Orientation:
- On-campus orientation for the Online! section (W01) is
Thursday, August 27, 5:00-6:15 p.m. in room J-155.
- The orientation is optional. Everything you need to know can
be found on these web pages
- If you miss the orientation see the ORIENTATION
webpage
SCHEDULE
BLACKBOARD
- How to log-in:
- Go to http://harper.blackboard.com
- Follow the instructions to "log-in",
- If you need help see the following on the Blackboard
opening page:
- "Getting Started with Blackboard"
- "Student Blackboard Technical Support"
- You should see "GEG101 W01- Fall 2009 - World/Regional
Geography (Healy)" in you "My classes" list.
- What is on our Blackboard
Site?
- Where to Begin: Begin your studying by going to the
"CHAPTER/REALM" link on Blackboard.
- Links/Folders:
- CHAPTER/REALM - BEGIN HERE
- Orientation
- Syllabus
- Schedule
- ASSIGNMENTS
- EXAM REVIEW
- Announcements (click on "View All")
- Discussion Board
- My Grades
- MAP QUIZZES
- EXAMS
- BBC WORLD NEWS
- GEOG. OF SKIING
E-MAIL
Option to Forward New Harper Email Account
- If you are not planning on using your new Harper email
account, please view the instructions on how to forward that
account to one you check frequently. Visit http://harper.blackboard.com
and check out "How do I forward my Harper email?" in the "Getting
Started with Blackboard" area.
OTHER
- Always put "GEG 101" and a message in the subject lines
of e-mail messages sent to the me. To avoid viruses, I delete
messages prior to reading them if I don't know who they are
from.
- GEG 101-W01 does NOT meet at Harper once a week and there
is NO certain time that you must be online.
- You are NOT on your own. Your instructor is available to
provide assistance and answer questions:
MAP QUIZZES
- All map quizzes will be taken at the Testing Center on the
Harper campus in the Student and Administration Center, room
A-148, phone 847-925-6541 [see: Assessment
Center hours]. Map quizzes should be taken by the date
listed on the class schedule below.
- The Map quizzes will be taken, online, at the Harper Testing
Center
- For the Testing Center location, hours, and phone number
see: Assessment
Center hours
- NOTE: The Harper College campus is closed Fridays,
Saturdays, and Sundays in the summer.
- For each chapter students will be required to name and locate
various countries and physical and cultural features on a blank
outline map of the region. All of these map quiz locations are
listed at http://www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/geg101i/mapquizlocations.htm
and linked from the Blackboard "CHAPTER/REALM" webpage for each
chapter. A link to a blank outline map of each region can also be
found on the Blackboard "CHAPTER/REALM" webpage of each chapter.
- On all map quizzes, except the first one, there will be ten
locations labeled on a map with the numbers 1 through 10. You will
be required to name the labeled physical or political (country)
feature. As mentioned above, all of the required locations are
linked from the Blackboard "CHAPTER/REALM" webpage of each
chapter.
- The first map quiz is different. Map quiz 1 will
require you to know the borders of the 12 world realms discussed
in our textbook. See the BLUE LINES on the map in Figure
G-3 on page 5 of your textbook. You will be shown a
world map with the boundaries of the realms draw, BUT there will
be TEN ERRORS. Twenty areas will be marked on the map near the
realm boundaries, ten of these marked areas are drawn correctly
and ten of these marked areas are near ERRORS in the realm
boundaries. You are to find the ten errors.
If you are able to precisely draw the borders
of the 12 world realms as shown in figure G-3 of the textbook,
then you will be able to find the ten errors in map quiz 1.
- Map quizzes can be taken individually OR at the time you take
the unit exam. All map quizzes for each unit should be completed
when you take the unit exam. I strongly recommend that you take
the first few map quizzes individually so that you can judge their
difficulty and time commitment. There will be 12 map quizzes (one
for each chapter) and only 11 will be counted (for 110
points).
- Sample map quizzes can be found on the "MAP QUIZZES" link on
Blackboard.
EXAMS
- All exams will be taken at the Testing Center on the Harper
campus in the Student and Administration Center, room A-148, phone
847-925-6541 [see: Assessment
Center hours] on, or before, the scheduled date
(see SCHEDULE
).
- The map quizzes and the multiple choice questions from each
exam will be taken online at the Harper Testing Center.
- Each unit exam is 100 points: 50 multiple choice questions and
50 points from short answer questions
- Each unit exam can be RETAKEN once (different questions); only
the higher score of each section will be counted.
- the COMPREHENSIVE final exam is 100 multiple choice problems
- BEFORE taking the exams, be sure to:
- Go to Blackboard and see the review study guides
available on the "EXAM REVIEW" link
- go to the Blackboard "CHAPTER/REALM" web page where you
will find:
- "Studying the chapter"
- "Reviewing the Chapter"
- "Map Quiz"
- There are certain questions that will be on all three
unit exams:
- Know the difference between a "large scale" map and a
"small scale" map
- Know the DEFINITIONS and EXAMPLES of the words listed at
the beginning of each chapter
- Know the physical, cultural, economic, and historical
characteristics of each realm (chapter and be able to
compare them with the neighboring realms (like assignment
#1)
- Questions from the online REVIEW
webpage
MANY OF YOU WILL NOT COMPLETE THIS COURSE
- Distance learning courses tend to have a high drop rate. Many
of you will not complete this course. If you cannot devote at
least as much time to this course as you do to regular
face-to-face college courses, drop now
- College Counselors suggest that you should spend 2 hours
studying EACH WEEK for each course credit-hour.
- Since this is a 3 credit-hour online course you should spend
around 9 hours EACH WEEK preparing (3 hours that you would
normally be in class and 6 additional hours).
ORIENTATION REVIEW
- Log in to BLACKBOARD
- Change your e-mail address
- Review the ORIENTATION
web page
- Read the SYLLABUS, pay close
attention to the SCHEDULE
- Always BEGIN each assignment by clicking on the Blackboard
"CHAPTER/REALM" link.
- Begin Assignments EARLY - You may need help.
- Assignments MUST be submitted, on, or before, the date listed
on the SCHEDULE
- Before taking the exams be sure to see the "EXAM REVIEW"
link on Blackboard and ask for HELP if you don't understand
them
- Use the Blackboard
Discussion Board if you have questions on the assignments
or for other "course content" questions
- Include "GEG 101" and a message in the SUBJECT line of all
e-mails sent to the instructor and include you name
WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY?
- Two Broad Fields:
- Human (Cultural) Geography
- Physical Geography
- Human Geography is often studied from two different
Perspectives:
- Regional Geography (GEG 101)
- Systematic (Topical) Perspective (GEG 100)
- We can study the geography of almost anything - as long as it
has a "spatial " component.
- Three Broad Questions
- WHERE?
- WHY THERE?
- WHY DO WE CARE? / WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
- So we will NOT just memorize where things are, but we will
try to explain WHY they are THERE.
- World Regional Geography and Applying
the 4 Themes
- physical geography
- cultural geography
- economic geography
- historical geography
ALWAYS KEEP THESE QUESTIONS IN MIND:
~ WHERE?
~ WHY THERE?
To answer the WHY THERE question we will use the four
THEMES:
~ physical geography
~ cultural geography
~ economic geography
~ historical geography
WHERE TO BEGIN:
Begin your studying by going to the "CHAPTER/REALM" link on
Blackboard. This is very important since we may not read all sections
of a chapter and you will be assigned and graded on extra activities
that are not in the textbook.
