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 #$... prompt):
Since accidents in submissions do happen, it is strongly encouraged for me to keep a copy of
the original work that I submit. An example would be this very document, which I am saving and
keeping until the end of the semester. It is unlikely that the Orientation assignments will be
deleted or otherwise not submitted, however for future assignments a copy is needed incase
something happens to the document I send to my instructor.
#$&* (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 #$... prompt):
Only my email address and name should be on my form. This is to keep anyone from using my
#$&* (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 #$... prompt):
I should clear my history when I am at a public computer to maintain my privacy and I should
take steps to safeguard my code and if I have reason to believe someone else knows my code,
then I shoudl email my instructor so I may request a new access code.
#$&* (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 #$... prompt):
Anything that I submit should be sent though the offical forms. Sometimes it might be
neccessary to send a formated document like a graph or something from a labwork, but mostly if
you follow the instructions you should just be able to send everything through a form.
#$&* (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):
when responding back to my instructer I should respond with teh the original question and
provide my answer to the original question so my instructor has the full idea of what I am
answering.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
STUDENT QUESTION REGARDING PREVIOUS:
Is it ok if we use the reply feature on emails? Or should we just submit a new form with
previous correspondence copied in.
INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE
The 'reply' function is probably the easier alternative, and unless you remove it the thread
will be maintained. So that's the preferred choice.
Task: `q007. Make it Self-Contained: When submitting any documents or question:
•Make your message self-contained, so that it isn't necessary for the instructor to delay
responses to other students by searching out additional documents. (For example, answer a
question posed in a previous communication from the instructor by inserting it into a copy of
that document. Other students are waiting for responses, so don't expect your instructor to go
back and look up the document.)
•Be sure your document can be read efficiently by scrolling down the page, with no need to
scroll right or left (this will not generally be an issue, since almost all your work will be
submitted through text forms where this is not a problem)..
Explain your understanding of these requirements.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and
doesn't include the #$... prompt):
when I am submitting something like a message or an assignment I should include all of the
relavent information about the message or assignment with my response.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q008. Please understand that to make it possible to work individually with a large
number of students, your instructor works with you mainly by responding to your assignments and
questions. Your instructor will generally not initiate contact with you. It is your
responsibility to initiate contact with the instructor by submitting assignments and questions,
and you can generally expect a reply to be posted by the end of the day after it is sent, seven
days a week.
An exception is when the instructor is out of town for a conference or on personal business;
this typically happens a handful of times during a term. There would also be an exception
should in the event of injury or illness (neither has interfered with the instructor's schedule
in well over a decade of distance offerings but either remains possible). In the event of a
planned absence (usually not lasting more than three days) you should be notified by email in
advance so you can plan accordingly. In the event of an unplanned absence you would be
notified as promptly as possible.
If a reply is not posted within this time you should resubmit your work.
•However if you do resubmit, be sure to indicate at the beginning that the work has already
been submitted.
Please restate this in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and
doesn't include the #$... prompt):
I will be notified of any planned absenses by my instructor and if for some reason I have not
heard from my instructor within 3 days of submitting my assignment or question then I should
resubmit my question or assignment.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q009. You will normally use web forms (e.g., the Submit Work form) to communicate
information. However some documents are formatted in such a way that the text-only format
available on the form is not sufficient. In this case you should still submit a text version
of the document using the form, but you may also send a backup copy using your VCCS student
email.
Any email you send should contain access information in the precise format prescribed in the
message you received with your Access Code. This syntax should be copied and pasted, as
indicated in that message, rather than being typed in.
Any email should also identify your course (e.g., Mth 173 or Phy 121, etc). in its subject
line.
Emails must be sent from your VCCS email account. Messages sent from other accounts may or may
not receive responses, but it will not be possible for the instructor to search such messages,
and information sent from other accounts risks being screened out by our network's SPAM filter.
