Welcome to a brief tour of Philosophy 18 <BR>(Eastern Religions)! This course surveys major Eastern traditions <BR>including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism. I’m Dan Barnett, <BR>and as the instructor/designer I’ve tried to construct a course that not only introduces <BR>students to new philosophical concepts but <BR>that also encourages students to reflect on what <BR>they have learned. The course mirrors the material that might be <BR>taught in a semester-long face-to-face course. Philosophy 18 is fully online, which <BR>includes the orientation, and is designed to meet a general education requirement for <BR>undergraduate students. Typically the course attracts a healthy mix of both traditional and <BR>non-traditional students. In its design, the course tries to emphasize not <BR>only what students can see, but what they can do. This is a course for the hands-on <BR>brain. Details of the course home page will be <BR>discussed throughout the tour. The course menu forms the nerve center <BR>giving students ready access to some of the most-visited areas of Philosophy 18. The 15-page syllabus is structured like a <BR>brochure or magazine piece, with illustrations and text supporting each other in <BR>providing students with a pleasing gateway to all that is in the course. <BR>That includes a comprehensive course <BR>calendar which lists the due dates of all weekly <BR>assignments throughout the semester. The orientation pages, produced in SoftChalk <BR>to maintain a consistency of formatting, provide images and descriptions of course <BR>navigation elements, a look at how student <BR>learning styles can be adapted for success in the <BR>course, and some helpful guides for <BR>mastering an online course. Also included is the “10-minute <BR>rule.” Spend ten minutes trying to resolve an issue with the course before contacting the <BR>instructor. I’ve been amazed at how many <BR>times students solve their own problems usually <BR>somewhere at the 9-minute mark. The link to each learning module (there are <BR>two each week throughout the semester) features a short, captioned YouTube video <BR>letting students know what’s inside the <BR>module as well as the student learning outcomes for that <BR>module. Inside each learning module is the printed text <BR>of the video greeting, featuring the outcomes for the module and a list of “what to <BR>expect” in terms of subject matter and assignments. Communication is central and helps create a <BR>“living course,” not just a repository of documents. Some students want to know where I am in the <BR>grading cycle. They can easily check my tweets <BR>to check whether a discussion or journal has <BR>been graded. This way the class is not <BR>bothered by too many emails. I send out one each week <BR>when all the assignments have been graded. New learning modules are released Monday <BR>and Wednesday mornings, so I create announcements (which are also sent as <BR>emails) to remind students when the modules <BR>are available. I also create announcements for <BR>each new discussion summary that is posted. The Phil Café is a wide-open discussion <BR>board where students can help students and <BR>where the instructor can also chime in. Students post <BR>technical and navigational questions, post links to relevant videos, and make <BR>observations about some of the materials they <BR>are studying . The focus is on discussing key concepts <BR>associated with Eastern traditions, and my <BR>goal is to move away from student opinion or <BR>reaction and instead to use the conceptual <BR>tools developed in the course to analyze a passage <BR>or teaching. Students must also respond substantively to at least one other post. When the discussion assignment is over I <BR>summarize what has been said, make <BR>additional comments, and ask students to reconsider <BR>their posts in the light of those comments. <BR>These reflections are posted to students’ private <BR>journals. My goal in this course is to integrate all of the <BR>elements so that concepts are reinforced and are used repeatedly, sometimes in new <BR>contexts, throughout the semester. Students are also asked to reflect on their <BR>progress in understanding, and it’s clear that the course produces real changes in <BR>attitude and understanding. I begin each content portion of a learning <BR>module with a 5-10 minute narrated slide presentation (with transcript) introducing and <BR>summarizing the materials contained in additional content pages and in the readings <BR>in our anthology. Each learning module contains a reading <BR>assignment page that lists the pages in the anthology, provides my brief comments, and <BR>that frequently contains additional materials, including comparisons of Eastern and <BR>Western philosophical traditions. Discussions focus on one particular concept <BR>or teaching. Comprehensive prompts ask students, for example, to decide whether a <BR>certain Hindu hymn is life-affirming or life-denying, or to evaluate a number of <BR>definitions of religion, or to consider the implications of the Buddhist teaching of “no-<BR>self.” Though I don’t participate during a discussion, <BR>students know I read every word since I use dozens of (anonymous) excerpts from <BR>their posts in my discussion summaries. <BR>Available from the course menu, the summaries are <BR>intended not just to help students see the discussion as a whole, but also to prod <BR>students into re-evaluating their own viewpoints. Frequently I’ll speak directly to the <BR>class in a YouTube video as I address particularly sensitive areas so students can <BR>hear my voice and see my attitude. Students <BR>need to “mark reviewed” once they’ve completed <BR>reading and viewing each summary (or they <BR>receive a nice little reminder from me). Most summaries include at the end reflection <BR>questions for the student to answer in his or her private journal. Students are asked to re-<BR>read their original discussion posts in light of the discussion summary and the <BR>questions. The questions are designed to <BR>reach students not just on a cognitive level but an <BR>affective level as well. I’m looking for self-awareness, thoughtful re-<BR>evaluation or re-affirmation of positions, and even changes in attitude. These excerpts from real journal reflections <BR>suggest that the process does indeed serve to close the loop as students think about <BR>comments I’ve made about their discussion <BR>posts. What is gratifying is that students often spell <BR>out in detail how their thinking has changed. Instructors spend much time commenting on <BR>student essays and discussions and wonder if students are learning from those comments. <BR>The discussion summaries and <BR>corresponding journal assignments suggest that, at least in <BR>some cases, they are. If our family cat Suzette could talk, she’d thank <BR>you for taking the tour. But she can’t, so I’ll do it for her. Thank you!

