EBF 200 is an introductory economics class, and we will spend the first seven lessons building a foundation you can use to understand how economies function. Then, in lessons 8-12, we will focus on applying your new understanding of economics to real-world problems related to energy and the environment. This combination of theoretical foundation and practical application makes the course interesting and highly relevant.
Before we begin our semester of study together, it is important that you review all of the material on all these pages and on our course syllabus. These resources will not only prepare you to be successful in this course, but they will also help you prepare for the "Course Information" quiz at the end of the orientation. You must get a score of at least 90% on that quiz to gain access to the assignment dropboxes for this course... and the answers are all contained in this orientation!
This course orientation will complement and expand on the information provided in the syllabus. Be sure to review that document, too... and carefully! A link to the syllabus is located in the main menu.
You should complete the Course Orientation during the first week of class. (See Canvas for specific due dates.) As you work your way through these online materials for the Course Orientation, you will encounter additional reading assignments and hands-on exercises and activities. The chart below provides an overview of the requirements for the Course Orientation. For assignment details, refer to the orientation page noted.
(You may want to print this page to serve as a checklist as you go along.)
Activity | Location | Submitted for grading? |
---|---|---|
Personalize your Canvas space | Course Orientation | No—If you are new to Canvas, personalize your Canvas space (follow directions on the "Course Communications [1]" page of this lesson). |
Forward your Canvas e-mail | Course Orientation | No—This is an optional step that enables you to be notified of e-mail sent to you in the course so you can be sure you don't miss any important course communications [1]. |
Acknowledge that you have read this Course Orientation Lesson | Canvas | No—You must agree to have read this Course Orientation lesson. This will unlock the Course Information quiz. |
Take the Course Orientation Quiz | Canvas | No—The quiz is designed to test your knowledge and awareness of the information covered in this Course Orientation lesson. You must get a score of 90% or better on this quiz to unlock Lesson 1. You may retake the quiz as many times as you need. |
Complete the "Initial Course Survey" | Canvas | No—This survey contains questions about you and your expectations for this course. It provides me with useful information about your expectations for the class. |
Introduce yourself and meet the rest of the class! | Canvas | No—This is important in order for me to get to know who is in the class and what interests they have. It is also helpful to all students to meet others in the class. |
If you have any questions, please post them to our discussion forum in Canvas. I will check that discussion forum daily to respond. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.
On the following pages, you will find important information about the course structure, requirements, scheduling, and technical requirements and assistance... all of which you'll need to know in order to succeed in the course. Remember, you are also responsible for the information located in the course syllabus (see the Resources menu).
EBF 200 will be conducted entirely on the World Wide Web. There are no set class meeting times, but you will be required to complete weekly assignments. Registered students in this course will need to navigate between several environments in the World Wide Web. These include:
Please look at the syllabus to find details about course assignments.
You will find your course grades in Canvas. In our Canvas course space, use the Grades link in the navigation menu.
On quizzes, exercises, or other things handed in, please check your answers before you submit them electronically. Materials submitted online are graded in the same way as any other course submissions--we grade what you submit. If the answer is D but you chose C, the answer is wrong...whether you accidentally wrote C by hand, or you accidentally colored in the C circle on the scantron sheet with your #2 pencil, or you accidentally clicked on C with your mouse.
You are responsible for your computer connection. If you were driving to campus to take an in-class exam, the instructor would not come out to get you if your car broke down. If you are taking an online quiz and your apartment's wireless goes down, the situation is the same. Thus, you should find a good, solid connection. We let you "drop" two quizzes when calculating your grade, and this should cover an occasional electronic disaster on your end.
This course, as delivered through the Penn State World Campus, is a distance education course. Many of you may be resident students at the University Park campus or one of the other Penn State campuses. However, as a distance education course, you cannot treat this course the same way you would treat a regular, in vivo course. This is more of an independent learning experience, but of course I am available to answer any questions, address issues you may have, participate in the discussion forums, and so on.
As an independent learning experience, there are certain responsibilities that fall upon you.
The instructor's primary responsibility throughout the duration of the course will be responding to questions you may have, via the Communications interface in Canvas. As mentioned above, all course communications forward automatically to me, so I will see everything pretty much instantly. If something is urgent, I will strive to address it as soon as possible. If it is a request that is not urgent, but cogent and meaningful, I will strive to address it within a day or two. If I am going to be out of communication for a day or two, I'll let you know so that you can expect a bit of a delay. I don't expect this to happen too often, but if it does, I will get on it as soon as possible.
Now that you've had a chance to learn about the course and the online learning environment, I'd like to get to know you...and help you get to know each other! Complete the activities below, then continue with the remainder of the Course Orientation.
By now, you hopefully have a much better idea of what this course, and the online course environment, will be like. Time to test your skills! Once you have reviewed all of the materials for the Course Orientation, you will need to take the "Course Information Quiz" and pass it with a score of 90% or better in order to unlock the assignment dropboxes for this course. You can take the quiz as many times as you need until you obtain at least a 90%.
You have reached the end of the Course Orientation! Double-check the to-do list on the Course Orientation Overview [3] page to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before you begin Lesson 1. (To access Lesson 1, use the link in the "Lessons" menu.)