Important Information for Online Students

Meet Your Professor

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Hello. I am Dr. Jim McWard, and I teach a number of different online courses at JCCC.  In case you're interested, here's a little background information about me:

I became an instructor at Johnson County Community College in January 1996. Before coming to JCCC, I taught English at The University of Missouri-Columbia, The University of Kansas, and Kansas City Kansas Community College.

I completed my Ph.D. in English from KU in May 1999. My dissertation focuses upon Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, and James Boswell. My principal area of study for my doctorate was eighteenth-century British literature.

How can you reach me?

1) Office: LIB 301E
2) E-mail: jmcward@jccc.edu -- If you're one of my online students, however, you'll e-mail me through WebCT.
3) Phone: 913-469-8500 Ext. 2469


General information about my online courses

My online courses are not self-paced.  That means that each course contains regular deadlines for assignments.  It also means that students need to commit to the entire semester; you cannot finish up one of my online courses a few weeks early, for example.

Getting Started: All online students enrolled in one of my online courses can expect to receive an e-mail to their JCCC student account approximately a week before the semester begins.  All online courses can be accessed through WebCT at http://dl.jccc.edu. 

Technology Requirements: Students must have a reliable Internet connection. For software, you'll need Microsoft Word and an Internet browser such as Microsoft Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or Mozilla Firefox. You must know how to upload files to a web server to submit your assignments. If you do not have MS Word, you'll need to save your work as RTF (Rich Text Format) or HTML (web page) documents.

For additional information on the distance-learning environment at JCCC, distance-learning technical support, hardware and software requirements and access services for students with disabilities, visit http://web.jccc.net/academic/dl.

Online students in my classes never need to come to the JCCC campus to complete class assignments or activities.  

For the most part, I run each course in a similar manner, but each one has some unique aspects to it.  Click on the course title for more description. Note: The information below provides you with a brief overview of each course. It is not a replacement for the course syllabus, which provides more specific information about course policies and assignments.

Composition I

Course Requirements

Major Papers:

* Informational essay
* Evaluation essay
* Argumentative essay (research paper)
* Narrative essay
* Analysis essay
* Possible revision of an earlier essay

Students will complete papers using the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising and editing), so there will be reading and writing exercises with each major essay assignment.

Submission of work: All work will be submitted online through WebCT.

Late Work: Though we do not have regular class meetings, it is important that we all remain on the same general schedule because of peer review paper exchanges and because I need time to grade the essays and return them to you before the due date of the next essay. Thus, papers that are submitted after the last possible due date for that assignment will be penalized 10 percent each day they are late. All of the major essays must be completed to fulfill the objectives for the course, so even a paper that would receive a zero still must be completed to pass the course. Other writing activities (reading reactions, prewriting exercises, drafting exercises, etc.) will not be accepted late. Failure to turn in one of these writing activities by the due date will mean a complete loss of points for the activity.

Peer Review: We will have online peer review workshops with several of the essays in the class. With peer reviews, you will exchange drafts with other members of the class. You will have a few days to read and respond to another person’s draft. Failure to either exchange your own draft with another member of the class or failure to read and respond to another student’s essay will mean that you will lose the peer review points that are possible with that particular assignment.

Textbooks

* Bullock, Richard and Maureen Daly Goggin. The Norton Field Guide to Writing, with Readings.
* Lunsford, Andrea A. Easy Writer. 
 

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Course Objectives

Student will demonstrate mastery over the basic writing process:

1. Begin a writing task by using appropriate methods for discovering ideas and gathering materials,
2. Decide on a suitable controlling idea and arrangement for the supporting details,
3. Write an essay that presents an idea and supports it with sufficient detail to be convincing and interesting, and
4. Make and assist others to make significant revisions in the organization, development of ideas, stylistics, and mechanics of essays using comments from the instructor and/or other students.

Students will demonstrate the ability to read and think critically about texts:

1. Be able to profile an appropriate audience for texts
2. Identify controlling ideas and organizational patterns in texts
3. Evaluate the biases and reliability of sources.

