Taking the phsx1010 course online can be a lot of fun. Think about it: Instead of sitting in a classroom and listening to a long and perhaps tedious lecture, you can engage in learning and teaching (yourself) in a personal, enjoyable, and most importanly, interactive way.
However, the success in this course requires discipline. Since you are on your own, you need to set up a realistic schedule to study the materials. My suggestion is to set aside at the minimum, 1.5 hours a day (about 6 hours a week) to study. Waiting until the day before the assignments are due, is going to lead to disappointing results. So the key to success is to keep the discipline and study on a regular basis.
1) Reading assignments from chapters in your textbook.
2) Computer exercises and lessons.
3) Home experiments.
4) Answering questions (mostly multiple choice) relevant to the topics you are studying.
You will report parts (3) and (4) on a weekly basis. You will report part (2) after taking a test. For details about the due dates and procedures, please refer to the Assignments/Main Page and check each category by clicking the links provided in that page. If there are parts you are not sure about, please send me an e-mail and I will respond quickly.
So Take the first step: Go to the Assignments/Main Page and check the home experiments, question sets, or computer lessons and exercises. Read the instructions and make sure that you know where things are. One piece of additional program that you need is the shockwave player. If you use the campus computer labs, the program is already loaded in the machines. If you are using other machines, then check for the player. The link to download this program can be found in Assignments/Main Page: simply click on the computer exercises link and follow the instructions.
Your e-mail Address is the only method that I can contact you on a timely basis. If you have not provided your e-mail address, please go to the online page and provide your e-mail address. Here is an important point: It will be much easier to use the WSU mail system. That way, if you change your ISP or others, your e-mail address will not change. You can still access the WSU mail from any computer (at home, work, etc.) So please activate your WSU e-mail account and keep a frequent eye on the posted messages.