Lisa's FAQ

Nothing's working right!

Make sure you are NOT using Internet Explorer as your browser. You must use Firefox to see the toolbar and copy-and-paste properly in Moodle. Chrome may also work. Also make sure that you don't have the pop-up blocker turned on.

Also, because it can't do Flash or older Quicktime files, you cannot work on this class using an iPad or iPhone.

How to I access Moodle for forums and exams?

You create an account at MiraCosta's Moodle, then use your section number as the enrollment code to enter your class.

Please see this tutorial for full instructions.

Do I have to print the workbook?

The documents workbook is required reading, and you will find it more convenient to print it, but I can't make you do it.

Where do I turn in the answers to the questions on the workbook documents?

Again, like the assignments, these are for your use -- they aren't turned in. Please use them to focus your document study.

What do I do if I find a broken link or something that doesn't work in a lecture?

Please please let me know in Messages so I can fix it. I have been known to offer extra credit for finding a good alternative link!

Is there a research paper in this class?

No.

What grade am I getting? How do I see the grades?

Log in to Moodle, and on the main page, in the Administration block, click on Grades. You will see listed scores for all assignments, even though Study Guides are not counted toward your total. Only those in the "graded" category are counted. At the bottom you'll see a number, a percentage and a letter in bold. This is your grade so far based on what has been done so far.

How are you doing the grades?

See the Grading tab in your class for all information about how grades are determined.

What is plagiarism and why do I get 0 points if I do it?

Plagiarism is "academic dishonesty", and it usually refers to the copying of someone else's words, phrasing or ideas without citing or referencing. It is against policy at all colleges and universities, because it amounts to intellectual theft, but my biggest concern is that plagiarism makes it impossible for me to see whether you know anything about the subject! If at any time any of your work is found to be plagiarized, all previous work will be reviewed and grades lowered accordingly.

To avoid plagiarism, do all your explanations in your own words. If you need to use a quotation or a bit of paraphrasing, cite it. It doesn't matter whether the source is Wikipedia, your textbook, my lecture, or a post from a colleague -- if it isn't your writing or a commonly known fact, it must be cited! The citation need not be formal -- for a secondary source, indicate author, title and date. Provide a link if it's an online source.

Example: "Abraham Lincoln was less interested in freeing slaves than he was in preserving the union." (Lane, Reconstruction lecture, Spring 2011).

For primary sources, follow this format.

I've posted the following on the Grading policies page:

Academic dishonesty can lead to F grades on quizzes, contribution assessments (as a result of plagiarism in discussion forums), and the final exam. If cheating or plagiarism is discovered at any time (and I'm very good at it), all of the student's previous work will be checked, and grades revised as determined by the instructor. Cheating includes copying phrasing or paraphrasing from the textbook, documents, or other course materials without quoting and/or citing the source. It also includes creating work together with another person (see Indiana University's plagiarism self-quiz). While you are welcome to study and talk together, all work you turn in or post must be your own, since all grades are individual. To protect yourself in an on-line environment, make sure that your quiz/test answers in no way resemble those of your colleagues.

DISCUSSION FORUMS

How often do I have to post in the forums?

Three times per week, once to post a primary source, once to post your thesis essay, and once to help someone.

When do I have to post?

The first post is always due by Wednesday midnight, the second by Sunday night.

How do I know what we're supposed to post?

We will be using the forums for creating collections of primary sources, then using them as a foundation for writing and commenting.

Each "Post sources and writing" forum has a prompt at the top - these have instructions in the first week. Each student posts a primary source for that week's era by Wednesday midnight. On Thursday or Friday morning, Lisa will post (titled "*Take discussion from here, please") with instructions on creating a thesis and mini-essay that uses the sources posted that week.

So each student posts twice a week: a primary source by Wednesday night, and a thesis/mini-essay using some of those sources by Sunday night.

But I lost my whole forum post!

At any time, there could be a power failure or your ISP could knock you off the internet. Always write anything extensive in a text program first, then copy-and-paste it into Moodle.

Why are we rating forum posts?

