Please thoroughly read the following instructions and expectations prior to beginning the course and its various assignments. There are six different types of activities associated with this course, and this page provides you with the instructions for each activity. Please be sure you are familiar with each type of activity before attempting the first one. These activities include:
First, check the Calendar on WebCT to determine what is due for each topic. You will need to keep careful track of due dates, as they will approach very quickly!
If you are new to WebCT or need a refresher, please be sure you are comfortable with the logistics of using WebCT before beginning the course. The best place to learn about WebCT and about taking an online course is on the WebCT Help menu. Using the course menu on the left (blue background), select the Help link, and proceed to the On-line Learner's Guide link. There are two short "tests" you should take as you enter the guide, to give you a sense of how prepared you are for an online course. You can then proceed through the guide itself to teach you specific things you need to learn. Above all, be sure you understand how to use these functions on the course menu: discussions, quizzes, mail, and assignments. You will get some practice using these during the first part of the course, then it should become easier the more familiar you become with the system.
As for this course, GGR 250, please be very familiar with how to navigate through the course material, as directed below. Before beginning the course, take a "test drive" through some of the modules, course content, calendar, and course resources to see how they all operate. Above all, use the calendar to determine the basic assignments and topics due each day. The calendar is a bit bizarre, but works well. When you have the entire month in front of you, click on the date numeral in each box to see the details for that day. Then, click on the text link (such as "Due: Topic 2") for each day to take you directly to that topic's first introductory page. The bottom of the page has the detailed instructions for that day's assignments, including labs, discussions, quizzes, exams, and the term project.
For those of you who wish to "work ahead" and complete material before the due dates: Yes, you can do this in most cases, but here are some things to plan for: you can take each quiz or exam early, if you have completed the required material beforehand. Reading assignments and labs may be submitted whenever you complete them. As for the deadlines, these have already been determined. Please know what the deadlines are in advance (especially for the quizzes and exams which cannot be taken beyond the deadline) so these do not surprise you. Please be familiar with the late policy in the syllabus.
NOTE: Students often seem to experience "computer problems" or other excuses when they wait until the last minute to submit quizzes and assignments. Such "problems" will not be excused either. Plan ahead, and expect to have some computer glitches here and there. If you do not wait until the last minute, such issues should not present a problem. If they do, then you will have to take responsibility and "take your lumps". Contact me if you are having serious problems, and I will try to help you out if the request is reasonable. Most often, a late assignment or two will not drastically affect your grade, but if you plan ahead for such unforseen circumstances, late assignments should not be an issue.
The content for the course is organized into six modules that include 24 topics total. You will see the titles for these modules and topics on the Course Content link on the home page, after you have logged into WebCT. Each module includes several course topics (2-7 topics per module). Each topic consists of lecture material in written form, given that we are not meeting in a traditional classroom. You can think of each topic as the rough equivalent of a 1.5 hour class period, the content consisting of the very same material I would present in class. The modules simply consist of "umbrella" titles that organize major chunks of the course, and include the relevant topics for each module.
Please use the Calendar to determine which topic is due each day. The first page of each topic consists of that topic's introduction and objectives. At the bottom of the first page is the detailed set of instructions for each assignment. This is where you will be told precisely what need to be accomplished, along with question sets for the labs and instructions for other assignments.
For each topic, you are responsible for learning the material within the topic content, just as you would in a normal classroom setting. You need to understand the material and the associated images, and then study this material to the best of your ability. To focus on the most important material, use the topic objectives section on the first page of each topic as a guide. I will use these objectives as a guide for assembling your quiz and exam questions. Focus on important processes and trends, and do not get bogged down with memorizing lists of numbers and facts (unless I tell you they are important). After your first quiz, this will become clear. You need to be able to interpret and understand the graphics, explain the processes, and be familiar with the key terms and concepts.
TIME WINDOW: You will have access to all lecture material during the entire course. All quizzes and exams, however (see below) must be submitted on or before the scheduled days (see calendar). I strongly suggest that you pace yourself with the class, as there is a lot of material, and each topic always builds upon the previous one. However, you will have the course material and reading assignments available to you if you wish to work ahead and maintain a more flexible schedule. You are allowed to submit assignments early if you wish. Be very clear in your assignment heading, however, about which assignment and topic it is.
As an important supplement to the lecture readings, you will read select portions of an online textbook that is free of charge. The text is written by Dr. Michael Pidwirny, of the Department of Geography at Okanagan University College, Kelowna, British Columbia. The text may be found at www.physicalgeography.net. There is a link to the online textbook on the course menu in WebCT. These readings are NOT required, but available as a secondary source of information to help you master the content in the lecture topics. I provide the selected readings for each topic on the topic introduction pages along with the other assignments.
