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course rientation Part IV--More about Communication
Task: `q001. When you submit information via a form, the form will request your name, email address and access code. As previously instructed, your access code and your email address must be accurate, so they should be copied and pasted from a conveniently located file, not typed in.
This is because any error in entering your access code will ikely cause the posting of your work to fail. Incorrect access codes can cause also other problems with the system, and can inconvenience other students.
The email address you include should be your VCCS email address. It is very important that your email address be correct. Spammers occasionally find this form. If you do not give a correct address, then it is possible that your submission will be automatically deleted along with invalid submissions.
Please indicate these requirements in your own words:
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line):
When submitting a form I should copy paste my access code and email address for it be accurate and failure to do so may cause my submission to be automatically deleted.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q002. It is rare that a valid submission gets deleted or overlooked. However it can happen. If you do not include the information necessary to identify you (most importantly your access code and email address), your submission will probably also go astray (an exception being Orientation assignments, which if submitted through the appropriate form require only your email address).
The important point here is the following:
• You should retain your original copy of every document you submit.
These are not typically large documents, and they are easy to handle. You should also therefore consider emailing yourself a copy of each submitted document.
Restate the above in your own words,
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Every assignment submitted should be retained by saving it or by emailing myself a copy of it so that if by any chance the assignment gets deleted I have a copy of it.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q003. Other than the name and email address you enter when requested by the form, you should not include any other identifying information on the form. This will ensure that, even in the unlikely event that someone stumbles on your access page, there will be nothing on that page to identify you.
Please indicate this in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Other than the name and email address i enter when asked to do so I should not enter any other personal information so that if in any case someone stumbles on my access page he/she will have nothing to identify me .
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q004. If you wish to maintain your privacy, then after accessing your information you should delete the history of your browser and close the browser in order to maintain the SECURITY of your access page. In Internet Explorer you do this by clicking on Tools > Internet Options > General and choosing to Clear History and Delete Temporary Internet Files.
You should safeguard your code. However if despite your best efforts you have reason to believe your access code has been compromised you may email the instructor from your VCCS account and request a new access code.
Please indicate your understanding of this advice in the box below:
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
For additional security I should delete the history of my browser after accessing my information . I should safeguard my access code to the maximum and if by any chance I believe that it has been compromised I should email my instructor and request a new one .
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q005. Everything you submit should be submitted through a form. If your work is formatted (e.g., for a lab report, because it contains graphs, or for some other reason) you may also 'back it up' by emailing the formatted document, but the document should first be copied and pasted into the Submit Work form and submitted. If everything has been done according to instructions, it is seldom necessary for the instructor to look at your formatted file.
Please state this in your own words:
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Everything I submit should be submitted through the work submit form but if in any case my work contains formatted data I should email it to my instructor as a back up but only after I submit the same work first through the submit work form.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q006. Keep the Thread: When sending messages don't assume that your instructor remembers the last message you sent. If your present message is related to the previous message, or answers a question posed by the instructor in a previous message, be sure you don't remove all that information when you send your new message. Your instructor will have less time to spend on your work if it is often necessary to go back and research previous correspondence to figure out what you are talking about. It is your responsibility to give the instructor everything required for a useful response in one message.
For example if the instructor poses the question 'now what do you get when you divide $400 by $10 / hour', don't send back a message that reads
Dear Instructor,
the answer is 40
Your student.
with nothing more in the message. Include the question, include your original work on the problem, and state your answer in a format that makes it clear you understand what you are doing.
State this in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Whenever I send messages I should not believe that my instructor remembers the last message , I should include all the previous information about the message and send it to the instructor . It is my responsibility to give the instructor everything required for a useful response in one message.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
STUDENT QUESTION REGARDING PREVIOUS:
Is it ok if we use the reply feature on emails? Or should we just submit a new form with previous correspondence copied in.
INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE
The 'reply' function is probably the easier alternative, and unless you remove it the thread will be maintained. So that's the preferred choice.
Task: `q007. Make it Self-Contained: When submitting any documents or question:
• Make your message self-contained, so that it isn't necessary for the instructor to delay responses to other students by searching out additional documents. (For example, answer a question posed in a previous communication from the instructor by inserting it into a copy of that document. Other students are waiting for responses, so don't expect your instructor to go back and look up the document.)
• Be sure your document can be read efficiently by scrolling down the page, with no need to scroll RIGHT or left (this will not generally be an issue, since almost all your work will be submitted through text forms where this is not a problem)..
Explain your understanding of these requirements.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
My submitted work or questions should be self-contained so that my instructor doesn’t need to look to the previous documents for the data and not consume much of his time as other students are also waiting for his responses.
My document should be efficiently read by scrolling up or down rather than left and right .
