been working on the exam. After the hour (60
min), you will be penalized. One point will be deducted for each minute
over 60 minutes that you use. So when you take the exam, set aside an
hour in which you will not be disturbed; do not worry because the exams
can be completed within 60 minutes if you are familiar with the course
material presented. You can only take the exam once. When you click on
the Submit button, it will send the exam to me to be graded; the grades
will be posted in the on-line gradebook within a few days of taking the
exam. If you lose your Internet connection during an exam, do not
worry. DO NOT close your web page containing the exam. Just reconnect
to the Internet and hit the submit button when you have completed the
exam.
Now for a little
information about the style of the exam. From past experience, the
following format appears to work well and will be used during this
semester:
40 multiple choice style questions worth 2 points each for 80 points
2 short-answer/essay-style
questions worth 10
points each for 20 points
The exam will be
worth 100 points. The multiple choice questions will be the same style
as the quizlets you take in each unit. For the short-answer/essay-style
questions, you will be provided with a box on the exam webpage, beneath
the question, where you can type your answer. The box will scroll so
you have as much space as you need to write your answer. The short
answer questions are written so that you should be able to answer MOST
of them (but not all) in a short paragraph of a few sentences ... you
do not need to write a "book". The short-answer questions ask for
specific information, so keep to the point -- be concise but be
complete.
When you click on
the exam link/button on the Course Materials page, it will take you to
an Exam Starter page. This page provides blanks for your LAST NAME and
you UNIVERSITY ID #. Fill in these blanks and then click on the BEGIN
button. The clock doesn't start on your hour for the exam until you
click BEGIN; this page acts as a buffer in case you accidentally click
the Exam link on the Course Materials page. The BEGIN button takes you
to the exam. When the exam page comes up, the clock begins and I am
notified that you have started taking the exam. You will see the clock
which tells you when you began the exam and how much time you have
spent on the exam (minutes:seconds) in the upper right corner of the
exam page. You can scroll back to the top of the page at any time to
see how much time you have used. When 60 minutes are up, if you haven't
finished, a Warning Box will pop-up warning you that you have used 60
minutes and the point per minute penalty has started. You will have to
click OK in the Warning box to get rid of the Warning.
When you complete
the exam, click the Submit button at the bottom of the page. If you
have not answered a question, you will be told which question you did
not answer. You must answer all questions to Submit the exam. This is a
safety precaution so that you cannot accidentally submit the exam
before you get a chance to answer the questions. Remember, if you lose
your Internet connection during an exam, do not worry. DO NOT close
your web page containing the exam. Just reconnect to the Internet and
hit the Submit button when you have completed the exam.
If you are using
the dial-up lines provided by ISU to connect, you already know that
they are often congested (especially late afternoon and evenings) and
disconnect you every 2 hours. If you do have problems, let me know.
No. You should
study the material just as you would for any other exam. The exams are
timed; if you are not familiar with the material you do not have the
time to look up answers to the question.
The four exams
taken during the course provide about 40% of the total points earned
during the course. About 60% of the grade depends on other assignments
made throughout the course. This should assist students who suffer from
"test anxiety".
During the Fall or
Spring semester, you will find dates on the exam buttons provided in
the schedule available on the Course Materials page. The exams should
be taken in the approximately two-week period provided. During the
5-week summer term, there are no specific dates suggested for the
exams; you should progress through the materials and take an exam each
week in order to complete the course within the 5-week term.
Another "problem"
that has been encountered is the time-out/lost connection that can
occur if you are using some Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Some
ISPs monitor activity of your modem connection to their service. If no
activity is seen for a specific period of time (often 20-30 minutes),
the ISP disconnects you. This can sometimes cause problems, especially
on exams. When you are filling out the form used for an exam, nothing
is sent back to the server until you complete the exam and click the
Submit button. If you use Eudora or some other e-mail program that
automatically checks your mail every few minutes, you can start your
e-mail program running to check your mail in the background so that
your ISP sees activity on your connection while you are working on the
exam form or reading a long web page. This will help maintain your
modem connection during these periods that your ISP may interpret as
inactive times.
If you have any problems with an
exam or with submitting
an exam, you should contact the instructor IMMEDIATELY. Send
an
e-mail
stating the problem. Exam security is taken very seriously.
