NOTE: responses for newer items added to the FAQ are highlighted in blue to facilitate finding information resulting from queries received during this semester.
[ General Questions | Technical Difficulties | Listening Examples | Group Work ]
I'm in the online section of MUS 1013 ... when are our assignments due?
What is going to be on the exams?
I notice that the Moodle grade book is not in use. How do I track my performance in this class?
What do I do if I experience technical problems?
Where are the listening examples?
I'm listening, but I just don't hear the things the book describes. What's wrong with me?
How can I communicate with my group members?
How do members of my group collaborate on group assignments and how are they submitted?
Not at all ... and, in fact, this course was designed specifically with the non-musician/non-major in mind. One of the primary purposes of this class (see the course objectives listed in the syllabus), is specifically to teach you relevant vocabulary, important musical concepts, and to allow you numerous opportunities to apply this evolving knowledge by completing a variety of assignments, both individual and group assignments. There will be times - as in any learning experience - when you reach a point that you do not understand something or find an assignment challenging to complete. As you are aware from completing the "1st Day Survey", assigning students to groups for this class is made on the basis of several aspects of past experience: (a) musical understanding and experience and (b) technology experience (since assignments and group projects involve the use of technology). Therefore, when you experience challenges, the first place to go is to your fellow group members. If the challenge is not addressed to your satisfaction or you find yourself still feeling uncertain, join me during my office hours to discuss in more detail ... that's what I'm here for!!
Because there are no face-to-face class meetings, it is imperative that you be extremely motivated and that you utilize all of the resources that Dr. L has created to provide you a path to successfully completing this class. Primary among these are ...
For students in the face-to-face sections, assignments are due by classtime on the date specified in the Schedule of Assignments. For students in the online sections, as stated in the syllabus (admittedly, it's in a footnote), individual assignments are due by 6 p.m. and group assignments are due by 11:59 p.m.
As you can tell from the (very brief) introductory chapter in the textbook, its primary purpose is to introduce esssential information related to the study of rock music and to describe out approach to the topic. That allowed me to create an online area that provides some basic information and examples of musical influences preceding the emergence of rock (sometimes by decades) and to give you an opportunity to explore and practice what you learned about the layout of the web site from the "Using this Web Site" page. You will find that the web site content for all later chapters parallels much more closely the information presented in the textbook, providing useful supplementary information and providing access to musical examples and videos related to the topics/artists covered.
This is, of course, the least favorite question of all time for every professor ... each of whom wants to believe that students are inspired and motivated to take their class and expend the effort simply for the inherent value of the knowledge gained. For the student who is a strategic learner, however, this question deserves a thoughtful response. For each of the two exams for the course, the vast majority of questions will be in multiple choice format ... though there will be a smaller number of short answer items and an essay question or two. The Study Guides for each exam [Exam 1 | Exam 2] will prove helpful in assisting you in your preparation. In addition, there will be a listening portion of the exam to assess your ability to put into practice your developing listening skills; some specific abilities that may be tested - but only after they have been covered in the reading & listening assignments - include: identifying meters & beat subdivisions, musical textures, musical forms (12-bar blues, AABA, I-vi-IV-V, strophic form, and verse-chorus). Also, the exams will be "open world" ... you can use your textbook, the Internet, and any other resoures you have available. That said, some of the questions will go beyond what is presented, expecting you to make connections and determine the most appropriate response. Finally, though "open world," there is an explicit requirement that your work on the exam be independent ... these exams are the one thing in the course upon which you are NOT allowed to collaborate. On each exam, you must DO YOUR OWN WORK and there will be a true-false, no-credit item on the exam upon which you will be required to confirm this fact. The primary purpose of these exams is to provide an opportunity to reveal how much you have learned and how your musical vocabulary and listening skills are developing!
Oops, looks like you caught me away from the computer for a few moments. Though I try to be sitting directly at my computer and fully attentive to the chat window 100% of the time during these hours, I sometimes step away for a minute or two (e.g., when "nature calls"). Moodle has a nice built-in feature that allows me to let you know that you need my attention: simply click on the "beep" link under my name, which will cause a pretty awesome lead guitar riff to sound. You can be assured I will join you in moments after I hear that sound.
I have used the grade book in WebCT, Blackboard, WebVista, and now Moodle. All are horribly "clunky" from an instructor perspective and do not allow complex calculations for grades. As a result, I maintain all course grades in an Excel spreadsheet. Knowing that you are interested in your progress, I will send you individualized grade reports every couple of chapters throughout the semester, so you will clearly know how you are doing.
