This workshop is to orient you to the courses policies and procedures. Think of it as the instruction manual for the course. After completing this workshop, you need to go to the course D2L site to take the Course Orientation Workshop quiz. This quiz is for extra credit and also familiarizes you with the D2L assessment system and the way I design quizzes. As with all quizzes, you may refer to this workshop as you take the quiz – although like all quizzes it is timed.

Directions:

This workshop consists of a self-paced slide show. The slides are available in Keynote and PDFs (PDFs are accessible for screen readers). These slides are plain and designed to download fast and simply provide you with information you need for this course.

Once you have looked over these slides,go to D2L to take the extra credit Orientation Workshop quiz.

Quick Reference Guide for the Course: Comm_151i_QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE.doc

Keynote:Orientation Workshop 151i.key

PDF:Orientation Workshop 151i.pdf

Advice from former Students

Each term students are asked to give advice for those coming into this course. Here is a selection of that peer advice:

Don’t let the use of half online consume you and allow you to procrastinate, get things done early, to get the feedback, also take full advantage of all the extra credit that is given to you because it can help out, a lot!

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE. These projects require boatloads of time and the cooperation of others and waiting will just stress you out even more. And also, use Ted as a resource, don’t be afraid to email or ask questions because its better to have a clear understanding of what the requirements are.

This class is very challenging and a lot of work.  However, you will get through it and at the end of the semester you will feel like you accomplished something big.  Do not wait until the last minute to do work because there is a lot of work to do.  Make sure you do all of the work and take advantage of the extra credit opportunities because there are a lot and they are helpful.  Overall, this is a good class and you will learn a lot.

Follow all the instructions on every assignment, workshop and discussion. I missed needless points throughout the semester that added up fast. Ted gives lots of good details on how to do things, so do them that way. 

The staggered timeline and due dates for different assignments can be overwhelming in the beginning, but quite beneficial to the students who procrastinate. Despite Ted explaining the system to us several times for the first few weeks, many students still had difficulty getting it down. But definitely seek help and advice from Ted. He is open to email questions, as well as office time. 

Make sure you plan out the entire syllabus and you have each time and date down in order to not miss points. I believe it is important to understand that the proposal and literature review in each project is very important and sticking to the schedule that you plan is the key!

Think You're An Auditory Or Visual Learner? Scientists Say It's Unlikely

by Patti Neighmond
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/08/29/139973743/think-youre-an-auditory-or-visual-learner-scientists-say-its-unlikely

We've all heard the theory that some students are visual learners, while others are auditory learners. And still other kids learn best when lessons involve movement.

But should teachers target instruction based on perceptions of students' strengths? Several psychologists say education could use some "evidence-based" teaching techniques, not unlike the way doctors try to use "evidence-based medicine."

Psychologist Dan Willingham at the University of Virginia, who studies how our brains learn, says teachers should not tailor instruction to different kinds of learners. He says we're on more equal footing than we may think when it comes to how our brains learn. And it's a mistake to assume students will respond and remember information better depending on how it's presented.

For example, if a teacher believes a student to be a visual learner, he or she might introduce the concept of addition using pictures or groups of objects, assuming that child will learn better with the pictures than by simply "listening" to a lesson about addition.

In fact, an entire industry has sprouted based on learning styles. There are workshops for teachers, products targeted at different learning styles and some schools that even evaluate students based on this theory.

This prompted Doug Rohrer, a psychologist at the University of South Florida, to look more closely at the learning style theory.

When he reviewed studies of learning styles, he found no scientific evidence backing up the idea. "We have not found evidence from a randomized control trial supporting any of these," he says, "and until such evidence exists, we don't recommend that they be used."

Willingham suggests it might be more useful to figure out similarities in how our brains learn, rather than differences. And, in that case, he says, there's a lot of common ground. For example, variety. "Mixing things up is something we know is scientifically supported as something that boosts attention," he says, adding that studies show that when students pay closer attention, they learn better.

And recent studies find that our brains retain information better when we spread learning over a longer period of time, say months or even a year, versus cramming it into a few days or weeks. Rohrer and colleagues nationwide are currently researching what teaching methods work best for all students, but only using the evidence.