Welcome to the Calculus I Online Course!
I am delighted that you have enrolled in this section, and I hope that you have a great academic term!
Warning: This course is challenging and time consuming. This online course is convenient but NOT easier than a regular classroom course. This method of delivery is NOT intended for everyone. Only highly motivated highly discipline and highly organized students, that can read the book, have time to watch videos and do the tutorials, and that can learn the material by themselves, with limited guidance, are successful in this course. Working with Mathematics should not be an issue for you. You must have a solid background in Precalculus and Trigonometry to take this course. I suggest you consider not taking this course if you obtained a C in either Precalculus or Trigonometry. Do not take this course because it is the only Calculus I course open.
Keep in mind that this is a 5 credit hours course, and you should spend considerable more time working at it than in a regular 3 credits hours course.
Note that an online course may need more time commitment than an onsite course.
ONLINE DELIVERY SYSTEM (COURSE PLATFORM)
This course is delivered through Blackboard (BB), and uses WebAssign (WA) as a tutorial and a testing tool to watch Videos, take tests, and do online Homework. To be able to take this course, you must have a computer with internet access and must know how to use one.
All Tests in this course are proctored and must be taken at a Valencia Campus Testing Center. Students living in the vicinity of one of the Valencia Campuses must take the tests at Valencia.
To learn Calculus you must have a very good understanding of the Precalculus and Trigonometry topics.
In calculus you will need to use the tools you acquired from both courses. Lacking some of those tools will make the course difficult. It all depends on how much time you have for this course. This course will require time management and self-motivation from you. I will facilitate your learning by helping you throughout the academic term. Keep in mind that this is a 5 credits hour course. You have to spend considerable more time in this course than in a regular course.
Warning:
To be successful in this course, you must have the time to watch the Lecture videos
, and Video Examples
, do the Tutorial exercises
,
and experiment with the TEC( Tools for
Enriching Calculus)
found in your e-book and described in the
Topics section in BB.
You must also do the assigned homework exercises found in WebAssign
You will not learn this material by just reading the book; you must be involved in all the interactive aspects of the e-book mentioned above.
Below is a brief description of the links you
will find in BB (Blackboard9.1):
The “Syllabus” link has the basic information of the course. The "Topics” link will have the examples in the book
and the material you should read, study and learn, and the concepts of that
test. The “Schedule”link will have all the deadlines (online homework,
online quizzes, on-site tests, etc.). All the homework is already
in WebAssign. You can start working in WebAssign as soon as Web assign opens
(refer to the syllabus). To build flexibility in your schedule, and solve
technical difficulties, you should work ahead
of schedule and not wait until the last minute to do the online work. The "Homework"
section contains the required book homework you should do; all homework problems
are in Webassign. The "Learning
Outcomes" section, you will find the Course's learning and unit outcomes.
The " Resources" link contains some useful resources for this
course. The "Calculator"
link contains a Calculator Basics link that reviews the basic functions of the
TI-83-84 calculator and some web links for using a specific calculator. The "Proctoring"
link has the proctoring instructions for taking tests outside Valencia.
Important:
By the "Program Integrity and Documentation of Online Course Attendance" published by the Department of Education (ED) and adopted by Valencia College, any student registered in an online course must show attendance.
The Department of Education has made it clear that simply logging into an online or hybrid course does not constitute attendance as an "academically-related activity."
The way a student shows attendance in this course is by (1) Sending me the Campus e-mail by the First Wednesday of the term (2) completing the Student introduction found in the discussion section in BB,(3) completing the Syllabus Quiz with 100% (4) completing the RU-Ready Calculus Homework assignment (in WebAssign) with a score of at least 80% by the No-Show deadline.
Caution: if you have not sent me the Campus e-mail by the first Wednesday, logged into BB and posted the Student Introduction Assignment, completed in the Syllabus Quiz, with 100%, and logged into WebAssign and complete the RU-Ready for Calculus Homework with at least 80% by the No-Show deadline of this term, as stated above, you will have not complied with the ED attendance policy, and you will be withdrawn from this course as a No-Show.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions. You can email me pfernandez@valenciacollege.edu or call me (407-582-2755). Emails will receive a faster response. Have a great academic term!
I wish you the best with all your classes!
Paul