These are some of the questions new students in the course have asked. Click on the questions below to get the answer.

Click on the arrow to return here.

If you don't find your question or a satisfactory answer here, write an email to the instructor with your questions at scitv@hcc.hawaii.edu.

You should read "Information For the New Students", and will find informative and useful details there. It may seem formidable and intimidating.

Don't worry! The details of how the course works will become apparent in the first week or two.

What is on this page?

How do I establish communications with the instructor?

Why is my course listed as Phys 122?

When can I view the TV programs?

How much time should I expect to spend studying and taking exams?

What is in the 'Study Guide'?

How should I use the Booth and Bloom Text?

How should I use the Speilberg and Anderson Text?

How can I find where in the text to read about the material covered in the TV programs?

Are there Hyper Links that can be used to elaborate on the TV programs and study guide?

What are "Program Responses"?

How do I submit program responses?

How do I take the exams?

Where do I find the lab exercises?

How do I submit the required materials for the labs?

How should I identify documents and the subject of email messages?

How should I save and organize my computer files?

How do I make the best use of the online materials?

How can students in the class get to know one another?

What is on this page?

This page contains information which will help you get started in the course. If you have questions on how to use your web browser or how to send and receive email, ask your local computer center for help. If that fails, contact me at scitv@hcc.hawaii.edu.

I can help with some problems, but I am not totally familiar with all software and computers. I work on Mac and PC, and I can help you with many problems. I am more familiar with the Mac but can troubleshoot Windows based programs to some degree.

Hopefully this page will help to sort out the essence of how the course works and what to expect.

How do I establish communications with the instructor?

If you haven't already, check in with the instructor via email at scitv@hcc.hawaii.edu. You will receive a reply soon.

Many students are newcomers to email and the worldwide web, while othersare experienced users. The course is designed so that being a novice will not be a disadvantage. If you are a newcomer to the web or distance education you may feel in the beginning that it is too difficult, but the 'mechanics' of the course will soon become commonplace. Once you have sent a few responses you will find that it is really very easy.

A major part of my job is to coax you along and help you over whatever hurdles or problems arise and to get you up and sailing along. We do not want the medium to dominate the message.

Why is my course listed as Phys 122?

They are the same course. They are 'cross-listed' because some campuses teach the course as Sci 122 while others teach it as Phys 122. Either course satisifies the same requirement regardless of which course you are registered for. If you think there is a potential problem, check with an academic advisor or counselor on your home campus.

When can I view the TV programs?

The programs begin broadcasting on the first day of the semester or summer term. Usually there is a repeaat broadcast for each program, either on the same day or on Saturday. There are two programs per week during the semester and five per week in summer sessions.

Check here to see the schedule.

The programs are designed to supplement the reading and study guide, but not to replace it.

How much time should I expect to spend studying and taking exams?

A college course requires a significant amount of independent study outside the classroom. Since the classroom for this course has no walls, the TV programs take the place of the classroom lecture. Study beyond merely watching the programs and taking notes will be required to master the material.

The TV programs are only two hours per week, but spending two hours or more studying each program is not unreasonable. Use the study guide online. Each one complements (or sometimes duplicates) the TV programs, but many contain links that expand on the basic material.

If you can afford the paper and ink, print out the study guides and use them as you watch the program.

Read the explanation of credit hours and the approximate amount of time to allot for study and for the lab exercises.

Here's what the standard 'formula' for credit hours vs. study time says:

15 weeks x 3 hours per week 'in class' = 45 hours

15 weeks x 6 hours per week in independent study = 90 hours

For a 3 credit 'lecture' that sums to 135 hours for a semester.

For a 1 credit lab there are 15 weeks x 3 hours per week in the lab = 45 hours

Overall that totals to 180 hours for a 15 week semester, or about 12 hours per week including the lab.