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q008. Please understand that to make it possible to work individually with a large number of students, your instructor works with you mainly by responding to your assignments and questions. Your instructor will generally not initiate contact with you. It is your responsibility to initiate contact with the instructor by submitting assignments and questions, and you can generally expect a reply to be posted by the end of the day after it is sent, seven days a week.
An exception is when the instructor is out of town for a conference or on personal BUSINESS ; this typically happens a handful of times during a term. There would also be an exception should in the event of injury or illness (neither has interfered with the instructor's schedule in well over a decade of distance offerings but either remains possible). In the event of a planned absence (usually not lasting more than three days) you should be notified by email in advance so you can plan accordingly. In the event of an unplanned absence you would be notified as promptly as possible.
If a reply is not posted within this time you should resubmit your work.
• However if you do resubmit, be sure to indicate at the beginning that the work has already been submitted.
Please restate this in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Since the instructor has to work with a number of students together it is necessary for me to initiate contact by submitting assignment and questions.
My instructor shall give responses to my work or question seven days a week but if in some case the instructor may not be able to give responses due to conference or illness, I will be initially notified regarding the same . If I don’t receive a response until the next day and receive no notification regarding the same then I should resubmit my work but should mention it in the beginning that it is being resubmitted.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q009. You will normally use web forms (e.g., the Submit Work form) to communicate information. However some documents are formatted in such a way that the text-only format available on the form is not sufficient. In this case you should still submit a text version of the document using the form, but you may also send a backup copy using your VCCS student email.
Any email you send should contain access information in the precise format prescribed in the message you received with your Access Code. This syntax should be copied and pasted, as indicated in that message, rather than being typed in.
Any email should also identify your course (e.g., Mth 173 or Phy 121, etc). in its subject line.
Emails must be sent from your VCCS email account. Messages sent from other accounts may or may not receive responses, but it will not be possible for the instructor to search such messages, and information sent from other accounts risks being screened out by our NETWORK'S SPAM filter.
Please indicate how you will include your course and access information when and if you send email messages:
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Whenever I submit my work through email I will mention my course and my first 3 letters of my email address in the subject line in a format as mentioned earlier and in the message in the beginning I shall mention my name access code and title .
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q010. Any document you submit to the instructor must be a word-processed document. It is not possible for the instructor to efficiently insert comments into Excel documents, scanned documents or documents submitted on paper or by fax.
Don't spread things over multiple documents (e.g., a word processed document with an explanation and a spreadsheet document with some tables and graphs) but copy and paste everything into one document so the reader doesn't waste time flipping from one document to the other.
Tables and graphs from Excel and other programs can be copied and pasted into word-processed documents.
• Note that for most purposes graphs need to be described in words. the important skill is not the use of a computer program to construct a graph, but your understanding of the essential properties and the meaning of the graph.
The only exception to this policy is tests, which are completed in an approved proctoring situation, and are done on paper and in your handwriting (see also instructions previously provided regarding testing).
Please summarize your understanding of this policy.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
I should submit my work in a single word processer. Editing in excel, scanned documents, and documents submitted by fax is not possible. Entire work should be on a single text and not on multiple documents. Graphs tables and other formatted data should be copied from excel spreadsheet into a word processor.
Exception to this policy is only during tests , which are done on paper and in my handwriting.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q011. It is usually much more efficient and effective for the instructor to work with you through forms and your Access Page than face-to-face.
The instructor enjoys working face-to-face with students, but this is not feasible in an asynchronous course. It is not possible to respond meaningfully to your submitted work, and at the same time to accommodate the desire of a class full of asynchronous distance students for individual face-to-face meetings.
For this reason the instructor's office hours are conducted by responding to information received through forms, and face-to-face meetings are normally restricted to matters that have already been addressed to the fullest possible extent via electronic communication (e.g., access page and forms) and have proven impossible to resolve efficiently by this means.
This policy makes it possible for the instructor to respond fully to your submitted work and to do so in a timely manner. It also ensures that all students, local as well as non-local, get equal attention from the instructor.
Please explain this briefly in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
In an asynchronous course like this it is not possible for the instructor to have face to face communications and so most of the communication will be through forms. The instructors office hours are also conducted by responding to information received through forms and face to face meetings are restricted to matters that have been solved through electronic means.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q012. When you take a test you must submit the Test Taken Form (at the General Information page, just below the Submit Work Form) to alert the instructor to be on the lookout for your test. If a test has gone astray (rare but tests can be misrouted) we can more easily trace it if we know promptly that it's missing.