The primary resource you need to use for due dates is the "Schedule of Assignments" section of the course syllabus … that is where all specific assignment dates are included. The second major resource to keep you on track is the "Chapter-by-Chapter Student Guide" that I have referenced in each of my emails … a crucial document to help you navigate the process. As you are learning, there are some advantages to taking online classes (flexibility with time, not having to meet in class, etc.), but there are also challenges, as this is the kind of information I would be more able to do by "hand holding" were we meeting in a classroom together and if physical office hours were available. I have worked very hard to put together these materials - yes, it's a lot of detailed information - in a manner that allows each student to locate the relevant information in these major resources. As you know, I also hold office hours every weekday (see Moodle site or previous email for specific days/times). As a result, students have succeeded nicely for the past several years in this online class, have learned many important musical concepts, are able to listen to music more analytically, and benefit in other ways. When you have a question or run into a challenge, review the materials I have placed at your disposal. If you do not find an answer, check with your fellow group members. If you still cannot find an answer visit with me during office hours ... that is how this online course is set up to work.
No ... the reason I will not allow recollection of a previous experience is because over the duration of this course, you will be developing listening skills that you have very likely never used before. Therefore, from this point on, it is my hope - borne out by past experience teaching this course for over 15 yrs - that your *recollection* of future musical experiences will be much more detailed and informed than past experiences. I really want this musical performance report to be associated with an experience you have after completing a substantial percentage of this course and developing/refining your listening skills and musical vocabulary. Therefore, this report must be on a performance that you see during the final period of this class, as described in the Music Performance Report section of the course syllabus. By the way, the musical event you attend doesn't have to be a formal concert or even a ticketed event. You can go to any place where there is a live rock-oriented musical performance (local venues, nightclubs, etc.) and report on that experience.
First of all, please allow me to congratulate you on asking such an insightful question! This is critically important topic for all who are engaged in academic/scholarly writing at any level. There are very clear parameters related to using previously published materials or any resource that represents original work by another individual. If you do not follow these rules, you could subject yourself to grave consequences as the result of plagiarism. I have provided a number of helpful resources to assist you in this effort in the "Plagiarism in Scholarly Writing" section of the Group Presentation Instructions document on the rock history website.
You are likely not doing anything wrong. Most browsers maintain a store of information (called a "cache") that was loaded the last time you visited any web page. In an effort to streamline your web browsing experience, the browser often loads this previous information (which is sometimes out-of-date) instead of loading the new information from the web site. In order to ensure that you are seeing the newest information, the first step is simply to reload/refresh the page by clicking on the appropriate button in your browser toolbar or address bar (depending on browser). If that does not work, you will need to manually empty the cache ... which is much easier than it sounds. Rather than listing all of the solutions here (varies by browser), I recommend that you create a Google search including the name of your browser (Sarfari, Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc.) and the following words: empty cache. In less than a second, the results will appear before your eyes in about 10,000 variations! Once you find the solution, you will want to keep that handy (maybe even create a bookmark to the most effective solution you discovered), as this is a technique you will find yourself using often.
First, make sure that you have carefully reviewed all of the information available on the "Using this Web Site" page; of particular importance are the list of plug-ins that must be installed so that your browser can load the various forms of media used throughout the web site. IMPORTANT: it is not enough to simply download the software; you must also install it on your computer to complete the process. For assistance with installation or other technical problems, Dr. Lipscomb is not the person to contact. Instead, as explained in the course syllabus, make use of our highly qualified IT staff at the University of Minnesota; contact the Help Desk support staff at (612) 301-4357 (1-HELP on campus). These very helpful individuals are much better prepared to respond to your specific technology-related questions, and I have found them incredibly helpful in my own experience. For questions about using Moodle, access the online UMN Moodle Help System., which should be your first stop to attempt to handle any issue you confront. Trouble-shooting steps: 1) check the Moodle Help System, 2) contact the HelpDesk support staff, 3) request assistance from your fellow group members, and 4), contact Dr. L via email or pose questions during his officer hours.
