Web-based instruction lacks certain social aspects that some people require. Except for the e-mail, you will have no social contact. If you must have social contact, you won't like this course. We can communicate with each other but not in real time because we will not use chat. If you procrastinate you will suffer. Just in case you wonder, the research shows that students in distance education always do as well or better than students in traditional classes. This occurs, of course, after some drop out. There are no lectures, no note taking, no time to argue with the professor in front of the class, no opportunity to commiserate with your friends about the student who talks too much, and no coffee breaks (you pick your own time for that)--aspects that some people prefer to self-directedness. If my past experience is any predictor, some of you will get behind. You may not say you are behind, however, you will say that DE is too impersonal, or you learn better in a traditional classroom, or you need more individual help, or something along those lines. But the main problem is doing the work consistently and persistently. If you put if off it piles up. When the pile looks too big you want to quit. So do your work each week. If you know you are going to be away for a week, do your work ahead of time. Part of the course involves your ability to know yourself in order to deal effectively with the demands of the position you may aspire to sometime in the future. Before beginning the course activities, go to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and take it online. Print a copy of the results for yourself and also copy the results (copy and paste) and send to me in an e-mail. We may use these profiles for other activities in the course. |
1. Demonstrate mastery of the core content. Mastery will be evaluated by means of an examination at the end of the course. Total point value is 20. What will the examination cover? It will cover every topic and name in the course, so please read everything.
2. The second goal of the course is for you to develop your writing skills. In order to address this goal, the second component of the course consists of short papers related to course content. Your papers should be approximately 2-5 pages and must be written in APA style and submitted as Word documents attached in e-mail. All papers should follow APA format for margins, citations, references, and so forth. Each paper is worth 10 points; do 10 papers for a total possible point value of 100 points. Papers will be about the names, terms, and theorists listed here. Please have at least a basic knowledge of each term and name below, but select 10 for your papers. You may want to split up the papers among your peers to avoid duplication, but each of you should have essential knowledge of each term below, although you will not do a paper on each one.
3. The third goal of the course is to encourage you to become critical thinkers, if there really is such a thing, and to share your opinions with your peers. To accomplish this the third component of the course is also based on the content of the course. At specific times, you will be given a topic to discuss, based on the readings, and you will engage in an online discussion using ICQ. You will be asked to archive the discussions and send to me. Total point value is 50 points.
4. The final goal of the course is to provide you with the opportunity to produce a comprehensive work that synthesizes various threads of research, and is meaningful to you. Thus, the final requirement of the course consists of a major project. You may write a literature review; conduct a piece of original research and write it up; produce an internet tutorial or a video tape; generate a case study and the associated questions and template answers; or, if none of these options appeals to you, you may suggest an appropriate project. Point value is 50.