Initial Information
Registered Students only: Click on Start Here.
You won't need the rest of the information on the current page, which is addressed to prospective students. You'll see all that information in the Initial Activities part of your course.
Prospective students should scroll down a few lines and read the information provided there.
Prospective students scroll down just a little further.
If you're a registered student you've gone too far. If you really want to read the information below, it will do no harm. But what you should really do is scroll up and click on the 'Start Here' link.
Initial Information for Prospective Students
Quick synopsis of some important information regarding mathematics and physics distance courses taught by Dave Smith at VHCC:
Testing must be proctored. Tests may be taken in the VHCC Learning Lab, or at an approved proctor site (typically the testing site of another college or university, though other arrangements are sometimes approved; please note, however, that testing through a college or university is much easier to get approved, and that due to differences between the nature of testing in college vs. pre-college environments elementary and secondary schools are not generally approved). Details are given later in this document.
Unless you are testing on the VHCC campus, no trips to VHCC are required.
Online sources do not yet deliver full-screen content efficiently. Lectures are therefore distributed in DVD format, to be accessed as video through your computer. All or some of this information may also be distributed in online format, but typical Internet connections do not yet deliver content with acceptable quality at a reasonable speed, though this is likely to change in the near future. You will require the ability to play DVDs, or to convert the information on the disks to a device that will work with your computer or another device (e.g., by copying the DVD to a flash memory device, easily done on most publicly available computers). The current format of the videos is MPEG-2, playable in a wide variety of media players (e.g., Windows Media Player and most others; free software is available for most computers using a non-Windows format).
If you choose to register for a course (assuming you have not already done so) it is likely that you will need to do by submitting an Enrollment Request Form at Enrollment Request Form. The form is self-explanatory. If after reading the information in the present document, and at the links provided, you have questions, you may also use this form to submit them.
Prospective physics students should be sure to read the information on lab materials, costs, etc., as indicated later in this document.
Do I need to come to the VHCC campus for anything? (Answer: no, but if you will not be testing in the VHCC Learning Lab you do need to arrange approved proctoring for your tests)
What is the text for the course? (Answer: see the link provided later in this document for textbook information)
How do I get enrolled in the course? (Answer: you may be able to enroll through the VHCC site, but in many courses you need to go through me to have your enrollment approved. Details are provided under the link to 'Registration Information')
I'm going to be out of the country for part of the term. Can we work around this? (Answer: You may get an early start on the course, and there is ample flexibility in due dates for assignments and tests. However work must be completed by the end of the term.)
What is the nature of learning in this course? (Answer: The core of the course consists of a structured series of questions/problems and answers/solutions. You answer each question, rate your understanding, then read the solution and if necessary you give a self-critique of your answer. Your instructor reviews your work and provides feedback and assistance. The goal is to develop an individual dialog between the instructor and each student. DVD's are presently used to deliver lectures and other materials in video format. Physics students purchase lab packages and do lab-related activities with nearly every assignment, with lab activities are integrated into the course. Some lab activities might optionally be done in collaboration with other students.)
Can I get an early start on the course? (Answer: This is generally possible, and this is especially encouraged for summer term ).
Much more detail is provided in the Initial Activities for your course.
If after reading all information you have additional questions please contact the instructor according to the following guidelines:
You should submit your question using the Submit Question Form.
This form is self-explanatory. You will be prompted to include the information the instructor need in order to help you most effectively.
If the matter is especially urgent or if you do not yet have your access code then you may in addition use the instructor's email address dsmith@vhcc.edu , being sure to include all relevant information as outlined by the form. However, you should submit the form before sending an email to be sure the instructor has received the question.
The instructor is usually focused on information that comes through the form, as opposed to email. However it's possible that email will get a quicker reply, and if you do not yet have an access code the email reply is the only option.
As the form tells you, in order to get the most helpful reply, all questions should include as much detail as possible. If a question concerns an instruction, you should include a copy of the instruction and as much detail as possible about what you are doing to follow it, what does wrong, and the addresses of any web pages involved in the process as well as any error codes that might occur.
The course is asynchronous (meaning 'not synchronized') so there are no regularly scheduled class meetings. You need not come to the VHCC campus for class meetings.
However note that tests must be administered by approved proctors (e.g., by a testing center at a nearby accredited institution of higher education), and that unless you will be testing on the VHCC campus you are responsible for contacting the proctor and submitting the Proctor Information Form (more about the testing process at the link below).
If you are living or working close to VHCC, you may choose to use our testing center, and in that case you would come to our campus for testing. The VHCC testing center knows the procedures and if you will be using our testing center it is not necessary to submit the Proctor Information Form.
You will need access to a Windows-compatible computer to do your work for this course.
