The expecations for an six-week online class are simple: You are expected to invest the same amount of hours in the online class as in a conventional class. A conventional class meets for about 150 minutes a week over a 16 week semester, or about 2.5 hours a week. In an online class of six weeks, this translates into about five to six hours a week, at a minimum, that you are expected to be online (instead of in the classroom). In addition, in a four hour upper-division class, a reasonable workload (reading, writing) is considered two to three hours for every credit hour. For this class, it translates into four to six hours of reading a week. For this class, the following are MINIMAL EXPECTIONS: 1) You MUST be online on WebBoard four or five times a week. While everybody may miss a few days, over the course of the term that should be the goal. 2) You MUST participate on WebBoard and reflect an understanding of course material. 3) You MUST also participate in team exercises. Posts in your team area do not replace discussions elswhere on WebBoard. They are part of it. 4) You MUST reflect the readings or issues and illustrate that you're keeping up with the material. Opinions are fine, but our opinions must gradually develop into reasoned judgments that reflect logic, facts, and reasoned discussion. An online class is only as good as the participants. It takes an entire class to keep it moving ahead.
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