Exams will require several hours to complete at home. They are designed to test what you have learnd and also to act as a 'cement' that binds together the material from the TV programs, and also to increase the independent study time over the 30 hours of TV 'lecture' compared to 45 hours in the classroom for the same three credits.

What is in the 'Study Guide'?

The study guide is entirely online. It contains objectives and questions for each lesson and an outline of the corresponding program, plus or minus. It is not, and is not intended to follow the program word for word, although it may in some places. A word-for-word transcription of each program is online.

Click on the "TV Text" button on the gateway page, or go to the page from here. You should always look at the objectives and questions before viewing the video program. It is a good idea to have the questions and objectives with you when you watch. That way you can notate the location of the material on the video for future reference using the timer on the VCR or a stopwatch.

If you have a printer, it is a good idea to print out the study guide for each lesson prior to watching the broadcast. The early lessons are quite long (twenty or more pages). After program 9 they get progressively shorter as they become gradually more outline in form.

You might want to look at the length of each program's study guide on your computer screen before deciding whether or not to print them, choose a smaller print size before printing, or reduce the size of the printed page in the page setup menu.

You are strongly encouraged to videotape the programs. It will require five videotapes recorded at EP to do record all thirty programs. It is a good strategy to keep track of where the questions are answered on the tape and also in the study guide.

Using the counter on the VCR is a good way to keep track of where things are in the program, even writing in on the printed study gide. .

You can link to these from the schedule page, or from the study guide page.

How should I use theBooth and Bloom Text?

You will find this text to have good diagrams and a good elementary coverage of the course material. It is rather weak on the material from the early part of the course, except for program 4 which it covers quite well, with a slightly different perspective.

This text will be most useful in the second half of the course, and it will supplement the Speilberg and Anderson text nicely.

This is an out of print text which I have arranged with the publisher to use for this course. Although it is old, it is the best text available for the soci-political and the human element that is a major focus of the course. The primitive packaging is a way to to keep the cost as low as possible.

Do not make the mistake of judging the quality of a book by its looks. I assure you the content is more important than glossy four-color pictures. 

Some chapters are not reprinted from the original text due to their lack of relevancy or being outdated.

How should I use the Speilberg and Anderson Text?

This text will cover the early part of the course in greater detail than the Booth and Bloom text, but it skims over the material and does not cover it in sufficient depth to stand alone.

You will find it best to locate the material which goes along with the course in both texts and compare the way it is B

Neither of the texts alone cover the material. The combination of TV programs, study guide, the two texts, and outside links on the internet provide sufficient resources to master the learning objectives of the course and of each lesson.

How can I find where in the text to read about the material covered in the TV programs?

You will find a complete list of reading assignments by program on the text references page. These are also at the beginning of each lesson in the study guide.

Part of our goal in this course is to learn to find things in references such as the textbook, in the library, and online, then to assimilate, compare and evaluate them. You will find that different texts or references explain or illustrate concepts and events in a slightly different way. What is confusing one place may be very clear in another.

Putting it together and reading critically is part of what is known as synthesis.

If you can not find information to help with a particular concept, send an emailto scitv@hcc.hawaii.edu and I will point you in the right direction.

In any printed material, whether online or in print, start by looking at the table of contents and the index. Look for topics, for example in Chapter 1 of Speilberg and Anderson, that match those in the video. This will be easier once the study guide is available. You might also want to spend half an hour or so in a library looking at the Q or QA section, or ask the librarian for the general area of physical science in the public libraries.

The library is where the knowledge lives, waiting to be extracted and digested by curious and hungry minds.

As you become more familiar with the course and the texts it will get easier to locate the topics. 

Are there Hyper Links that can be used to elaborate on the TV programs and study guide?

Many of the study guide lessons have links to other pages. Sometimes these are links to other programs in our coursethat cover a subject in more depth or from a different perspective. Others may link to supplementary pages that clarify a concept or add additional visualizations to help understand or define a concept. Check out those links. It doesn't take much time to click on a link to see what is there.

