Confirm Access Code

Your Name:

First Name

Last Name

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):

The q/a self critique process works by explainig how your soultion differs from the actual solution,and what you learned from the actual solution.

#$&* (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):

You should annotate questions in your response by providing good details to why your solution is correct.

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

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.

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 Submit Question Form (this is the best form to use because it helps you structure your question and prompts you to provide important information), or the Submit Work Form. Having submitted the form it's also acceptable to send an additional note using email.

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.

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):

If you have any questions following instructions you should immeditely contact the instructor.

Task: `q004. Go to the home page for your course, at Differential Equations Homepage (the URL is http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/GenInfo/qa_query_etc/differential_equations/frames_pages/Differential_Equations_Homepage.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):

I don't see anything the link gives me a error message.

@&
If you enter that URL into the Address box of your Internet browser it will take you to the correct page. I just copied the address from your document into my browser and I got the right page.

If you clicked on what appeared to be a link, anything could have happened. If an apparent link doesn't work, you always need to try the text of any link in the Address box. Your system, your browser, or anything between your computer and the page you are trying to access could mess up the link.

*@

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):

I can access due dates for assignments by clicking the brief assignments page link.

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

@&
If you weren't able to access the page, it's difficult to see how you could access those links.

In any case when I click on the Brief Assignments link, I get the Brief Assignments, and when I click on the Due Dates link, I get the due dates.

You might want to send me a list of the URL's as they show in the address box of your Internet Browser, just to be sure you're looking in the right place.
*@

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 your course 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 your course 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):

I don't see anything because the link gives me a error message.

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

@&
I'm clicking on those links, and getting no error messages.
*@

Task: `q007. From the Differential Equations homepage click on the link 'Course of Study'. Read it and acknowledge below that you have been able to find the syllabus and know how to locate it: Note that you should re-read the syllabus or course of study on or shortly after the first day of class, to be sure you have read the document that will apply to the term in which you are taking the course.

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

I have access the syallabus and read it.

#$&* (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):

I have added the course home page to my bookmarks.

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

Task: `q009. On your course homepage, click on Link to Blackboard, and sign in using the same username and password you use to access the registration system. 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., 2012), as well as your Differential Equations course.

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.

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

I have a good understanding of blackboard anf how supervised study works.

#$&* (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. The one 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 Differential Equations site.

As explained in the opening message on both the Supervised Study ... and Differential Equations sites, Blackboard is not likely to be used extensively in this course, except for posting grades.

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):

In the grade center I see a area where my grades will eventually be posted.

#$&* (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, 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: Differential Equations Homepage

Author information goes here.

Revised: 06/02/13

@&
See my notes. The page is and has been functioning correctly. I recommend that you run through this document again and insert the URL's showing in your Address Box for any page that doesn't appear to work correctly.
*@

Confirm Access Code

Your Name:

First Name

Last Name

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

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

Note: If you do not have the disks for your course, you should not complete this exercise at this time. Complete this once you have your disks.

Task: `q000: Verify that you have your disks.

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

Note: If you do not have the disks for your course, you cannot complete this exercise at this time. Complete this once you have your disks.

Checking disks:I have my disks.

Task: `q001. Class notes, in lecture format with working video links, are distributed on the disk(s) you purchased from the bookstore.

If you do not have your disks yet you will have to skip this instruction for now, and you will need to return to this exercise when you receive them. If that is the case you may close this assignment after first entering in the response area below a statement that you do not yet have the disks.

Note that the contents of your disk can be copied to a convenient device or location on your hard drive. The entire contents will fit easily on a flash drive with capacity 8 gigaBytes or more, and require only a small fraction of the space on a typical hard drive.

The file structure of the disk has a root folder and a number of subfolders. If you browse to the contents of the folder, either on the disk or on another device to which it has been copied, you will see the file precalculus_2.htm

This file will run in your Internet browser, and will give you access to the entire contents of the disk.

When you run the HTML file you will get a menu with series of links entitled

Cd #1, Lectures 1-9

Cd #2, Lectures 10-16

Cd #3, Lectures 17-22

If you click on any of these headings you will be taken to a submenu, from which you can access individual Class Notes with working video links.