Please state this in your own words:
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Whenever a test is taken I must submit the test taken form so that the instructor knows and is on the lookout for my test. Also if the test goes astray it can me more easily traced if it is known that it is missing.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q013. Save all communications from the instructor; you're responsible for doing so. You are also responsible for keeping track of what you have sent the instructor, who can provide more timely and more complete responses if time isn't wasted rereading something re-sent by a student who wasn't weren't sure whether it was sent in the first place. Once your work appears at your Access site (explained when you get your access code), however, you may assume that it is safely stored in at least two places.
State this in your own words.
**** our response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
All the communication between me and the instructor must be saved and it is my responsibility to know what I have sent and not waste the instructor’s time by resending it. Once it appears at the access site I know that it is saved at least two places.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q014.
If you submit a document and get a form confirmation, then the document has been received.
It might happen that you submit a document then realize you didn't submit your identifying information. If this happens, then submit it once more, and be sure to carefully include your information. However, do your best to get it RIGHT the first time.
Please respond with a statement detailing your understanding of the process of submitting a document.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
After submitting a document if I get a confirmation that means the document is received. Sometimes it so happens that I forget to mention my identifying information in that case I should resend it but try to get It right the first time.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
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Self-critique (if necessary):
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Self-critique rating:
________________________________________
`gr91
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course rientation Part V--How to Succeed in your Course
Task: `q001.If you were in a course that meets in a classroom you would be attending regularly. In an asychronous distance course, while you have the course materials and access to a great deal of instruction, you do not have the benefit of regular meetings, and it can be difficult to find the time to work on the course.
You cannot allow this course to become something you need to 'find time' to do. You need to schedule a regular time to work on this course, and you need to schedule a sufficient number of hours to do this work.
Here's the arithmetic of being a COLLEGE student:
• The generally accepted standard is that at the minimum, it's a full-time job to be a full-time student.
• A full-time job for 16 weeks translates to a total of 640 hours, over the course of a semester, devoted to a 15-credit courseload.
• Approximately 240-300 of them in class and/or lab and the remainder devoted to preparation and study outside the classroom.
• This comes to something over 40 hours per credit-hour. That's 120 hours for a 3-credit class, 160 hours for a 4-credit class and 200 hours for a 5-credit class, spread over 16 weeks.
There is of course a wide degree of variation in the time actually required of an individual student:
• Some courses require less time than others.
• Students vary in the knowledge they bring from prerequisite courses.
• Students learn at varying paces, some more quickly and others more slowly.
• Study habits and efficiency of time use vary widely among students.
So not everyone requires all those hours, but some will require more.
• You should begin this course with the assumption that you will require about the number of hours specified above.
Though there are exceptions both ways, most people MANAGE to establish a regular schedule are successful in these courses, and most people who fail to establish a regular schedule are not successful.
Please explain in your own words why it is important to establish a schedule for this course, and to put aside the required number of hours.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
This course is an asynchronous course where I do not have the benefit of regular meetings due to which I need to devote a fixed amount of time. I need to fix a particular time at which I need to study it just like in class courses. Finally in order to succed in this course I need to establish a schedule and follow it regularly
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q002.
Write your work out on paper.
Don't try to do multi-step problems on your COMPUTER keyboard.
• It's quicker to write them out then transcribe your work on the keyboard, and the act of writing things down has a number of advantages.
• Writing things on paper allows you to organize your thoughts, to make multiple representations of the situation, and to save your work for reference.
• Writing, sketching, doodling, etc. also tend to reinforce the learning process.
Use sketches:
• Make sketches to represent the things you are thinking about and try to organize your thoughts as you proceed.
Take notes:
• You should always make notes as you work. Taking notes reinforces the learning process and provides you with a reference for the future.
• In some exercises a single complex problem or situation will be broken down into a series of questions. In such cases it will be necessary for you to maintain the thread of the problem. Maintaining at least brief notes will allow you to do so.
Please respond with a statement detailing your understanding of the advice given above.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Making notes, writing things down on a paper and solving a multi-step problem on a paper instead on a computer is always beneficial. This helps us to save data for future use and keep a thread of a long complex problem.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q003.
On anything you send the instructor, including but not limited to q_a_ assignments, queries and tests, sufficient documentation is required to allow the instructor to follow your thinking and the details of your solution.
An example of good documentation to the question 'How long will it take to make $400 at $10 per hour?':
'At $10 / hour it will take $400 / ($10 / hour) = 40 hours to make $400.'
A poor answer to the same question:
'4000'
This is a poor answer first because it's undocumented, second because it's wrong, and third it can contribute to a habit of poor documentation, which will nearly always cost you points on your tests.
• It would be fairly easy for the instructor to figure out where the 4000 came from--most likely you multiplied when you should have divided, though you may have just been really careless with your 0's--so it might be possible to help you see what you did wrong here. However this is usually not the case with undocumented answers on more complicated problems.