Please indicate how you will include your course and access information when and if you send
email messages:
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and
doesn't include the #$... prompt):
If i have to send an email message to my instructor my student email should identify what
course I am taking, in this case Phy 241, as well as a copy of the access information pasted to
the email exactly as instructed in the email the access information was given from.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q010. Any document you submit to the instructor must be a word-processed document. It
is not possible for the instructor to efficiently insert comments into Excel documents, scanned
documents or documents submitted on paper or by fax.
Don't spread things over multiple documents (e.g., a word processed document with an
explanation and a spreadsheet document with some tables and graphs) but copy and paste
everything into one document so the reader doesn't waste time flipping from one document to the
other.
Tables and graphs from Excel and other programs can be copied and pasted into word-processed
documents.
•Note that for most purposes graphs need to be described in words. the important skill is not
the use of a computer program to construct a graph, but your understanding of the essential
properties and the meaning of the graph.
The only exception to this policy is tests, which are completed in an approved proctoring
situation, and are done on paper and in your handwriting (see also instructions previously
provided regarding testing).
Please summarize your understanding of this policy.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and
doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Everything I submit should be saved and written within a text document. Any graphs or other
things that would use a different program should be copied and pasted into the same text
document.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q011. It is usually much more efficient and effective for the instructor to work with
you through forms and your Access Page than face-to-face.
The instructor enjoys working face-to-face with students, but this is not feasible in an
asynchronous course. It is not possible to respond meaningfully to your submitted work, and at
the same time to accommodate the desire of a class full of asynchronous distance students for
individual face-to-face meetings.
For this reason the instructor's office hours are conducted by responding to information
received through forms, and face-to-face meetings are normally restricted to matters that have
already been addressed to the fullest possible extent via electronic communication (e.g.,
This policy makes it possible for the instructor to respond fully to your submitted work and to
do so in a timely manner. It also ensures that all students, local as well as non-local, get
equal attention from the instructor.
Please explain this briefly in your own words.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and
doesn't include the #$... prompt):
The instructor will comunicate mostly through answering the submit work forms with face to face
meetings only used to furthur resolve issues that could not be solved with responding back and
forth to each other electronically.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q012. When you take a test you must submit the Test Taken Form (at the General
Information page, just below the Submit Work Form) to alert the instructor to be on the lookout
for your test. If a test has gone astray (rare but tests can be misrouted) we can more easily
trace it if we know promptly that it's missing.
Please state this in your own words:
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and
doesn't include the #$... prompt):
Once I take a test, I should promptly submit a Test Taken form so my instructor is aware that I
have taken a test and so this test can be graded. If for some reason the test becomes lost,
then the Test Taken Form acts as an additional safety net for the student, as it shows that he
or she did take the test.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q013. Save all communications from the instructor; you're responsible for doing so.
You are also responsible for keeping track of what you have sent the instructor, who can
provide more timely and more complete responses if time isn't wasted rereading something re-
sent by a student who wasn't weren't sure whether it was sent in the first place. Once your
work appears at your Access site (explained when you get your access code), however, you may
assume that it is safely stored in at least two places.
State this in your own words.
**** our response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and
doesn't include the #$... prompt):
A student should save every email or other communication from the instructor so as to keep
track of what has been submitted and what has not been submitted to the instructor and once the
instructor puts the content on the Access site it has been saved in at least two places but an
extra copy never hurts.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
Task: `q014.
If you submit a document and get a form confirmation, then the document has been received.
It might happen that you submit a document then realize you didn't submit your identifying
information. If this happens, then submit it once more, and be sure to carefully include your
information. However, do your best to get it right the first time.
Please respond with a statement detailing your understanding of the process of submitting a
document.
**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and
doesn't include the #$... prompt):
When submitting a document, once you have submitted it and a form confirmation is generated
then you should know that the document has been received. Try to put all the information you
need the first time.
#$&* (your response should have gone on the line above this one)
*#&!
&#Good responses. Let me know if you have questions. &#