Well, that's not really a question, but ... okay, one word: BACKUP!! In a technology-based course, such circumstances can happen to *any* of us. Therefore, it would be very difficult to overstate the importance of backing up information frequently. On a personal note, because I have experienced such tragedies numerous times in my professional life, I now back up my computer nightly, so that any file changed that day is updated to an external hard drive. While this may be "overkill" for most of you, I *strongly* recommend that you purchase a flash drive (2 to 4 GB) to use as a backup for your course-related files. These drives are now available for under $10 and are well worth the cost for the sense of security they provide ... *if* you actually follow a consistent backup routine, that is. I recommend creating copies of all submissions prior to posting them to Moodle and, for the larger assignments (Listening Journal, group projects, etc.), I recommend backing them up after completing any significant amount of work; for example, after each chapter of the Listening Guide. Please take this advice to heart ... it will reduce the chance that you find yourself in a similarly unfortunate circumstance. The time frame for this course is already compressed enough without having to manage an unexpected technology meltdown!
Yes, unfortunately this can happen ... you are just seeing some of the code characters that Word (and other word processors) hide from you when you use their WYSISYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) interfaces. There is a simple solution for this problem as outlined in one of the Moodle support site pages: Extra, code-looking characters. This question offers an excellent opportunity for me to stress the importance of using the extensive Help system for Moodle (and for any other technology you utilize, for that matter). Simply access the online student support area, which includes a User Guide and Help and FAQ, the latter includes a list of "Known issues and bugs."
The link at the top of the Moodle page ("Dr. L's Rock History Web Site") will take you to a web site of supplementary materials. The listening examples are sprinkled throughout the site, as you work through this information chapter-by-chapter. As explained on the "Using this Web Site" page, the required listening examples (the ones listed in your Listening Journal templates) are highlighted in UMN maroon, while the optional listening examples are highlighted in "Gopher Gold." To hear the examples, you will need to make certain that you have installed all required plug-ins.
All sound files, videos, and interactive multimedia are password-protected due to copyright issues. Dr. Lipscomb sent you the username and password in his initial "Welcome" message. Go back to that email and find the information; you can also check with your fellow group members or contact Dr. L directly. DO NOT give the username and password to anyone not enrolled in the class, as this is a clear violation of the Fair Use provision of U.S. Copyright law.
There is no such list ... and that is purposeful. However, let's first take a moment to address your approach. The purpose is not, of course, to "get through" any assignment in the course; rather, each of these assignments provides an opportunity for you to further hone your developing skill set ... learning more about each of the artists and eras we study and using your ears to listen in ways that you may have never done before. If I had wanted to provide a resource that simply enumerated the listening assignments, I could have cetainly done that. However, the pedagogical intent of embedding these examples throghout the supplementary materials is to provide you an opportunity to expand your understanding by perusing this information, a significant amount of which does not appear in the textbook. In most cases, however, if you go through the online chapter in the order presented, the listening examples almost always come in exactly the order they are listed in the Listening Journal templates. In the rare instance where that is not the case, just skip the item and come back to it when you run across the example in the next page or so.
This is precisely what you will be learning over the course of the next few weeks; at the beginning, just reflect on the sounds you're hearing and your reaction to them. As you begin to develop a musical vocabulary, train your ears, and enhance your expertise as a listener, I will expect to see the use of more musical terminology (appropriately used) and identification of some of the musical elements that will be introduced. For now, just get started ... At the end of the semester, if my past experience is borne out yet again, you will be very surprised when you compare your earliest entries to those later in the semester; talk about direct evidence of learning!!
This question provides me an opportunity to point out one of the truly distinctive factors related to my pedagogical approach to this class. Lyrics are an important aspect of most music to which we listen ... that certainly holds true for rock music! It is also the aspect that is most familiar to us ... from our extensive experience with language and all forms of verbal communication. During this course, I will challenge you (and other students) to develop the listening skills necessary to really begin to hear and to comprehend more thoroughly the musical aspects of the examples to which you will be listening; in fact, allowing you opportunities to practice these skills is one of the primary objectives of the Listening Journals. Make sure to spend significant time in the areas of the rock web site accessible from the grey box on the home page of that site, labeled "Practice Developing Your Music Listening Skills."
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you ... one of the primary goals of this class is to get you to listen to music in a way that is different from that of a typical person who just lets the sound wash over them. Throughout the semester, you will be challenged by a variety of assignments that will assist you in developing a more analytical listening style and a more critical ear ("critical" doesn't mean negative, just a higher level of attention paid to the music). The best thing that you can do when you are having difficulty is to simply crack down and listen to the challenging example again and again ... repeated listening is a very important aspect of this course, as it is impossible to get everything out of a piece of music through a single listening; this is true not only of very complex music, but of some of the most basic music, since you cannot pay attention to every aspect of the musical sound at the same time. Concerning the specific listening skills I want you to develop over the course of the semester, I have posted many musical examples; for example, to develop the skill of identifying musical form, I have provided separate pages with hundreds of musical examples, representing some of the most common forms: 12-bar blues, AABA, and I-vi-IV-V. Another challenge for many students is identifying musical textures ... there is an entire page devoted to this, then one of group assignments (Ch. 5) focuses on practicing this developing skill.
