Table of Contents
- How do I get started with eLogic?
- Where can I find the instructor?
- Why isn't there a video each week?
- Who is the instructor?
- What is eLogic?
- When are assignments due?
- Will this course help me to be smarter?
- How do I get an A in the course?
- The eLogic page does not accept my access code!
- Should I do the exercises in the book?
- How do I order an access code packet if one does not come with my book?
- How do I contact Metatext support via e-mail?
- Why do all those quizzes as well as the end of chapter tests?
- How do I make sure the quiz and test receipts get to the instructor?
How do I get started with eLogic?
All tests are set up on the eLogic web page. Go to this link and register for the course on the eLogic page using the access code on the card that accompanied your new textbook. When you go to the eLogic page you should click on the picture of the 11th edition of the book. In the dialogue box that comes up and asks, "Have you checked to see if your instructor has created a course in eLogic before entering your access code?" select "Yes I have, continue." This will take you to a web page where you can choose to register for eLogic. Click on "register." When the new form comes up you should enter your name and other required information including the name you wish to use as your user name and the code on the card that came with your new textbook. On subsequent visits to the eLogic page you will only need to type in the user name you selected and the password. The MetaText Course ID Code for Summer 2003 is 2192.
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Where can I find the instructor?
I frequently visit the philosophy department in K219 and if you would like to arrange a meeting we can do that. I will post office hours once it becomes clearer how my various requirements will be for the Spring Semester. You can check my schedule here. Otherwise I have an office at home in Eagle River. You can call me at 694-1023. (Please no calls after 8PM.) The best way to get in touch is by email: wsjamison@uaa.alaska.edu
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Why isn't there a video each week?
There are no video tapes or presentations for this course. I would eventually like to make some but at present we do not have a server where they could be maintained. (Wolfstream is supposed to do this eventually.) The text comes with access to the web site and on-line exercises seem to be the best way to grasp this kind of material.
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Who is the instructor?
If you are curious about me I have a "brief" description of my history at http://wsjamison.uaa.alaska.edu/myhist.htm
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What is e-Logic?
The eLogic web page contains some of the textbook highlights and includes quiz questions for each section of the book. These quiz questions come as either true/false fill-in, or multiple-choice format so you can choose which format is most helpful to your study style. At the end of each chapter there is a chapter test. As you do these section quizzes and chapter tests you select to email the results to me and I will have a record of your work. Your grade for the course will be the average of your chapter quizzes and tests. You will find that you can keep working on these until you demonstrate excellent understanding of the materials and have an A for the course. So essentially, your grade for the course will be up to you!
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When are assignments due?
The only real deadline is when I have to turn in grades. Otherwise, you can consider this course as one you can complete at your own pace. I usually have to turn grades in a week after the official end date for the semester. If you want a grade turned in by then all your work must be completed or you should inform me that you want whatever grade you have earned at that point. If you need more time to complete the work for the course to earn an A my policy is very liberal. I have no problems giving you an incomplete for the course so you can have more time to finish. Remember though that your eLogic access code will only be good for a total of 180 days! I also do not remind folks if they have an incomplete that the time they have left to finish is nearing. I leave that up to you.
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Will this course help me to be smarter?
This is a very good question! I have been studying logic for many years and I still do dumb things. My wife, on the other hand, only took one Logic class together with me when we were both in college and the only thing that she did that might have been dumb was agreeing to marry me! I hope it was, at least, her favorite mistake! I think what Copi says on page 4 is probably a good answer to this question.
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How do I get an A in the course?
This is a very good question! For each chapter of the book there is a series of quizzes and a chapter test on the eLogic web page. As you take these quizzes and tests you will have the choice of emailing the results to me. When you have successfully completed each of them choose to email me the results and I will keep track of your progress. If you complete all of them you have earned an A for the course. So it is up to you to keep doing them until you get them right and when you do you will have earned an A for the course. If you have trouble with some of them and choose to continue on to other exercises I will keep track of the errors and add them up. If you complete 90% of the work correctly then you have an A. From 80 to 89% correct earns a B for the course. From 70 to 79% earns a C for the course. From 60 to 69% earns a D. As you can see, the grade you earn is up to how much effort you put in. If you learn the information you earn the grade!
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The eLogic page does not accept my access code!
When I try to access eLogic with my access code and username it does not let me in. It does not give me an option to choose what name I want. Is this preset by the instructor or do I use the one for Blackboard?
It sounds like you are trying to register on the log in page for those who are already registered. If you are clicking on one of my links to eLogic, notice that there are several, and they are for different things. Perhaps it would have been easier if I suggested following the directions on the green card that includes your access code instead. Your first procedure with Metatext should be filling in your registration code. Then it will ask for your information. At that point you will choose your password. After you receive your registration confirmation you will go to the page you have been trying to use and put in your user name and password.
The web page the card gives you is www.metatext.com/copi and that will show you the link to eLogic to use.
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Should I do the exercises in the book?
