Lisa's FAQ

Nothing's working right!

1. Make sure you are NOT using Internet Explorer as your browser. You must use Firefox to see the toolbar and copy-and-paste properly in Moodle. Chrome or Safari may also work - for Mac I recommend Safari.

2. Next, clear your cache. Browsers store things that take up space, so other big things won't load. Here's instructions on how to clear your cache.

3. Also make sure that you don't have the pop-up blocker turned on.

4. Also, because it can't do Flash or older Quicktime files, you cannot work on this class using an iPad or iPhone.

How to I access Moodle?

For classes in MiraCosta's Moodle installation, SURF automatically adds your name and ID to the class, and you just log in to http://miracosta.mrooms.net or http://miracostadev.mrooms3.net/, depending on the class.

For my own installations, you create your own account. Instructions will be sent by email using your SURF address.

Do I have to print the workbook?

The documents workbook is required reading, and you will find it more convenient to print it, but I can't make you do it.

Where do I turn in the answers to the questions on the workbook documents?

These are for your use -- they aren't turned in. Please use them to focus your document study.

What is the context or background reading? Do I have to do it?

Context or background reading may be from Wikipedia, a textbook website, or any other secondary source. It is required reading to provide context for the lectures and forum work, although some people may be able to only skim it because they have been exposed to the material before in another class. Context reading questions only rarely appear on quizzes, but the information is expected to be referenced in forum posts and essay exams.

What do I do if I find a broken link or something that doesn't work in a lecture?

Please please let me know in Messages so I can fix it. I have been known to offer extra credit for finding a good alternative link!

Is there a research paper in this class?

No. You are doing research and writing continually throughout the class.

What grade am I getting? How do I see the grades?

Log in to Moodle, and on the main page, in the Administration block, click on Grades. These are your grades so far based on what has been done so far.

How are you doing the grades?

See the Grading policies page in your class for all information about how grades are determined.

What is plagiarism and why do I get 0 points if I do it?

Plagiarism is "academic dishonesty", and it usually refers to the copying of someone else's words, phrasing or ideas without citing or referencing. It is against policy at all colleges and universities, because it amounts to intellectual theft, but my biggest concern is that plagiarism makes it impossible for me to see whether you know anything about the subject! If at any time any of your work is found to be plagiarized, all previous work will be reviewed and grades lowered accordingly.

To avoid plagiarism, do all your explanations in your own words. If you need to use a quotation or a bit of paraphrasing, cite it. It doesn't matter whether the source is Wikipedia, your textbook, my lecture, or a post from a colleague -- if it isn't your writing or a commonly known fact, it must be cited! The citation need not be formal -- for a secondary source, indicate author, title and date. Provide a link if it's an online source.

Example: "Abraham Lincoln was less interested in freeing slaves than he was in preserving the union." (Lane, Reconstruction lecture, Spring 2011).

For primary sources, follow this format.

I've posted the following on the Grading policies page:

Academic dishonesty can lead to F grades on quizzes, contribution assessments (as a result of plagiarism in discussion forums), and the final exam. If cheating or plagiarism is discovered at any time (and I'm very good at it), all of the student's previous work will be checked, and grades revised as determined by the instructor. Cheating includes copying phrasing or paraphrasing from the textbook, documents, or other course materials without quoting and/or citing the source. It also includes creating work together with another person (see Indiana University's plagiarism self-quiz). While you are welcome to study and talk together, all work you turn in or post must be your own, since all grades are individual. To protect yourself in an on-line environment, make sure that your quiz/test answers in no way resemble those of your colleagues.

DISCUSSION FORUMS

How often do I have to post in the forums?

Three times per week is expected. See the Grading policies.

When do I have to post?

The first (primary source) post is always due by Wednesday midnight, the second (thesis) post by Sunday night. Other deadlines may vary.

How do I know what we're supposed to post?

We will be using the forums for creating collections of primary sources, then using them as a foundation for writing and commenting.

Each "Post sources and writing" forum has a prompt at the top - these have instructions in the first week. Each student posts a primary source for that week's era by Wednesday midnight. On Thursday or Friday morning, Lisa will post (titled "*Post writing here, please") with instructions on creating a thesis and mini-essay that uses the sources posted that week.

So each student posts twice a week for constructing writing: a primary source by Wednesday night, and a thesis/mini-essay using some of those sources by Sunday night. The third post is for helping someone or participating in discussion. You can help someone by suggesting another source in the forum that also supports their thesis, or connecting what they've written to material from web resources or lectures. Later in the course, critiquing is also appropriate.

I post but it doesn't show up correctly (or at all).

