Is this the right class for me

Is this online course the right class for me?

Students often come to classes without having a clear understanding of what might be expected of them in the course in which they've enrolled. The following informal survey might give you an idea of how compatible your interests are with this particular class.

On a piece of paper, number 1-10 and then record your responses to the questions using the scale of 0 - 4 given below.

0	1	2	3	4
Never true of me	Occasionally true of me	True of me about half the time	Generally true of me	Always true of me

1. I am aware that regularly checking the course website is a behavior expectable of students in online courses and will have a major effect on the grade I earn in an online course.

2. Because I recognize that preparing assigned materials before class is essential to understanding what happens in the class, I regularly come to the course modules having read the materials assigned.

3. I don't mind working in groups because it allows me to develop my ability to work with other human beings as well as gain expertise in the subject matter and skill in audio/visual presentation. I am willing to be responsible to my group members in affording them time and effort required to produce good group projects. I will participate in evaluating the presentations in a timely fashion.

4. I have no trouble hearing ideas about religion, cultural values and politics which might draw my own ideas into question. I recognize that being able to think critically and creatively is an important result of a college education and that might mean I may have to reconsider how I think.

5. Because I know that being able to write on a college level is an essential skill for college graduates, I anticipate a number of written assignments used to develop the ideas discussed in this Gordon Rule course.

6. I am comfortable with and adept at using web technologies as a part of my learning experience. These include MS Excel, Power Point, RealPlayer, MS Word, scanners, Adobe Acrobat PDF, WebCT, email and the use of the internet generally for research and communication.

7. I am not laboring under the misapprehension that a course taught online is easier or less demanding than a regular face-to-face course. Indeed, I recognize that given the demands on the student to be responsible for meeting the course schedule and managing time with no interaction with the instructor in class, it can be much more difficult.

8. Because I know I can learn from my fellow students, I am willing to be attentive to and engaged in regular online discussions.

9. I am particularly adept at managing time, at reading and following directions and acting without assistance from instructors using only a schedule and course modules (particularly critical in summer sessions where 15 weeks course material is covered in a six week session, meaning each class day is the equivalent of 2.5 ordinary class days).

10. I agree that classes which are demanding often prove to be those in which students learn the most.

NOW, add up your scores. Compare your final result with the chart below. It should give you an idea of how compatible your approach to college might be with this class.

36-40	A match made in heaven!
30-35	A good fit
28-29	More often than not, a good fit
24-27	Bearable but not a good fit
Less than 24	You might consider looking for another class

OK, so your ex-lawyer instructor is good at constructing leading questions (i.e., questions which suggest a desired answer). But what's the point?

Consider the following explanations of the questions above:

1. Regular checking of the webcourse materials: The more true this is of the student, the more likely they will meet with success. Students must be able to commit to checking in at the course website at least once daily and setting aside sufficient time to dealing with course mail, course news, assignments, quizzes, et al. If you don’t like sitting in front of a computer for what could be long periods of time or if your work and class schedule and/or social life don't provide adequate time for that, think twice about taking this class in this format.

2. Coming prepared to course modules: Like any class, students will need to read the text and other assigned materials prior to watching course lectures and completing quizzes and assignments. You won’t have the class lecture to process your reading ahead of time. The power point lectures will not necessarily be completely self-explanatory. You will need to read the chapters ahead of time to fully benefit from the lectures and understand the assignments.

3. Working in groups: If you don’t like working in groups, this class is not for you. This instructor strongly believes that learning to work with other people in a collaborative (as opposed to an individualistic competitive) style is an important skill for any profession if not for the full-time business of being human. It also makes students responsible for a portion of their own learning and responsible to each other in the process. It can be a fun way to learn and often allows for all kinds of life experience, outside research and understandings of class materials to be brought to the mix. In a good college class, students can learn from each other as well as from the instructor. Who knows, you might even make a friend in the process!