On most of the pages the Sci 122 logo in the upper left corner of each page is a link back to the home page. Click on it at any time to return to the home page. If you find a page where this link is not there please send me the complete URL of that page and I will add the link.

What are "Program Responses"?

The program responses are reactions to or summaries of the program or answers to questions about the programs.

As you watch the video and read the study guide you will find many questions, posed in various forms. Each program's study guides has questions at the beginning that are designed to stimulate your thought and focus it on the objectives.

The texts have questions at the end of the chapters, some of which are purely informational, some of which are open-ended.

You may write about these questions.

You may write about just about anything that you find interesting , puzzling, confusing, intriguing in fact as long as it is related to the program and focused on the objectives. Ideally you can relate it to some personal experience, thought, mystery, etc. The minimal amount of writing is small.

Many students summarize the program or parts of the program.

It is important to focus on the objectives, since that is what the exam questions will be assessing.

Look at the objectives for each program before you watch the program and again before you begin to write. Keeping the objectives in mind will focus attention on the important points. Otherwise you risk running into the trees while looking for the forest (excuse the cliche, please).

You may even answer a question that comes up in your own mind while watching.

If you really can't think of something to write, you can be sure that any question from the study guide, the video program, or the textbooks will be suitable. You may write about other topics as long as you clearly relate them to the course material. The only requirement is that it be lengthy enough to require a modicum of thought and effort (around 250 words at least, equivalent to 1 page, double spaced with 1 inch margins).

I encourage you to write out answers or the outlines of as many questions as you can. Writing of that sort is the best way to learn and to organize one's thoughts.

The key to learning is to read and write, write, write.

Here is more about writing responses.

Responses will be scored as adequate and thoughtfully prepared (full credit), or too short or hastily constructed (half credit). I may make comments, but I will not grade them based on content and you should not assume that a full credit grade means that I agree with everything you say, or that it is 100% 'correct'.

How do I submit Responses?

Write everything out first on your word processor, save it, then copy and paste it into an email document. Do not attach program responses to email or fax them.

If I don't have the software that you used I probably can't read them. If so I will let you know so that you can resubmit the assignemnt in the proper form. It is your responsibility to get things to me in a readable form by the deadline. This may take some work early in the course, but once it is done it will be easy.

Graphics can be in the form of .gif, .jpeg, .bmp, or .pct files. Graphics formats are more universally readable, so I can probably read just about any format that you save.

Do not fax except as a last resort.responses. The fax is reserved for documents which contain graphics or formatting which can not be sent via email, such as lab exercises and experiments that are not in digital format.

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How do I take the exams?

Exms are 75 multiple choice questions, 9 or 10 from each program.

The exams are downloaded from a secure web site, completed at home using any and all resources at your disposal, except the help of another person to specifically discuss an exam question.

When it is completed the anwers will be entered on the exam form at the same URL where the exam was downloaded.

Exam access information will be emailed on or about the date of the broadcast of the last program in each of the four part (program 8, program 15, program 22, program 30). See the schedule for broadcast dates and the events page for exam dates..

Note that the exams access information will be mailed late in the evening of the dates shown on the events.html. The due dates are midnight (the end of the day) of the date listed.

Each student will be given a URL to access the online exam. At the same time you will get an exam ID (good only for your exam).

You will also get a user ID (logon) and password to use for the exam.This user ID and password are for an account that is created for you at HCC.

If you already have an HCC account the user ID and password will be the ones you have used. If you have been enrolled in any course at HCC, online, cable, or otherwise you have a user ID and a password. If you have been enrolled as a HCC student but have never used an HCC account I need to know that. Otherwise your exam information will be delayed while I retrieve those for you.

The user ID and password will be the same for all exams and lab quizzes, so you should keep them in a safe place. The best place is in a file on your computer. Most email systems have a provision for storing messages, or you can download them (i.e. save them) to a file on your computer. If you are using a borrowed or public computer then you should write down the information. I will keep it on record, but having to ask will cause a delay.