Composition II

Comp II online is a second-semester writing course that focuses upon analyzing and synthesizing information. While Comp II has many of the same goals as Comp I regarding the writing process, the assignments in Comp II focus more upon evaluative and persuasive writing than expressive or informative writing. The essays you complete for this course will prepare you for the academic and workplace writing you will complete throughout your life.

Course Requirements

Textbooks: The readings for this course are all available online, but you will need to purchase a grammar and writing handbook: Easy Writer by Andrea A. Lunsford is available at the JCCC bookstore.

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Major Papers: one summary, one critique, two synthesis essays, one research paper, and one final examination essay. Students will complete papers using the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising and editing).

Preparation of essays: All final versions of essays must be typed. You must submit your assignments through WebCT for grading.

Late work: This section of Composition 2 is not self-paced. Every assignment has clear due dates. Though we do not have regular class meetings, it is important that we all remain on the same general schedule because of peer review paper exchanges and because I need time to grade the essays and return them to you before the due date of the next essay. Thus, papers that are submitted after the last possible due date for that assignment will be penalized 10 percent each day they are late. All of the major essays must be completed to fulfill the objectives for the course, so even a paper that would receive a zero still must be completed to pass the course. Other writing activities (reading reactions, prewriting exercises, drafting exercises, etc.) will not be accepted late. Failure to turn in one of these writing activities by the due date will mean a complete loss of points for the activity.

Peer Review: We will have peer review exchanges with the following modules: Summarizing, Comparing and Contrasting, Describing and Synthesizing, and Arguing from Sources. With peer reviews, you will exchange drafts with other members of the class. You will have a few days to read and respond to another person’s draft. Failure to either exchange your own draft with another member of the class or failure to read and respond to another student’s essay will mean that you will lose the peer review points that are possible with that particular assignment.

Course Objectives

1. Student will integrate the research process into the basic writing process.

2. Student will demonstrate ability to read and think critically about texts.

Introduction to Literature

Introduction to Literature is a course that provides students with an overview of three major literary genres: poetry, fiction, and drama.

Course Requirements:

Major Papers: Students will write two analytical papers. Each paper will be approximately 800-1,000 words in length.

Quizzes and Examinations: Each week, you will need to take short quizzes over the reading material. These quizzes help to keep everyone on schedule with the readings, and they let me know if students are reading the stories carefully. Each quiz has an expiration date, so if you don't complete the reading on time, you will not be able to take the quiz. In addition to the quizzes there will also be a midterm and final exam.

Online Discussions: One of the most important features of any literature course is the discussion that takes place during class time. Because this online class has no class meetings, however, we will do our discussion through an electronic bulletin board. Each week, you will post your comments on the short story readings, and you will respond to other student comment on the bulletin board.

Presentations: In my on-campus literature sections, every student takes part in oral presentation where a group of students will provide information to the rest of the class on an author and time period we're studying. The group then helps lead the discussion on the author. Though we cannot have oral presentations online, each student will still be responsible for researching a specific author and presenting the information to the rest of the class in written form.

Finally, it's important to realize that though this section of Introduction to Literature is a distance learning class, it is not a self-paced class. Everyone must keep up with the schedule that will be on the class calendar.

Required Textbook: Booth, Hunter, and Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature.

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Course Objectives

1. Identify the major components specific to a short story, poem or play, such as their settings, narrative patterns, metaphors and themes.
2. Identify the components shared by these genres that make them "literary."
3. Apply the technical vocabulary specific to works in each genre.
4. Recognize how imaginative writing is itself a mode of inquiry.
5. Explore the ways in which each student interacts uniquely with a literary text.
6. Construct meaning based on the language of literary works, the student's own experience, the student's encounters with other works, and knowledge gleaned from discussions with other students.
7. Write essays that explore and analyze issues identified by the student as significant.
8. Explain the contributions of some of the major authors of the Western literary tradition.
9. Identify common or universal literary themes expressed in ethnic literature.
 

Introduction to Poetry

This course emphasizes close reading and analysis of poetry by writers from different time periods, countries, and ethnic backgrounds. Students will study terms, patterns, and forms that are useful for an understanding and appreciation of poetic verse. This course will cover major literary, historical, and cultural movements as they relate to poetry. Students will be introduced to major classical and contemporary American and English poets, along with contemporary foreign-language poetry in translation.

Course Requirements

Major Papers:  Students will write two major papers during the semester that will incorporate outside source material from the library's databases.

Quizzes and Examinations:  Most weeks, students will complete short online quizzes over the assigned reading material.  Each quiz has an expiration date, so if you don't complete the readings on time, you'll be unable to take the quiz.  In addition to the quizzes, there will also be a midterm and a final exam. 

Online Discussions: Each week you'll post your comments over our poetry readings to an online discussion board.  You may also be required to use the discussion board for a private journal as well.

Online Presentations: Each student will participate in a small group project over one of the major poets from who is in our Vintage Contemporary Book of World Poetry anthology.

As with all my online classes, Introduction to Poetry is not a self-paced course.  Everyone must keep up with the schedule that will be on the class calendar. 

Required Textbooks

Meyer, Michael. Poetry: An Introduction (5th Edition)

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McClatchy, JD. The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry

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Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course the student should be able to:
1. Discuss poetry as a major literary genre.
2. Identify and describe major patterns and forms related to poetry.
3. Define appropriate literary and poetic terminology.
4. Examine major literary and historical movements as they relate to British and American poetry.
5. Interpret, analyze, and evaluate poems to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of poetry as a literary genre.
6. Identify, discuss, and assess major contemporary world poets to broaden an understanding of the relationship between literature and the culture, politics, and geography of specific countries.

Introduction to Fiction

Introduction to Fiction is a sophomore-level English course that provides students with an overview of fictional techniques and themes that are commonplace in short stories. Throughout the semester, students will read and write about many short stories from different countries and from different time periods.   

Course Requirements

Major Paper: Students will write one major analytical paper over multiple stories from the semester. The paper will be will be approximately 1,200 words in length.

Quizzes and Examinations: Each week, you will need to take short quizzes over the reading material. These quizzes help to keep everyone on schedule with the readings, and they let me know if students are reading the stories carefully. Each quiz has an expiration date, so if you don't complete the reading on time, you will not be able to take the quiz. In addition to the quizzes there will also be a midterm and final exam.

Online Discussions: One of the most important features of any literature course is the discussion that takes place during class time. Because this online class has no class meetings, however, we will do our discussion through an electronic bulletin board. Each week, you will post your comments on the short story readings, and you will respond to other student comment on the bulletin board.

Presentations: In my on-campus literature sections, every student takes part in oral presentation where a group of students will provide information to the rest of the class on an author and time period we're studying. The group then helps lead the discussion on the author. Though we cannot have oral presentations online, each student will still be responsible for researching a specific author and presenting the information to the rest of the class in written form. As part of the presentation, the student or group of students will also help to lead the bulletin board discussions over that author.

Finally, it's important to realize that though this section of Introduction to Fiction is a distance learning class, it is not a self-paced class. Everyone must keep up with the schedule that will be on the class calendar. Late work is not accepted.

Required Textbook: Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction

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Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course the student should be able to:

1. Both orally and in writing, define and interpret short fiction.
2. Differentiate the short story from other narrative forms.
3. Define at least four major historical precedents of the short story and compare each to the short story.
4. Define, differentiate, and apply major literary movements to short stories.
5. Compare and contrast key differences between commercial and literary short fiction.
6. Contrast the significant differences among the major genres of short fiction, using appropriate short stories to illustrate their attributes.
7. List and describe the key elements of short stories, including character, conflict, language and style, plot, point of view, setting, voice and tone, and theme.
8. Use appropriate short stories to illustrate the above key elements.

Major British Writers

In taking this course, you have chosen to read some of the best and most important literary works in the English language. You will learn about the history, scope, traditions, concerns, and techniques of English literature from the Middle Ages through the Twentieth Century.

Course Requirements

Required Textbooks

  • Abrams, M. H., et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000.
  • Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Alfred Harbage. London: Penguin, 1986.
  • Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. (Sold with The Norton Anthology of English Literature.)

 

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Major Essay: One major analytical essay of approximately five pages that will compare and contrast two major works from the semester. I will give you suggested topics closer to when the paper is due. In addition to turning in the final draft of the essay, students will also be required to submit various prewriting activities, which will be graded. More information on the specifics of what must be turned in will be on the individual essay assignment sheet.

