FAQs 🙋

Table of Contents

1. How do I schedule a coffee chat with you?
2. Why do we use Discord and an external website in this course?
3. How are access needs addressed in the course?

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?

After clicking 🍵 Let’s Chat! at the top right, follow the directions on Zcal to reserve an 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 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!

Why do we use Discord and an external website in this course?

(This info is cross-posted from the ReadMe file.)

I decided to use Discord + an (this) external website after three consecutive semesters of students wanting to decouple from administrative surveillance, since running class exclusively on Classes means I have to comply with administrative protocols around grading, i.e.:

• I have to count the number of hours you spend on Classes every day, how many hours you spend on different videos, slides, texts, and other materials every day
• I have to add up how long you spend on discussion posts and other LMS-based activities

In short, mixed-modality or async courses on Classes force instructors to account for your participation with fixed numbers each day/week and make it difficult for us to defend lenient participation grades. Because I pivoted to this Discord + external website combo — where I can’t tally the total hours you spend on class each day and can be more forgiving of an occasional drop in participation and of late work — participation becomes a more informal activity that I can grade holistically and leniently.

More concretely, this choice allows me to keep most final course grades within the B-range, whereas Classes-based participation forces me to assign grades along a bell curve distribution where the class average is usually a C or C+.

Thus, the Discord + external website combo is designed to protect you from how the university wants instructors to grade you, and therefore works in your favor!

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 course material 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.