Taught over the World Wide Web

DON'T PANIC!!!!
No attendance, no on-campus orientation, and no on-campus tests
Neathery Batsell Fuller - Professor of Anthropology
Office - Social Science Rm. SO 230 at Meramec
Office Phone: (314) 984-7987
email: NFuller@stlcc.edu
Website: http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller

All work in this class will be done through the Blackboard system
http://blackboard.stlcc.edu

You will work at your own pace to complete this class... You may work ahead but all work in the Learning Modules MUST be completed by the dates posted.

Your USER ID is your 9-digit Student ID number with no dashes [like A09099999 and be sure A is upper case]. Your initial password is the same as your 6-digit birth date in MMDDYY format. Forgot you PIN? Go to http://stlcc.edu/sct-erp/ for information on resetting your PIN or contact the admissions office at Meramec, Forest Park or Florissant Valley. After logging in, students should click on the appropriate course link. NOTE: PIN (Blackboard password) modifications will not take effect in Blackboard until the following day.

Email address: nFuller@stlcc.edu

Everything except the textbook is at https://blackboard.stlcc.edu/!!!

St. Louis Community College Blackboard Help Desk for Blackboard related issues.
* Toll Free: 877 708-2934 or Local: 314 539-5934
* From an SLCC phone: Ext. 5934

Students in this courses absolutely must use their new my.stlcc.edu email account. The college has partnered with Microsoft Windows Live to offer customized email accounts for students. In order for my students to receive my messages, they must activate their accounts. Failure to do so will result in students not receiving important information about the course and official communication about add/drop dates, financial aid information etc. from the college. Go to this website for further instructions: http://www.stlcc.edu/Studentemail/

This class is an introduction to the great diversity of human culture. Economic, social, political and religious practices are covered, including such topics as the nature of culture, ways of making a living, marriage and family, magic and religion, language and communications, and cultural change. A number of ethnographic films will be viewed.

How do you obtain this? You can get the textbook by one of two methods:

1. Go to the Meramec college bookstore and purchase the book.

2. Go on-line and purchase the book from the college bookstore at:

http://www.stlouisccbookstore.com/meramec/

8. Explore the concepts of cultural change and the impact of contact between traditional societies and industrial societies.

Equipment and Technology Issues:

Specific hardware and software requirements are a functional PC or Mac that can support Netscape or Explorer. Personally, I use the Safari program on my Apple PowerBook G4. The computer can be at home, work, or in the college library.

MEGA IMPORTANT... When submitting a homework assignment or taking a quiz, then the easy way to FAIL is by having multiple applications running at one time. Students from last semester have demonstrated that you can flunk an assignment by having Windows media player, facebook, myspace and black board at the same time. Blackboard will crash when multiple applications are running.

If there is a system problem (i.e. the college server is taken down for service when an assignment is due or there is an electrical storm that takes St. Louis off of the power grid) the due dates for assignments will be extended to reflect the issue.

You are expected to be able to navigate the Black Board Environment. You must be able to sue the web sites that are listed in the class, specifically the eHRAF. Instruction are included under the eHraf button.It would also be helpful if you have access to a word processing program so that you can write your answers before you submit them to BB (Black Board).

Expect a response from me to your emails in in 48 hours. This does not include Saturdays, Sundays or Holidays.

VERY IMPORTANT...Sign your name to every email that you send me. Even if sending it through blackboard! I have no way of figuring out your handle or funny email name. Always fill-in the subject heading of your email or the college spam filter will eat it.

Be aware that your email may block emails sent by your teacher UNLESS you put nFuller@STLCC.EDU in your email folder as a good guy (not blocked). Most mail servers are fine. If you don't have your email registered with college then you are just a dead duck in this class! HotMail works.

Online Etiquette

Taking an online course and corresponding via the World Wide Web presents communicators with the task of overcoming the lack of nonverbals in communication. When taking a course online, it is important to remember several points of etiquette that will smooth communication between the students and their instructors.

1. Avoid language that may come across as strong or offensive. Language can be easily misinterpreted in written communication. If a point must be stressed, review the statement to make sure that an outsider reading it would not be offended, then post the statement. Humor and sarcasm may easily be misinterpreted as well, so try to be as matter-of-fact and professional as possible.

2. Keep writing to a point and stay on topic. Online courses require alot of reading. When writing, keep sentences poignant and brief so that readers do not get lost in wordy paragraphs and miss the point of the statement. Also, do not introduce new topics; it may just confuse the readers.

3. Read first, write later. It is important to read all posts or comments of students and instructors within the course discussion before personally commenting to prevent repeating commentary or asking questions that have already been answered.

4. Review, review, then send. There’s no taking back a comment that has already been sent, so it is important to double-check all writing to make sure that it clearly conveys the exact intended message.

