MR 3419
Index Page
Introduction
This is the external Internet root index (home) page for MR 3419 - Atmospheric Effects on Electromagnetic Systems. This page is primarily intended for persons who are evaluating the course and to serve as a guide for the online material that is available for this course. Normally, students in this course would not need to access this page; rather they would reach the online material through the Blackboard web site. If you would like a quick overview of this course you can go to the course information, the course material introduction and learning objectives pages. The course material is still under construction; there is considerable material that has been developed, but is not yet ready to be displayed online. To get an idea of the educational level of the material that will be in all modules, check out the online material in Module 3. To see an example of student-computer interaction go to the AREPS Exercise.
Instruction Philosophy
Interaction and stimulation
We believe that in order to succeed in an online learning experience, students
need continuous motivation and stimulation. This is difficult in the online
setting where the instructor's enthusiasm, instant interaction, eye contact
and body language cannot be used. In order to overcome this drawback, we
will strive to present the material using a considerable amount of visual
graphics, including animation and computer-student interaction that provides
instant feedback. Students will also interact with each other and with the
instructor on a regular basis. They will be encouraged to share their relevant
experiences and ideas with the class in weekly online discussions.
Flexibility
We anticipate that many of the students for this course, who will be in
the US military, will have busy schedules with many other duties, some of
them unexpected. They also may be located at various time zones around the
world. We wish to make the course as flexible as possible to accommodate
these busy students. For this reason, there will be no set times when students
must be online; none of the student-student and student-instructor interactions
will require "instant" or "chat room" type feedback
from the students. Also we have designed the course into self-contained
modules (with the exception of the the first two modules, which contain
course logistics information and basic background material that all students
will need). If students are unable to complete one module, they can proceed
with the following modules and perhaps complete the missed module when the
course is offered again.
Motivation and Participation
Although flexibility on a daily basis will be accommodated, experience has
shown that online courses based on a "work at your own pace" schedule
rarely succeed. For this reason, the students will be expected to participate
in all aspects of the course on a timely basis, i.e. some feedback will
be required at least three times each week. In order to have successful
online discussions, the student will be required to contribute and respond
on a timely basis, to get credit for a particular module.
Course Blackboard Site
http://nps.blackboard.com/After logging into Blackboard, follow the link with the course title. You must be registered with the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Blackboard site and be on the Blackboard course roster to get access to course at the Blackboard site. Contact the instructor if you would like to be put on the course list. You do not have to be registered for the course to be put on the list.
The student will be guided through this course primarily by material offered within Blackboard or through links provided therein. In particular the following Blackboard features will be utilized:
