Welcome to our WRI 116: Writing in the Natural Sciences site, serving as our online classroom this fall 2010 semester.
You are probably wondering how you “attend” online class. You are expected to spend 1 hour doing class activities online each week, and keep in mind that this is in addition to the 2 hours of prep work for each hour of class. There are three important things to remember each time you attend class online. (1) Deadlines are very important; please note your assignments will be due in two parts with two due times: initial writing (6pm) and discussion response (7pm). Every online post is time-stamped and no late assignments can be accepted. (2) You need to read and respond substantively to online class discussion forums. The main way that you demonstrate attendance in an online class is to make posts and interact with your classmates online in the appropriate forums. A substantive posting or comment will typically be around 100-200 words. (3) Lastly, online participation is a professional, academic forum. You must be participating in the right amounts and ways so that your contributions to online discussions are building on what has already been said and contributing something new to the discussion. It is not enough to say “I agree” or “I do not think that is true”. You need to use the conventions of written English (including spell checking), a respectful tone, and be specific and substantive in your posts. The quality of your online participation, then, is just as important as the number of posts you make.
Any further questions? Feel free to attend my office hours in COB 396-5 on Tuesdays/Thursdays from 3-4pm (or by appointment). You can reach me by email at nvaldez@ucmerced.edu. I look forward to working with you on these online activities!
