I'm Dr. Nan Schmidt, your instructor this semester for Bio 183 Marine Biology. Please, just call me Nan. I'll be in charge of overseeing your class and will be the primary person that you communicate with if you have questions about the class. However, anybody who works in the Biology Learning Center can help you with your labs and tests, so please if you need help with anything, come up to the Front Desk and ask! Right now, you should be sitting at a computer in the Biology Learning Center with a copy of your class syllabus in front of you. Please go ahead and carefully read through all of the information on this webpage as well as in your syllabus.

Self-paced classes cover the exact same material as a traditional classroom version of the class, but how you proceed through the class material is very different. This orientation will help you learn how your self-paced biology class "works" and what you need to do to be successful. Your orientation for your self-paced Marine Biology class serves several purposes:

• To give you an overview of how to proceed through your class by reading your textbook, doing labs, and doing assignments;
• To give you an overview of the Biology Learning Center, where you will be doing most of the hands-on parts of your class and taking your tests
• To introduce you to some of the important "rules" of your class (as outlined in your class syllabus) and the Biology Learning Center, so that you have all of the information you need to be successful this semester.

Because I am very serious about the importance of the information presented in this orientation, at the end of this orientation, you will take a short, true-false quiz on your orientation and your class syllabus. You will learn how to locate the supplies and equipment ("models and kits") that you need to do your labs. You also will fill out the syllabus agreement form on the back page of your syllabus, turn it in at the front desk of the Biology Learning Center, and fill out the online class information form that is linked to this webpage. Once you have done those four things—locating models and kits, the quiz, the syllabus agreement form, and class information submission—you officially will be able to start your biology class this semester.

Please carefully read the following sections:

Is This the Right Class for You?

If you have any questions about whether you're in the right course or not, please ask NOW! It is not too late to switch. This is one of three general education biology courses we offer that are targeted for non-biology majors.

• Biology 100 Biology Concepts: Basic principles and concepts of biology. Includes methods of scientific inquiry, cell structure, chemistry, metabolism, reproduction, genetics, molecular biology, evolution, ecology, and current issues in biology.
• Biology 105 Environmental Biology: Fundamentals of ecology and their relevance to human impact on natural ecosystems. Includes ecosystem structure and function, population dynamics, and human impacts on air, water land and biodiversity.
• Biology 183 Marine Biology: Survey of marine environments and their biotic communities with emphasis on the natural history of marine organisms.

MyPima and Pima Email

I will be using MyPima and your Pima email account to contact you during the semester and to post important announcements about your Bio 183 class. I promise not to contact you excessively! However, use of MyPima and especially your Pima email is mandatory for this class. You will need to check your Pima email at least twice a week.

I'd like you to access the Bio 183 class site on your MyPima Academics tab right now and for you to take quick look at it. You should right now send me an email at nan.schmidt@pima.edu from your Pima email account, which is accessible from your homepage on MyPima. Make the title of the message Bio 183 Your Name. Your message may just be hello or you can ask me any questions you have.

This link will take you to MyPima by opening up a separate window.

If you have not logged onto MyPima and activated your account, please refer to the handout about MyPima that is available at the front desk. Please ask us for help if you have difficulties with this!

The Biology Learning Center's Homepage and Your Class Homepage

The Biology Learning Center's homepage has links to all of the homepages for all of the biology classes that we teach. Additionally, information about the hours the BLC is open, holiday closures, the BLC's phone number, etc., all can be found on the BLC homepage.

Your class homepage has three parts:

• at the top, the Message Board, which is updated weekly (and sometimes more often) with timely annoucements about your class. You need to read this at least once a week.
• on the left side, Important Links, which take you to pages that are helpful for this class such as MyPima, Deadlines, Class Assignments, etc.
• on the right side, Unit Links, which take you to your class materials, including pages that tell you what you need to do (what you need to read in your textbook, what labs and assignments you need to do, etc.) for each unit of the class.

Your class homepage is linked to your MyPima class webpage, so as long as you can access MyPima, you can find your way to your class homepage.

Reviewing Your Syllabus

In order to be successful in this class, you need to read your class syllabus. As I mentioned before, I am so serious about how important reading your syllabus is that I'm going to quiz you on it before letting you start this class.

I'll make comments on what I think are the most important parts of the syllabus for me to highlight for you, so follow my notes page-by-page here as you read through your syllabus from page 1 to the end.

Teaching format: This class is self-paced, and the content is presented in 15 units. There are 15 weeks in the semester .... do the math! I expect you to complete ONE unit EACH week of the semester, with time left in the last week for the final exam. If you plan to deviate from this schedule, you must let me know by the end of the second week of classes (see deadlines page). In order to help you stay on track in this self-paced class, you will have specific deadlines throughout the semester. These deadlines are described on page 3 of your syllabus and are online. Once a deadline passes, you will receive "0" points for any work (labs, assignments, and/or exams) that were due by the deadline but that you did not complete.

Class web URL: You will access the class website to get most of your materials for this course. If you have a computer at home, you'll probably want to bookmark the site. Your class homepage is linked to your MyPima class webpage, so as long as you can access MyPima, you can find your way to your class homepage.