Exam 1 info will be sent to all students who have checked in by the required date ( broadcast date of program 3). Subsequent exams will be sent only to those who have completed previous exams.

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Where do I find the lab exercises?

Labe exercises are online. You can access them from the labs page, where the due dates are shown for each lab.

Late labs will be accepted at the instructor's discretion at reduced grade.

Refer to these three sections in the syllabus for details about what should be submitted for the labs: online labs, LABS, and Laboratory Reports.

Labs 1, 3, 5, & 6 must be submitted and a grade for the quiz recorded. Anyone who does not will not get credit for the course.

Lab 1 has many options including field trips,virtual field trip, or astronomical observations. Some of these may require meaasurements at various times throughout the semester.

Any questions should be addressed before working on the lab exercise. It is highly recommended that you do not try to finsih a lab exercise in one session. Reading, thinking about the objective, and researching the techniques will be useful, just as you do not just take a vacation without knowing where you will go and how you will get there.

How do I submit the required materials for the labs?

Read this page about how to submit labs. Refer to these three sections in the syllabus for details about what should be submitted for the labs: online labs, LABS, and Laboratory Reports.

Be sure to read the document entitled "The Lab Report" before you submit your formal lab report for lab 1, (which you will notice is actually the last one due at the end of the term).

How should I identify documents and the subject of email messages?

We will be communicating quite a bit via email. In order for me to find, review and record your text and graphics we need to establish some kind of system for naming documents which you send to me.

Keep in mind that many students will be submitting material. I have to figure out what it is, and keep it on file, both to reply to it and to keep an archive copy of it.

An attachment that is titled "lab 2" makes it impossible to know whose it is without opening the document. There have been many cases where documents were submitted with no names at all.

I can usually figure it out, but ask yourself if you would rather I spend my time figuring out who submitted what, or communicating with students about the course material and guiding you through it. I don't have any clerical staff, and I receive on the order of 1000 documents submitted for assignment. In addition to that are another 500 to 600 emails with comments and discussions.

If all of them have the subject heading 'your mail' it will be nearly impossible to find a particular email.

If I have to change the title of attachments it takes time away from my involvement with YOU.

I you submit a program response that does not identify in the subject heading which program it is for it is virtually impossible for me to double check that they have all been recorded in the grade sheet.

If you convey some very important information about being ill, or leaving town (for example) in a message that has a subject heading 'program 4', I will probably never be able to find that message again.

It is no more trouble to send two messages than to combine two unrelated subjects in one message, but it is quite a bit more difficult to recall those messages from the computer storage when the content is different from the subject.

With all of that in mind:

Please include in the "subject" heading of the email document and the title of any attachment your last name and the assignment type and number. For example with attachments:

yourname.lab1

yourname.lab1.gif

yourname.les.1.3

yourname.exam1

For program responses your name is on the email (unless you send it from some strange email address that I don't have), but the subject should still be clear and easy to find.

Subject: Program 4

Subject: Lab 1 Report

Subject: Lab 2 assignment

This will really help. You do not have to do it exactly as I would, but each document should be easily identifiable: who submitted it, what is being submitted.

If submitting more than one assignment, include both in the subject, for example:

yourname.3.1.3 and 4.1.4

IMPORTANT

If you have a question, or something unrelated to the assignment, send a separate message. Do not "hide" something in an assignment assuming I will see it right away. Try as I might to stay current, I will not always get to grading assignments right away.

I will always give first priority to individual comments and questions. My primary function is to help you accomplish the learning objectives. The more time I spend being a document clerk the less time I have to do that.

How should I save and organize my computer files?

Create a file folder (directory) in your documents directory, Call it Science 122 or Sci122.

Create subdirectories (folders within that folder), one for responses, one for labs, one for email, and for anything else.

