The Community College
of
Baltimore County

Course Purpose and Objective:

The objective of this course is to encourage the student to think critically about the question: Are We Alone in the Universe?
In order to answer this question you will use a probability equation called the “Drake Equation” that is explained in your first lesson. Each of the subsequent lessons, or modules, will help you to determine a piece of the information you need to calculate the Drake Equation at the end of the semester. Your calculation, along with how you determined your numbers for each part of the equation, will go into your final paper. In order to accomplish this task, you must learn some basic Astronomy and use the information learned to discuss critically the question of extraterrestrial life.


Instructional Methods:

This is a self-paced, competence-based course that requires the mastery of objective materials in one module before proceeding to the next. This means that you must achieve a 90% or better on each module before going on to the next one. If you do not get this grade the first time around, I will work with you so that you understand what you did wrong and you will be allowed to retake the “test” one other time. If you still do not achieve the required grade, you will be given the highest grade from the two trials.
The objective materials are delivered through multimedia lessons or modules authored by the instructor and viewed on your home computer using Power Point. Websites of interest can be accessed within a lesson if you have Internet access or on campus at a later time with one of the schools computers.
Each module consists of a paper work file that lists the questions or objectives you are expected to answer for that lesson, a power point file that gives you the lesson material along with cognitive questions you must answer, and a test. You have a choice of taking objective tests or essay tests.

Instructional Materials:

In your packet, you have been given a cd-rom and a floppy disk. On the cd-rom you will find one folder marked “paperwork” that contains all the modules with their individual questions, and another marked “power point lessons” which contains all the lessons that go along with the module paperwork. You will also find ppview97; a piece of software that you can load on your machine and use to view the power point lessons if you don’t have power point on your hard drive.
The floppy disk gives you a means of saving your answers to the objectives and cognitive questions for later transmission to me. It contains a Microsoft word file for each set of objectives and should be placed in your “a” drive when you start a power point lesson.
You may access the floppy at any time you are viewing a lesson by clicking on the “Notes” link somewhere on the page.

Procedure:

Your first step is to view the lesson on the Drake Equation found on the cd-rom in the power point lesson folder. This lesson introduces the equation and can also be used as a guide when you are doing your final paper. You are not tested on this first lesson.
When you are ready to start your first lesson, open the module marked “AsMod1” in the paperwork folder of your cd-rom. You will find that it has two parts and two sets of objectives. You should look over the objectives, but you will find the same objectives on the floppy disk marked as files AsMod1Anotes and AsMod1Bnotes.
Now go to the cd-rom power point folder and open lesson 1A in power point, insert the floppy disk and go through the lesson. Make sure that you are in full-screen mode otherwise any links will not be active.

Whenever you see the answer to an objective, transfer that information to the file on the floppy disk using whatever method is easiest for you. If you encounter a cognitive question in the lesson, go to the floppy disk file and place your answer there also.

When you have completed your objective answers and any cognitive questions that you come across, close the lesson and save the notes file when prompted. You will then send the file to me via an email (as an attachment or in the body of the email) for review before going on to the testing part of the module. This same procedure is followed for every lesson module.

Testing Methods:

There are actually two methods of testing and it is your choice as to the method you would like to use. If you know you are taking essay tests, skip to that section of the course outline for instructions. If you are going to take objective tests read the instructions that follow.

Objective Tests:

In this case you would answer the objectives, and any cognitive questions in a particular lesson and send me the answer file via an email to be reviewed for errors, but these are not used as part of your grade. At that time I will grade any cognitive questions and let you know if your answers to the objectives are correct. You may then use these notes to study for the test that consists of multiple choice, true/false and fill-in questions.
This test is taken at your convenience at a web ct site I have set up for your class. The tests are timed and you cannot change an answer once it has been entered. I will receive an email showing me your answers, your grade, the time it took you to do the test and other bits of information. I have tried to allow for spelling errors and other problems in the fill-ins but since I see your answers, I can adjust the grade accordingly if I don’t agree with the computers grade.
Below is a link to the login site for the webct tests. Your user name can be found in the introductory letter sent with this packet. Your logon password is the last 6 digits of your social security number. Besides logging in, each test has a password which you will receive after I have reviewed your objectives and cleared you to try the test.

http://student.ccbcmd.edu/distance/online/login.htmllogon link

IF YOU ARE USING AOL AS YOUR PROVIDER YOU MUST SIGN ON AND THEN OPEN UP EXPLORER AS YOUR BROSWER. THE AOL BROWSER WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO SEE POP-UPS. UNFORTUNATELY, THE QUESTIONS COME UP IN POP-UP FORM SO YOU CANNOT USE THE BROWSER IN AOL.

Once you have taken your test you will receive your grade automatically. If it is over 90% you can proceed to the next lesson. If it is below 90% wait for a response from me before proceeding to the next lesson. It may be necessary for you to try the alternate test form.

Module Grading for objective test students:

There are 6 modules, some with two parts that add up to 460 points from the module tests. An additional 60 points are possible from the cognitive questions. The final paper is worth 100 points adding up to the maximum possible points of 620.

The grading scale is listed below:

Grading Scale for objective test method:
A 558-620
B 496-557
C 434-495
D 372-432
F Below 372

Essay Tests:

The essay test method is a little different. You answer the objective questions for each module and send them to me for review. Your answers are used as part of your grade. You do not take essay tests after each module, but after you have completed all the sections for that module (some modules only have one section). For example, your first essay questions are done after you have completed part 1A and 1B. The essay questions can be found in the paperwork folder on your cd-rom in the file marked “AsEssayQuestions”. Most of the essay questions require searching on the web for information that connects to your module material in some way.

Module Grading For Essay Tests:

The objective questions are graded when they are turned in for content, spelling and grammar, and you can receive 460 points from the 6 modules. You can receive an additional 240 points from the essay questions that are answered after the objective questions have been turned in and graded. Again these are graded for content, spelling and grammar. There are an additional 60 points possible from the cognitive questions adding up to the maximum possible points of 760.

Grading scale for essay test method:
A 684-760
B 608-683
C 532-607
D 456-531
F Below 456

Modules:
Listed below are the modules you must complete and the number of points you can accumulate from each module, for objective tests and for the cognitive questions found within the modules:

Appointments:
Appointments may be made at any time for any problems or questions that you have. Just sign up on the sheet located on my office door, or contact me by email to schedule. Of course, you may drop by the office during my office hours whenever I am in the office.

Attendance Policy:
Since this is a self-paced course, students do not have a set time for class. But in order to meet the course requirements, you must complete at least a part of each module per week. This will give you plenty of time to do any additional research and complete the final essay by the end of the semester.

Text:
It is recommended that you purchase the text, but should this prove to be a hardship, the text is available on reserve at the main desk of the library. This particular text is helpful in doing research for the final paper and some essay questions.

The text called “Life in the Universe” by Bennett, Shostak and Jakosky.

Paper:

The final paper, based on the original question, is turned in as the final activity for this class and is based on the knowledge that you have gained while going through the modules as well as any outside references you wish to use from recent periodicals or the web. It is worth 100 points and is part of the total grade for the course.

The due date for the paper is the last day of classes for this spring semester.