• The more usual case is that your instructor has no clue about what you did wrong and no reasonable way to 'reverse-engineer' your solution and address your error.
• On a test the bad thing about such an answer is that even if you thought correctly through several steps and made only one minor error in your arithmetic, you didn't document the process and there would be no way to give you any partial credit.
Note also that if a question can be answered with 'true' or 'false' it doesn't matter whether you put down the RIGHT answer or not, if all you put down is 'true' or 'false' it is impossible to tell whether you got the answer by a correct process or by a coin flip, and in this course credit is not given for coin flips.
As another example, if a test problem asks for the graph of an expression it is not sufficient to copy the output of your graphing calculator; unless the problem specifically tells you to use the graphing calculator you must document how the characteristics of the graph result from the given expression. Document your answers, show the instructor that you know why the answer is what it is, or you risk getting no credit for the question.
Explain why it's important for you to document your work.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
All my work should be documented as due to any reason if every my answer goes wrong or any step goes missing then without the documentation the instructor has no idea of how and what I did wrong and has no way to reverse engineer my answer . also during the exams it is important to explain the steps for partial credit , even if the answer is correct but it doesn’t have proper documentation no credit is given for the same.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q004.
To repeat something that will be especially important on tests:
• You cannot assert one of a limited number of answers and expect to receive credit (e.g., by choosing 'true' on a question to which the answer is 'true' or 'false').
• You must fully justify any answer, and especially answers for which a limited number of choices is possible.
• This means that you need to explain your thinking and show the steps of your solution.
Please explain what it means to justify an answer on a test, and why this is important:
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
In questions which contain limited number of answer it becomes necessary to explain why I came to that answer. Just mention the answer doesn’t give me any credit.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q004.
Don't waste your time misrepresenting what you know.
• Some students copy the homework of other students or receive inappropriate help on homework.
• Some students go through a q_a_ or query program and look at the answers, then essentially copy the answers on the next run.
The instructor notices this pattern but doesn't penalize it, and some students get the 10% or 15% of their grade that's based on homework and daily assignments in this manner. However students who use this strategy tend not to learn the material well and almost never succeed on the tests that make up the vast majority of their grade.
Please state these ideas in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Students have the tendency of copying other students homework and posting it , some even go through a query program and look at the answers and then copies the answers on the next run. This in noticed by the instructor but this doesn’t help me at all.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q005.
Also it isn't strictly necessary to do all the homework and daily assignments, since test (and for physics students lab) grades are the dominant factors in your final grade. Some students do indeed succeed without submitting much work other than tests (and for physics courses labs).
However, while this is possible, it is strongly recommended that you DO NOT expect to be able to prepare for tests (and, where applicable, labs) without submitting the assignments.
• For most students it is simply necessary to go through the process and learn the material by submitting the assignments and getting instructor feedback.
Please state this in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
It isn’t necessary to do all the homework and submit the assignments as majority of the grades are decided by the test scores. But yet it is highly recommended to complete all stuff for better preparation in the tests .
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q006.
When documenting test items you need to use the methods appropriate to your course.
• Just because you can get the RIGHT answer in one way or another does not mean that you are using a procedure on which you can build further understanding.
• It's not a matter of 'my way' vs. 'your way'. The structure of the subject dictates the things you need to understand.
• If you are taking a test on material which requires you to write and solve equations, for example, then using trial and error to arrive at even a correct solution is not valid and would not receive CREDIT .
State this POLICY in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
While documenting test items I need to use a proper method to solve the same as stated before. Arriving at a correct solution by using my method that is different from what it is required to do so doesn’t give me any credit.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q007. It is also not valid to justify a solution by copying a picture or a solution from a calculator (unless of course the problem specifies that the calculator is to be used in this manner).
• It is fine to use a calculator to do your arithmetic, but you must, for example, show the steps in solving an equation.
• If the solution of a problem includes a graph you must explain the BEHAVIOR of that graph rather than just copying calculator output.
The key is that while a calculator can be very useful, operations like entering a function or an equation and copying output from a calculator is not a college-level skill.
If the process is part of the course, you have to show the steps of the process.
State this policy in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Justifying a solution by copying a calculator solution is not allowed. It can be used for solving arithmetic but steps are to be necessarily shown. In case of graphs , the nature of the graph is to be explained. Using a calculator solution is not a college level skill.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q008. The next part of the Orientation and Startup is a series of review/assessment documents.
At this point you should know where to find the homepage for your course, and you should also have bookmarked it. If not, you should review the information in the link
• A3. Homepage, due dates, course of study
which you encountered earlier.
Return for a moment to the homepage for your course and copy the contents of the Address box of your Internet browser into your response below.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):
http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/cal1fall/frames%20pages/Mth%20173%20Homepage.htm
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
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student work modified 140823__________