In some classes, you are asked to rate the discussion posts. This helps give the author an understanding of how the post is being perceived. It also gives me an understanding of how students are perceiving each other's work, and provides a sense of responsibility.

How are my forum posts graded?

Posts are not graded individually, but collectively, to allow maximum opportunity for practice and improvement. Discussion, posting, and writing is part of the Contribution Assessment, which happens twice, at mid-term and near the end of the semester. Each time, 10% of the grade is assigned, so participation in the course and in the forums especially is worth 20% of the grade.

The forum is a mess! How can I see things more easily?

At the top of each forum, there is a drop-down menu. I set the default at nested form, which I like because each reply is indented and you can see the whole discussion on one screen. If that's not for you, try one of the other views. For a Blackboard-style experience where you click separately on every post, try "Display replies in threaded form".

PRIMARY SOURCES

How do I add an image, video clip, or link to a website to my forum post?

See these instructions:
Add an image
Add a video clip
Add a link to a website (or here's a quick video tutorial on adding a link)

The instructor says to use "primary sources". What is a primary source?

A primary source was created during the time period we're studying. An example would be a letter, diary, artwork or document produced during that era. A secondary source is something about that time, but created later. Examples of primary sources might be a book by Mark Twain, a political cartoon from the 19th century, or an ancient Greek statue. Examples of secondary sources might include your textbook, Wikipedia, or a website about Mark Twain.

There's one more complication! A clip from a film made during the 1930s would be a primary source if we were studying the 1930s. But if that 1930s film were about something that happened in 1870, that same film would be a secondary source if we were studying the 1870s.

How can I find good primary sources, with good citations?

Most students start with an image search, or look at websites about a particular era. But often, people who use images on websites do not cite author/artist, title, and date. What to do?

There are two options. The first is to use Advanced Search to limit the results to particular domains, such as .edu, that are more likely to cite sources than a blog or fan page. In Google, you can add site:.edu to your search, or use Advanced Search.

Another option is a reverse image search. Sites like TinEye.com let you search for an image by the appearance of that image, showing you other sites where that image may appear. This lets you track it down to a museum or university that might cite the source properly.

Where you start the search can have an impact too. Google Images will take you longer to track something down than using museum collections, university pages, and historical sites. I am starting a collection of these at Diigo, using the class name as a tag. I've tagge them for History 104, History 105, and History 111. I've just started these, so please add your own by using Diigo to collect bookmarks, and using the tags hist104resources, hist105resources, and hist111resources, so we can all see them.

Do I have to use only the sources posted in the forum?

No. You should use at least one, two if you can, of the sources posted by yourself or your colleagues. Remember, you control what's on the board, and can always add another source yourself! If you need a third source for a thesis or test question, you may add one from anywhere you wish, so long as you cite it properly.

SYNCHRONOUS SESSIONS AND OFFICE HOURS

Am I required to attend synchronous sessions?

Some classes may have real-time, or synchronous, sessions. You are not required to attend at the time the meeting takes place, but if you aren't there you will need to view the recording.

How do I chat with Lisa in real time?

I am available online through Google chat at various times throughout the day. A chat button will be available on the class webpage for anonymous chat, and the green light will be on if I'm available. I am also at Skype with the name lisalanesoffice.

LECTURE/TEXTBOOK QUIZZES

What are the lecture/textbook quizzes like?

All quizzes that check comprehension of lecture, documents, and/or textbook reading are multiple-choice. The questions are randomly selected from a bank of questions.

I missed the 5 pm quiz deadline! Can I take the quiz late?

Once the deadline has passed and a quiz is closed, you need a password. A quiz may be taken up to one week late for partial credit, but only after using Messages in Facebook or email to request the password. Some classes may have an amnesty day late in the semester, to do a missed quiz, again only for partial credit.

Are quizzes timed?

No, quizzes are not timed, BUT your ISP may close your internet connection if you leave your quiz open too long! Many ISPs break the connection after 30 minutes of "inactivity".

I tried to take a quiz and it says I need a password.

