I think the deadlines and scoring system were both reasonable. The length of the assignment was also just right. If it was shorter than a week, I don't think I would have been able to put as much effort into the forums. If it was longer than a week, I think there would be a lot of problems. People would probably procrastinate...or forget about it...and people who posted early and people who posted late would probably not be able to really have an understanding of each others' posts because of how far they may have gotten in their reading assignments.

I had no problems with the groups. I was glad that we were in the same one for the entire class. It was nice to hear and respond to familiar voices every week. And I think the forums were definitely worth the time and effort. It helped me learn a lot, not just from answering the questions myself, but also from reading what others had posted. 

The only thing about the forums that I wish were different is that when it changed from one topic a week to two, there should have been some sort of notice to tell us the rules. Even if nothing really changed, it was just new and I worried about what I supposed to do. I didn't want to end up doing it wrong. I didn't know if you wanted us to post to a specific one first or we could choose, I didn't know if we had to make initial posts to both of them by the Wednesday deadline or not, etc. So, a reaffirmation of the rules would have been nice.

Recommend asking for shorter responses to a higher number of thought provoking questions. Instead of one or two questions, ask four or five.  Require a minimum of one source citation per argument.  Require the citation from the Herring book (rather than the internet) so students spent their time digging around in their primary textbook.       

The forums worked well. I do think the grading was almost too strict. I posted a day before the deadlines, and posted at least 5 times on each one, also I spent a lot of time constructing my posts. Despite this, I still received less than satisfactory grades. Scoring is kind of hard also, even if you get two out of three that is still getting a D grade on the post. I think they should be graded out of five.

The forums are a beneficial tool, which allow all students an equal platform to develop their understanding of history. I would have preferred a forum once a week, but I do understand that it is difficult for some students to participate at all. Tools are only valuable when used, unfortunately many students miss out on this valuable opportunity. The students that do regularly participate make it all worth it. You are exposed to a wide range of opinions and perspectives, which is vital in the learning process. 

Considering just how heavily the forums are weighted in relation to the other facets of the course, 9 point total makes little room for error on a forum. perhaps rating posts on a scale of 20 points (allowing for more precision in the grading) may help.

Overall I feel the Forums presented great opportunity for interaction with other students, and had no difficulties with deadlines on posting (as the same requirements in online courses is usually made by other instructors).   Thankfully there was adjustments to the small groups due to non-activity.  However, it was difficult to just reply to other's posts.  It would be more beneficial to change the two replies to one reply and one rebuttal based on the replies or based on reading other people's posts.  Sometimes opinions change after hearing classmates opinions and viewpoints, so it would help with interactions.

The initial deadline for posts was fair. I would  suggest moving it from Wednesday to Tuesday just to get it in the head of the students that it's due and gives more time for replies. I know I had all my online classes have Wednesday deadlines so I would have everything due at the same time. 

I think everything was fine, it took me a minute to get used to the grading system, as it was not the same as others I have been a part of, but that is to be expected. It was a good class.

1. The initial deadline for the initial post was fine.  It took me a week or two (and an e-mail to the instructor) to figure out that I did not have to have all of the coursework for the week done before I posted.  That caused some stress for a bit.

2. The scale was fair and appropriate.  The first few weeks the postings were so long that it was intimidating commenting on anyones post.

3.  Some of the reading was quite long and 1 week to read, take notes, watch videos and post was a lot!  I spent an average of 2-3 hours per night for all 7 days to stay ahead or caught up so I could maintain the understanding to get through it.  This was a pretty intense class, but excellent!

4. Group size was fine.  There were only a few in my group that made the deadlines and posted multiple comments.

5. Absolutely!  I did not know that Vietnam was that in depth and had so many moving parts.  Completely enjoyed it!

It was a good setup, I just had a lot of problems finding the time to post to the forum for myself. It was based largely on participation and how well u participated which made you have to sit down and try to get a good analytical reply in the forum post or 3 posts would just not cut it. It would have to be more like 4 or 5 post to get full A credit. Definitely worth my time, I had enjoyed the course even though my grade wasn't good.

I struggled with this class because of severe time restraints (work). There were always 1-2 chapters in two books to read, an hour long video to watch, and extra videos or articles to take care of before doing the weekly assignments. It was a lot of material to take in when considering work and other classes. The variety of the material was great and helped in my understanding of the subject but it was almost too much to juggle. 

The scoring was pretty good, though I wish the scoring was updated throughout the week so we could have a better idea of where we stood.

The deadline for the posts was fair. Scoring the posts was also fair and easy to gain the points to get a 100%. The group size may be too big. Worth my time yes, but gives less time to focus on the readings/online resources. It was difficult to keep up with the workload. 

The free part is nice, but I would much rather pay for a textbook. I like my textbooks. I keep them. I read them more than once. I also like to have them easily accessible, online class or not, and if I have to go on a computer every time I need to read something, I would go insane. For this class, we have to read a lot, and I don't want to always be inside on a computer straining the heck out of my eyes to do my assignments every day (I also CERTAINLY don't want to have to print everything out!). I highly value the ability to just reach into my bag and have what I need. Having our materials completely online would also make taking notes an extremely painful process for me. I don't mind doing online assignments, so if some more online stuff was incorporated, I wouldn't mind, but converting the entire class to online materials would not be an upgrade in my opinion, even if it didn't cost me any money. I think it would definitely make this class harder for me, and what I learned would not have a lasting effect because I wouldn't be able to read my books again if I wanted to.

Textbook purchases are fine when the books are used -- not fine when, after the class is over, I did not need the book.  

The price for textbooks is very steep, of course they are hard to buy, but they are worth it. I for one hate to read on the computer. It always gives me a headache if I have to read for more than 20 minutes. I have never taken a class that had free online materials, but I have taken one where the book was composed of stories the teacher put together and only cost $12. This was very helpful because the information inside was specific for the course.

I'm somewhat old school in regard to appreciating a manual copy of a book. In fact, I collect books and I'm troubled by their loss in popularity. With that being said, the college text book industry is as troubling as college administration budgets and tuition increases. There are obvious potential logistical issues regarding data change (web based), but from my experience, a hard working college student will not fail a class due to issues accessing materials (no matter what the situation). Allowing students free access to materials in lieu of the current astronomical costs of textbooks would greatly outweigh any source troubleshooting. As I mentioned, I would prefer a manual copy of text, but I would rather save money and read free online materials. Lessening some of the one-sided socio-econmic barriers that college graduation require would alleviate a great burden for many aspiring and current graduates. I will never stop collecting books, but I see the world moving towards an eventual paperless reality. Even a negotiation or balance would be acceptable. Perhaps, students pay a fee each term to access the online materials (still allowing Professors to benefit from new work, while adding to the schools budget)  

I have never taken a class that was exclusively online in terms of materials. I feel like my eyes would hurt doing so much reading on a computer screen.

While I understand the advantages of eBooks, I still believe in the value of a physical copy of the book.  So I would be more willing to adjust options such as modifying the LCC rental program as opposed to eBooks.  I think the costs are highway robbery, and it shouldn't have to be the students deciding what materials they get to learn. 

I prefer reading things online because it feels like I'm reading less. When grab a book I understand that I have to sit down and once I realize I have to read 40 pages its un-motivating. Also it would be a bonus that I can save money from buying these texts. I have never used a class that uses free, online materials, all classes are a combination of online and text.

I hate spending 400 dollars a term on text books. I liked that I could pick these books up on Amazon for cheap and I had no problems finding them.

This term and last term I tried the "rental" program.  This was absolutely amazing, cost effective and extremely easy to do.  I will continue to do this until there are no longer any textbooks.  In regards to on-line content only, that would be great but have some downfalls as you stated: cost of paper and ink, bad internet access, computer issues, bad websites, etc..

The one question that I would have would be will tuition increase to offset the cost of the books?  I know that colleges make money off of the books and without that income, it would need to be regained somewhere?

If there was an e book for online classes it would help a lot.

I am quite partial to reading online or on a device. It would be a good idea to include a tutorial on saving webpages, or the material on them, as .pdf so students could easily transfer them to devices and save the material just in general. 

For this course, I found the books through the library system. This way I wouldn't have to buy the books and other students would be able to use them after me. Reading online if fine as well because it is an online course. The same difficulties with losing links come up with just posting to the online page, etc. Online tutorials and videos are very helpful. These tend to be more hands-on than the textbooks. 

Um, no, I unfortunately don't know of any web thingy like that. Sorry.

But, just so you know, I personally didn't participate in the wiki because I write all of my notes down on paper, so if I was going to post anything, I would have had to scan my notes and hope people could read my handwriting or type them all up, and I just didn't think doing either was worth the trouble.

no

I have never used anything like that in another class.

This is a valuable tool (wiki), but it typically requires strong communication amongst classmates (become colleagues) to produce consistent results. Online courses bode well for self-directed students, but the student to student communication is rather limited. As technology is more embraced you may notice improvement (participation) in coming years. 

I am sure that it would be helpful in all those respects; however, that's not the way I personally study, so I never used the wiki page; my opinion is thus limited on the issue. I did however find it useful to check out some additional material from the Eugene Public Library to gove me a greater understanding with regards to some areas of the war.

I think the unfortunate aspect of online courses is that no one has time for the extra non-graded portions of a course, otherwise we'd attend class like most students.  One of the ways I've found effective was to offer online study groups or Facebook groups for students that want to coordinate and discuss together.  With the development of technology, notes are not used very often anymore but chat and online posting is.  So making changes to develop that would be beneficial.

I do not know of any web based tool for sharing notes but I would suggest making a box in every week that implies you can drop notes to put it in front of the student instead of leaving it at the top of the class page where we just skim to the week we are on.

I have seen some classes use them a lot, some classes don't use them at all. I think a lot of it is dependent on the structure of the class. If it was needed they would have been used.