Exams in the
courses consist of:
40 multiple choice style questions worth 2 points each for 80 points
2 short-answer/essay-style
questions worth 10
points each for 20 points
The
short-answer/essay-style questions have to be graded by hand. As a
result, it may take a couple of days to grade the exams depending on
when you take the exam; remember there are others who are taking the
course and there are other assignments that must be graded by hand. I
attempt to grade the exams and post the scores in the on-line gradebook
as quickly as possible.
There are other
students taking the course. Students take the exam at different times.
Tests are not returned and I do not provide the answers to what you
missed on an exam to prevent the answers from an exam from being passed
to students who have not taken the exam yet.
When the web-based
courses were developed, the inability to provide students with feedback
concerning what they missed on an exam was considered and determined to
be part of the learning process. Since other students may not have
taken an exam, I cannot provide you with information on what you missed
on an exam or what the correct answer is. As students take an exam,
they are aware of what questions for which they do not know the
answers. As part of the learning process in the web-based courses, it
is felt that it is part of the student's obligation to review material
related to questions that the student felt they missed on the exam.
Returning exams may be a valid option in a classroom based course where
all students take the exam at the same time, but it is not possible in
web-based courses where students take the exams at different times.
The server provides
considerable information concerning the exam process that is related to
exam security; this information will not be discussed so that there
will be no temptation to attempt to "outsmart" the security. It is
realized that some students will use the opportunity of taking a
web-based exam to use books, notes, or other resources even though
their use is prohibited. If a student attempts to look up answers, they
will not have enough time to complete the exam. Additionally, the
server tracks all accesses to the materials so a student's effort to
search through the course material during the exam is easily
detected. We are confident that the security measures work
and
have caught several students who have violated exam policies.
QUIZLETS
Quizlets are small
multiple choice quizzes. There are 3 quizlets with 5 multiple choice
questions in each unit. These are pop-up quizzes (click on a Quizlet
button and it will pop up in a small separate window). These allow you
to see whether you are "getting-the-lecture"; they are simple multiple
choice questions and are basically "open book". They are graded
automatically and will tell you how many you got right as soon as you
submit the quizlet. You get 5 points for each quizlet.
Quizlets are
intended as "EASY POINTS". The quizlets allow you to determine whether
you are understanding what is presented and help build your
"confidence" for the exams. You can retake these quizlets as many times
as you wish to get the maximum points. The scores from the quizlets are
automatically posted in the on-line gradebook that is available from
the Help/Utilities
page.
The points earned
from the quizlets is about 20% of the total points available in the
course.
One thing to
remember, at the top of each quizlet you are asked for your name and ID
number; NOTE
- the ID number is
important for
proper entry of the score into the on-line gradebook. The ID number
that is used is your 9 digit ISU ID number (begins with 991xxxxxx)
without hyphens, spaces or other punctuation; just the 9 digits.
If you enter any other number or anything else in the ID
number
space,
the grade will not automatically be entered into the on-line gradebook.
But the grade is not lost. The information/score is also written to
another file and I can retrieve the score and enter it by-hand into the
on-line gradebook; retrieving the score by hand is a time consuming
process and is only performed on very rare occasions.
If you click on a
quizlet button and do not see the quizlet pop up, check behind the main
web-browser window; you probably left a previous quizlet window open
and the new quizlet is "hiding" in the previously-opened quizlet window
behind your main web-browser window.
The quizlets were
designed as a study aid. They allow you to determine whether you have
obtained sufficient detail from the course material that you have just
read. If you received a low score, you can go back and review the last
section of material and retake the quizlet to determine whether your
comprehension of the material has improved. You are allowed to retake
the quizlets as often as you wish. Although some students will retake
the quizlets and guess at the answers, this defeats the purpose of the
quizlets and does not benefit the student in the long term (questions
on the material may be on the exams).
Yes, you can retake
the quizlets as many times as you wish. Only your last score on a
quizlet is posted in the online gradebook
CTQ or CRITICAL
THINKING QUESTIONS
Critical Thinking is the basic
concept that General
Education courses are designed to develop in students; General
Education courses are NOT designed to make students experts in the
field of the specific course. But the ability to apply the
fundamental
ability to THINK CRITICALLY is a skill which General Educations courses
are designed to develop in students.
These are questions
intended to make you think and discuss the information in the course.
The questions are designed so that some
of them do
not have "right" or
"wrong" answers ... you give your opinion and/or analysis of a question
or problem ... in other words, these questions are intended to make you
think about what we have just covered in that unit of the
course.
MOST
of the
questions require you to use facts that you have learned in
the unit to formulate responses. Even these questions may
have
multiple, valid responses depending on the facts that are used to
formulate the response; you should include the facts that you used in
these responses to show how you arrived at your
conclusions.
A
few of the Critical Thinking Questions have a single valid response;
these questions test your comprehension of the material covered in the
unit. The links for these questions are within the units but
you
can go directly to the "Critical Thinking Bulletin Board" from the link
on the Course Materials page.
These are NOT "What-Can-I-Google-On-The-Web"
questions. These are Critical THINKING
Questions. You are REQUIRED to use the material PRESENTED IN
THIS
COURSE and THINK.
You are
to submit YOUR THOUGHTS based on the material presented in
this
course, NOT what someone else thinks.
Each of the 15
Units of the course has a Critical Thinking question. Each question is
worth 10 points. Thus, you can earn 150 points for your CTQ responses.
This is about 15 percent of your total course grade.
The links for these
questions are within the units but you can go directly to the "Critical
Thinking Bulletin Board" from the link on the Course Materials page.
For each unit there will be a new Critical Thinking question posted on
the Critical Thinking Forum that you can access from the Course
Materials page. Click on the question that I post, read the question,
then click on the "Post Followup" link that you find at the top and/or
bottom of the page containing the question that I posted. A form will
appear for you to write your response. When you finish, click the
Submit button and your response will be posted. You will automatically
return to the Critical Thinking Forum and you will see your posting
beneath the original question.
You should complete
the Critical Thinking question for a Unit when you complete the
material for that Unit.
The material in a
Unit is related to the CTQ asked in that unit. You should submit your
response to the CTQ while the unit is fresh in your mind. Also, other
students will read your response and may comment on what you have
submitted. Commenting on the CTQ submissions of other students provides
Discussion/Participation opportunities for the student; and D/P points.
Some
of these questions are
designed so that they do not have "right" or "wrong" answers while
others require an analysis of facts presented in this course.
Submission must in in proper English and address the specific
questions asked. You can comment
on other students opinions/answers but do not get into personal attacks
... keep it civil.
CTQ and D/P
submissions have to be read and graded "by hand". This process can take
a few days; it can be further delayed during busy times such as test
periods.
If you do not see the scores for
CTQ
or D/P assignments after a few days, look at the Bulletin Board on
which you posted your assignment. If there was any
problem/deficiency
with your submission I post a follow-up stating the problem/deficiency.
The follow-ups are NOT new questions. They are
statements
of
problems/deficiencies in the submission. You are REQUIRED to
provide a
satisfactory response to the ORIGINAL CTQ that was asked to receive
points for the assignment; if your submission is not satisfactory, then
you receive no points.
Read the follow-up that states
the
problems/deficiencies with what you have submitted, RE-READ
the
original CTQ and then THINK. You should then provide an
additional
follow-up addressing the ORIGINAL CTQ based on the additional insight
obtained from the comments/ questions/ statements which were provided
in my follow-up.
What you submit as a response to a follow-up should be a COMPLETE
response to the original CTQ, NOT just random statements that you feel
address the specific problems/deficiencies/questions/comments that were
stated in my follow-up. You are responsible for providing a
complete
response to the original CTQ which was asked. My follow-ups
are
statements of problems/deficiencies which you MUST consider when you
are RE-DOING your COMPLETE response for the original CTQ which was
asked.
Making solitary statements as a follow-up is NOT satisfactory as a
resubmission. You are required to re-write your ENTIRE
original
submission and submit it as a follow-up after considering the
problems/deficiencies which have been pointed out in my follow-up to
your previous submission.
When you have provided a
satisfactory
response to the Critical Thinking Question which was asked, you will
receive credit for the assignment. Again, no credit is
received
until
a satisfactory response is submitted. This is a LEARNING
process
designed to develop the student's ability to THINK CRITICALLY.
Typically, it takes
a couple of days to grade these assignments depending on how many
students are submitting assignments at that time of the course.
