Kathleen Moran--Adjunct Instructor, Science

Welcome to Introduction to Oceanography, OCE2001C. This is an exciting course with laboratory and is scheduled as a hybrid course. What does hybrid mean? Well, it means that many of the regular face-to-face class meetings have been replaced with work within PAL, the online learning system.  There will still be face-to-face meetings, but they will be focused primarily on laboratory and group work. The face-to-face meetings will mostly be on Saturdays, approximately once per month.

Since this class will not meet the first week of classes, you must log onto to PAL and complete an assignment within the first 48 hours of the beginning of classes. Spring semester classes start on January 5, 2011. Don’t worry! It is an easy assignment to complete quickly, but you MUST do this or you will be dropped from the course. Prior to the first class meeting, which is already scheduled and listed in the course in PAL, you must complete the additional work located there. Then you’ll be ready to go for the first class meeting.

The PAL course and course materials will be available one week prior to the start of classes on January 5, 2011. That means on December 30th, 2010, you will have access to these first assignments. You DO NOT have to begin the assignments on the 30th of December! You must complete the first assignment, located in PAL, before January 8th, 2011. The other assignments must be done before the first class meeting as scheduled within PAL.  

Hybrid doesn’t mean this is a self-paced course, regular assignments will be required. Please refer the syllabus located inside PAL to learn about the dates the class meets and when assignments and tests will be due. You must keep up between class meetings so that you are prepared for each face-to-face interaction with the instructor. You may not be able to maximize your learning experience during the face-to-face meetings if your assignments are not completed (strong hint ).

See you in class,

Kathleen Moran