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How This Course Works There are 3 components to this course: You'll be using all 3 of these interchangeably.
It's a good idea to print a hardcopy of the syllabus, although
I advise you to bookmark (favorites) the online syllabus (http://www.sonoma.edu/users/n/nolan/n400/syllabus.htm)
so that you can refer to it often and quickly. You'll also want
to bookmark the WebCT page for this course: Nurs 400A:
http://webct.sonoma.edu:8900/SCRIPT/Nurs400A/scripts/serve_home
or Nurs 400B:
http://webct.sonoma.edu:8900/SCRIPT/Nurs400B/scripts/serve_home Pay attention to Email
in WebCT. That's where I'll make important announcements for
the entire class to read. Do read them! The course is organized to follow
the 6 Parts in the primary text (Polit, Beck & Hungler,
Essentials of Nursing Research, 5th edition).
It takes 2 weeks to complete each Part. During the first week of each Part,
there are 3 things to do: If
studying isn't your "thing" or you if need
to refresh your study skills, take a look
at Effective
Study Skills. During the second week of each Part,
there are 2 things to do: Begin the course
by carefully reading the Orientation.
Note that there are some
things to do in the Orientation. Plan ahead. There is a group
project to be completed in Part
6 towards the end of the course. You will need to begin planning
for the project in Part 2. You'll be working on this project
at the same time that you'll be completing Parts 3, 4 and 5. Plan
to spend about 12 hours a week on this course. You'll
need to carefully manage your time in order to keep up with
the schedule of activities. Refer to the learning
activities ("LA") page for a complete
schedule of dates, and mark your personal calendars accordingly.
There's a heavy penalty for not posting on time because everyone
loses out on your contribution. Don't get behind or you will
feel like this. There is a high, positive correlation between
good grades and active, thoughtful participation in the discussions
in this course.
Expectations: It's possible--in
fact likely--that you won't get a response to everything
you post. This is especially true when it comes to instructor
response. Participants are sometimes dismayed when they
don't get a nod from an instructor about something they
posted. In a course such as ours that is based on collaborative
learning, we expect that people will be giving and receiving
feedback to and from each other, as well as from an instructor.
The truth is that there is simply too much volume in the
discussion forums for an instructor to comment on everything
that a student posts. However, participants will be receiving
(in private email) a periodic comment and/or grade from
the instructor about progress in the course so that you
will know how you are doing long before the end of the
course. Lest you think we're being
too hard on you, click here
to see what Bill Gates has to say! :-) |