Quizzes and Examinations: Most every week, you will need to take a short quiz over the reading material. Each quiz has an expiration date, so if you don't complete the reading on time, you will not be able to take the quiz. In addition to quizzes, we will also have a midterm and a final. These exams will be longer than a regular quiz and will be used to kind of "sum-up" our work on a period of literature or group of works that we've studied. These exams will be a combination of short-answer (paragraph response, multiple choice, and multiple response, etc.) and short-essay responses. All exams and quizzes are open book and open notes.

Online Discussions: The quality of the online discussion will in large part determine the overall effectiveness of the course for you. During on-campus meetings I highly value student participation and the same holds true for online discussions. Each week you will want to post comments, questions, and concerns regarding the reading material. You will also respond to comments from other students, and you should expect other students to respond to your postings as well. I will also participate in these online discussions. Each week you should make 3-5 postings.

Class Presentations: Each student will create a website on an author or literary time period. No prior web creation experience is required to complete this project. More information on this fun project will come later in the semester.

Course Objectives

After completing this course, the student should be able to:

1. Identify important biographical details regarding the lives of selected major British writers.
2. Identify the historical, cultural, and artistic context of selected major works of British literature.
3. Analyze the influence of the historical, cultural, and artistic context upon selected major works of British literature.
4. Identify significant literary devices employed in selected major works of British literature.
5. Evaluate the use of significant literary devices in selected major works of British literature.

Masterpieces of Cinema

In addition to studying the films of some of the major directors of the 20th century, students enrolled in Masterpieces of Cinema will also learn about important cinematic techniques, concepts and genres.

Course Requirements

Viewing Films: Students will be responsible for watching the assigned film each week.  Online students may rent and view the films in their own homes.  Students must take an online quiz over the film each week, so it's important to keep up with the weekly films.

To help provide you with some idea of the types of films we'll view this semester, here's my preliminary list.  Some of these film titles/dates may change before the start of the semester, but most will stay.  Feel free to check for more information on these films at the IMDB.  You might also take this list to your local video store or library to see if any of the titles will be difficult to find.  All these films are available through Netflix, which I recommend over other online rental services, such as Blockbuster (which was not as reliable for some students in past semesters). Singin' in the Rain, North by Northwest, and A Clockwork Orange are available for viewing online from Netflix as well.  The JCCC library will have all of these films at the reserve desk, however, you must watch them in the library. 

Major Films list for the semester:  

The General (1927)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

The Searchers (1956)

North by Northwest  (1959)

Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Annie Hall (1977)

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Major papers:  Students will write three analytical papers.  Each paper will be approximately 800-1,500 words in length.

Quizzes: Each week, you will need to take short quizzes over the films and selected material in the textbook. These quizzes help to keep everyone on schedule with the films and readings. Each quiz has an expiration date, so if you don't view the film on time, you will not be able to take the quiz.

Online Discussions: The quality of the online discussion will in large part determine the overall effectiveness of the course for you. During on-campus meetings I highly value student participation and the same holds true for online discussions. Each week you will want to post comments, questions, and concerns regarding the films we watch. You will also respond to comments from other students, and you should expect other students to respond to your postings as well. I will also participate in these online discussions. Each week you should make 3-5 postings.

Required Textbook: Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film

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Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course the student should be able to:

1. Describe the development of modern day cinema: American and international.
2. Describe the major technological advances in cinema.
3. Define the important film terms used in the making of movies.
4. Explain the importance of the director, the producer and the writer of films.
5. Analyze the components of a good film: editing, camera angle, special effects, acting, costuming, setting, shot, sequence, scene, montage, etc.
6. Analyze the narrative techniques of film: plot, characterization, theme, conflict, climax, denouement, flashback, foreshadowing, etc.
7. Identify the artistic elements of film: beauty, continuity, transitions, context, framing, coloration, composition, etc.
8. Identify the major genres: western, horror, film noir, etc.
9. Explain the importance of the cinema.
10. Demonstrate effective group discussion techniques such as listening, expressing and elaborating.
11. Demonstrate effective writing techniques such as outlining, summarizing, paraphrasing, analyzing, quoting, and synthesizing.
 

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