On-Line Physical Science at
This is an on-line version of the
PHSC V01 Concepts in Physical Science
It has the same pre-requisites and fulfills the same transfer credits as a campus-based course, but the on-line version is organized in a totally different way to allow students more flexibility. It uses the Desire to Learn (D2L) System - anyone unfamiliar with this system should contact the Distance Ed, coordinator at Ventura College (or the course instructor).
Orientation: A short orientation will be held on the first day of the semester- see below for time. It is important to show up for this preliminary meeting.
Laboratories:
This is a laboratory science course and articulates to 4-year institutions as such. You will complete laboratory exercises both at home and at Ventura College.
So while there are no regularly scheduled class lectures you will be required to attend Ventura College for the laboratory sessions on five evenings throughout the semester. These lab. sessions together with the Home Experiments make sure that we satisfy the articulation and transfer requirements of a lab.course to Cal. State and other institutions.
Home experiments: At the orientation you will be given an outline of the labs. at VC and the Home Experiments (HE's) To complete the HE's you will be required to furnish a few simple 'everyday' household items. Later in the semester, any non-standard items will be provided for you on a loan basis. These items MUST be returned to VC before the end of the semester for you to receive your course grade!
Home Experiment write-ups must be submitted periodically to your lab. instructor (at the evening lab. sessions) according to the posted schedule. These simple experiments have been designed to be carried out without instructor supervision but you will have access to help via email at any time throughout the semester.
Full details and information about how to carry out the experiments are contained in a folder on the course website.
* Grades for these Home Experiments will count 20% toward your overall course grade.
VC Laboratories: You will also be required to
participate in the
five (Thursday) evening lab sessions at
* Grades for these lab. activities will count 20% toward of your course grade.
Course Organization
The course uses D2L for its organization and management. Within the website you will be able to exchange emails with the instructor and participate in class discussions with both the instructor and other students. The website contains a Schedule of events for the semester and other information that will help and guide you though the course material. The course Homepage shows all the course 'Modules' - click the + sign to expand each of these.
Login Procedure
Login to the course website via my.vcccd
Text Book
Most, if not all, published texts are unsuitable for distance learning. So a text has been designed and produced specifically for this online course. To assist in your learning from a text, we have made extensive use of color in both the written text and the (very many) diagrams. Such an approach would be prohibitively expensive in a printed book. So to minimize costs to the student the book is available only on CD and should be purchased online from the publisher (see below).
The first 3 chapters of the book are available on the D2L course website so you will have a chance to work with the course material before making a CD purchase. But you must order your CD during the second week of the semester to make sure you get it in time to start chapter 4! It takes at least 5 business days to arrive after ordering.
Since no refund for this purchase is available from the publisher, before ordering make sure that this is the course you wish to take!
Details for purchase:
Go to www.lulu.com/content/1404271
Title: Concepts in Physical Science Author: C. Terry
The cost is about $25 plus shipping. Credit card or PayPal are OK.
You can screen-read and/or print chapters as you progress through the course. There are NO other expenses for this course.
Manuals for the labs at VC will be provided for you at the lab sessions.. Full details of the Home Experiments are available in the course website.
Homework and Other Assignments:
Each chapter in the text (CD) has a set of homework questions. Course credit will be given for completed end-of-chapter questions. Answers to homework questions must be submitted to the 'Assignments' by the cut-off dates (posted in the schedule) to receive credit.
* Homework will count for 10% of your overall course grade.
Tests and Examinations:
On-line Exams: Six online exams, each consisting of up to 20 multiple choice questions will be given at regular intervals. A strict time limit will be imposed for each exam.
* Online exams will count for 50% of your overall course grade
Overall Course Grades:
> 85% A ; 75-85% B ; 65-75% C ; 55-65% D ; < 55% F
Some Important Dates
Orientation: Monday August 16, 6:00-7:00 pm Sci 118
Evening Labs at Ventura College Sci 114 7:00 pm to 9:50 pm - Sept 9, Sept 30, Oct 21, Nov 11, Dec 2.
You MUST be able to attend on ALL of these dates - there are no make-up labs.
On-Line Exams:
These will be open for an 10- hour time period 12 noon to 10 pm - you MUST be able to login during this time period on the following dates:
Sept 12, Oct 3, Oct 24, Nov 14, Dec 5, Dec 15.
An Important Note:
There will be no alternative labs or exams. So you must be available on all the dates above throughout the semester.
For any other information contact the instructor, Dr. C. Terry at cterry@vcccd.edu