1. Is this the right class for you?
   
   Some students are more successful in distance learning courses and some are more successful if they attend a class regularly. It's better to find that out before you start the course. ACC's Distance Learning website has many resources to help you decide whether you are well-suited for distance learning courses and to help you get the skills you need to succeed in them. I want you to succeed in whatever class you take and there are several in-class sections available. I find that this survey is particularly thought-provoking.

To take this course by Distance Learning requires good reading skills. If you are TSI - mandated in reading, you should consider very carefully whether you are really ready to learn completely from reading from a book and from a computer screen. Most students who find reading difficult learn math better in a classroom course.

In this class, you have a lot of flexibility about WHEN during the week you work, but not WHETHER you work during any given week. Unless you are ahead of the schedule, you MUST work every week in this course, just as you must attend class about six hours every week and then do homework if you take a course like this in a regular classroom section.

The instruction in this course is in the purchased materials. If you will not be able to purchase them, you will not be able to receive the instruction and will almost certainly be withdrawn from the course. There is an option for temporary access from the publisher. A link will be provided later in this Orientation to information about that. Do not sign up for this temporary access until it is completely clear that you intend to remain enrolled in this course rather than trying to move to the next higher course.
 

2. Is this class at the right level for you? And do you understand whether you are REQUIRED to take this course this semester?
   Although you were required to talk with an advisor before registering, part of the ACC system is to have your math instructor check on whether you are placed in the right course. Please read about what will happen if you have to withdraw from the course.
   
   If you want a course that will prepare you to "pass" the TCOMPASS by the end of the semester, this is not it. That is Elementary Algebra, MATD 0370, which is the next course in the sequence after this one. If you believe that you could take that course this semester, and prepare for the TCOMP, please email me and describe your situation. Do it soon, so that if I agree, you'll still have the best selection of courses available.
   
   If you want a course that will prepare you for some college-level math course the following semester, this is not it. This course prepares you for MATD 0370, Elementary Algebra, and NOTHING ELSE. If you want to take only one course to prepare for taking a college-level math course, please email me and describe your situation. Do it soon, so that if I agree that you are ready, you'll still have the best selection of courses available. If you want to get into a higher-level course, you'll need to pass a test on the prerequisite material for that course. Find Prerequisite Review Sheets.
   
   If you feel that this course will be really very easy for you, but you want to stay in it anyway, please read this information.
   
   If you have any questions, please contact me and describe your situation, including information about what math course the Assessment Test printout recommended that you enroll in. Make it clear that you are considering enrolling in my MATD 0330 class so that I can give your message top priority.
   
   If you are concerned that the class will go too fast for you to succeed, please note that we have provisions for that. If you need more than one semester to complete the material in this course, you can earn an IP grade, which is neither failing nor passing, and then enroll in the course again to complete the material. To earn an IP grade, you must MEET THE MINIMUM PARTICIPATION requirements ALL SEMESTER. So if you plan to start late, then you are disqualifying yourself from earning an IP grade. You can start the course on time even if you haven't bought the materials.

3. Learn about this class. DO NOT PRINT anything yet.
   First, do you have an appropriate computer for this class? Read this to see. (You don't have to have a printer.)
   
   Look over what you'll be graded on by reviewing the "Grading" page, available from the menu on the left. Are you prepared to do all of these?
   
   
4. This is an Internet course. In this course, your computer and email are extremely important.
   You'll need to be connected to the Internet whenever you are using the software.
   You'll also need to read and respond to email at least three times a week. If you aren't yet using ACC email, you will need to set that up and start receiving messages at it soon. But I want you to start in this Orientation with whatever email address you currently use, especially if the course will start soon. Please have your ACC email address set up and use it on your Orientation Form 2. .
    
5. Fill out the Orientation Form 1. This will allow me to communicate with you by email and also assure me that you know the requirements so it is reasonable for you to spend your time and money on this course.
   
   
6. Filling out any of my orientation forms DOES NOT enroll you in the course. It is your responsibility to check whether you are still enrolled after your payment deadline. It is possible to check your enrollment online.
   
   There is NO orientation meeting. Orientation is online only. You are welcome to come to my office hours to meet me. If that isn't convenient, send me an email message to discuss when we might meet or what else I might do to help you get started.
   
   
   
7. BEFORE CLASSES BEGIN and BEFORE YOU BUY THE MATERIALS, please do the following and fill out Orientation form 2. DO NOT PRINT anything except when you are explicitly told to print. (Printing too much results in a mass of unorganized paper and is confusing!)
   
   Find a notebook to keep your notes for the course organized and start using it now. Preferably this should be a looseleaf notebook with dividers so that you can organize your papers. But you can use a spiral notebook if you prefer. The point is to NOT put the information you're writing down on loose paper that can be lost easily!
   