When you begin to work on a document save it with a name that is recognizable (see the comments about naming files above)

Save eveerything you are working on frequently. I routinely save a document whenever I pause.

Always save a copy of your work to disk before you send it. It can be a floppy disk or a hard drive. SAVE IT SOMEWHERE. Things have been known to get lost in the ether when being sent via email. If I don't get it and you don't have it then there's no credit for thework.

It doesn't happen often, but I have been known to misplace or misfile an electronic document, so I may have to humbly admit that and ask you to resubmit it.

I save all emails that I send and receive in a file under the student's name, but if those documents are not adequatelyl labelled (see note above) then it may be irretrievable. Information that is stored but unretrievable is no longer information!

How do I make the best use of the online materials?

Spend some time online with the web pages. Explore the links the way you would flip through the pages of a magazine. You will know what is there even if it is not of immediate interest.. Many students simply print out one web page and read it without exploring the links on that page while online.

You will miss a lot of material if you do that, especially with the labs where internal links often explain how to do measurements and calculations, or how to set up the experiment or draw a graph.

The web pages should be readable with any web browser. They have been tested with Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Mozilla, and Netscape, but the pages may look different depending on what software you are using to view them.

Most of the problems are due to settings that can be changed in 'preferences', or not having a necessary 'plug-in'. Some of these fixes may require more 'geekiness' than can be found in your household.

There are a lot of online resources, and technical help in the computer labs on all campuses. If you encounter a problem, ask me. I'm not an expert, but I've managed to learn enough to get by in designing and maintaing the Sci/Phys 122 website (which has about 3000 pages overall) as well as two other courses.

If I can't help I might be able to direct you to someone, or just tell you how to work aroundit.

In the preferences menu, set the font size to one you can read on screen, or use defaults.. All of the browsers allow you to change the size of the onscreen font, usually with the [command +] or [command -] keys.

You probably want to use a small screen font when printing. 9 point font is readable for most people (newspapers are typically 8 or 9 point)..

Let the browser use dynamic fonts, font colors, and backgrounds, all controllable from the preferences, which is somewhere in a pull-down menu in the menu bar.

If you do come across something on one of the course pages that does not open, is missing a graphic, or otherwise 'defective', send me an email with the URL of the web page that the link was on, and the name of the link.

If you don't know how to do this send me an email and I'll help as much as I can since part of the goal of this course is to increase everyone's agility and confidence with using the computer and its software.

How can students in the class get to know one another?

In the second week you will be sent a mailing list so that you will have the email address of everyone in the class, so why not get to know each other.

The mailing list can usually be copied directly into your email program.

Send a message to anyone or everyone. Say, "hi, I'm ______. Did you understand the part about Plato's cave?" or something like that

It is easy to send a message to everyone or anyone. Include me as a cc if you like, but you don't have to.

The important thing is for you to talk to one another, like you would in a classroom, or outside the classroom.

Messages do not have to be long and involved. In fact, part of the culture of email is to find short ways to say things.

If you want to post a photo of yourself, let me know and I'll set it up. I'll ask for photos later in the term after I've had a chance to get to know you without knowing.

You can include me in your dialogs or not. I'm interested in what you say to one another, and I can comment from time to time if you include me. If not, then OK. In either case talk to each other. I could ask on an exam for you to name two or three of your classmates. But then, I may not.

Use these if you like. It is a good way to leave messages, or to arrange online 'meetings of the mind'. You might find the chats especially useful when discussing a lab exercise. You can share your insights about the lab exercises with the rest of the class and also learn about the insights of others.

Shared learning is the way of the future, but always keep in mind that anything submitted for a grade must be your own work and not a collaborationl.

There is no competition with anyone else since the overall grades are not based on a competetive curve.

All Sci/Phys 122 course materials ©1996 - 2005 by RCBrill, with all legal and attendant rights reserved

Updated 08/18/05