This is a general guidance of communication for your course study. You can contact your instructor through Canvas by using discussions, emails, forums, phone calls, or Contact the College for any help needed. For technical support, contact here.
For any ONLINE courses, significant responsibility falls on you, the student, to keep up with the work and not fall behind. As you can expect, we will use the Canvas course for all aspects of this course. Students are expected to check the Canvas Class regularly for:
- General Course Announcements & Assignment Updates
- Assignment Submission and Grades
- Discussion Boards
- Course Calendar
Any updates to the assignment syllabus will be posted in the Canvas course. Therefore, if there is a difference between the assignment syllabus and the course web site, information from the Canvas course should be used. To ensure you receive the maximum credit for your work, follow any templates or guidelines that are provided.
Getting Help in this Course
Questions concerning the content of a course or projects should, as a rule, be directed to the appropriate course discussion forum. This allows your question to be answered by whoever is monitoring the discussion forum, and the answer can benefit all class members.
Weekly Assignments and Course Organization
Each week begins on Monday and ends on the following Sunday. In general, all assignments and discussions posts are due on a Sunday (at midnight PST). Here is a brief summary of the activities we will have each week:
- Readings the course textbook and articles.
- Online meeting or lectures.
- Assignment of self-reflection.
- Assignment of discussions – post your discussion and respond for at least three posts of other students in each week.
Reading Assignments (not graded)
Reading assignments should be completed as early in the week as possible. Reading the assigned pages in the textbook or articles gives you an idea of the concepts that are the focus for the week. Each of the other assignments during the week help to explain the concepts in greater depth and give you experience applying them to actual problems. Therefore, since the readings are fundamental to activities for the week, they should be completed first.
In addition to the given readings, there will occasionally be videos or slides that outline or expand on key concepts for the week. Reading or reviewing these can help you to understand and organize the material better.
Online Meeting or Lecture (graded)
The online meetings or lectures for this course provide a space for students to ask questions, discuss and experience in the way of group learning, so as to help them master the learning content of each section more comprehensively.
For this course to be successful, you must engage in the material by doing the readings ahead of time, and then by participating in online discussions. You will be expected to actively participate by asking questions, joining in our discussions, etc. Note that a significant portion of your grade is attributed to class participation.
Weekly Assignment: Topic Discussions (graded)
Because this is an online course, the weekly topic discussions will form an integral part of your grade. To receive full credit for this assignment, you need to post your viewpoints and respond to at least three classmates’ posts.
Your posts should demonstrate you understand the materials assigned. Your responses might integrate multiple views and/or motivate other students to respond. You should provide evidence that you are reading the assigned materials and other students’ postings and bring out interesting interpretations. Don’t just demonstrate that you know the facts but show that you are able to analyze them and handle conceptual ideas. Posts that only state, “I agree” or “That is an interesting idea” are OK in the forum, but they will not receive credit. Feel free to contribute from your personal experiences or your own research or interests.
Each week you need to make your post to the discussion forums by Sunday, midnight. Posts will not be accepted for grading after the week for the discussion has passed. You can post more than one time in each forum if you have additional comments to make on the topic.
Weekly Assignment: Self-reflection (graded)
There will be a self-reflective practice and sharing as another weekly assignment in this course. Students are to submit their self reflective journal on time. Personal practice will be arranged according to different learning topics every week. The ways of the practices may include but are not limited to meditation and various creative expressions. After the practice, students will record and reflect his or her experiences in a journal and share it on the forum. Similarly, each student should respond to at least three other people’s posts.
Q & A Discussion Forums (not graded)
Help forums in this course can be a valuable resource. As a student, there are many times that discussion forums can give you information or insight to quickly solve problems you have run into (and ways to avoid problems in the future). Each of the assignments has a discussion forum for problems, issues and advice.
When you are stuck on an assignment or consistently run into the same problem, first check that project’s forum to see if someone else had the same problem. If not, post your comment or problem description there. Use descriptive titles for your posts so that other students know what the post is about. Titles such as “I have a problem” are not acceptable. If you have solved a problem that you see someone else struggling with, feel free to post advice on how to work through the problem, but do not post assignment solutions! I will be monitoring the discussions to ensure that this rule is followed.
Late Policy
If you are going to be late with an assignment, please notify the instructor prior to the assignment due date. Exceptions to due dates can be made per instructor approval before the posted due date.
Class Participation
Students are expected to participate in all activities as listed on the course calendar.
Build Rapport
If you find that you have any trouble keeping up with assignments or other aspects of the course, make sure you let your instructor know as early as possible. As you will find, building rapport and effective relationships are key to becoming an effective professional. Make sure that you are proactive in informing your instructor when difficulties arise during the quarter so that we can help you find a solution.
Viewing Grades in Canvas
Points you receive for graded activities will be posted to the Canvas Grade Book. Click on the “Grades” link on the left navigation to view your points.
Your instructor will update the online grades each time a grading session has been completed, typically 7 days following the completion of an activity. You will see an announcement of new grades posted on your Canvas class home page.
Complete Assignments
All assignments for this course will be submitted electronically through Canvas unless otherwise instructed. Assignments must be submitted by the given deadline or special permission must be requested from instructor before the due date. Extensions will not be given beyond the next assignment except under extreme circumstances. All discussion assignments must be completed by the assignment due date and time. Late or missing discussion assignments will affect the student’s grade.
Understand When You May Drop This Course
It is the student’s responsibility to understand when they need to consider disenrolling from a course. Refer to the Course Schedule for dates and deadlines for registration. After this period, a serious and compelling reason is required to drop from the course. Serious and compelling reasons includes: (1) documented and significant change in work hours, leaving student unable to attend class, or (2) documented and severe physical/mental illness/injury to the student or student’s family.
Incomplete Policy
Under emergency/special circumstances, students may petition for an incomplete grade. An incomplete will only be assigned when a valid reason is presented and communicated to the instructor before the class ends. All incomplete course assignments must be completed within one quarter after the class ends.
Inform Your Instructor of Any Accommodations Needed
If you have a documented disability and verification from the Office of Student Affairs and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact your instructor as soon as possible. It is the student’s responsibility to provide documentation of disability to the Student Affairs Office and meet with a counselor to request special accommodation before classes start.