Lab Assignments
There are five lab assignments for this course. An occasional "discussion" (see below) will be inserted into the normal lab schedule. These labs will be different from typical, hands-on labs that you might experience in the classroom. Instead, your labs will consist of a series of thought-provoking readings and question sets that pertain to relevant current events and environmental issues. I imagine this will be one of the more fun aspects of this course. You will be directed to read certain material found on the Course Resources link on the home page, provided by NAU's Cline library. You will link to these articles, read them, and then answer some questions for thought and discussion. You will submit your answers in the same way you submit your reading assignments. The labs (together with the 5 discussions) are worth 1 credit hour, or 25% of the course grade. Check the Calendar so you know on which days you will be completing lab assignments. The specific assignments with their questions are located on the introductory page for each topic, just below the reading assignments. You will submit each lab assignment (your written answers to the questions) so that I, can evaluate and grade them. Use the Assignments option on the main menu to submit them.
If you have not yet discovered it, the discussions option in the course menu allows you to communicate with the rest of the class. There are five discussions required for this course (as always, see the Calendar). On certain days when you are not completing a quiz, exam, or lab, you will be asked to participate in a class discussion. I will post an initial question to the discussion page, to which you will respond. These are designed to be a combination of objective and thought-provoking questions that pertain somehow to the course and to your own lives. For each discussion, you are required at minimum to post one meaningful response to the initial question, and one meaningful reply to another student's response. You are also required to find a relevant source of information to back up your own thoughts. This is the best way to have a "conversation" during the course about major topics.
You will take five multiple-choice quizzes and two short answer/essay exams during the course. Again, please check the Calendar so you know specifically when these will be held. Quizzes will consist entirely of multiple-choice questions. The quizzes will test your knowledge of lecture material only. There is a good amount of overlap between the lecture and the text, so you can use your reading assignments to help you understand the material. Still, the quizzes will test only the material included in the topic lecture material. I view these quizzes as opportunities to learn and review, and so they will be "open book". You should have access to your lecture material and text so you can look up something and interpret various graphics as needed. Each quiz will test your understanding of 4 or 5 topics. So, there are five quizzes, for 24 topics total. Be sure you are familar with this repetitive format. Basically, you will take a quiz after every four or five topics, regardless of what day the last topic is completed.
Exams are longer short answer/essy tests. You will take two exams, a Midterm and a Final. The exams will likewise test your knowledge of lecture material only. The first Midterm will occur almost halfway through the course, after the first 11 topics. Keep in mind that your reading assignments will also overlap somewhat with lecture material, but the exams will cover only the material you see within the lecture content. You will need to study in advance for these exams, and they are collectively worth 20% of your grade. As with the quizzes, focus on the specific learning objectives for each topic as your "review sheet," along with the key terms and concepts. You will see similar questions and material on the exams (but not always the same) that you encountered on the quizzes up to that point. If you study each topic as you progress through the course, you should be relatively prepared for the exam when the time comes.
TIME WINDOW: Keep in mind that you must have the quiz or exam COMPLETED by midnight (actually, 11:55 PM) of the assigned day, or the computer will not accept it. You will be allowed 3 hours for each quiz, and a full day for each exam. You will be able to take them early if you wish, in advance of the deadline. Quizzes will have fewer questions, however, providing you with more time for each question. You will be allowed to take each quiz three times if you desire, to improve your score if necessary. Taking the quizzes more than once also provides more opportunities to review material, my main goal! The highest score will be automaticaly recorded by WebCT. Keep in mind, however, that you will likely receive some different questions each time, as the computer randomly selects questions out of a large question pool that I have written for the course.
This project will be an exciting way to apply what you are learning in this course to real places in the United States. The instructions for the term project can be found through a link called, predictably, "Term Project" at the bottom of the Course Menu in WebCT. I am still developing the project, so there is only a "test" page available on the link right now. Stay tuned for further updates. To spread the project throughout the course, it will be broken into three parts, with items due for each part. Due dates will, like everything else, be available on the Calendar, which will direct you to the appropriate topic instruction pages.
Please be very careful about what you say on email or discussions, as it is very easy for people to misinterpret your "tone of voice" and intentions through email messages and discussion posts. Your emails and discussion posts should always be professional, friendly, considerate and respectful of others' opinions and feelings. In this regard, cursing and expletives are not allowed under any circumstance. I view professionalism and mutual respect as vital for the successful operation of any college course. Thank you in advance for doing your part to meet these professional standards. As the professor, I reserve the right to reduce grades for assignments that include unprofessional material.
Also, once the course has begun, please use the Mail function on the course home page to send and receive email to and from me, your professor.
ALWAYS USE THE EMAIL OPTION WITHIN WEBCT. If you wish to contact me by phone, please reach me at my office at (928) 523-5853, though I may not check it every day. Email is thus the best way to contact me. Also, be sure to use your NAU DANA email account and check it regularly, both before and during the course.