Web page for CCSF Astronomy 17 Online, Spring 2020

If you are seeing a lot of annoying markings on this web page (empty boxes, or black diamonds containing question marks), you may go to the “view” menu of your browser, select “character/text encoding,” and then chose “Western (Windows)” and this page miraculously will look nice and neat. If you do not have “Western (Windows)” as an option, any other “Western” setting will be much better than the default “Unicode” (although I recommend switching back to “Unicode” after leaving this page-- since leaving it at a “Western” setting supposedly weakens the security of your browser).

If you ever tried to send me messages to cbryja@ccsf.edu, I am unlikely to have read them. That address tends to fill with spam, and it freezes up when it gets overfull. If you have any questions about this course, please e-mail me at claia.bryja@mail.ccsf.edu 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. I know there will be a lot of questions during the first few days.

Important Notice: This course requires a mid-term exam and a final exam, both of which must be taken in person at the CCSF main campus. (At least two different times for taking these exams will be offered, so personal scheduling is not likely to be a concern as long as you are in the Bay Area during the mid-term and finals weeks. I also am able to offer alternative options in Sacramento to a small number of students.) Please do not enroll in this course if you cannot attend exams in late-March and late-May.

Due to a CRN mixup discovered only after the semester had begun, this online ASTR-17 course was entered into the registration system as part of the regular Spring 2020 semester of classes, so it is NOT set to follow the late-start City Online schedule.

At this late stage, there does not appear to be any way to change this situation.

This means that some of you have enrolled in ASTR-17 with the expectation of starting this week, while some of you have enrolled with the expectation that your first day of class would be Monday, Jan. 27th.

On Thursday, Jan. 16^th, I will open the course on Canvas, setting a schedule for an earlier start-- but still allowing students to begin later and to work at a slightly faster pace after starting (which was the original plan).

The only significant concern with this solution is that students who had been planning for a later start will need to make add/drop decisions according to the earlier timeline.  I will try my best to find some way around this; but, for now, if you are intending to begin the course late, please immediately take a very careful look at the policies and expectations when you can access the course tomorrow on Canvas.

Attending an on-campus orientation is optional but highly recommended. Simply joining the class without any orientation is okay, but a majority of students do experience problems or suffer confusion (especially regarding the course structure and expectations) that an in-person orientation would reduce. I will announce when and where you may attend one of my optional orientations as soon as the course starts.

Every semester has at least a few students who, as a consequence of skipping the orientation, miss some very significant part or aspect of the class. These students usually drop when finally, months later, they realize their mistake. Most of what I say at the orientation will be repeated in online text-based announcements, but it’s much more effective to hear it from me personally.

The textbook for the course will be the new 9^th edition of “The Cosmic Perspective: The Solar System” by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit. -- not any of the shortened versions (in particular, be careful NOT to buy “The Essential Cosmic Perspective” title by the same authors).

If you are waitlisted: NEW SYSTEM STARTING IN 2020

• Be sure to re-check your status every few days to see if you are still on the wait list, and check your CCSF email for notices. During the break between semesters, waitlisted students are notified by email when an opening appears and it becomes their turn to accept or reject the offer to register within a specified time limit. Then, right before midnight Sunday night, January 26^th, the waitlist is closed and all remaining waitlisted students are transferred to a “Class Authorization” list. From that list, instructors will be able to click on a button to notify students when they are authorized to add. This sends an email to the student inviting them to join, with instructions for how to do so, again within a specified time limit.
• Although the enrollment cap for this course is 59 students, my experience from past semesters is that many students will either fail to appear or will drop during the first two weeks. In many years of teaching online, I nearly always have had enough spaces open up to accommodate any student who waits patiently. Unfortunately, you must wait your turn for an actual opening before I can allow you to register.

Again, late adders must wait their turn to receive an authorization notice and will need to check their email inboxes regularly.  When you receive my authorization, you will have 48 hours to use the code to register for the course through Web4.  Within hours of registering, you should be able access the class on Canvas.  However, if the class remains full or nearly full, I may choose to un-enroll any late adding student who takes more than three days to log in to the course from the day that they register.

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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Finally, here’s my favorite webpage of all:

Astronomy Picture of the Day