FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
Remember -- the only dumb question is the one you did not ask! You paid your money. . . get the information you need.
  1. What's the most important advice you could give a student? RYS (pronounced riss) READ YOUR SYLLABUS. It contains detailed instructions on all course activities. You must understand what an instructor expects if you are to perform accordingly. Some thing missing from the syllabus? Poorly explained? Ask the instructor. He'll fix it pronto.
  2. Second most important advice: Don't let minor problems mushroom into major ones. If you get behind or miss an assignment, notify the instructor immediately. The NCSU Counseling Center (tel. 919-515-2423) may also be of assistance. If you have a family emergency that impedes your course work, contact Parents and Constituent Services at Box 7306, NCSU, Raleigh NC 27695-7306. You or a parent may also call toll free during business hours at 877-568-5733 or email ncsuparents@ncsu.edu. For a personal health issue, make certain to get documentation from a physician or the NCSU health center. Once you've blown a month, we have no remedies -- you fail. If things come up, I can make adjustments IF I know of the problem immediately. You can quickly fail the course owing to missed assignments, so keep in touch! See the grading page for important information on assignments.
  3. What if I need to withdraw from the University? See NCSU policies on withdrawing from the University. You may also need to fill out an online form from the counseling center [PDF].
  4. Who is likely to have the most difficulty in this class? The person who does not allot sufficient time to it. I discourage first year students from taking the course, because many lack the experience of working independently and meeting deadlines without a teacher pushing them. The second largest failing group is graduating seniors who thought this course would be easier and less work than a regular classroom course. Wrong! Don't underestimate the commitment and time that online education requires. It places a much greater burden on YOU! Be certain that you're up to the task. Check the distance learning profile to see whether you're a good match with online learning.
  5. Why do you deduct for writing errors in a history class? Only a tiny fraction of students taking this course will go on to become historians. All of you, however, will go into a workplace where clear, correct, and effective communication is highly prized. That's why we call this time the "Information Age." Because we don't meet in a classroom, I can't help you with your oral communication skills. However, everything we do in this course is written, so I can give you valuable instruction in how to write better. [I've written eight books and hundreds of articles for a wide range of audiences. Trust me; I write from experience; I can help you!] For most of you, improved research, analytical, and writing skills will be the most important things that you take away from this course. Finally, it is artificial to separate what we write from how we write it--the cognition and skills needed are inseparable. See your Writing Help page for more explanation.
  6. Why study online?
  7. I don't see the latest news on the News Page. Where is it? Most browsers store visited pages in a cache. Your browser is probably grabbing an old version of the page from cache. Simply hit your reload or refresh button, and you'll get an update page from the Web. Do the same thing when you visit the home pages (both the course home page and that on WebCT). Otherwise you will not see news updates. You may wish to reconfigure your browser by using Edit/Preferences. Either shut down the cache or instruct it to compare the online and cached pages. That way you won't be reading old news.
  8. I was wondering what if the argument you are trying to make involves some of the primary sources more than others, but you still make your argument? Must all reading assignments incorporate all the readings each time? While your particular argument may well rely more heavily on some sources than others, my pedagogical goal for you is "integration" or "synthesis." This is one of the highest level cognitive skills (see Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Levels for details. Professional historians must coordinate and incorporate hundreds or even thousands of sources into our arguments. I want you to try to do the same thing-- draw upon and organize a range of evidence-- but at a vastly reduced scale. So, yes, try very hard to draw upon all the assigned readings for any given assignment. This process also helps you compare and contrast the evidence presented in various sources-- another very important cognitive skill. Finally, as opposed to merely repeating what some authority says, such as Burns, I would rather that you try to develop and express your own interpretations of the past.
  9. How we cite our sources read for the longer essays? Because literally thousands of different citations formats exist, it's arbitrary and silly to force you to use a specific one. Instead, we'll used a simplied version of endnotes. See your "How to" page for complete instructions. If you wish to practice a more formal format for citations, be my guest.