In most but not all courses it has recently become possible to complete your work using a McIntosh computer, so if you are a Mac user and wish to enroll in a course you should contact the instructor to be sure this will be possible.
Your computer in any case needs to have access to the Internet, and it requires a standard DVD drive.
If you happen to have a computer without DVD capabilities, the total content of the DVDs will be between 4 gB and 10 gB. You could go to a public computer, e.g., in a library or learning center, and transfer the contents of your DVDs to another medium (e.g., a flash memory drive, or 'jump drive') so you can then transfer the information to your computer.
Your course is normally offered three times a year, once each during the Fall and Spring semesters and once during the Full Term of the Summer session.
Most courses are not available for short sessions (e.g., the two-week intercession between Spring and Summer semester, or the 5-week A and B terms of the Summer Semester). This is due to the extended time necessary for course content to 'sink in'; however in certain cases exceptions to this policy may be considered, and you may contact the instructor to inquire about the possibility.
The course is scheduled during the upcoming term. Enrollment does not affect whether the course is offered. However total enrollment in the instructor's distance courses is limited.
Please see the information below for more specifics on the course, the registration process, etc.. This information is updated for each new semester not later than 1 week prior to registration. Some of this information will be subject to update prior to the beginning of the term.
For more specific information on your course:
You can obtain up-to-date information about the nature of your specific course, and about registration and startup for the course by clicking on Preliminary Information on Courses .
Be sure to read thoroughly all the information provided that is relevant to the course in which you are interested.
Testing must be proctored at an approved site.
The Virginia Community College System and our accrediting agency require this.
It is up to the student to locate an approvable proctor and submit the required information to the instructor for approval, using the Proctor Information Form.
Most colleges and community colleges have a testing service, though some do charge for the service.
The testing center of any accredited institution of higher learning is automatically approved, but the Proctor Information Form must still be submitted so the instructor can contact the testing center with the necessary information.
Other arrangements are sometimes possible (e.g., military personnel have had tests proctored by officers not under their command), but arrangements with testing centers are usually easiest to set up and the most likely to be approved.
Sites at which the standards of college-level testing cannot easily be verified, and at which personnel are not generally experienced at proctoring college-level tests, are not generally approved. Sites that are not typically approved include K-12 schools and public libraries. However sites of this nature are sometimes approved if there is documented and demonstrated need; approval in such a case would be contingent on conditions to be specified on a case-by-case basis, but would usually include the condition that the final exam be taken in an approved testing center, with performance criteria to be agreed upon in advance.
If you are living or working close to VHCC, you may choose to use our testing center, and in that case you would come to our campus for testing. The VHCC testing center knows the procedures and if you will be using our testing center it is not necessary to submit the Proctor Information Form.
For more detail about testing see Testing Information.
This is applicable to physics students only.
The physics lab is done using lab materials, which are obtained as follows:
Some basic inexpensive materials (called the initial package, which also includes the DVDs for the course) are sent to you at the beginning of the semester, provided you follow the instructions in the link given below and fill out the necessary forms according to instructions given there.
You will purchase some materials from the VHCC bookstore (you will be notified when these for-purchase materials are available, which will be during the second or third week of class; for the first couple of weeks you will use the materials in the initial package).
Depending on your course you might also need to rent some materials and/or devices from the bookstore.
You need not come to campus to perform the labs. All labs are designed so they can be done by a single individual working alone.
More extensive information on lab materials and costs, as well as instructions for filling out the necessary forms, are at the link lab materials info.
The link General Information will take you to the General Information page, which among other things contains links to all generally used forms and other documents you might find useful
Application and Schedule for Registration
Dates for registration and the beginning of classes are available on the VHCC schedule, which is posted at www.vhcc.edu at least two months prior to the beginning of each term. Pre-registration is available to currently enrolled VHCC students near the end of the current semester. If questions remain regarding the registration process you can contact our Admissions Office (276-739-2400, ask for Admissions.
If you have not previously taken credit classes at VHCC you will need to submit an application as instructed in the Schedule and on the vhcc homepage www.vhcc.edu. This is so even if you have taken classes at other VCCS institutions, and/or have taken noncredit classes at VHCC.
The path to the application should be
www.vhcc.edu > Future Students > Admissions > Application and Forms.
A current direct link which might work is
Additional details are provided at the link mentioned above.
Our online registration might not allow you to register without the instructor's intervention: The online registration system frequently does not allow students to register for certain courses, especially those with prerequisites (the system cannot easily recognize when prerequisites have been met).
If you attempt to register and are the system will not register you, you will have to send the appropriate information to your instructor.
In this case you will use the Enrollment Request Form, and also email a copy of the same information to the instructor at dsmith@vhcc.edu.
The page http://www.vhcc.edu/dsmith/genInfo/Registration.htm describes the registration process in more detail.
