About CMSY137 Doing Research on the Internet

If You Have Already Registered for this Class:

First, fill out the introduction form.

Then you can start doing the readings, taking the quizzes, and writing the papers (more information available on these topics by clicking on the buttons above).

General Information About this Class:

Course Description

This course introduces the student to using the internet for research. Students will work in a lab setting, which will consist of their home computer or one used on the HCC campus, and will use the internet to research a variety of specialized topics and complete five separate online Papers. Each Reading section offers a Quiz to test your comprehension of the section. All of the course material is contained within this web site, (inluding the Schedule of due dates, at the URL http://classweb.howardcc.edu/cmsy137/.

Students are expected to be responsible for their own computer hardware, software, and internet connection. Students should also review the basics of internet etiquette (netiquette) here:
http://netforbeginners.about.com/internet/netforbeginners/msubnetiquette.htm

Course Objectives

After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Find information on topics of interest using a variety of search strategies.
2. Conduct research using several specialized search engines.
3. Find, download, and install files from the web.
4. Share files with others on the Internet.

Class Format

There are no class meetings for this class.

All course assignments will be handled over the Internet through email. Assignments will be posted online and students will submit their coursework via email. This course is sequential, but can be self-paced if you want it to be; you may complete this course as quickly as you like but each assignment must be completed and submitted no later than the published due date.

Instructions and directions for each written assignment are posted on this site under the PAPERS tab; you are expected to visit the discussion web once a week and contribute to the online discussion on various topics relating to research.

Due dates for papers are available on the SCHEDULE tab.

There will be no exams for this class.

Remember, this is a course about doing research on the internet. For each topic, you should exhaust every available internet lead you can find, to really research a subject so thoroughly that you can describe the subject in detail in the paper based on the information you found either informative and/or repetitious. 

In this environment, more responsibility rests on individual students than might be true in a traditional classroom. However, as in all classes, student success depends on motivation and participation in assignments. Regular interaction with the instructor and classmates will be accessible via email and online chat.

Required Viewers, Plug-ins, or Players

To get the most out of your internet research, be sure you have the following plug ins:

Flash
RealPlayer
QuickTime
Live Picture
Acrobat Reader

Class Communications

Email and voicemail messages will be acknowledged that they were received within 72 hours.

Alternative forms of contact, such as phone calls and face-to-face meetings will be available by appointment.

I will read assignments/discussion forums and provide comments/responses twice a week.

Each assignment will be graded and returned within 7 days.

Course Requirements

The grade will be determined from 5 assignments which will be demonstrate your understanding of  internet research concepts. Completing the assignments will require that you spend some time on the internet searching for information, locating sites to download/upload files, sending and receiving mail, and completing online "papers" on five separate topics.

Grading

Grading is based on a 1000-point system, 175 points for each paper (see the PAPERS tab above for more details), and 125 points for participating in forums on the discussion web (five topics each worth 25 points).

Textbooks

While the bulk of your research will be done on the internet itself, recommended textbooks are available from the HCC Online Bookstore. 
See the READING tab for a schedule of the textbook information covered each week.

Additional information may be made available through the HCC Library's Electronic Reserves.

Searching & Researching on the Internet & the World Wide Web by Ernest Ackermann, Karen Hartman Franklin Beedle & Assoc; ISBN: 1887902260 This textbook is available from the HCC Online Bookstore.

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© Howard Community College 2002
Last updated: 16 Apr 2003