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Ten things you should know about this course!
- Is this is a course in history or in science?
It is definitely not a science course, nor is it a typical
history course, but it is a History of Science course where
you will learn a lot. In fact, there is actually more history (people
and ideas from distant, long ago cultures) than what many students expect
from a course with the word science in the title. If you are a science
major, you are probably expecting the course to be much like the historical
sidebars in a science textbook, and this is not really what we're about. We
will explore past scientific theories, but unlike the sidebars in most science
textbooks, we will examine them not in light of current knowledge but in
terms of the knowledge of the time. We will also spend more time than
you probably expect exploring the cultural background and social context in
which those theories arose. So if you are interested in the relations between
science and various pre-modern cultures, between science and philosophy, science
and religion, or science and society in pre-modern periods, then this course
is for you!
- Do you expect this course to be like a correspondence course, or do
you expect to work on it at least several different days every week?
This course is not self-paced, but it is self-scheduled.
This distinction is very important to understand! It is self-scheduled because,
unlike a regular classroom-based class where you have regular weekly meeting
times, there are no mandatory "meeting times" where everyone in
this class needs to be online at the same time. It is 100% up to you to figure
out what your "working schedule" is for this class. Several sample
schedules are suggested in time management
tips. However, the course is not self-paced like
a correspondence course -- because this course is designed
around student interaction, everyone must keep up and work in tandem.
It is not independent study! You will need a lot of self-discipline
in order to come up with a study plan for this class and stick to it. There
is an average of one assignment due each day; take another look at the
weekly assignments and start thinking about how you can fit this into
your other regular commitments. Plan ahead and work ahead (you can work on
only two days a week if you want).
Remember no late assignments are accepted: you have to be able to stick to
the scheduled due dates for each assignment.
- Do you enjoy learning new things, or do you feel more comfortable when
you already know a lot about the subject? Usually when you take a 3000
level course, you have already taken at least one previous lower-level course
in the same subject area. Yet very few students who take this course have
had previous history of science courses, and that is okay -- no prior knowledge
of history of science is necessary, but if you have some experience it will
be useful to you. Also, no prior knowledge of science or mathematics is necessary,
but if you know a lot about science, it will be of use to you. In the same
way, no prior knowledge of history is necessary, but if you know a lot about
history, it will be of use to you. Other than Junior-level standing,
there are no pre-requisites for
this course. In other words: no matter what your background, in
this course you will discover a lot that is new!
- Do you like to work in bursts, or slow and steady? If you prefer
a steady, consistent pace, then you will do well in this class. Rather than
relying on a few major assignments like term papers and exams, this course
has many smaller assignments each week, which together take the place of papers,
exams, class attendance and homework. Unlike classes where most of the emphasis
is on the midterm and final exam, History of Science Online is based on a
regular weekly schedule, with seven different assignments due each
week (weekly assignments).
There is no mid-term or final examination (grading).
If you prefer to work in creative bursts, you should plan to work
ahead -- in fact, you can work up to two weeks in advance if
you want! But no late assignments are accepted: you have to be able to stick
to the scheduled due dates for each assignment (time
management tips).
- In a new class, do you get off to a quick start, or does your energy
build in a gradual crescendo over the course of a semester? This course
has a completely different rhythm than most classes, which start out slow
and reach an intense pace climaxing in the final exam. This course is just
the reverse, a decrescendo: the first two weeks are the hardest
and take the most time, as you figure out how everything works and what the
course is all about. The last week is the easiest, and there is no final exam.
(Indeed, you may begin working on class assignments two weeks before the official
start of the semester, and you may work up to two weeks ahead all semester
long, thus finishing the course before you take your finals in other classes.)
- Do you like to express yourself in writing? If so, then you will
do well in this class because History of Science Online is taught 100% online:
all of your contact with me and with your fellow students will be through
writing. Do you communicate best through non-verbal means, relying upon
body language, vocal inflections, and incomplete sentences? If so, then
this class offers you an opportunity to improve your writing skills and to
practice expressing yourself more clearly through writing. You may complete
the entire semester without speaking audibly to anyone in the class, without
meeting anyone face-to-face. That is why this course is so writing-intensive.
Instead of spending many hours each week sitting in a traditional classroom,
you will spend the same amount of time writing -- for your peers and for yourself.