   Look at the Testing Centers website and consider the locations and hours of each center. Decide which Testing Center you will use for your tests in this course.
   Write down the hours of your Testing Center in your notebook.
   You should plan to finish your test during those hours.
   (The Testing Center personnel do not stay later than they intended to stay just because a student needs more time to finish a test!)
   
   Browse through all the links on the left here. At the top of each page is a summary of what you can find below. It is not necessary for you to read all these documents, but do look at them to see what you can find where.
   * Decide which course materials you will use on the very first day of class. This may be either of the temporary alternatives or the materials you have purchased for the class. Find information about this under "Required Materials" on the General Course Information page.
   * Make a note of Course ID number for our class - the number you will enter in the MyMathLab software to enroll in our class. Find it just a few lines from the top on the DL 0330 Course Home Page.
   * Notice the dates of the semester and that you must turn in all work several days before the end of the semester. When is the deadline for turning in work? Find it just a few lines from the top of the DL 0330 Course Home Page.
   * Use the grade prediction applet to compute a grade in this course. Find it from the Grading page, under "How can I predict what grade I'll make?" You can use the grades I provide for you to use, or make up your own.
   * Notice where you can get free tutoring? Find it from the last link in the list on the left called Course Rules and Resources. The last item is about where to find free tutoring.
   
   If you are registered with the Office for Students with Disabilities and will ask for any accomodations in this course, you must present your accomodation letter from them to me at least two weeks before any accomodation will be provided. Please email me right away to tell me to expect to receive your letter. If you need some accomodation earlier than two weeks from the beginning of the course, mention that in the email message and we'll discuss what to do about it.
   
   Some students will have restrictions put on their enrollment in future semesters if they withdraw from this class. You need to know whether that is true for you. That means you need to know your TSI/TASP status. If you don't know that, please check with your campus advising office. You can fill out our Orientation form even if you don't know it, but you should make an appointment to talk with an advisor soon to find out.
8. Your email address: On the first Orientation form, I asked you to give me whatever email address you want. But ACC has assigned you an email address to which we will send all of your official ACC correspondence. If you haven't set it up so that you are reading that email, it is time to do so. You can have that email forwarded to anywhere you wish, but, of course, you have to set that up. Please do that now and use that address when you fill out the Orientation form 2.
   
9. Now you can print! (You don't have to have a printer. Read here if you don't want to print things.)
   First, find a notebook or folder in which to organize your printed material and keep track of your paper homework. Print these:
   Course Calendar.
   Paper Homework list
   
   
10. Skim through the entire set of materials from the links on the left of this page. You don't have to remember all of it, but try to understand the organization well enough to be able to look up things later.. Make a few notes for yourself about where to find the important information you think that you will need in the course.
11. Decide what materials you will be using in the class on the Monday class begins. You have three choices.
    • If you are going to purchase the materials immediately, do that. (See link to Required materials on the DL 0330 Course Home Page link.) This is only if you are sure that you will not be changing to a higher-level course.
    • If you are going to use the free temporary access to the software, start the process to get that set up. (See link to Required materials on the DL 0330 Course Home Page link.)
    • If you are not ready to do either of those, then find the page with the copies of the first two chapters that you can read and work problems from. Make sure the password given works for you and bookmark that page. (See link to Required materials on the DL 0330 Course Home Page link.)
      Starting on the first day of the course, you must start working from this and, at the end of week 1, must send me something. So work in this every day until you get the software. Then, when you get the software, you should be able to go through the first lessons pretty quickly. At the end of the first week, I will expect students to either have most of Sections 1.1-1.6 done in the software or to report to me by email about their work by hand. By the beginning of the second week, you must have started in the software.
12. Fill out Orientation Form 2
13. When you get access to the software, follow the instructions on the Software page under "Starting the software." The orientation questions in the software are very important. When you go through that Orientation, you don't need to take notes about how to do things and you don't have to absorb it all to go on and start working. But it is very likely that you will want to come back to this several times during the first couple of weeks as you start using the course materials.
14. Then follow the instructions on the Software page under "Learning the Material." Pick the method of learning that you think will work best for you and try it. I suggest that you try at least one additional method sometime in the first week, just to see what seems to feel more comfortable for you.
15. Then start learning the material. Do the required work for Section 1.1.
16. Print this Guide and then use it to write your answers to the questions. It is very important that you learn how to find the information in the course and here's where you show me that you have done that. I expect you to come back to this page on the web and follow the link to the Guide and then and follow whatever links you need in order to learn the answers to these questions. Again, write your answers on the sheet and have that in front of you when you fill out Orientation Form 3.
17. Fill out Orientation Form 3 .