Title: Biol 1090 Get to Know Your Canvas Course
Course: BTEC-1300-301-302-303-F21

Unit Structure

Below you will notice a screenshot of a typical unit in Canvas as seen from the Modules tab on the left hand side.

 | Each unit has a Unit Overview page that will provide a sense of what the unit will cover and provide links to each of the chapter overview pages for the unit.
 | Each unit has a Unit Questions discussion board. It can be helpful to ask questions about the content in a unit in a common space so that others can learn from your questions.
 | Each chapter has a Chapter Overview page, which lists the learning objectives and vocabulary for the chapter. Each Overview page has a Word document of the objectives and vocabulary. Please download this document to take notes; you can adjust the spacing and format to provide more room for notes and questions.
 | Each chapter has a Videos and Readings page, which includes videos that highlight the key concepts and the reading. You will need to listen to the videos for this chapter as early in the week as possible. You should also read the appropriate sections in the textbook; however, please remember that questions for your quizzes and exams will come from the materials presented in the videos, which cover the objectives and vocabulary words for each chapter. You will NOT be held responsible for any "extra" details that are found in the textbook. The textbook readings are there to reinforce the videos and study guide materials, not to add to them.
Each chapter has a Study Materials page. After taking notes while watching the videos and reading the text, you are ready to practice putting your newly acquired knowledge to work. We have designed two types of study guides for you.

The first is a crossword puzzle for each chapter or concept. These crossword puzzles allow you to test your understanding of the vocabulary words for each chapter. Each quiz and each exam will have a number of questions that come directly from these word lists.

The second type of study guide is a review sheet that will ask you questions about the objectives for each chapter. In these review sheets, we have asked you to locate where these topics are covered in the text book so that you recognize the important correlations between the videos and the text. The answers to the questions are found within the review sheet so you will be assured that you are learning the material correctly.

This course often uses PDF versions of documents. You will need a PDF reader (such as Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader) to view these documents.
 | Each chapter has a Quiz that will test your learning of the material as well as prepare you for the unit and final exams.
 | Some chapters have discussion boards or writing assignments to help you think more about the content and its applications.

Weekly Schedule

This course assumes that you will be able to work independently through the modules, although you can discuss questions with the instructor and other colleagues. You will need to be aware of the weekly schedule each week, including what is due and when. Since this is a 3 credit course, you might assume that you will spend between 9 and 12 hours per week to learn the material and complete the assignments.

Each week you will follow a similar schedule (of course, you can complete the material earlier than suggested):

Monday | Complete any discussion boards or writing activities from the prior week Read the overview page for the current chapter
Tuesday or Wednesday | View the videos on the Videos and Readings page for the current chapter Read the sections from the textbook for the current chapter
Thursday or Friday | Complete the crossword puzzle for the current chapter Download or print the study guide for the current chapter Post your initial comments on the discussion board (if applicable)
Saturday | Complete the chapter quiz
Sunday | Review the material that you missed on the quiz Review the material from other chapters in the unit
Monday | Complete any discussion boards or writing assignments from the prior week Read the overview page for the current chapter

Navigating the Course

This course is designed for students to progress linearly, which means that the modules, assignments, and concepts build on each other in a particular order. You’ll want to start with the orientation module and then move through the pages in each chapter using the Next button in the lower right.

The "Announcements" tab on the left-hand menu will give you access to all of the announcements the instructor has sent out that have not expired.

The "Modules" tab on the left-hand menu is the best way to view the course (not the other tabs or to-do list on your dashboard). This view of the course gives you a look at all the pages of material that you should look at for this course. From this view of the course, you can also navigate straight to any page in the course.

“Assignments," "Discussions,” and "Quizzes" will take you to a global view of each of these items in the course. These are for your convenience, but it is best to navigate through the course using the Modules tab.

"Grades” will track your points earned on assignments in the course.

“People” gives you the list of students in the class.

"Syllabus" is another place where you can access the syllabus for the course. It also links to all of the assignments for the course. However, as was mentioned previously, it is important to navigate through the course using the Modules menu so that you do not miss any important content.

Grades

You can use the what-if grade feature to find out how your grades will be affected by upcoming or resubmitted assignments.