🙋 FAQs

This page will contain frequently asked questions as they’re asked and answered in class, text channels, coffee chats, and elsewhere. I’ll note updates to the FAQs periodically on Discord, but keep checking back, too!

How do I schedule a coffee chat with you?

You can reserve an appointment with me on Zcal, by visiting my scheduling link directly or clicking the “Book a Coffee Chat!” button on the home page. Follow the directions on Zcal to schedule your appointment. First, select the time interval you want (🕛10, 🕐15, or 🕑20 min) at the bottom left, then choose a date/time that works for you.

If you’re in an async section, please be aware that I can’t require sync one-on-one meetings and therefore have limited availability outside of these hours. You must contact me at least 1 week in advance to schedule a chat outside of my standard coffee chat times. I’m almost never able to accommodate last-minute requests.

If there are no available timeslots on a given day, it means I’m fully booked and you’ll have to reserve another date/time. I tend to be fully booked around the middle and end of the semester, so make sure to book early and often!

How are access needs addressed in the course?

With the caveat that universal access is impossible — it’s inevitable that people’s access needs aren’t always compatible — but still worth striving for, here’s what I’ll be doing to address your self-selected access needs in this course (without sacrificing my own):

• I use color-coding, typeface, and/or emoji to offset important information on the website or Discord, like reminders, info that deserves extra emphasis in the modules, tl;dr summaries, and practice exercises
• To addresss the need for advance notice, the Calendar lists all work you’ll do for yourself and work you’ll submit to me for the whole semester. All assignments are already described on the website, and you have access to the spaces where you need to post them on Discord (for low-stakes work) and Classes (for high-stakes work)
• Note: All modules will be live this week; after that, you’ll have advance notice for everything we do this semester and can pace yourself accordingly
• I have already identified and separated weekly tasks on the Calendar, but I’ll do my best to breakdown these tasks further where relevant in a checklist of work at the beginning of each weekly module
• Note: Always cross-check the work you have to do with the work listed on the calendar!
• All audiovisual content provided has alt-text and captions
• When I can estimate time, I’ll include that at the top of each weekly module. It’s hard to estimate task time for research-related reading and writing assignments, because we all work at different paces, and this is an async course. That said, you should be able to complete the “regular” work for each week within 3-5 hrs — similar to an onsite 3-credit core writing course (3 hrs of “classtime” and 2 hrs of work done outside of class). As in onsite core writing classes, drafting and revision may take longer
• I only do weekly check-ins via Discord, due to my own needs and to easily link you to specific posts/channels from weekly discussion. You’ll receive feedback on your learning in #classroom during our discussions each week, in #team channels during workshop, and on Classes after submitting essay drafts.
• If you prefer email for communication, I’ll email you if I have any other reason to contact you (like a participation issue, or if your low-stakes posts can’t be accepted for credit). If you prefer Discord, I’ll communicate with you through DMs or voice notes if I have a reason to contact you.
• I am much faster on Discord. If you prefer email, please note I reply to emails within 48 hrs and never on weekends. Regardless, email can’t replace our Discord classroom, so get into the habit of checking the app daily. Installing the phone app might make this (plus working on-the-go!) easier.
• In a full class setting, I’m unable to send frequent, tailored reminders for work already outlined in the materials. I can automate weekly reminders to check the Calendar for work due that week through Discord. Any other reminders will be posted to both #classroom and Classes\Announcements (so make sure you’ve set up Classes to forward announcements to your email if email is your communication preference).
• Content notes will be provided if/when relevant.
• Disciplinary language is unavoidable in a class like this, but in weekly modules, I use both plain language and attempt to introduce and explain necessary conceptual terms in plain language.

How do you respond to #classroom Q&A posts throughout the week?

I usually start reading your question posts on Tuesdays, so I can plan my responses. From Wednesday to Friday, I post responses to your questions and mention you so you receive a notification. To demonstrate how your questions inform each other, overlap, or are more similar than they might appear at first, I consolidate similar questions in my replies as much as possible. However, you can probably find answers to your specific questions in my responses to other students, or in any general comments I contribute to our weekly discussions, and you can also get answers from your classmates’ responses!

I’m unlikely to interact with questions posted after the Tuesday 11:59PM deadline for question posts, but posts submitted within the grace period are accepted for credit.

Do I need to finish the module to post my Q&As?

No! As explained in the syllabus, assignments, and alt-grading system pages, you can post your question before completing all the work in the module. You should begin the module before Tuesday — over the weekend if possible — and post a question based on what you did manage to complete by Tuesday.

Can you explain what it means to be accountable for my own learning and grades?

This is an asynchronous course, which means the burden is even more on you to make sure you’re succeeding in the class. There are two major ways to do this; every week, you should assess your understanding against the answers posted in #classroom, and after every after draft, you should check if you received a “Cr” (Credit) or “Nc” (No credit) score. While drafts are technically ungraded, too many Nc scores will impact your final course grade and make it difficult for you to succeed in writing the qualitative research project.

You are responsible for checking your draft scores on Classes after drafts have been submitted and scored and making sure that you’re following and fulfilling the assignment guidelines. For instance, the qualitative research project is a different genre from a report, a historical overview of general facts, or a comparative literary/art/film analysis. It involves a kind of case study analysis of a contemporary problem that surfaces in the current, ongoing discourse of a specific discourse community — your field/discipline. If your project deviates from this, it’s likely to receive an “Nc” (no credit) score.

Perfection is by no means necessary — or even what we’re doing in this course — but to pass the course, you do have to satisfactorily demonstrate the learning objectives week-to-week and make a good-faith effort to address the assignment guidelines — and be ready to offer up your record of unsubmitted practice writing for the class, and be able to explain your writerly decisions in your qualitative research project draft and in the context of the qualitative research project guidelines.

Remember, this course is holistically graded, meaning that consistent, regular participation and a project that meets all requirements by the end of the course is likely to result in full or partial remittance of “Nc” scores.