Web page
for CCSF Astronomy 1 Online, Spring 2009
If you ever tried to send me
messages to cbryja@ccsf.edu, I might not
have received them. That address tends
to fill with spam, and it often freezes up when it gets overfull. If you have any questions about this course,
please e-mail me at claia@phch.org instead.
I do not require students to
check in when they register, so please don’t send me e-mail unless you have a
question that needs answering. Also, once you gain access to the course, please
only use the internal WebCT e-mail to contact me.
The textbook for the course
is the 4th edition
of “The Essential Cosmic Perspective” (not the full length
version that lacks the word “essential” in the title, and not any of the three
earlier editions of the same name), by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit (ISBN #0-8053-4792-5).
The CCSF bookstore is selling copies that are packaged with the extra
“Mastering Astronomy” tutorial DVD, but I am not requiring that you buy
that. While I highly recommend the
“Mastering Astronomy” package, and while I believe that it is worth the extra
cost, students with a limited budget may wish to order the textbook online with
that extra package.
Important Notice: This course requires a mid-term exam and a final
exam that must be taken in person at the CCSF main campus. (Multiple times for taking these exams will
be offered, so personal scheduling is not likely to be a concern.) Please
do not enroll in this course if you cannot attend these exams in the months of
March and May.
I have required an in-person orientation in the past,
and I believe it was very helpful to have one; but, as the number of online
classes at CCSF continues to grow, there has gotten to be less and less
available computer lab space for holding orientations. Because of this, in the Spring
2008 semester, I let everyone into the course without meeting them first or
holding any orientation at all (beyond information that I fed them as they
logged in on their own). For the most
part, that worked fine; but students who were new to online courses did
experience some problems. Students with
prior online course experience at CCSF do not need much orientation, but I was
concerned about students who are not familiar with WebCT.
Last semester (Fall 2008), I arranged for one optional orientation, which I believe
was helpful to the few students who attended.
I hope to do that again, but I have not arranged the date and time.
As soon as
the new semester starts, no earlier than Monday, January 12th, you
may begin the course on your own,
regardless of whether you plan to attend the optional orientation.
To access the class from the WebCT server, point your browser to http://online.ccsf.edu which will prompt you for a
login and password.
If you are new to WebCT, your login will be the same as your CCSF student ID
number (case matters-- the first letter must be capitalized), and your password
will be set to "changeme" (all lower case
letters). Once this is entered, you will
be prompted to change your password to something uniquely your own. Meanwhile, if you have taken online classes
at CCSF before, then your login and password will still be the same as they
were before.
The
first character of your student ID number can only be one of W, @, D, or
C. If it begins with an @ symbol, then
you must replace that symbol with an X when you enter your student ID as a
login. Students who do not know their ID
number can find it by going to www.ccsf.edu/w4 Login to "Secure Area". Use your
Social Security # for a login, while your password there will be your 6-digit
birthday (e.g., 071568 for July 15, 1968).
Select the term. The screen will open and show your CCSF student ID
number.
Once you have logged in successfully,
you should see a list of CCSF online courses for which you are enrolled. Cosmic Evolution (ASTR1CB), should be one of
those courses. Clicking on the name of
the class should take you directly to the homepage where you will find
additional instructions.
If you are
on the official class wait list, please be patient. I will add you
if space becomes available, and I will send you a personal e-mail in that case
(which will include an add code).
However, even though the chances
are excellent that all wait listed students will make it into this course, you cannot count on space opening up. Please consider other courses to fill your
schedule.
I look forward to meeting everyone-- either on line or
in person-- as this course takes off!
Sincerely,
Claia (rhymes with
"hi ya!") Bryja (pronouncing
the “y” like a long-I the same as the “ai” diphthong
in my first name, and pronouncing the "j" in the usual English way)
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Here is a
link to a great resource of other links to anything and everything you can
think of about astronomy. I encourage
you to browse.
Finally,
here’s my favorite webpage of all: