Student Activities

This is a hybrid course. The hybrid course designation indicates that the lecture part of the course will be online and the lab part of the course will be in-person in Lab M135.

Activities you will complete EACH week in person during the lab period:

- - Experiments and procedures in the lab manual.
  - Respond to questions and prompts in the lab manual.
  - Lab Quizzes (except for Week 1)

Activities you will complete SOME weeks in person during the lab period:

- - Exams

Activities you will complete EACH week:

- - Read the textbook and answer the textbook questions (visual connection problems, review questions, and critical thinking questions).
  - Watch the lecture videos and respond to the learning objective questions and prompts.
  - Complete the learning activities (e.g., graphic organizers, discussions, watching videos).
  - Read the entire lab from the lab manual before attending the lab period.

Activities you will complete SOME weeks:

- - Complete Open Resource Quizzes.

I want you to be successful in this course. There is a temptation to think in-person activities are more urgent than your online work. The problem is, then your online assignments pile up and you fall behind. Follow the weekly schedule and stay on top of your assignments. Remember there is a 10% reduction in score per day penalty for late submissions.

I recommend that you log in at least three times per week to complete your work. Use the Canvas Calendar and create alerts on your phone or on your computer for lesson due dates or anything else you think you might forget! Set up your Notifications in Canvas as well. (You can receive notifications via text.)

I am sure you understand that it is your responsibility to get to a computer to complete your work on time. Go to campus (Hancock Library, MESA/STEM Center, Academic Resouce Center), your local library, or a friend’s house if your computer crashes or your Internet goes down. Please do not contact me for extra time on assignments. You have options so I strongly urge you not to wait until the last minute to do your work.

Time Commitment

Time to complete each module may vary from week to week. If you want to get the most out of the materials presented and earn the best grade you can, you should plan to spend at least 7-8 hours on the lecture online component each week. Including the weekly 3-4 hours for attending and completing the in-person lab requirements, the total time commitment for success in this course is 10-12 hours per week.

Study Tips

The key to getting a great grade is the amount and quality of work that you put into this class. I will do everything I can to help you in this course, but your grade is ultimately up to you.

• The very best way to study is to attempt to teach the material to someone else. Listening to and understanding information is completely different than being able to reproduce it or use it under pressure without your notes!

• Read the assigned material casually before watching the lecture video, and then very carefully read the relevant sections a second time after watching the lecture video. If you don’t understand something at that point, ask me.

• Take notes on your post-lecture reading, and incorporate these notes into your answers to the learning objective prompts. Re-write all your notes, cleaning up and re-organizing them as you do.

• Write tests for yourself to evaluate and use the material; take your tests later to practice doing well on exams.

• Join or form a study group. You’re more likely to study if it’s scheduled and others are depending on you. Plus, in a study group, you have people to whom you can teach the material. (See first bullet point.)

When You do not Understand

Do not be afraid to ask questions or to seek help in understanding from your instructor or your peers – discussion and debate are important aspects of science. If you don’t understand something, it is most likely that someone else in the class shares your confusion. The easiest way to resolve your misunderstanding is to ask. If you have any suggestions or comments about my lectures, the text, or other material related to the class please feel free to speak to me so that we can make this class the best learning environment possible.

Course Syllabus

Read and refer back to the course syllabus (see "Syllabus" in left menu) it contains important information about class procedures, due dates, grading policies, etc. It's a guideline for what you can expect of me and what I expect of you throughout the term.