You must be taking it late, because I passcode the quiz after the deadline. Message me to get the password for taking the quiz up to one week late.

Can I use my textbook and open other windows to view lectures during a quiz?

Yes, but be careful. If you have to log in again in a tab or new window, you may log yourself out of the quiz and lose what you've done. A better solution is to open the lecture in a different browser.

How come I can't see my grade/comments/feedback on a quiz?

To see your quiz after grading is completed, go to Grades, then click on the link for the quiz. To the right, in blue, you should see your score. Click on that score to see the whole quiz, with answers, comments and feedback.

If you still can't see anything, the instructor may not have released the grades yet, or may not have changed a setting that needs to be changed, so Message the instructor and ask.

Another reason could be that you didn't actually submit the quiz. It is common for students to save, but not actually click the "Submit all and finish" button. The instructor can't grade a quiz that isn't submitted. Message the instructor for the password to submit the quiz, but be sure it's not more than a week after it was due.

When I look at my quiz, it says I got x points out of x, but my grade says I only got x points. What's up?

Quizzes are worth a certain number of points, but that isn't the same number as the total number of questions. For example, you may have 10 questions, but the quiz is only worth 3 points for the class.

How do I view my old quizzes?

Again, click on Grades from the box, then "graded". You can then select the quiz itself to view the whole quiz, so long as it has been graded and released to all.

ESSAY EXAMS

What is the format for these essays?

Essay Exam #1: A five-paragraph interpretive essay with three primary sources supporting a thesis focused on one era.

Essay Exam #2: A five-paragraph interpretive essay with six primary sources supporting a thesis either focused on one era or comparing eras or topics.

Essay Exam #3: A five-paragraph thematic essay with nine primary sources, three in each body paragraph, each paragraph designed around a topical subject, supporting a theme.

Please see Our Learning Scheme for an explanation of interpretaive and thematic essays.

Each body paragraph needs to begin with a topic sentence that proves the thesis. Each paragraph then needs to contain primary source evidence, cited properly, to prove the topic sentence and thus support the thesis. So the format is:

Example of interpretive essays, written by students in Spring 2011.

Example of theme essay, written by a student in Spring 2011.

How will the essay exams be graded?

All essays will be graded on the level of achievement of:
1. interpretive thesis (an assertion with a point of view, not a statement of fact)
2. use of college-level English to clearly express ideas
3. three body paragraphs, each with a topic sentence, explaining how the sources connect to the ideas of the paragraph and essay
4. use of at least one primary source to support the topic of each paragraph and the thesis as a whole
5. sources correctly cited with author/artist, title, date, and active link
6. demonstrates an understanding of the era

How should we peer-rate essays in the forums?

Here is the menu for ratings:

How do I use and cite primary sources in a quiz essay?

Primary sources need to be examples of points you make in your essay, so they need to be mentioned within your paragraphs. Some examples:

This war resulted in injuries that made it difficult for soldiers to resume their former lives. Jim posted an image of soldiers during the American Civil War sitting with their crutches outside the hospital (Matthew Brady, May 1864, from http://www.nyduvcw.org/tents/Oneida.html). These men often lost the use of limbs, or the limbs themselves, making it difficult to return to farming or manual labor.

Most primary sources for this class will come from either the documents workbook or the web via the discussion forums.

For sources from the documents workbook, use this form:

(name of artist/photographer/writer, name of source, date, Lane's 111 Documents Workbook)

For sources from the internet, as used in the discussion forums or elsewhere:

(name of artist/photographer/writer, name of source, date, website retrieved from)

How do I find primary sources from the forums during an exam?

You can open another window or tab and navigate to forums individually any time. You can also use the Search Forums box on the main page.

Why should I write my essay questions in a separate program?

If your ISP kicks you off the internet, or there's a power outage, or you get accidentally logged off of Moodle, you'll lose your work. Always create text in a text program, then copy-and-paste.

How do I copy, paste and format my quiz essay?

On Windows, it's control-C to copy, then control-V to paste. On Mac, it's -c and -v.