5. An online classroom is still a classroom. Though the courses may be online, appropriate classroom behavior is still mandatory. Respect for fellow classmates and the instructors is as important as ever.

6. The language of the Internet. Though still a fairly young type of communication, certain aspects of this form of communication are becoming conventional. For example, do not write using all capital letters, because it will appear as shouting. Also, the use of emoticons can be helpful when used to convey nonverbal feelings (example: :-) or :-( ), but avoid overusing them.

7. No inappropriate material. Do not forward virus warnings, chain letters, jokes, etc. to classmates or instructors. The sharing of pornographic material is forbidden.

Watch Video

Mind Your Manners: Etiquette for Web Courses

Duration: (3:59)
User: wtb2010gmail - Added: 5/10/10

How to Take this Class

This class is divided into 3 Learning Modules. Each module contains Textbook Reading Assignments, Discussion Board Assignments and a Quiz.

The reading assignments are to give you the background that you will need to understand and complete the Discussion Board Assignments.
Each Chapter has a Multiple Choice Chapter Quiz. You may take the quiz twice and your highest score will be recorded.
The discussion Board assignments are centered around a video, a film or a special research question that you must answer using the eHRAF.In these Discussion Boards you must post a thread from your own opinion/ and or research and then you must respond to 2 of your class mates threads.

Each of the Discussion Boards and the Quizzes have a DUE date when they must be completed. You are encouraged to work at your own speed to complete the assignments and the Learning modules, but when the due dates arrive, the Discussion Board and/ or the module will close and there are no late entries permitted.

Grade Scale

90%=A

80%=B

70 % =C

60 %=D

50%=F

There will be 9 Chapter Quizes. Each Question is 1 point.

Each Discussion Board is worth a total of 10 points. There are 12 Discussion boards for a total of 120 points.

Web Student Survey-5 points

Syllabus Quiz -5 points

(Extra Credit-optional - 5 points)

242 Points are possible

A- 218-242

B- 194-217

C- 170-193

D- 146-168

F 145 and below

Quizzes

Yes, each quiz is open notes. Not fair to have your mother take the quiz (mainly because she won't know the answers!!!). Please submit your quizzes before the deadline so if you have trouble with a submission you can do it again. If you wait until the last moment and have a problem don't expect much sympathy from me.

Beware, if you go surfing for the answers, then that often crashes Blackboard and voids your test. That is very, very bad, because there are NO makeup tests!!!

Discussion Boards

Discussion Board Home Works are included in each module. There are 10 Discussion Boards in total. Please submit your thread and be prepared to comment on your classmates threads. You must comment on 2 other threads.

The following is the grading rubric for the discussion board. Write at least two times -- for each discussion board and pay attention to the following grading rubric. 10 points possible for each assigned discussion board.

10: Excellent 9: Good 8: Average 6: Poor BELOW: Minimal

Excellent performance:

1. Completes assignments by deadline specified. Late discussion board entries are not accepted.

2. Writes at least 250 words total.

3. Writes 2 (50 words a piece) for the responses to other threads for EACH discussion board topic.

4. Contributes original thoughts and ideas rather than repeating what someone else has already said.

5. Cites relevant quotes from the text or video to validate comments.

6. Is open to divergent points of view.

7. Integrates course material to formulate ideas and generate dialogue.

8. Presents responses free of excessive grammatical or spelling errors. Use the spell check function in the discussion board (abc).

9. No Plagiarism is allowed. Plagiarized threads will be given 0 points. If you don't know what plagiarism is look at this site or download the pdf file on Plagiarism.

I DO NOT give Incomplete grades at the end of the semester. Keep track of your grades and ask me before doing anything rash about dropping the class.

You are welcome to visit me someday at the Meramec campus. Email me ahead of time to make an appointment because I am often out doing archaeological fieldwork or museum research. BUT, you never ever are required to come to campus. No orientation. No sit-down Mid-term. No sit-down Final Examination.

Students with Special Needs

Look for information under the Students with Special Needs Button on the left.

The ACCESS OFFICE - disAbility Support Services has been designated by the college as the primary office to guide, counsel and assist students with disabilities. If you receive services through the ACCESS OFFICE and require accommodations for this class, make an appointment to see me as soon as possible to discuss you approved accommodation needs. Email me if you have an Instructor Notification Memo provided by the ACCESS OFFICE to the appointment. I will hold any information you share with me in strictest confidence unless you give me permission to do otherwise.

But in this class you can talk loudly and make funny noises. It is OK to spill food and drink on your keyboard. You can even wear inappropriate clothing when taking this class!!! Yup, I can't see you. What happens if you computer is old, slow or dead? Use a college computer in the college library!( You do need to wear appropriate clothing in the library, by the way.)