Estimated study time: Lots of people ask how much they should study per week. This will vary based on your study skills. Plan to spend 3–6 hours per week in the Biology Learning Center and 8–12 hours per week at home completing your reading assignments and studying for exams. This amount of time is comparable to a traditional lecture/lab course. If you're taking this class in a self-paced format because you think it will be easier than taking the class at another campus, you'll be disappointed! Internet-based, self-paced study is intended to be CONVENIENT, BUT NOT EASY.

Instructional Materials: It will be very difficult for you to be successful in this course unless you have purchased your own copy of the textbook. Copies of the textbook are available for you to check out and use in either the Biology Learning Center or the Downtown Campus library.

Course Requirements: Each unit has several parts. If you have computer access at home, you can do all of the coursework at home, except the in-class lab activities. We will provide you with worksheets (we put them online—you download them) to help you focus on the learning objectives, as well as online self tests to help you prepare for the exams.

If you do not have access to a computer at home, you are always welcome to use the computers in the Downtown Campus Biology Learning Center. (If you feel a little shaky with your computer skills, consider doing your computer-based work in the learning center, and you'll have help right there when you need it.)

Plan to complete 1 unit and 1 exam every week. This is the best way to keep on track with the course deadlines (which will be explained in a little bit.) This course requires a committment to be successful and is NOT for procrastinators!

Taking Exams: Please read these rules. I have no tolerance for cheating and will not hesitate to punish anyone caught cheating.

You CANNOT take an exam until you have completed all of the lab activities for that unit.

Lab Activities and Assignments: Labs are activities that you bring up to the front desk to have reviewed and to get credit. You get all the points when you have demonstrated you understand the concepts of the lab. You must do all of the labs for a unit before taking the exam for that unit.

Assignments are anything you turn in for me to grade—you may get all or part of the points available for the assignment. Please note that assignments do NOT have to be completed before you can take an exam for a unit but they DO have their very own deadlines (see page 4 and the online deadline page).

Deadlines: Pay special attention to the deadlines. Mark them on your calendar. Etch them into your brain so they don't catch you by surprise. Once an exam deadline passes, you may not do labs, turn in assignments, or take exams for the units covered by the deadline. You will receive "0" points for any labs, assignments, and exams that you did not complete that were required for a deadline.

The Deadlines (dates and what is due) are listed on your syllabus and on the deadlines page.

Deadline troubles? Please talk to me (Nan Schmidt). My contact information and office hours are listed on Page 1 of the syllabus.

Filling out the Syllabus Agreement Form and Online Class Information Form

On the last page of your syllabus is the Syllabus Agreement Form. You need to fill this out, sign it, and turn it in at the Front Desk.

You also need to fill out the Online Class Information Form RIGHT NOW. So click on the link and get going! It will only take a minute or two. Once you have submitted your information, a page will pop up with this semester's secret code—You need to write down this secret code on your Syllabus Agreement form (last page of your syllabus).

You will not be able to work on your Bio 183 class until you complete and turn in the Syllabus Agreement Form and submit the Online Class Information Form.

Finding Your Way Around the Biology Learning Center

We want you to feel independent in the Biology Learning Center. When you do experiments and look at models—you'll get the equipment yourself. This exercise is to help you learn to locate models and kits in the learning center.

• Models are on the shelves and are labeled with letters.
• Kits are in the drawers and labeled with numbers.

To help you get used to our system here in the learning center, you're going to locate a model and a kit for practice. See your syllabus (last page) to figure out which model and kit you should find. After you find these, write down what they are on your syllabus.

In addition, there are several items in the BLC that you'll need to do your labs and that students often have difficulty locating:

World of Microbes	Meter sticks	Microscopes (model K)

What to Do Next

Once you have finished reading the syllabus, found the model and kit described above, filled out your Syllabus Agreement Form (last page of your syllabus) and submitted the Online Class Information Form, go to the front desk in the BLC and take your syllabus quiz. After completing this quiz, you will receive the worksheets for the first unit and you can start working on your class.

How to Work on Your Self-Paced Class

This class is broken into 15 "chunks," which are called units. Each unit covers a chapter in the textbook and has its own link from the class homepage. You will progress through this class by completing the labs and assignments (if there are any) for each unit and then testing on the material covered in the unit.

Each unit has a set of worksheets that you download from the class website and print out (except for Unit 1—we give you the worksheets for Unit 1 so that you can get started as soon as you finish your orientation). You use the worksheets in combination with the website materials for each unit. For each unit, you typically will

• Read a chapter in your textbook and answer a set of review questions about what you read.
• Complete lab activities. Instructions for the lab activities are on the website; you record your answers on your worksheets. All lab materials and all worksheet answers for labs are checked off by BLC staff. Just go to the Front Desk and ask anyone there to help you.
• Complete assignments. Instructions for assignments are on the website; you record your answers on your worksheets and turn in your completed assignment worksheets at the Front Desk for grading.
• Take a Unit Test. Once you have finished the reading and lab activities for a unit, you take the online practice test to see if you are ready to take the "real" test. If you are, you bring all of your belongings up to the Front Desk and take the test for that unit.

GOOD LUCK THIS SEMESTER!

http://dtc.pima.edu/biology/183/
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Email comments to nan.schmidt@pima.edu