4. New ways of looking at things: Humanities by definition includes talking about the things one should never bring up in polite company – politics and religion. And yet, they are part and parcel of the human experience. Now, everyone is entitled to form, hold and articulate an opinion. But opinions are never exempt from being challenged. They also are not born respectable. Opinions worthy of respect are those which can be articulated, defended with reasoned argument and evidence marshaled to support those reasons. You should expect to get your cage rattled a little in this class. If you don't, you're not really engaging it. If your ideas are brittle - and thus fragile - this might be tough for you. But if you come out of college thinking the same things you entered with, you’ve probably wasted both of our time and money.

5. Writing: You will write a good bit in this course, probably more than in most classes. In high school, we learned to write. In college, we write to learn - to develop ideas posed by the text, to discover new ways of seeing old ideas. You must be able to write at college level to pass this course. In all fairness, the one aspect of this course that students most frequently complain about is the writing even as most admit at the end of the course that they understand why it was required. CAVEAT: If you are adverse to writing, you might consider another class.

6. Technophobia? This one seems self-explanatory - you need to be adept at using a wide range of technology and willing to learn a few more in the process of this course. I might add that folks who are new to college and thus learning these technologies for the first time might want to wait until they’ve achieved some level of mastery with this technology. It can be daunting. And bear in mind - WebCT is sometimes flakey and not always dependable. Your instructor has a doctorate in the humanities, not in computer science. So a fairly high level of technological competency is a real must for students.

7. But it'll be a lot easier…. If you did not answer 3 or 4 on this question, you probably should not take this course. The number one cause for student withdrawal from web-based courses generally (at a rate much higher than face-to-face courses) is that they underestimate the course. (Spring semester drop rate in HUM 2230 was about 1/4 of the total class) Many students think that because a course is taught on the internet it will be easier. Think again! You will be responsible for all reading, assignments, quizzes, group work – all with only periodic instructor assistance via internet. You will spend at least as much time in this course as you would in a regular course, possibly more. And you will not always be able to complete the course requirements entirely on your own schedule. You will need to meet deadlines. In plain English, the three hours of class time plus the two hours of preparation and study for every class hour each week means at least 9 hours a week have this course’s name written on them in your personal schedule during a regular term (22 hours per week during the six week summer terms). Remember, this is NOT a computer class. It’s a regular college course (in this case, with a Gordon Rule college level writing requirement) taught online. You won’t have to attend class. But you will have to meet all the regular requirements of this course, much of it on your own. It will take at least as much time as a regular course. And the requirements are essentially the same.

8. Online Discussions: One particular type of student does well in these classes: well organized introverts who otherwise don’t speak much in regular classrooms. But everyone will be required to regularly discuss ideas from the material in this course. This means finding time to construct and post thoughtful discussion posts (there is a rubric to help you with this) and responses to other posts on a regular basis, posts which will in part determine your grade.

9. Time Management: Again, if you don’t answer 3 or 4 on this, this class format probably isn’t for you. Remember, you cannot complete this course entirely on your own schedule. You will be required to meet the course schedule including the various deadlines for course activities.

That means work schedules, other class schedules, social life and other daily life activities will need to be organized around those deadlines. Time management is a hard-earned skill for most college students. It does not come naturally for your instructor, he has had to work hard at it all his life. But in this particular format of classes (and particularly in summer sessions), time management is the difference between completing the course, dropping or failing. It’s that important.

10. Demanding classes: So….if you still think you want to take this course (and I don’t mean that it fits your schedule or that it’s a way to avoid coming to campus or that you need it to graduate because you delayed meeting this requirement until the end), then I’ll be delighted to work with you. The point of this little survey is simply to dispel the myths, advise you of what you'll be getting into and let you know ahead of time what you can expect if you stay. If you decide not to stay, I hope you'll find your way to take this class at another time or perhaps in a face-to-face setting. It's a good class and it requires you to consider a fairly important question - What does it mean to be human? If you have decided to stay - and I hope you have - I wish you the best in what I hope will be an interesting and challenging course in which you will learn and grow as a human being. Let’s get started!

NOTE: Students do not have to come to campus for any of the requirements of this course. There is no orientation and all group work, exams and discussions will occur online. While you are free to agree to call your group members or meet with them in person, it is not required. The instructor will meet with students on campus in his office at a mutually agreeable time.