The assignments
have been designed to stimulate discussion and interactions between the
students in the course. Over the years that the course(s) have been
taught, I have found that the easiest way to limit or stop discussion
is to become involved in the discussion. Students have a tendency to
believe that whatever the instructor says in these discussions is the
one and only correct answer; thus the discussion stops when the
instructor becomes involved. Because of this, I avoid becoming involved
in the discussion unless it gets out-of-control. Sometimes I will post
a question or comment to move the discussion back on topic, but I try
to avoid avoid becoming involved in the discussion because the
instructor's involvement tends to squelch the discussion. If
a
response to a CTQ is incomplete or the student appears not to
understand what is asked, follow-up responses are posted to try to
clarify what the question is asking. These follow-up posting
are
usually in the form of leading question intended to steer the student
toward a valid response to the question or to request clarification of
points made by the student. These follow-up responses are to
allow the student to rethink their response and post further
information that will improve the grade on the assignment.
Comments
are posted if there is a deficiency/problem with the response/answer
you posted to a CTQ. These comments cite any
problems/deficiencies in your response/answer. You are
REQUIRED
to address/respond to the problems/deficiencies cited in my followup in
order that you
can receive credit for the assignment.
D/P or
DISCUSSION/PARTICIPATION
Discussion/Participation
assignments are intended to promote interaction and discussion between
the students in the course concerning topics related to the course.
These assignments are designed to allow student interactions similar to
those experienced in a classroom setting. You will get points for
"participating" by responding to other students' Critical Thinking
questions and/or RWB abstracts. You read what other students have
submitted and comment on what they have said. You can get 10 points per
unit for commenting on another student's CT or RWB submissions (or
responding to another student's comments about your original posting in
the CTQ or RWB forums). You should respond to another student's CTQ or
RWB submission in each unit.
Each of the 15
Units of the course has a Discussion/Participation assignment. Each
assignment is worth 10 points. Thus, you can earn 150 points for your
D/P assignments. This is about 15 percent of your total course grade.
You should read the
responses of other students to a CT question or read the RWB abstracts
submitted by other students. On the web page containing the submission
by the other student, you will find a link to Post Followup at the top
and bottom of the page. Click on the Post Followup link and you will
see a form in which you can type your response to your classmate's
submission. Once you have typed your response, click on the Submit
button and wait until you are taken back to the Bulletin Board (this
can take a couple of seconds up to a minute depending on your internet
connection).
You should respond
to one or more of your classmates' CTQ or RWB submission in each unit.
Your response MUST be more than "I agree" or "I disagree"; this is a
Discussion/Participation assignment so you must DISCUSS what your
classmates have stated in their postings. If you agree or
disagree,
provide arguments to support your agreement/disagreement; repeating
statements that the other student made is NOT providing support for
agreement/disagreement. If you do not
understand something the classmate has stated, as questions to clarify
what you do not understand. Discuss what the other student said. One
"No-No" is allowing the discussions to degenerate into personal
attacks; you can attack the ideas based on fact but not on personal
issues or personalities.
Your comments
represent you; your classmates get to know you from your postings. Take
care in writing your submissions. Use complete sentences, correct
grammar, and correct spelling. Often in web-based courses, only
impression that your classmates form about you are through what they
read in your postings.
You should complete
your D/P assignment for a Unit before you move on to the next unit.
These are assignments associated with a particular unit so do the
assignment as part of the unit.
You should discuss
the material associated with the unit while the material is "fresh" in
your mind. Also, other students read your submission and comment on
them as part of their D/P assignment. If you postpone submission, you
may forget about the submission and if it is very late in the course
when you remember to complete the assignment, you may be penalized for
submitting the assignment late. When you are not participating, other
students do not have submissions to discuss.
You can comment on
other students opinions/answers but do not get into personal attacks
... keep it civil. One "No-No" is allowing the discussions to
degenerate into personal attacks; you can attack the ideas based on
fact but not on personal issues or personalities. And please remember,
your comments represent you; your classmates get to know you from your
postings. Take care in writing your submissions. Use complete
sentences, correct grammar, and correct spelling. Often in web-based
courses, only impression that your classmates form about you are
through what they read in your postings.
If there was a RWB
assignment in the Unit, you can receive D/P points for commenting on a
RWB abstract submitted by another student. Since RWB assignments are
made in 7 of the 15 units, you can receive D/P points for commenting on
RWB abstracts in those 7 units.
The assignments
have been designed to stimulate discussion and interactions between the
students in the course. Over the years that the web-based course(s)
have been taught, I have found that the easiest way to limit or stop
discussion is for the instructor to become involved in the discussion.