Choose I song you would like to listen to in an attempt to identify the metter. To begin with, listen to the music and determine where you here the recurrent beat (what you would typically pat your foot or dance in time with). Next, starting on the first beat, begin to accent (emphasize) every other beat (CLAP, clap, CLAP, clap, CLAP, clap, CLAP, clap ...); then try accenting every third beat (CLAP, clap, clap, CLAP, clap, clap ...). If the clapping with accents on every OTHER beat matches more naturally, it is DUPLE meter; if, however, the pattern emphasizing every third beat matches better, it is TRIPLE meter. Finally, listen carefully to what happens in between these beats to determine the beat subdivision. Good things to listen for include the hi-hat cymbal of the drum part or a consistent rhythm of piano chords. See if you count two or three equal divisions of the beat. If two, you have discovered a duple subdivision; if three, you have found a triple subdivision. Now, head on over to the Meter & Beat Subdivision page and practice!
For those who want to know even more ...
In music notation, the "time signature" serves the purpose of identifying the specific meter. In fact, the numerator (upper number) refers specifically to the number of beats per measure and the denominator (lower number) specifies which type of note (1/4 note, 1/8 note, etc.) gets one beat. We don't go into that in this course, because students enrolled are not required to read music notation ... but I do require you to develop the ability to *hear* the difference: duple vs. triple meter and duple vs. triple subdivision.
Several examples ...
3/4 - 3 beats per measure and a 1/4 note gets a beat (triple meter, duple subdivision))
4/4 - 4 beats per measure and a 1/4 note gets a beat (duple meter, duple subdivision)
6/8 - [unfortunately this is where it gets a little complex] ... though you can correctly interpret this as 6 beats per measure and an 1/8 note gets a beat, it is most commonly used to identify a *duple* meter with triple subdivision. See how 2 beats x 3 subdivisions = 6? (the numerator of the time signature) ... in the first case, sextuple meter where 1/8 not gets a beat (subdivision unknown); in the second case, duple meter with triple subdivision.
Just create a new Word document containing only the optional listening items, following the requirements stated in the course syllabus for these entries. Please make sure to include your name & group number at the beginning of this document. Also, make sure that you include headings to identify the chapter(s) from which the optional listening examples come. Submission will involve two steps. First, submit your completed Listening Journal to the appropriate forum in the Listening Journal Submission area of Moodle. After you have submitted the Listening Journal, email the other document as an attachment to Dr. Lipscomb's email address. Yes, you can actually earn more than 100% for these Listening Journal assignments (if you earn full credit for the required listening examples), by submitting entries for optional listening examples!
The most immediate way for any correspondence is via email, so I encourage you to exchange email addresses with your fellow group members, so you can remain in close contact. If this is the way you choose to go, it is extremely important that - unless you are given permission to do otherwise - this means of communication should be respectfully used only for course-oriented communications ... not as a means of socializing. You may also want to consider another form of social media external to the university (Skype, Twitter, Instant Messenger, etc.), if all members are comfortable with that alternative technology. A second means of communication, as you collaborate on group assignments, is to click on the title of any of the group assignments, which I have set up as fora (plural of forum) to faciliate such intra-group communication. The advantage of the "forum" format is that you can submit and read submissions at times you are available (this is referred to as "asynchronous" communication). If, however, you find this process too cumbersome or ineffectual due to the time delay between submissions and comments from other group members, I have also set up a group-specific "chat area" (the third potential means of communication) which is available as the first item under "Group Assignments" on the Moodle home page. If you would prefer to establish a meeting date/time when all of your group members can be present at the same time, you may use this area to chat amongst yourselves at the same time ("synchronous" communication) ... only members of your group will be able to participate with you in these discussions. You can work with your fellow group members to determine which method (or collection of methods) works best for your collaborative work style.
