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CIS2: Frequently Asked QuestionsList of assignments and Catalyst navigation
Several students have asked for an outline of the assignment activities for each week.
Catalyst provides summaries by activity type - assignments, quizzes. Activities are grouped by week in the list. These are linked under the Activities heading in the left navigation menu.
There is also a horizontal menu just below the course title on all course pages. Finally, there is a Jump to... pull down menu in the upper right corner of all the pages.
All activities for a week are due on the due date for that week. Late submissions will be accepted for partial credit.
Assignments are described in detail in the online course materials. Assignments are usually due on Monday at 11:30pm.
Due dates are listed in the Syllabus and in the course calendar in the left navigation menu.
2006.10.3
Taking Notes
A student observed that taking notes in a lecture class was very important to learning the material. So what to do in a distance learning class with no lecture? Take notes as you read the textbook chapter.
In the Notes and Assignment page for each module, there is a list of study questions. You are encouraged to read these questions first, before reading the textbook chapter. Look for information about the study questions as you read. This will help you be involved in the reading.
If taking notes helps you - take notes as you read. A good study habit is to review your notes when you finish reading a chapter and write a brief summary of the chapter.
The textbook contains a list of questions at the end of each chapter. See if you can answer these questions after you read the chapter.
Distance learning is different than classroom learning. Not better or worse - just different. Both should include activities for all types of learners. I will try to point these out as we go through the course.
Please let me know if you have suggestions, as we are learning about learning too.
2006.10.2
Discussions
Discussions are an important part of this course, so it is essential that you get to know the others in the class and become familiar with the discussion format.
I suggest that you experiment with the Discussion display format - select from the pull-down menu in the center of the top portion of the Discussion page. You can select to see newest postings first or see the post titles as a threaded outline of links. There are other formats available.
If you like to get emails when others post to discussions, try the "subscribe" feature controlled from the discussion topics and your profile. I personally like the digest form - I get one email per day with all the new postings.
I also have the discussion tracking feature on - it lets me know how many discussion messages have been posted that I haven't read yet. This is a great feature. It ensures that I see all the messages. I check a couple of times most days, so it is handy to see what's new.
2006.10.1
A Gift of Fire - Textbook
A student asked about used books with the same title and author but in paper binding and has a "yellowish" cover rather than the black cover posted in the Syllabus.
Used books with the "black" cover are fine - they are the correct edition of the textbook.
There is a previous edition of the text with the tan cover. However, it is different enough - old information, fewer chapters - that it really isn't useful.
You need the one with the black cover - same as the one in the picture in the syllabus.
Did you check the DeAnza bookstore? They sometimes have used copies. This book has been used for a couple of years so there may be used copies available.
2006.9.27
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