I think the class was great without the wiki and honestly, I barely had enough time to complete the work I had to do without posting any additional information.

To be honest, a few of the students were very opinionated and possibly due to their extensive knowledge about Vietnam (which was all new to me), I was intimidated at commenting on their postings due to sounding like an idiot and wondering if they would tell me I was one..?

I could not think of any.

I didn't realize that there had been a wiki set up. The student forum was a ice idea, but rarely utilized. Another class I took this term had a student forum included for each week, and that helped it stay relevant. Since there was one for each week, the students saw it was there when scrolling down for lectures and assignments. 

I think that main interaction came through the forum posts. It would be too much to have to check and read all of the forum posts/replies and add to this wiki page. Having these forums possibly be less formal would get the same effect as the wiki page but students would still be able to learn.

Did I personally enjoy this course?

Yes, I did.

Why did I mark the written assignments as not so worthwhile?

Because I found the first one confusing. For the life of me, I could not read some of the feedback you wrote on my first assignment, and I had no way to ask you, "What does this SAY?" Not knowing fully what I did wrong only helps so much. I also found the instructions for the first one to be a little misleading. I know it was my fault for interpreting it the way I did, but I think it should have been made much clearer in the instructions that it was a bad idea to use the same story for part one and two. That way, I could have avoided being so stupid.

You can't wait until class begins to tell people you want Wr 121, 122, 123 because you are hard on writing assignments.  There is no time to drop and shop for an alternative course.  When you say you must submit by a given time, but you want it sooner and will punish if you you wait until the last minute, then, damn it, change the due date and time.  

The following from your "Assignment Expectations" is bullshit:

Students often ask about the length of the assignment. I certainly do not think that 2-3 pages (12pt Times font, 1 inch margins, double-spaced pages... at minimum 750 words, up to roughly 1100 words) is too much to ask for an entire week's worth of work. I do not grade strictly based on length, but in order to answer the questions I've posed, to the depth that will illustrate a college-level analysis of the issues, I have often found it necessary that students take the proper amount of time and space to do the job well.

Don't give me your opinion as to how long a paper should be or I might just disagree.  If you have a minimum word requirement, cut the crap and tell me.  Your instructional statement implies a strong recommendation only.  

Also, 2-3 pages is not too much to ask for an entire week's worth of work if that was all there was to do.  But I'm in a history class, that means I read a lot and learn dates, events, etc. as well as the paper.

Many online course instructors are coming up with "busy work" to counter a student's luxury of studying from home.  By throwing bullshit into a course you all seem to miss the terminal purpose of the course you are teaching. 

Grading:  I never got how you mixed grades for Forum and Writing assignments.  I got how the two exams fit into final grades, but overall, I could only guess where I was in the course.

While it may be to your advantage to not tell students from one week to the next what is coming, it sucks from the receiving end.  

Your midterm study sheet was not helpful.  I will ignore the final exam study guide as I will assume it too is not helpful.

Your attitude in your written language in general assumes students are all idiots who will fuck up without preemptive scolding.  

The textbooks and videos, and the sequence in which they were presented was excellent.  The Vietnam war was much more than just dates and events and I believe I got what I wanted from this course.    

On Question 17, I answered I would recommend this course.  And I would, with the additional warnings listed above.

The work load is too much in my opinion. It almost takes the fun out of learning the subject because there is so much work to worry about that needs to be done.

The course offered a more comprehensive and enjoyable overview than several of the history courses I have taken at our neighboring University. I'm fascinated by the Vietnam War, and have always consumed as much information regarding the conflict as possible. In one term, this course provided more valuable data than I had viewed in years.

If you are not a self-directed student, you will struggle with this course. On the other hand, if you work hard and happen to enjoy history, you will sincerely enjoy Professor Escobars balanced and insightful survey of the Vietnam War (I would also highly recommend Professor Escobar's 3 term survey of U.S. history.)

I would recommend allowing for more precision in the grading of the forums; 9 points seems a strange choice, but I admit, it is a little beyond my expertise.

I have no further questions at this time.  As for recommendations, I would change how we view our grades, as it appears that assignments we did throughout the term are not being reflected in our grades.

I know this is a web based course and I enjoyed learning about Vietnam but I felt the combinations of reading and watching videos might of been excessive. I'm not saying they weren't useful because they were but maybe scaling back the reading would help the student focus. It's obvious that the television history is a focal point of this class so as a student I watch the video 2-3 times and then have to read the books and of course re-read them, it's quite overwhelming. But this is a great class and I learned Vietnam in a new way.

n/a

I guess a suggestion would be to possibly limit the size of the posts on the forums.  It seemed like they were so long that you could not add any information to it to gain any points and start to formulate a great set of comments and continued conversation about a subject.  Just a thought.

I truly appreciate your teachings and the great class!!  Thank you

Not many recommendations come to mind.

None

Reduce the amount of reading. It is important for students to learn how to research history and find answers on their own, but it is hard to establish an opinion when you're overwhelmed by the work load.