Most formatting will be lost when you paste from another program. Please use the toolbar to bold your thesis and italicize your sources. If you can't see the toolbar or formatting isn't working, see this FAQ item.

THE CONTRIBUTION ASSESSMENTS

What is the Contribution Assessment? is it a quiz?

The Contribution Assessment occurs twice, one around the middle of the term and once near the end. Each Contribution Assessment is worth 10 points (10% of your grade), just like a quiz. The difference is that it is based on a self-assessment of your contribution to the class according to the grading rubric. This is where points are assigned for the discussion forum evidence and theses each week. You can click on the Contribution Assessment link to read the instructions, and open it as many times as you need to.

E-MAILS

Why am I getting a zillion emails?

The default is that when you post to a forum, you are automatically "subscribed", and it sends you emails from that forum. To stop it, go to Profile, click "Show Advanced" (if needed) and change the setting "Forum auto-subscribe" to "No". The only forum everyone is forced to subscribe to is "Latest News", my announcements.

Sometimes the system keeps sending you emails from the forums even though you've turned this setting off. When you go into a forum, check the upper right-hand corner of the discussion page. I have set all discussions so that you have a choice about whether to subscribe. If it has the option "Unsubscribe to this forum", click that link.

Can I email you?

I much prefer that currently enrolled students use Messages from inside Facebook. It keeps a better record, and the email won't get lost in all my MCC business email. But yes, email me at llane@miracosta.edu.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

I pasted from Word and my test or post shows all this gobbedly-gook before what I wrote.

Microsoft products do not play well with others. In tests and forums, pasting from Word shows all your formatting code. There are a couple of things you can do:

1. In Word, save as .rtf or plain text instead of .doc or .docx, then paste the text.
2. Don't use Word -- use Notepad or something very simple.

(There is a "Word cleanup" button, but it doesn't work as well as the solutions suggested above.)

For discussion forums, you can post, then go back to your post and click "Edit", and get rid of the extra code.

Why can't I bold anything or even see the toolbar?

First, if you're copying and pasting from Word, it doesn't carry over the formatting. You need to use the HTML Editor toolbar to format text.

You should have these editor buttons visible for every forum post or essay question. They don't show in Safari, only Firefox. The Editor looks like this:

If you still don't see it, go to your Profile, click Edit Profile and make sure you have the HTML editor enabled:

For more information and a video demonstration, see this screencast.

I can't hear the audio or see the video.

Make sure you have Quicktime properly installed from inside Firefox.

I went to a link in the class, but it says 404 or the page isn't there.

That happens! Let me know in Facebook or in the Help! forum so we all know a link isn't working. If you'd like a bit of extra credit, find and suggest a page that can take its place!

"Sorry, but your IP number seems to have changed from when you first logged in. This security feature prevents crackers stealing your identity while logged in to this site. Normal users should not be seeing this message - please ask the site administrator for help."

This is the big reason to always do your writing first in an outside program. If a second window is opened, or you access your account elsewhere without logging out of it where you first logged in, you will get this bizarre message. It means Moodle thinks you're logging in from two different places. Log out and log in again.

I can't see the toolbar

See "Why can't I bold anything?" above.

My image is WAY too big

Sometimes the image you want to use is huge. You can use TinEye.com to find a smaller version, and/or you can shrink it down manually using Edit. First post your image. Then go back quickly and use Edit. Use scrollbars to reach the lower right corner of your image, and drag the square inward. Keep doing this as many times and necessary till it's the right size. This only works in Firefox.

I keep trying to post and I'm getting an "incorrect sessionkey" error.

If you log in and go to the forum to post, then open a new window or tab and go to Moodle to log in again, Moodle logs you out of the first window, ending that session.

What do I do if I have a big hairy technical problem?

Contact me in Facebook Messages (or email if you can't do Messages). MCC's helpdesk does not assist with my classes except to help with passwords in Moodle.

Where's your office?

My office is in room 605 at the San Elijo campus. I'm there Mondays and Wednesdays.

How do I know when you're online?

Chat with Lisa A green light means I'm available for chat.

You can tell here or on the front page of any of my classes.