Actually, in this case, you did do something wrong ... in order to successfully communicate with members of your group using the tools on Moodle, it is crucial that you clearly understand the varying purposes of "chat" and "discussion forums." Typically (and this is the case in Moodle), chat communications only work if you are online at the same time with other members of your group (this is called a synchronous mode of communication); using the chat module will require that all members of your group agree upon a specific date and time to meet virtually, logging on to the chat tool at that appointed time. (This is very much like scheduling a group meeting when taking a class on campus; though you must schedule only a time to meet; you do not need to be in the same location ... just log on to Moodle from whereever you are. NOTE: since this is an online course, you will want to make sure that you account for varying time zones in which students may be.) If you want to leave messages at a time that is convenient for you, allowing your fellow group members to read these comments at a later time convenient for them (an asynchronous mode of communication), then use the group-specific discussion forums available in the Group Assignment area of Moodle. I have created a separate discussion forum for every group for each of the major group asssignments specifically to facilitate this process.
No, NO, NO!!! I know what's in the textbook, and - as I hope is clear from the structure of this course - I consider the change in listening ability that will occur as a result of taking this class of primary importance. Therefore, I seriously want you to listen carefully to each example of the musical styles represented and go through the process of identifying for yourself the similarities and differences you hear; then compare this to the lists compiled by your fellow group members. You will then work together to integrate your lists, so that the final group submission represents a consensus. This course is about learning about how to listen to music - any music - differently ... with a much higher level of focus than you have probably ever done before (what we call "analytical listening"). You will, of course, learn about the different eras of music, important bands/artists, socio-political movements, etc., but there is no doubt that I consider the listening component the one that has the most important and longest-term impact on students who have taken my course in past years ... tried and true!! ;)
The forums in the Group Assignments area of the course Moodle site are created to allow group members to interact asynchronously (see entry above for an explanation of this term) with one another as you work on these assignments. Only members of your group have access to your group's forum within this area. Once you have reached consensus and are ready to submit the assignment for evaluation, elect ONE of your group members to complete this task, this responsibility can be rotated among your group members during the semester. That member should then submit the finished assignment to the forum continaing the phrase "FINAL submission" ... only ONE member should submit the assignment on behalf of the entire group. Should you receive feedback from me about any group assignment (or individual assignment, for that matter), please always resubmit revisions as a "reply" to your initial submission.
Though there is sometimes no specific grade on the grade report that will come up reflecting your individual contribution to all group work, it is an expectation that every group member will contribute to every group project. I will look at the group forums to see who contributed, and you can bet that group members will remember which individuals participated consistently when they provide their Peer Evaluation at the end of the semester (make sure to read the "Helping Behavior" section of the course syllabus to see how this evaluation factors into the calculation of each student's Group Performance score). Therefore, in fact, you will definitely be assessed on your individual contributions to the group work. ;)
This is not necessary at all, though I am very impressed with your question and its implied level of technology expertise! As stated in the presentation instructions, I strongly recommend against including any sound files as part of your presentation as this is one of the most likely aspects of a presentation to NOT work when viewing on another person's computer. Therefore, rather than inserting/embedding sound files or videos in your presentation, simply include a link to a web address (YouTube or other resource) where the file can be found. Also, please be aware that I will be posting the files in two formats: the native presentation format (PowerPoint, Keynote, etc.) and PDF. This is to ensure that all students can review your work, but not be required to have access to the software required to show the native format files. Therefore, while the PDF files will contain all of your content and design elements, multimedia will not be included. Now, to your real question ... the content and organzation of your presentation will clearly reveal your understanding of the topic, even without your own voices. One difference between an oral presentation and one submitted online like this assignment is the necessity of expanding the content somewhat. While using brief bullet points is sufficient when presenting in person - because you can elaborate on these points during the presentation - this is not the case when we will all be evaluating only your presentation file. Keep that in mind as you finalize your presentations for submission.
While I would prefer that it be within the time frame of our course, I will not insist upon it ... the most important thing is that you are all passionate about the topic and inspired to learn more through the research process! Regardless of the topic you choose, I will expect to see consistent use of the musical vocabulary introduced in the class, connections made to artists & eras we studied, and a well-organized, coherent presentation on your selected topic. See the Group Presentation Instructions and Evaluation rubrics [Brief | Final] to ensure that you are preparing a presentation that meets all the stated requirements and expectations. On a related topic, I always advise students to select a group/artist that is not featured prominently in the book. Please do not propose creating a final presentation on Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, or Bob Dylan ... there are entire chapters of the text focused primarily - if not solely - on these individuals and all students will have already read that information. Pick a lesser known band about which you can enlighten us all!
[ General Questions | Technical Difficulties | Listening Examples | Group Work ]