It is usually recommended to compose posts in TextEdit (Mac) or Notebook (PC) rather than Word. This is because certain characters, such as curly quotes or foreign characters, created by Word or another formal word processing program can be in a format that Moodle (or Blackboard) doesn't understand. Getting rid of such characters can solve the problem too.

But I lost my whole forum post!

At any time, there could be a power failure or your ISP could knock you off the internet. Always write anything extensive in a text program first, then copy-and-paste it into Moodle.

Why are we rating forum posts?

In some classes, you are asked to rate the discussion posts. This helps give the author an understanding of how the post is being perceived. It also gives me an understanding of how students are perceiving each other's work, and provides a sense of responsibility.

How are my forum posts graded?

In my online classes, most posts are not graded individually, but collectively, to allow maximum opportunity for practice and improvement. Discussion, posting, and writing is part of the Contribution Assessment, which is worth 20% of the grade. In some classes, random posts are individually graded to make up an additional percentage of the grade.

The forum is a mess! How can I see things more easily?

At the top of each forum, there is a drop-down menu. I set the default at nested form, which I like because each reply is indented and you can see the whole discussion on one screen. If that's not for you, try one of the other views. For a Blackboard-style experience where you click separately on every post, try "Display replies in threaded form".

PRIMARY SOURCES

How do I add an image, video clip, or link to a website to my forum post?

See these instructions:
Add an image
Add a video clip
Add a link to a website (or here's a quick video tutorial on adding a link)

It says my image is too big to upload?

The default upload size is set pretty darn small in Moodle. If  you get this message, let me know right away so I can change the upload allowance for that forum. Be sure to say which class and section you're in.

The instructor says to use "primary sources". What is a primary source?

A primary source was created during the time period we're studying. An example would be a letter, diary, artwork or document produced during that era. A secondary source is something about that time, but created later. Examples of primary sources might be a book by Mark Twain, a political cartoon from the 19th century, or an ancient Greek statue. Examples of secondary sources might include your textbook, Wikipedia, or a website about Mark Twain.

There's one more complication! A clip from a film made during the 1930s would be a primary source if we were studying the 1930s. But if that 1930s film were about something that happened in 1870, that same film would be a secondary source if we were studying the 1870s.

How can I find good primary sources, with good citations?

Most students start with an image search, or look at websites about a particular era. But often, people who use images on websites do not cite author/artist, title, and date. What to do?

There are two options. The first is to use Advanced Search to limit the results to particular domains, such as .edu, that are more likely to cite sources than a blog or fan page. In Google, you can add site:.edu to your search, or use Advanced Search.

Another option is a reverse image search. Sites like TinEye.com let you search for an image by the appearance of that image, showing you other sites where that image may appear. This lets you track it down to a museum or university that might cite the source properly.

Where you start the search can have an impact too. Google Images will take you longer to track something down than using museum collections, university pages, and historical sites. I am starting a collection of these at Diigo, using the class name as a tag. I've tagged them for History 104, History 105, and History 111. I've just started these, so please add your own by using Diigo to collect bookmarks, and using the tags hist104resources, hist105resources, and hist111resources, so we can all see them.

Do I have to use only the sources posted in the forum?

Yes, but you may add sources to any forum. So long as the sources you add are fully cited and available to all, you may use it in your essay.

How do I cite my sources in forums and essay exams?

For sources from the documents workbook, use this form:

(name of artist/photographer/writer, name of source, date, Lane's 111 Documents Workbook)

For sources from the internet, as used in the discussion forums or elsewhere:

(name of artist/photographer/writer, name of source, date, website retrieved from)
  Example: Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue, 1921, Retrieved from WebMuseum Paris http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/mondrian/

What is the correct format for the "Retrieved from" URL in a citation?

The URL should refer to the web page where the image, audio or video file is featured, such as http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/mondrian/ above.

Bad URLs include those that reference the search rather than a webpage, such as a Google Image or Bing search.

Example. URL not OK because it is an image search result, not a web page

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Qa1&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1267&bih=639&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnso&tbnid=mLYN5zBdWFr8VM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian&docid=HVK71TA6wM1XcM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9c/Mondrian_Comp10.jpg/220px-Mondrian_Comp10.jpg&w=220&h=244&ei=nXwkUO-UFMXqiwLKyYCgDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=261&vpy=186&dur=1454&hovh=195&hovw=176&tx=109&ty=108&sig=111334976446914305239&page=1&tbnh=137&tbnw=124&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:145

Moodle in its newer versions will make a link live automatically. If it doesn't happen, do this:

First, copy the link to the webpage from your browser (for example, http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/). Paste it into your post. Then highlight it, and click the link symbol in the toolbar.

Paste the URL in and tell it to open in a New Window.

What about quotations?

An online quotation "bank" is not an appropriate source unless it lists the original location of the quotation. These websites are unreliable, and frequently attribute sayings to a person that the person never wrote or said. For a quotation, find the original source (the speech or book) and use that to retrieve the quotation.

Example. URL not OK because it is from a quotation website instead of the original source:

"A conservative is a man who just sits and thinks, mostly sits."
Woodrow Wilson, 1912 speech, Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/woodrow_wilson.html.

SYNCHRONOUS SESSIONS AND OFFICE HOURS

Am I required to attend synchronous sessions?

Some classes may have real-time, or synchronous, sessions. You are not required to attend at the time the meeting takes place, but if you aren't there you will need to view the recording.

How do I chat with Lisa in real time?

I am available online through anonymous chat at various times throughout the day. A chat button will be available on the class webpage for anonymous chat, and the green light will be on if I'm available. I am also at Skype with the name lisalanesoffice.

LECTURE/TEXTBOOK QUIZZES

What are the lecture/textbook quizzes like?

All quizzes that check comprehension of lecture, documents, and/or textbook reading are multiple-choice. The questions are randomly selected from a bank of questions. Only one attempt is allowed. The quizzes are not timed, but Moodle may time out after periods of no activity, and your ISP may knock you off for inactivity.

I missed the 5 pm quiz deadline! Can I take the quiz late?

Once the deadline has passed and a quiz is closed, you need a password. A quiz may be taken up to one week late for partial credit, but only after using Messages in Moodle or email to request the password (please do not use Facebook for this - it is not reliable).

Are quizzes timed?

No, quizzes are not timed, BUT your ISP may close your internet connection if you leave your quiz open too long! Many ISPs break the connection after 30 minutes of "inactivity".

I tried to take a quiz and it says I need a password.

You must be taking it late, because I passcode the quiz after the deadline. Message me to get the password for taking the quiz up to one week late.

Can I use my textbook and open other windows to view lectures during a quiz?

Yes, but be careful. If you have to log in again in a tab or new window, you may log yourself out of the quiz and lose what you've done. A better solution is to open the lecture in a different browser.

How come I can't see my grade/comments/feedback on a quiz?

To see your quiz after grading is completed, go to Grades, then click on the link for the quiz. To the right, in blue, you should see your score. Click on that score to see the whole quiz, with answers, comments and feedback.

If you still can't see anything, the instructor may not have released the grades yet, or may not have changed a setting that needs to be changed, so Message the instructor and ask.

Another reason could be that you didn't actually submit the quiz. It is common for students to save, but not actually click the "Submit all and finish" button. The instructor can't grade a quiz that isn't submitted. Message the instructor for the password to submit the quiz, but be sure it's not more than a week after it was due.

When I look at my quiz, it says I got x points out of x, but my grade says I only got x points. What's up?

Quizzes are worth a certain number of points, but that isn't the same number as the total number of questions. For example, you may have 10 questions, but the quiz is only worth 3 points for the class.

How do I view my old quizzes?

Again, click on Grades from the box, then "graded". You can then select the quiz itself to view the whole quiz, so long as it has been graded and released to all.

ESSAYS AND ESSAY EXAMS

What is the format for these essays? Can I see a sample?

Essays are graded in the forums or through essay exams.

Essay type #1: A five-paragraph interpretive essay with three primary sources supporting a thesis focused on one era. See student-written samples here.

Essay type #2: A five-paragraph interpretive essay with six primary sources supporting a thesis either focused on one era or comparing eras or topics. See student-written samples here.

Essay type #3: A five-paragraph thematic essay with nine primary sources, three in each body paragraph, each paragraph designed around a topical subject, supporting a theme. See student-written examples here.

Please see Our Learning Scheme for an explanation of interpretaive and thematic essays.

Each body paragraph needs to begin with a topic sentence that proves the thesis. Each paragraph then needs to contain primary source evidence, cited properly, to prove the topic sentence and thus support the thesis. So the format is:

How will the essay exams be graded?

All essays will be graded on the level of achievement of:
1. interpretive thesis (an assertion with a point of view, not a statement of fact)
2. use of college-level English to clearly express ideas
3. three body paragraphs, each with a topic sentence, explaining how the sources connect to the ideas of the paragraph and essay
4. use of primary sources to support the topic of each paragraph and the thesis as a whole
5. sources correctly cited with author/artist, title, date, and active link
6. demonstration of an understanding of the era

I have problems with writing a good essay. What should I do? What should I avoid?

MiraCosta has an excellent Writing Center where you can work on posts and essays for this class. If the problem is poor English writing skills (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, word usage), you need to get help there.

All graded work is expected to be written at the college level. History is a writing-intensive field.

Common problems and recommendations for essay or mid-term exams:

• The big, factual thesis problem.
  This happens when I write a thesis that is so broad it has no point of view.
  Problem: It's not interpretive.
  Recommendation: Check that the thesis is interpretive by trying to form an argument against it. If you can't say, "no, it's really the opposite", it isn't interpretive.
  Trick: Try cause and effect. Example: The political revolutions of the 18th century were caused by economic problems.
• The "today" problem.
  Problem: Using the present to justify the past doesn't work. If words like "today" or "the future" are in the thesis, that cannot be proven using sources from the past.
  Recommendation: Such conjecture belongs in the conclusion. Avoid using the word 'today" anywhere in the essay.
• The three-part thesis problem.
  Problem: The thesis needs to be the guiding idea of the essay, but instead it has three parts, each one as the topic of one paragraph (example: The 18th century was important to art, literature and music - then there's a paragraph each on art, literature and music.
  Recommendation: Broaden the thesis to include all elements, but make sure it's still interpretive when you do. (Better: The 18th century developments in culture reflected the political changes going on around them.)
• The illustrative source problem.
  Problem: Sources are used to illustrate or show something rather than prove a point.
  Recommendation: Be sure each source is discussed in a way that it helps prove both topic sentence and thesis.
• The trying to prove what didn't happen problem.
  Problem: The thesis says something like, "This cool thing would never have happened if it hadn't been for this other thing." You can't prove that something wouldn't have happened.
  Recommendation: Phrase the thesis as a positive cause and effect: "This cool thing happened because this happened."

Additional common problems and recommendations specifically for theme posts and the final exam (in addition to those noted above):

• The progressive theme problem.
  Problem: The theme doesn't show a trend over time. When doing themes near the end of the class, this happens when the thesis proves progress over time instead of one central idea that trends throughout time (example: Women's rights advanced from the 18th century to the present, with each paragraph showing an era and how they advanced).
  Recommendation: Focus on a trend that repeats. (Better: Women's public participation increases during times of economic security.)
• The "throughout history" problem.
  Problem: The theme uses phrases like "throughout history" or "across the ages". There is no need to do this - the theme itself implies a repeating trend.
  Recommendations: Remove all such language from the theme.
• The "and" problem.
  Problem: The theme tries to cover more bases by using "and" or "or". This means that everything connected with "and" must be proven in every paragraph. If that works, then it's fine - usually it doesn't.
  Recommendation: Make choices or rephrase to remove "and" from the theme.
• The "or" problem.
  Problem: The theme contains "or", encouraging paragraphs that focus on only part of the theme. Each paragraph must support the whole theme.
  Recommendation: Rephrase to remove "or".
• The so broad it's obvious problem.
  Problem: This is similar to the big, factual thesis problem. Often these are phrased to emphasize big changes or transformations, without saying what they are. Examples might be "war causes big cultural changes" or "politics leads to conflict".
  Recommendation: Make sure your theme is unique and has a viewpoint. One trick is to modify the nouns. What kind of change? What sort of politics?

How do I use and cite primary sources in an essay?

Primary sources need to be examples of points you make in your essay, so they need to be mentioned within your paragraphs. Some examples:

This war resulted in injuries that made it difficult for soldiers to resume their former lives. Jim posted an image of soldiers during the American Civil War sitting with their crutches outside the hospital (Matthew Brady, May 1864, from http://www.nyduvcw.org/tents/Oneida.html). These men often lost the use of limbs, or the limbs themselves, making it difficult to return to farming or manual labor.

Most primary sources for this class will come from either the documents workbook or the web via the discussion forums.

For sources from the documents workbook, use this form:

(name of artist/photographer/writer, name of source, date, Lane's 111 Documents Workbook)

For sources from the internet, as used in the discussion forums or elsewhere:

(name of artist/photographer/writer, name of source, date, website retrieved from)
  Example: Piet Mondrian,Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue, 1921, Retrieved from WebMuseum Paris http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/mondrian/

How do I find primary sources from the forums during an exam or while writing a thesis post?

You can open another window or tab and navigate to forums individually any time. You can also use the Search Forums box on the main page.

Why should I write my essays in a separate program?

If your ISP kicks you off the internet, or there's a power outage, or you get accidentally logged off of Moodle, you'll lose your work. Always create text in a text program, then copy-and-paste.

How do I copy, paste and format my essay?

On Windows, it's control-C to copy, then control-V to paste. On Mac, it's -c and -v.

Most formatting will be lost when you paste from another program. Please use the toolbar to bold your thesis and italicize your sources. If you can't see the toolbar or formatting isn't working, see this FAQ item.

THE CONTRIBUTION ASSESSMENTS / SELF-ASSESSMENTS

What is the Contribution Assessment or Self-Assessment? is it a quiz?

Each Contribution Assessment is formulated like a quiz. The difference is that it is based on a self-assessment of your contribution to the class according to the grading rubric. This is where points are assigned for participation, the discussion forums, responses to guidance for your work, attendance, and more. You can click on the Contribution Assessment link to read the instructions, and open it as many times as you need to.

How do I find my forum posts, Activity Reports and logs in Moodle?

Go to your Profile (in the Administration block). You can use the tabs to view your records.

How do I find my Activity Reports in Moodle 2?

You probably can find your reports by clicking on your Profile and using the Activity tab in the old Moodle, but in Moodle 2 you need to use the Navigation menu to find your records.

E-MAILS

Why am I getting a zillion emails?

The default is that when you post to a forum, you are automatically "subscribed", and it sends you emails from that forum. To stop it, go to Profile, click "Show Advanced" (if needed) and change the setting "Forum auto-subscribe" to "No". The only forum everyone is forced to subscribe to is "Latest News", my announcements.

Sometimes the system keeps sending you emails from the forums even though you've turned this setting off. When you go into a forum, check the upper right-hand corner of the discussion page. I have set all discussions so that you have a choice about whether to subscribe. If it has the option "Unsubscribe to this forum", click that link.

Can I email you?

I much prefer that currently enrolled students use Messages from inside Moodle. It keeps a better record, and the email won't get lost in all my MCC business email. But yes, email me at llane@miracosta.edu.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

I pasted from Word and my test or post shows all this gobbedly-gook before what I wrote.

Microsoft products do not play well with others. In tests and forums, pasting from Word shows all your formatting code. There are a couple of things you can do:

1. In Word, save as .rtf or plain text instead of .doc or .docx, then paste the text.
2. Don't use Word -- use Notepad or something very simple.

<-- There is also a "Word cleanup" button, though it may not work as well as the solutions suggested above.

For discussion forums, you can post, then go back to your post and click "Edit", and get rid of the extra code.

Why can't I bold anything or even see the toolbar?

First, if you're copying and pasting from Word, it doesn't carry over the formatting. You need to use the HTML Editor toolbar to format text.

You should have these editor buttons visible for every forum post or essay question. They don't show in Safari, only Firefox. The Editor looks like this:

If you still don't see it, go to your Profile, click Edit Profile and make sure you have the HTML editor enabled:

For more information and a video demonstration, see this screencast.

I can't hear the audio or see the video.

Make sure you have Quicktime properly installed from inside Firefox.

My video shows twice in the final post.

In Moodle 2, the system can be set to automatically turn a link into embedded media. So don't use a http:// live link for source citation.

I went to a link in the class, but it says 404 or the page isn't there.

That happens! Let me know in Facebook or in the Help! forum so we all know a link isn't working. If you'd like a bit of extra credit, find and suggest a page that can take its place!

"Sorry, but your IP number seems to have changed from when you first logged in. This security feature prevents crackers stealing your identity while logged in to this site. Normal users should not be seeing this message - please ask the site administrator for help."

This is the big reason to always do your writing first in an outside program. If a second window is opened, or you access your account elsewhere without logging out of it where you first logged in, you will get this bizarre message. It means Moodle thinks you're logging in from two different places. Log out and log in again.

I can't see the toolbar

See "Why can't I bold anything?" above.

My image is WAY too big

Sometimes the image you want to use is huge. You can use TinEye.com to find a smaller version, and/or you can shrink it down manually using Edit. First post your image. Then go back quickly and use Edit. Use scrollbars to reach the lower right corner of your image, and drag the square inward. Keep doing this as many times and necessary till it's the right size. This only works in Firefox.

You can also just put in a smaller width when you add the image.

Or in newer versions of Moodle, use the Appearance tab when you add your image:

I keep trying to post and I'm getting an "incorrect sessionkey" error.

If you log in and go to the forum to post, then open a new window or tab and go to Moodle to log in again, Moodle logs you out of the first window, ending that session.

What do I do if I have a big hairy technical problem?

Contact me in Moodle's Messages or email me if it's about the class. If it's about passwords or access to the class, contact MCC's student helpdesk.

Where's your office?

My office is in room 605 at the San Elijo campus. I'm there Mondays and Wednesdays.

How do I know when you're online?

You can tell here or on the front page of any of my classes.