Phil 18: Eastern Religions Winner of a 2012 Blackboard Exemplary Course Award Dan Barnett Butte College Instructor/Designer C:\Users\BarnettDa\Documents\My Dropbox\CURRENT FILES\Barnett Images\barnett_scan.jpg About the Course 16-week course Fully online Undergraduate General Education Traditional and non-traditional students C:\Users\BarnettDa\Documents\My Dropbox\CURRENT FILES\Banner Images for Online Courses\Banner_PHIL-018.gif Design Seeing Doing C:\Users\BarnettDa\Documents\My Dropbox\CURRENT FILES\Banner Images for Online Courses\Banner_PHIL-018.gif Course menu Logo Orientation Learning module Twitter feed Course Home Page Course Menu Design Features Visual syllabus Navigation orientation Video-rich course home page Learning modules with student learning outcomes Design Features Visual syllabus Navigation orientation Video-rich course home page Learning modules with student learning outcomes Design Features Visual syllabus Navigation orientation Video-rich course home page Learning modules with student learning outcomes Design Features Visual syllabus Navigation orientation Video-rich course home page Learning modules with student learning outcomes Communication Student-student Instructor-student C:\Users\BarnettDa\Documents\My Dropbox\CURRENT FILES\Banner Images for Online Courses\Banner_PHIL-018.gif Communication Elements Twitter Announcements PHIL CAFÉ Discussions Journals Communication Elements Twitter Announcements PHIL CAFÉ Discussions Journals Communication Elements Twitter Announcements PHIL CAFÉ Discussions Journals Communication Elements Twitter Announcements PHIL CAFÉ Discussions Journals Communication Elements Twitter Announcements PHIL CAFÉ Discussions Journals Integration Threading the needle Closing the loop C:\Users\BarnettDa\Documents\My Dropbox\CURRENT FILES\Banner Images for Online Courses\Banner_PHIL-018.gif Integration Narrated slides Reading assignment pages Discussions Summaries Journal reflections Integration Narrated slides Reading assignment pages Discussions Summaries Journal reflections Integration Narrated slides Reading assignment pages Discussions Summaries Journal reflections Integration Narrated slides Reading assignment pages Discussions Summaries Journal reflections Integration Narrated slides Reading assignment pages Discussions Summaries Journal reflections Journal Reflections I will admit looking back now it does seem like I got a little off subject, but sometimes I just get caught up in trying to understand and get my words out properly. This class is really helping me to learn how to write out my thoughts on a confusing issue. I am glad you make us dig deep in this class. Thank you I enjoy this class because it does not require me to conform to any other beliefs or believe any exact claims. It teaches me about me just as much as it teaches me about other religions. Journal Reflections After taking this class, I have realized how difficult it can be to openly look at a idea or a belief and not automatically judge it and throw my opinion onto it. After reading your [summary] I definitely think you called me out on my contradiction. I always seem to oversee the main points of the stories, but then after reading the [summaries] I learn to expand my mind and open it to new thoughts and insights that I probably never would have thought about before. Thank you for taking the tour! Butte College 3536 Butte Campus Drive Oroville CA 95965 Philosophy 18 Dan Barnett