Students have a tendency to believe that whatever the instructor says
in these discussions is the one and only correct answer; thus the
discussion stops when the instructor becomes involved. Because of this,
I avoid becoming involved in the discussion unless it gets
out-of-control. Sometimes I will post a question or comment to move the
discussion back on topic, but I try to avoid avoid becoming involved in
the discussion because the instructor's involvement tends to squelch
the discussion.
Comments
are posted if there is a deficiency/problem with the response you
posted to as D/P. These comments cite any
problems/deficiencies
in your response. You are required to respond to the
problems/deficiencies cited in order that you can receive credit for
the assignment. What you submit as a
response to a follow-up should be a COMPLETE
response, NOT just random statements that you feel
address the specific problems/deficiencies/questions/comments that were
stated in my follow-up. Making solitary statements as a
follow-up
is NOT satisfactory as a
resubmission. You are required to re-write your ENTIRE
original
submission/discussion and submit it as a follow-up after considering
the
problems/deficiencies which have been pointed out in my follow-up to
your previous submission.
RWB or REAL WORLD
BIOLOGY ABSTRACTS
Real World Biology
abstracts are intended to get you to think about biology and relate
biology to your everyday life. These are intended to get you to "talk
and think biology".
Seven
times during
the course (in every other unit), you will find a button in the unit to
submit a "Real World Biology" abstract. These are short abstracts
(about 300 or more words) on any article related to biology that you
find in your
daily newspaper, magazines, scientific journals or other sources. You
MUST submit a CITATION for the article (author, title, date, source
including volume and pages) along with your 2-3 paragraph synopsis of
the article. If you are using an electronic/internet article, you must
submit an appropriate citation for the article; the citation must
reflect the fact that the source of the article was from an
electronic/internet source and not the printed version of the article.
Abstracts must be entirely in
your own
words. Use of sentences or phrases from the original article
is
not
acceptable. Changing a few words or other slight
modifications
does
NOT make the sentences/phrases your own. Plagerizm is not
tolerated
and has very severe penalties as stated in the ISU Code of Student
Conduct.
Abstracts
must be entirely in your own words. Quotes
from the original article are
NOT acceptable unless there is absolutely
NO way
to state something essential for the understanding of the original
article in your
own words.
This prevents students from cutting and pasting quotes from the
original article in order to generate an abstract without understanding
the content and facts of the original article.
In 7 of the 15
units of the course you will be asked to submit a Real World Biology
abstract. Each abstract is worth up to 20 points. Thus, you can earn
140 points for your RWB abstracts. This is almost 15 percent of your
total course grade.
The abstract is due
when you complete the unit in which the RWB abstract is assigned.
RWB assignments are made in odd-numbered units.
To post your RWB
abstract, go to the Real World Biology forum from the link on the
Course Materials page. Click the "Post a Message" link at the top of
the page; you will be presented with a form in which to write your
citation and abstract. You can read what others in the class submit by
clicking on the RWB link on the Course Materials page. You can comment
on their article by clicking on the "Post Follow-ups" link provided at
the bottom of the page with their message/abstract (you get points for
discussing other student's submissions - see Discussion/Participation
below).
You must post the abstract and
the
citation in the form that is provided from the "Post a Message" link.
I NEVER read attachments and do NOT require other students to
read
attachments. Not all students have the same software for opening
attachments. Attachments can contain VIRUSES, MACROS, or other malware
which can damage the computer of the reader.
Articles from your
daily newspaper, magazines, scientific journals or other legitimate
sources are acceptable. Many of these publications have web sites which
may be used. You should not use electronic/internet/web sites generated
by individuals, commercial companies or other non-journalistic
concerns.
All articles MUST be from
legitimate
publications. Legitimate publications undergo editorial and
peer
review to insure the accuracy of the information. Abstracts of letters to the editor or
editorials are not
appropriate since they do not undergo editorial and peer review.
Articles should be current;
articles that are more than 5 years old often contain out-of-date
information.
If an article is from an
electronic
source, it must be a source which is available to all students at ISU.
The ISU library has multiple databases which provide access
to
many
online publications. URLs which allow access to these
articles
can be
accessed by any ISU student. There are millions of articles
from
legitimate sources which are available in print or electronic form.