Do this now and describe what you see.

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

When I click the links I see class notes.

Task: `q002.

If you have more than one disk, check the others in a similar manner.

If all your disks work, indicate that they do. If you have trouble with any of them, or with these instructions, describe your problems in detail.

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

All my disk work fine.

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

Now highlight and copy your document, paste your copy into the box below.

Double-check to be sure you have accurately filled in the information at the beginning of this form.

Then click on Submit Form.

It is suggested that you save a copy of your document as a backup.

When you submit this document you will have complete Orientation Step 5. Your next activity will be Orientation Step 6.

Author information goes here.

Revised: 08/22/12

@&
Very good.
*@

Confirm Access Code

Your Name:

First Name

Last Name

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

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

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):

If you have questions for the instructor you can email the intructor by including your access code and user name in the subject line of the email.

@&
This question does not pertain to email. However I expect that you will follow these instructions correctly, since you've been doing so in the documents I've seen so far.
*@

#$&* (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):

It is rare that a correct submission will get deleted.You should always keep a copy for you record.

The important point here is the following:

You should retain your original copy of every document you submit.

#$&* (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 your name and email address you should enter any other information when submitting the form.

#$&* (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):

If you want to maintain privacy you should make sure you delete all browser history.

#$&* (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 you submit should be submitted by 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):

Always keep the thread when communicating with the proffesor.Never assume the instructor remembers he last conversation you had.

#$&* (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):

Always make your message is self-contained.

#$&* (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):

It is my responsibility to initiate communication with the professor.

#$&* (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):

When you have work that can not be submitted through the submit work form,you must email it.

#$&* (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):

It is important not to spread things over multiple documents.Always send it in one 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., 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):

Face to face communication is not part of this course.All contact will be digitally.

#$&* (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):

When you take a test it is imporatant to submit a Test Taken Form.

#$&* (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):

It is important to save all communications with the instrucutor.

#$&* (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 you submit a document you will get a confirmation.If you don't get a confirmationyou should re submit it.

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

Now highlight and copy your document, paste your copy into the box below.

Double-check to be sure you have accurately filled in the information at the beginning of this form.

Then click on Submit Form.

It is suggested that you save a copy of your document as a backup.

When you submit this document you will have complete Orientation Step 6. Your next activity will be Orientation Step 7.

Author information goes here.

Revised: 08/22/12

&#Your work looks good. See my notes. Let me know if you have any questions. &#

Confirm Access Code

Your Name:

First Name

Last Name

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:

Task: `q001. Return to the homepage for your course, as you bookmarked it in the first document for Step 4 of the Orientation.

Your homepage includes a Table of Assignments, Topics and Specific Objectives. The link to this table is listed along with other links near the top of your homepage. Click this link and scroll down through this Table.

The first thing you will see is the heading Module 1.

Below the heading for the Module you will see a note indicating when the first test, for Module 1, is to be completed. (The first test might be referred to as the 'Major Quiz', as 'Test 1', as 'Chapter 2 Test', as 'Chapter R test', or by some similar name, depending on your specific course).

The course is divided into Modules. Scroll down the page and locate the headings for subsequent Modules.

Briefly state how many modules you find, and also when the first test is to be completed.

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

I see one modlule,the first test is to be completed one week after each module is completed.

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

Task: `q002. Now scroll down and locate your numbered Assignments. The number of an Assignment is in the first column of the table.

You don't yet need to know how the Assignments work. You will learn that by working through the first couple of Assignments. At this stage we want to focus on where to find information.

Just below each Assignment is a list of Objectives relevant to that assignment. You won't really know what the Objectives mean until you have worked through the Assignment, and even then your understanding will develop over a period of days or weeks as your brain gradually rewires itself and you apply the necessary ideas to subsequent assignments.

Right now we just want to focus on where the Objectives are and how they are listed.