By using the Enrollment Request Form (to which a link also occurs at this page) and backing it up with an email, you will ensure that all necessary information has been provided so that, if you have the appropriate prerequisites, your instructor will be able to request your registration. If you have difficulty with accessing or using this form, you may email me and describe your difficulty. If you submit the form and I do not respond by email within 2 days, you should email me and should also resubmit the form.
Important note on communication:
You will communicate extensively with your instructor using a system which relies on web-based forms and your access page. You will be introduced to this simple and efficient system in the Orientation. Email is less efficient and less reliable, and once your access page is working email will not be used for routine back-and-forth communication between student and instructor.
However, while email is not used for routine assignments, emails will be used to by the instructor to communicate general information to students, and you are expected to check your VCCS email regularly. Regarding email:
Once you have registered for the course, any further email communications from your instructor will be through your VCCS email address. Once that address is active (as it should be within 24 hours of your registration) you should use it for all email communications with the instructor.
The exclusive use of VCCS email is dictated by privacy laws.
Associate Professor of Mathematics David A. Smith
Questions may be submitted using the form at the following link: Submit Question Form. The instructor's most important activity is to clarify content to students and provide supplement the available information. Instructional materials are designed to provide a structured stream of questions, activities and solutions/answers as the student engages the course content. When you as a student have a question that isn't answered by the activity, you are encouraged to pose a question that documents what is and is not understood. This provides the instructor with the information required to focus a specific response tailored to the specific need of the student. The instructor normally responds as promptly as possible to routine submitted work, often on the same day and nearly always by the end of the day after the work is submitted, and does so seven days a week. |
Instructor's educational background:
B.S. Mathematics, Case Western Reserve University
(undergraduate minors in Physics and Philosophy; mathematics specialties Rational Mechanics, Mathematical Physics)
M.S. Mathematics, Case Western Reserve University
(standard PhD qualifier-level courses in Abstract Algebra, Topology, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis. Primary subsequent concentration in Complex Analysis)
Additional graduate work in Physics
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING TWO-SEMESTER SEQUENCES DURING A SINGLE TERM
If you wish to complete a two-semester sequence in any of the instructor's distance courses, you should be aware that with the exception of Mth 151-152 this is not generally feasible. However alternatives may be possible:
Mth 151 is not a prerequisite for Mth 152, so both courses may be taken during Summer term. If you are interested in Mth 151 and Mth 152, and have the prerequisites (which are the same for both courses), you may sign up for both.
Mth 158 is a one-semester course, and is not followed by a second semester, so the prerequisites are as stated in the College Catalog.
For 2-course sequences Mth 163-4, Mth 271-2, Mth 173-4, Phy 121-2, Phy 201-2 and Phy 231-2, the first-semester course, or equivalent, is required for the second-semester course. If you do not have the prerequisite first-semester course, or equivalent (read on for some idea of what equivalents might be acceptable), you cannot sign up for the second-semester course.
NOTE ON SUMMER TERM: Though there are certainly exceptions, it is common for summer mathematics and physics courses to cover less material, or to cover the material in lesser depth, than regular-semester courses. The shortness of time makes it very difficult to accomplish substantial learning objectives in this time. My courses are the same as my full-semester courses, covering the same material and using the same test bank and grading standards.
Generally I have not encouraged students to attempt two semesters of one of these sequences in a single term (especially in a 10-week session), and with our less-flexible deadlines I am less likely to do so in the future. These courses are highly sequential, and require that each topic be mastered in order to understand the next. It takes time for procedures and concepts to 'sink in', and attempts to master these sequences in a single term usually fail (success in the 10-week summer term is especially uncommon).
My recommendation for students who believe they can complete two semesters of a sequence in the Summer term is to register for the first-semester course, complete it as quickly as possible, then if time permits get an early start on the second-semester course (perhaps even finish the second-semester course by the end of the Summer term) and register for that course in the Fall. Credit could not be awarded before the end of Fall semester, but if you complete the second-semester course you would be assured of credit at that time.
For students wishing to complete two semesters during a regular 16-week term, my recommendation is to get an early start and attempt to complete at least passing work in the first-semester course prior to the end of the registration period. This would allow me to then approve your registration for the second-term course as well.
Specific statement of prerequisites for second-semester courses:
For a most specific statement of prerequisites for second-semester courses please see the link below:
Physics courses are taught at three different levels, with different prerequisites at each level:
Physics 121-122 is an algebra-based course, intended as a science credit in the general curriculum and aimed at the level of the typical college-transfer student.
Physics 201-202 is an algebra-trigonometry based course, and is more challenging than Physics 121-122.
Physics 231-232 is a calculus-based course, intended for students in engineering, chemistry or physics, mathematics, computer science and other disciplines requiring calculus-based physics. This course is very challenging and rigorous.