Articles which are only accessible from electronic sites
which
require
personal subscriptions or passwords are NOT acceptable.
A citation is the
source of the article. The information in a citation provides other
people with all the necessary information required to locate the
article. The citation must contain the Author, Date, Title of the
article, Name of the publication, Volume/Issue of the publication, Page
numbers on which the article was found.
A citation for an
electronic/internet/web article must contain the author, date, title of
the article, and a URL/web address that will take interested persons
directly to the article; not just the address for the main website
which may contain thousands of webpages that would have to be searched
to find the article you abstracted. The UT library provides several
guides for citing electronic/internet/web publications at:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/pcl/citations/index.html
You should be very
careful when you use electronic sources for article. Hundreds of new
websites appear each day and hundreds disappear. You should only use
articles from electronic sources that you are sure will be there months
or years from now.
First
you read an
article. Then you write an abstract. The abstract is a summary of what
you read. The abstract is in your own words. If you quote anything from
the original article, make sure you enclose the quote in quote marks or
you will have plagerized material from the original article.
Abstracts are YOUR
interpretation of what was said in the article.
Provide appropriate details, in your own words, that led the author to
their conclusion.
You can include your interpretation of the article and whether you
agree or disagree with the author, but include why you agree or
disagree.
Abstracts
should be about 300 or more words in length. This is the MINIMUM that
has been
established for abstracts of all kinds in all disciplines.
The
abstract MUST be of sufficient length to provide a complete analysis of
the facts presented in the article. If you are counting
words
just to get an abstract that exceeds the minimum requirement, do not be
surprised if the abstract is not acceptable.
Your abstract can be longer if
you desire; sometimes you might feel that the author's views are not
correct and you may wish to include a few paragraphs rebutting the
author's views. Or, you may wish to relate how the information provided
in the article is relevant to you.
Other students can
read your RWB abstract and submit a discussion/participation response
to your abstract. IMPORTANT: DO NOT wait until the end of the course to
submit your RWB abstracts; waiting till the end of the course to submit
your abstracts does not allow other students an opportunity to comment
on your submissions. If you wait till late in the course to submit your
abstracts that were due in units assigned early in the course, points
may be deducted for late assignments. You can submit your RWB abstracts
early in the course; some students submit all of the RWB abstracts at
the beginning of the course so they do not have to worry about
completing these later.
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Why
did I not get more points on my RWB?
You are required to provide corrections/additions for any
problems/deficiencies which have been cited in any follow-ups by the
instructor to your submission. Are there any follow-ups from the
instructor that you have not responded to?
Did you submit a
complete citation that included the Author, Date, Title of the article,
Name of the publication, Volume/Issue of the publication, Page numbers
on which the article was found? If not, points were deducted.
If the article was
from an electronic/internet/web publication, did you include the
URL/web address that will take someone interested in the article
directly to the article? If not, points were deducted.
Is your abstract about 300 or more words in length? If not, points were
deducted.
Was the RWB
abstract submitted before or immediately after the unit was completed
in which the RWB abstract was assigned? If you postponed submitting
your abstract until near the end of the course, you may not receive
full credit for your submission.
I will often post
a follow-up to a RWB submission when the submission is not complete
(incomplete citation or insufficient abstract). But, the assignment is
designed to stimulate discussion and interactions between the students
in the course. Over the years that the web-based course(s) have been
taught, I have found that the easiest way to limit or stop discussion
is for the instructor to become involved in the discussion. Students
have a tendency to believe that whatever the instructor says in these
discussions is the one and only correct answer; thus the discussion
stops when the instructor becomes involved. Because of this, I avoid
becoming involved in the discussion unless it gets out-of-control.
Sometimes I will post a question or comment to move the discussion back
on topic, but I try to avoid avoid becoming involved in the discussion
because the instructor's involvement tends to squelch the
discussion.
ON-LINE GRADEBOOK
You will find a
link to the online gradebook on the Help/Utilities page. The WebGrades
gradebook is not integrated into the server application that delivers
the rest of the course material. You have to log into the WebGrades
gradebook separately; those instructions are on the Help/Utilities
page. The scores from the quizlets are automatically entered into the
WebGrade gradebook; you can view the scores in the gradebook within
seconds of taking the quizlet. The Real-World-Biology, Critical
Thinking, Discussion/Participation, and Exams have to be entered
BY-HAND into the WebGrades system. It may take a day or two before you
see the points for these activities appear in the WebGrades gradebook.