Note that a typical list of Objectives is followed by a set of Technical Statements. The Objectives are intended for you to read. The Technical Statements often use notations and terminologies with which you might not be familiar, and when first working through an Assignment you can focus on the first statement of the Objectives, safely ignoring the Technical Statements.

Note also that the word Relate is included with many objectives, in the form of a link. You don't need to click on that link every time it appears. The link takes you to a discussion of what it means to 'Relate' a set or list of things.

Basically 'Relate' as used here just means that you need to know how those things are all related to one another, and be able to apply those relationships to solving problems.

This is all you really need to know right now.

The link gives a more extensive explanation in terms of a number of examples, and you might find it useful later.

Describe in your response:

where the Objectives are and how they are listed

what you should do when you see the link Relate

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

Under each assignments there are objectives.And they are under the revelvant assignments.

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

Task: `q003. You won't fully understand the sequencing of topics and activities, or the reasons for the sequencing, until you have worked through a number of assignments.

Assumptions:

It is unrealistic to suppose that the majority of students in a course are capable, without prior preparation, of reading, extracting meaning from and solving problems in a text written at a level appropriate to the course.

having the topic talked to a class in a lecture is generally ineffective for the majority of the class

students sharing ideas with and solving problems in conjunction with other students can be very helpful, given a group of students who have already engaged and experienced the topic (... toolkits ...)

it takes time for stuff to sink in, an idea the instructor believes to have for centuries been obvious to individuals with rigorous content knowledge, to now be increasingly supported by the rapidly advancing field of neurobiology, but not to have filtered down to the 'field' of education

if the goal of the course is integrated understanding and mastery, it is not possible to break the learning of this subject into a linear series of topics, with one topic mastered before moving on to the next

Typically you will be introduced to a topic through a sequenced set of questions (the 'qa'), in which you will

Answer a series of questions, based on knowledge from prerequisite courses or from earlier in this course, without having been first 'taught' how to answer the questions. The purpose is to 'engage your brain' on the topic and provide you with a context for later activities.

Solve, take notes on and generally understand a sequenced series of worked-out problems (the Introductory Problem Sets) illustrating the application of the topic, along with others.

Apply the ideas to one or more actual, hands-on physical systems, typically setting the system up, taking data, analyzing results and answering questions.

Read Class Notes documents which may address any combination of selected previous, current and future topics, and/or view video-linked versions of the same.

Read the associated 'material' in the text and solve text problems. The text is the 'last word' on a topic, not the first. By the time you read about the topic in the text, you will already know quite a bit about it through having engaged and experienced it. The text is intended as the final document for the topic, presenting it in clear relation to others.

These activities can span a number of assignments, so that by end of the process the topic will have had time to percolate and sink in.

The main thing you need to understand about this is that there are dozens of topics in your course, each of which can require days or weeks to develop. The result is that at any time you will simultaneously be developing and working on a number of topics.

Again you aren't expected to completely understand the assumptions and the sequencing. However give a short synopsis of what you do understand.

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

There are a lot of topics in this course,and they sometimes require days and weeks to develop.

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

When you submit this document you will have complete the first part of Orientation Step 4.

Your next activity will be Orientation Step 5.

Author information goes here.

Revised: 08/23/12

@& I'm clicking on those links, and getting no error messages. *@

@& See my notes. The page is and has been functioning correctly. I recommend that you run through this document again and insert the URL's showing in your Address Box for any page that doesn't appear to work correctly. *@

@& Very good. *@

@& This question does not pertain to email. However I expect that you will follow these instructions correctly, since you've been doing so in the documents I've seen so far. *@

&#Your work looks good. See my notes. Let me know if you have any questions. &#

&#Your work looks good. Let me know if you have any questions. &#

@&
I'm clicking on those links, and getting no error messages.
*@

@&
See my notes. The page is and has been functioning correctly. I recommend that you run through this document again and insert the URL's showing in your Address Box for any page that doesn't appear to work correctly.
*@

@&
Very good.
*@

@&
This question does not pertain to email. However I expect that you will follow these instructions correctly, since you've been doing so in the documents I've seen so far.
*@