Work Plan

Some assignments, like the problem sets, introduction work, and reflections are not graded assignments. This work, along with the assigned readings, have all been designed to scaffold learning and prepare students for the exam assignments.

To be successful on the exams, completion of this work is necessary. Strive to complete assignments on time to ensure you don’t get behind. That can be an overwhelming feeling and may prevent you from achieving what you are capable of.

The discussion assignments and exams do have assigned due dates in order to keep everyone moving through the course at the same pace and give everyone opportunities to collaborate. This course works best when all students show strong effort for the discussions and replies. Although there are due dates, if something comes up that prevents you from completing a discussion post or reply, please let me know.

Spend 1 to 2 hours reading, 3 hours on the problem set, 3 hours participating in discussion, 2 hours reviewing.

Weekly Workload

As a 3-credit, 15-week course, you should plan to spend about 9-10 hours each week on course material. This should look like

  • 1-2 hours to complete the prep material
  • 3 hours to complete the problem set
  • 3 hours to write your discussion posts and interact with your teammates
  • 1-2 hours to review the answers to the material

The assignments in this class are sometimes complex, requiring students to analyze data or find information outside of the text. Despite this, you should not spend significantly more time than outlined above on the assignment. If you get stuck, give it your best shot.

Suggested Work Schedule

Each unit starts on Saturday. The initial discussion post is due on Tuesday, and the discussion replies are due on Thursday.

  • Saturday and Sunday: Read for the current unit while working on the problem set. Use problem set review video to clarify questions and check answers
  • Monday and Tuesday: Use background knowledge from readings and problem set to generate responses to the discussion prompts. Share those responses and questions that still exist with teammates in the discussion. Watch problem set review video and correct misunderstandings
  • Wednesday and Thursday: Reply to two classmates in the discussion
  • Friday: Watch discussion prompt review video, and correct misunderstandings
  • Every day: Use Content Question forum located in Unit Module. Consider responses to the Pre-Exam reflection