I am working on ways to automate this but, so far, I still have to do
this by-hand.
Please read the
instructions for accessing the on-line gradebook that are provided
after the link to the gradebook on the Help/Utilities page. These
instruction tell you to use your ISU
ID number (991xxxxxx) as the
"username" and a class password for the "password"; your ISU ID number
is 9-digits and does NOT
contain any hyphens, dashes, spaces or other punctuation. The class
password
is provided in the text after the link on the Help/Utilities page.
The common error
that is encountered is not entering the correct username/ID number and
class password. This often results in "Access Denied". If you enter the
correct class password but made an error in entering your ISU ID number
(991xxxxxx), the data you see will be statistics for the entire class.
If you do not see your name to the left of a row of grades, this is the
error. Go back and re-enter your ISU ID (991xxxxxx) and class password.
Remember that your ISU ID (991xxxxxx) is entered as 9-digits without
spaces, hyphens, dashes or other punctuation.
When you examine
the on-line gradebook, you will notice that there are some gray boxes.
The gray boxes represent items for which there are no grades currently
posted. As you progress through the course, the gray boxes are replaced
with scores on the various items. Grey boxes are not calculated into
the total grade for the course that is seen on the right side of the
row of scores.
Periodically
throughout the semester/term, I will add zeros to grade items that have
not been completed. Typically during a semester, I will add zeros to
incomplete items leading up to an exam near the end of the 2 week
period provided for the exam; during a summer term, this is done about
half-way through the five week term and during the middle of the final
week of the summer term. This is done to prompt you into catching up if
you are falling behind. This also provides you with a more accurate
indication of where you stand in the course at that time. The zeros
that I add will be replaced by the scores you earn on the assignments
as you complete them. PLEASE do not wait till the last day(s) of the
semester or the last couple of days before the close of an exam period
to complete large numbers of the assignments; if large numbers of
assignments are completed at the last minute, I become more critical in
my grading.
Again, there is one
point I should stress about the automatic gradebook entry from the
quizlets. When you take a quizlet, you are asked for your name and ISU
ID (991xxxxxx) at the top of each quizlet. The ID number information is
essential for the automatic update to the on-line gradebook. Use your 9
digit ISU ID number (991xxxxxx). Enter the 9 digit number, without
hyphens or other punctuation. Do not worry if you get the ID number
wrong or something happens and the quizlet score doesn't appear in the
gradebook immediately; all the information is also saved in a master
file and I can go in and enter any missing information into the
WebGrades gradebook by hand (this requires searching the server logs
for the scores which is a time-consuming process).
COURSE EVALUATION
The course
evaluation is a 12 question form that allows you to comment on the
course. Ten of the questions are multiple choice and two questions
allow you to write comments concerning the course. The course
evaluations are anonymous and have no effect on your grade. The course
evaluations are collected and processed by the server after the course
is complete. The results or comments are not provided to the instructor
until after the course is over.
Your responses are
used for improvement of the course, thus your opinions are valued and
do make a difference. If you like certain aspects of a course, say so;
it may influence the development of other courses. If you think that
web-courses are of value, say so; your input influences the development
and offering of new web-based courses in the Department,
College/School, and University. The opinions of students concerning the
needs and experiences of students have great influence.
The course
evaluations are anonymous and have no effect on your grade. The course
evaluations are collected and processed by the server after the course
is complete. The results or comments are not provided to the instructor
until after the course is over.
The instructor uses
the information provided by the evaluation to improve the courses they
offer. The evaluations by students are included in the annual
evaluation of each faculty member. The Departments use the evaluation
to determine student needs and interest; your opinion can alter
existing courses and influence new course offerings. Since web-based
course offerings are relatively recent events in many Departments, your
comments can have a major impact on whether new web-based course
offerings will be available in the future.
Once a year,
evaluations from all courses are forwarded to the Dean's of the
Schools/Colleges. Your comments can impact the future direction of
course development. This is especially true of web-based courses. There
is significant concern about the quality and need for web-based course
offerings. There is concern about the impact of web-based courses on
the enrollment of traditional classroom-based courses; one recurring
question is whether on-campus students should be allowed to take
web-based course offerings. Your comments and opinions on this issues
can have great influence; the course evaluations are the place to make
your opinions heard.
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