Orientation Part II:  Homepage, Due Dates and Course of Study

Select the following option (you have only one choice):

Submitting Assignment: Orientation Part II

Your course (e.g., Mth 151, Mth 173, Phy 121, Phy 232, etc. ):

If you have one, please provide your access code.  You may leave this part blank if you do not yet have an access code. 

Remember that it is crucial to enter your access code correctly.  As instructed, you need to copy the access code from another document rather than typing it.

Access Code
Confirm Access Code

If you do not have an access code and have not already done so, you need to immediately go to Request Access Code  and submit the completed form. 

Enter Your Name:

Enter your VCCS email address.  You is the address you were instructed in Step 1 to obtain.  If you were not able to obtain that address, indicate this below.

Please insert any message you wish to share with the instructor at this point:

Copy the document below into your word processor or text editor.  Complete each task, and respond as indicated:

Task:  `q001.  You have completed the Introductory QA.  Please explain the question-answer-self critique process as you understand it at this point.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (Note that your response was to go into 'the next line'; your response will therefore be inserted before this line, not after.  This is obvious when you're looking at the form, but if you've copied the form into a text editor it might be less obvious.  Hence this note.)

Task:  `q002.  Any question you pose in your responses should be preceded and followed by a series of at least three question marks.  This is so the instructor can quickly identify your questions, and also so the instructor doesn't inadvertently overlook your question.

If you have a question about anything you see in the Orientation, please mark in in the indicated manner and include it in your response. 

Please describe how you should annotate questions in your responses, and why it is important to do so:

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blankd and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (Note that your response was to go into 'the next line'; your response will therefore be inserted before this line, not after.  This is obvious when you're looking at the form, but if you've copied the form into a text editor it might be less obvious.  Hence this note.)

Task:  `q003.  If at any point of the Orientation you have trouble following instructions, let your instructor know the specifics:

• Using the Question Form, submit a copy of every instruction related to your question.
• Describe what you do at each step, and what happens as a result. Include a copy of the Address box of your Internet
  browser, as it appears at every step.
• Include a copy of the Address box of your Internet browser, as it appears at every step.

If you are going astray in the process, this will give your instructor the information necessary to quickly get you back on track.

You should send this information using the Question Form.

• It is important to use this form for questions, because the form is set up to help you structure your question, prompting you to provide essential information.  This helps avoid time-wasting delays in which the instructor has to ask you for details you haven't provided.  It also helps you understand how to communicate questions, which in addition to being important in this course is a valuable life skill.

Having submitted the form it's also acceptable to send a copy of the Form Confirmation (this is the page that appears after you click on the Submit button) using email.  Don't be concerned that the form confirmation is jumbled.  It comes through correctly when the form is submitted, and your instructor can read the jumbled form confirmation you send through email.

You probably won't need them, but the URL's for these forms are respectively http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/forms/question_form.htm and http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/submit_work.htm.

The Question Form is not only for questions about these instructions.  It is to be used throughout the course when you need to ask a question.

Please describe what to do if you have trouble following any of the instructions:

****   Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (Note that your response was to go into 'the next line'; your response will therefore be inserted before this line, not after.  This is obvious when you're looking at the form, but if you've copied the form into a text editor it might be less obvious.  Hence this note.)

Task:  `q004.  Go to the home page for your course, at Calculus I Homepage (the URL is http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/cal1fall/frames%20pages/Mth%20173%20Homepage.htm)

Bookmark this page (i.e., add it to Favorites on your Internet browser). 

Describe what you see at this page.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line):

#$&*  (Note that your response was to go into 'the next line'; your response will therefore be inserted before this line, not after.  This is obvious when you're looking at the form, but if you've copied the form into a text editor it might be less obvious.  Hence this note.)

Task:  `q005.  On the homepage for your course, click the link 'Brief Assignments Page' for an overview of your assignments.  You can scroll down the page and see your assignments, numbered 1 - 28.

You will also see the link to the 'Due Dates Document'.   

Depending on when you are completing this document the Due Dates might be for the preceding semester.  Due dates for a term are updated prior to the first day of classes for that term.

Please respond with a statement detailing your understanding of the Due Dates page:

****   Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q006.  Return to the 'Brief Assignments Page', take a quick look down the page, and describe what you see.  It is recommended that you bookmark this page in your browser (e.g., add it to Favorites) so you can access it easily and quickly.

Be sure you locate and take a quick look at the instructions for completing assignments.  You won't fully understand the instructions at this point, but be sure you see where they are.

There are probably additional things you don't understand right now about the Assignments page.  You will get more specific and detailed information in subsequent Orientation assignments, and once you start actually using the page you will easily become accustomed to the routine. 

Now return to the Calculus homepage (which you bookmarked according to an instruction earlier in this document), and click on the link entitled 'Table of Assignments, Topics and Specific Objectives'.  This page is a greatly expanded version of the 'Brief Assignments Page' which includes a great deal of detail on topics and specific objectives.  For everyday use the Brief Assignments Page will suffice, but you may also find it useful to review content and objectives on the expanded version provided on the Calculus homepage.

Briefly describe what you have seen:

****   Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q007.  From your course homepage click on the link 'Course of Study'. 

Read it and acknowledge below that you have been able to find the Course of Study, also referred to as the "Syllabus", and know how to locate it. 

Note that you should re-read the Syllabus/Course of Study after completing the Initial Activities, as it will have more meaning after you have gotten your feet wet in the course. 

If you complete the Initial Activities prior to the first day of class (this is not required), you should also reread it shortly after the first day of class, as modifications can be made prior to that time.

****   Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q008.  Return to the your course homepage and once more click on link to the Brief Assignments Pages.  Add this page to your bookmarks (e.g., in Internet Explorer, add to Favorites), and acknowledge in your response that you have done so.

Also click on the 'Course Materials' link and acknowledge that you know what materials are required for the course and where to find this information.

****   Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q009.  On the VHCC homepage at www.vhcc.edu click on MyVHCC and sign in using the same username and password you use to access the registration system.  Select Blackboard.  When the Blackboard screen comes up you should find at least one 'course' entitled 'Supervised Study ... ', where ... stands for the term (Fall, Spring or Summer) and year (e.g., 2017).  If the page for your specific course has been activated, you will also find it listed in Blackboard.

Click on the Supervised Study ... site and give a brief description of what you see.  You need not read all the information that appears, just take a quick look and give a line or two of description. 

• It is possible that you will be doing the Orientation prior to the beginning of the term, or shortly after registration; if so this Blackboard 'course' might not yet be available.  You might also be doing this before your Blackboard enrollment is run.  If either is the case, be sure to make a note to yourself to do check this page out on the first actual day of classes.  You won't need it before then.

Note that enrollment in Blackboard and enrollment in your course at VHCC are two separate things.  Blackboard is 'unofficial' and always needs to be regarded as such.

Please respond with a statement detailing your understanding of the Blackboard Supervised Study 'course', and the unofficial nature of Blackboard.

One reason for the unofficial nature of Blackboard is that the Blackboard course for this semester will disappear in about a year.  In contrast, everything posted to your access site will persist for the foreseeable future.

****   Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q010.  We might use various features of this Blackboard page, but the course is not delivered using Blackboard.  Blackboard has a number of very good features, but it is of necessity a 'closed' system and not sufficiently flexible or efficient to be the primary vehicle. 

• As one example, in this Orientation you are introduced in an orderly manner to the Syllabus/Course of Study, the Assignments Page, and other aspects of your course homepage.  Without this introduction it would be nearly impossible for you to navigate your course.  Blackboard does not make it possible to delay linking you to these pages until you have completed this introduction.
• Blackboard has other limitations that make it an inappropriate vehicle for the delivery of this course.
• Blackboard does have some potentially useful feature that might be used later in your course.

The one BLACKBOARD feature we are sure to be using is the Grade Center, where you can check your grades on tests and my comments. 

At the Supervised Study ... site note the 'Check Grades' link.  Your grades will be posted at the Supervised Study... site, not at the site for your specific course.

Describe what you see at the Grade Center.


****   Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q011.  You need not look at any more of the Blackboard page, but you are welcome to do so if you choose, and you may ask any questions you wish in your response.  If you have no questions, or do not feel the need to further explore this page (there is no compelling reason right now to do so but if you're curious, by all means go ahead), just respond with 'ok' or something of that nature.

****   Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Now highlight and copy your document, paste your copy into the box below, and click on Submit Form.  It is suggested that you save a copy of your document as a backup.

You should continue with the second part of Step 4 at Orientation_Part_II_b.htm  In that activity you will again access the homepage for your course and will learn more about the statements of Specific Objectives, and the sequencing of topics in your course.  Be sure you have bookmarked your homepage.  Just in case the link is repeated here:  Calculus I Homepage