I was wondering
if you wanted us to do the exercises that are in the book? I have completed a
couple of them already but was unsure if you wanted them. I know in your
presentation that you wanted us to do the quizzes on elogic, but is elogic
quizzes the only thing you require us to do? Also, is philosophy this complex in
the very beginning? I was always interested in logic, but after reading the
first chapter I feel like I missed a prep course or something. If you have any
advice as far as retaining and understanding this information I would greatly
appreciate it.”
My answer: I
was concerned that the complicated procedure required to get started in this
course would be the hardest part but you are right about the Copi textbook being
difficult. In class, rather than the web course, I use the Baum book, which
students picked over others I brought in for them to compare several years ago.
The reason I went back to the Copi text for this course is because of the
wonderful on-line eLogic program that really makes taking the course on the web
possible. As you will see, the eLogic site is easier to follow than the book and
the quizzes and tests are easier than the exercises. The way you
complete this course is by taking the quizzes and tests on eLogic. So you do
need to do those.
Concerning the exercises in the book (which are duplicated on eLogic but take too long to load on the Internet): I do suggest you do as many of those as you feel necessary to understand the material presented in the book. Logic is not so much a course of information as a method of thinking that takes practice. It is doing the exercises, quizzes, and tests that will give you the most reward and results. In this sense, Logic is a lot more like math courses than other philosophy courses.
Perhaps this
advice will help you. Most people seem to have difficulty realizing how simple
the concepts are in Logic and they make things more complicated than they are!
Think simply. Logic books start out talking about the simplest aspects of
thought and work their way up. It is difficult to explain just how basic the
ideas are and the harder you try to explain the more complicated the ideas seem!
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How do I order an access code packet if one does not
come with my book?
This message just in from metatext:
The
information has changed a bit, so I'm glad you wrote. Calling the
publisher is no longer an option. We have found that the easiest way for a
student with a used book to purchase an access code is through their
bookstore. The bookstore will need the same information as before:
Title: eLogic Tutorial Student Access Code
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0-13033-745-5
The price is still in the high 20s.
So this old
information is probably an error but I will leave it here until the above is
confirmed: The old information was: There
are two ways to order an access code packet.
First,
you can call the publisher toll free directly at 1-800-282-0693. You will
need the ISBN listed below and a credit card to order over the phone.
Second, you can order the packet from a bookstore. You will need all the
information listed below.
Title:
eLogic Tutorial Student Access Code
Publisher:
Prentice Hall
ISBN:
0-13033-745-5
Price:
high 20s
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How do I contact Metatext support by email?
Metatext
support's e-mail address is: metatext_support@netLibrary.com
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Why do all those quizzes as well as the end of chapter tests?
Each
chapter has sections and each of those sections has a quiz. These quizzes can
all be accessed for each chapter from one set that lists all the sections and
chapter test for the chapter. In each of those sections you get a choice between
several different versions of the section quiz and you only need to take one of
those for each section. The same thing applies to the end of chapter test that
has ten questions. There are several versions of the end of chapter test also,
but you only need to take one of those for each chapter. Make sure as you
complete each quiz and chapter test that you submit them for a grade and then
include my email address (wsjamison@uaa.alaska.edu)
in the instructor slot to receive a copy via email. If you do this I will
receive a copy of each section quiz and end of chapter test for each chapter. As
you complete each chapter I will send you one email message letting you know
that I have recorded your grade for that chapter. When you have completed all 14
chapters you have completed the course. Here
is a case in point. I have received just
the
end of chapter tests for several chapters but I also need the quizzes emailed to
me as they are done. This is the only way I cam make sure everyone is doing
everything. Since these can be done on line again and again until a student gets
them right, it would be fairly easy for someone to simply do the end of chapter
tests until they were right and submit those to me without ever really learning
the work! By sending me each quiz as well, even though it may seem tedious, I
will be seeing that each student has done those as well. Even though a student
could still attempt to avoid reading the text and learning the material, this
way it seems to me it would actually be more time consuming and boring, and less
productive, than actually reading the materials and getting to know the right
answers, or most of them, at least!
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How do I make sure the quiz and test receipts get to the instructor?
If you have set up your profile to automatically fill in my email address and yours then at the bottom of the page they should be filled in. You should see them there in the appropriate boxes. If this is not already done for you, you need to put my address in wsjamison@uaa.alaska.edu so that I get my copies for your grade. You should also put yours in since you will get a copy in your email just in case. If you save a copy of the page yourself from the web it will not save properly and cannot be opened. If you forward those copies to me they will not open. The only copies you should be able to save are the ones that you receive by email and you should get those almost immediately after you submit them if your email program is on. An email copy of your receipt can also be mailed to me if I request it, but the ones I count on are the ones directly mailed from the metatext site. If you forget to put the email addresses in and hit submit then no one will get a copy. When I check the activity log for your work I can see when you were logged in and how long your were there but it does not tell me which pages you read or how well you may have done on the quizzes.
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