Nearly all of the writing is interactive. We will rely upon
an online Discussion Board
to communicate. You will be posting a variety of writing assignments to the
discussion board every week (mainly short essays and responses to peers) --
and you will be getting lots of support and feedback from the other students
and from myself all along the way. Many students find that this interaction
is the most fun and positive part of the class.
- Do you appreciate courteous, constructive feedback, or do you get uptight
when someone offers you suggestions? There is a lot of writing
revision in this course. Some college students are really accomplished
writers, but many students struggle with at least some grammar or spelling
problems. Your semester-long Web
Project is a combination of research and reflective writing,
which you may need to revise from week to week on the basis of feedback from
myself and other students. As a result, the good news is that this class can
really help you to improve your writing, but the bad news is that these writing
assignments may also take up more of your time. Tip: OU's premier
online professor, Laura Gibbs, sponsors the Kaleidoscope
Online Learning Resources website. The Kaleidoscope
writing guide shows some of the grammar and spelling problems that many
college students often need to work on in their writing.
- Do you learn well by reading, or do you learn best by listening to something
being explained aloud? For some assignments there are downloadable mp3's
you can listen to or videos you can watch, but most of the time you will learn
the material through careful reading. If reading comprehension
is not your strong point then you will consider this course reading-intensive.
And even for students who learn easily by reading, some students enjoy the
readings very much one week only to find them uninteresting the next, while
other students feel just the opposite. Why such a difference in attitude?
Probably because different weeks are devoted to different cultures, periods
and topics, and some of these will interest you more than others. Also, the
readings each week are unusual: sometimes the readings contain a lot of historical
information, and sometimes they are translations or primary
sources written in archaic English. If you are used to reading typical
college science or history textbooks,
these readings will surprise you! But the bottom line is that to do well in
this course you will need to spend several hours each week
reading each and every word each and every week -- and you
may need to keep a dictionary at hand (see the Online
Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary
Online or Bartleby's).
- Do you want to learn how to publish a website of your own? Instead
of writing a traditional semester research paper, you will publish
a semester Web Project
on the world wide web. In general, the students who take
this class have never published a webpage before -- and that is fine! We will
spend several weeks at the beginning of the semester learning how
to create and publish webpages. The websites that students design are
sometimes very simple and elegant, and sometimes they are very unusual and
exciting. The technical criteria are very simple, and a lack of web design
experience will not impact your grade (although it's wonderful if you have
additional skills or experience to draw from). If you have never published
a webpage before, you may find that this aspect of the class will take up
a bit more of your time, especially during the first half of the semester.
(See technical requirements.)
- Do you have reliable Internet access and a secure, virus-free, stable
computer? Having a reliable computer, a reliable
internet connection and a solid backup strategy
is an absolute must! You can get by with just a phone modem connection, but
that means you may miss out on some of the images that are used in conjunction
with the readings. Some weeks you have a choice between three ways of becoming
familiar with background material: (1) streaming video (requires broadband);
(2) downloadable mp3 audio (can be played offline or on an iPod or mp3 player);
(3) browsing text in web pages with thumbnail images (suitable for dialup
access). Broadband access is not required for this course, but it does save
time and give you more choices for how to engage the material. See this explanation
of media formats. Experiment with
this sample
online exhibit to see how quickly/slowly you can access it on your computer.
You will need a backup plan (e.g., to use the computer labs
or a friend's setup) if
your computer gets a virus or goes on the glitch. Viruses and computer
problems are not acceptable excuses for missed assignment deadlines. So be
prepared by working ahead, and factoring in enough time to do the assignments
at your local public library or an OU computer lab.
- Do you find it easy to follow a long list of written directions, in
order, without losing track? If you stopped reading this long web page
before you got this far, you should withdraw from the course! In a classroom,
the instructor may repeat the instructions for assignments several times each
week, so if you were not paying attention the first time you will have a second
chance. Not so in an online course: to make the reading load easier, I do
my best to write concisely, and not to be redundant by repeating the instructions
over and over. So in this course you will find a list of assignments for every
week that you will need to complete in order. Each assignment may have many
smaller steps that must be completed in a particular sequence. Read each page
of instructions slowly and completely. Print out assignment instructions if
it will help you not lose track or accidentally omit a step. For an example
of an assignment with many steps to be completed in order, click here
(Web Project, Week 2).
Okay, this should have been a "Top 11" list. But which
one should I delete?
See also: What previous
students say about this course.
Want to be sure an online course is right for you? Take
the College of Arts and Sciences' online
readiness assessment.
"Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler." Albert Einstein