  10. Why is there so much writing? In a classroom course, you have the opportunity to share your ideas by speaking as well as writing. We have no classroom time, so your online activities must replace that missing component. Online we can't speak, so in addition to the normal amount of writing for a history class, we also have to write up all the things we would ordinarily cover in discussions, lectures, and student class presentations.
  11. Why not a coursepak? I have noticed that some of our readings are fairly long. I am one of those people who has to print things off and read them rather than read them on the computer because I can only handle looking at the screen for so long. Anyway, I was wondering if there was any way that you could put together a course pack for us of the readings and have it available at Sir Speedy for us to purchase? For someone like myself, this is a much cheaper alternative.
    Reply: If reading onscreen is a problem for you, then an online course is a very bad choice to make. Sorry but copyright restrictions and costs make the use of coursepaks impossible for many instructors. Work and read online in shorter segments--dont' try to read a long document at a single sitting. When you have longer documents, use the find in page command to search for specific information. Try changing your browser settings--larger fonts, different colors. Finally, save the HTML files instead of printing them directly. Then using Netscape Composer or another editor, cut the files down to the portions that you need to read and just print those out. Print things out in black/white draft mode-- not full color-- that's also much cheaper and quicker. And don't forget to use the Edit/Find function to do searches of web pages. Get skilled at "interrogating" e-documents to find the information you need quickly.
  12. In some roleplayind discussions, you assign documents that apeared after the date of our historical figure. Isn't that anachronism? I am both shocked and thrilled that several students have noticed this "problem." Yes, anachronism is taking something or someone out of its accurate, actual time and place. However, I believe that students get more from an exercise when they try to put themselves into the shoes of a historical figure. You try to understand through the documents, the views of the time. Thus I consider the tradeoff of being a bit anachronistic well worth the experience. Enjoy!
  13. Where can I learn more about using the Internet? A: Visit the class Internet Help and Tutorials Page
  14. Why isn't everything accessible through WebCT Vista? A: I created this course in 1998, long before WebCT hit the campus. It would be more work than it's worth to move it all within the WebCT Vista wrapper. Second, students from all around the country--and many from foreign countries--access and learn from these course materials. This is open source education--teaching anyone who is willing to learn. Third, WebCT Vista sites are scrubbed off the web at the end of the semester. I want the materials online and accessible permanently. Nothing is more frustrating than a 404 not found message. Fourth, WebCT Vista has some very clunky features and restrictions that I prefer to avoid.
  15. Why can't I see my grades in WebCT Vista? A: Your instructor probably forgot to do something called "release columns" for the gradebook. Or he missed your discussion during a grading session. Email and remind him gently-- he's getting forgetful.
  16. This course has piqued my interest. How can I more in-depth information on Latin American history and culture? A: Great question! (Gracias!) For scholarly information on all areas of Latin America, use the excellent research aides at the bottom of the Researching Latin American History Page. Using these tools, you can find citations to books, articles, and reviews on virtually any topic. Some of your "finds" may be in Spanish or Portuguese, but these are the richest resources on the region. You can also explore other sites that can be found at Slatta Historical Research Links. You'll find links to explore to your heart's content from pre-Columbian civilizations to current US-Latin American relations.
  17. Why can't I add this course? There is no classroom so how can it be full? A: While we in effect have an infinite classroom, your instructor and his grader, if he is lucky enough to have one, do not have infinite time. Online, I must manage and grade about 20-35 assignments per online student -- far more than in a normal classroom course. Thus the number of students must be restricted to conform to a normal teaching load. Yes, we probably could do only computer-graded assignments, but that would waste your time and mine. Regardless of the medium, effective learning requires close cooperation and communication between teachers and learners.
  18. Where can I find a computer to use on campus? Here are some of the Unity and CHASS Computer Labs that you use. Other colleges besides CHASS also have labs for their students.
    Unity Labs:
    • Avent Ferry Complex
    • 118 Daniels
    • D.H. Hill Library, 2nd floor stacks
    • 104 Hillsborough Building
    • 103 Sullivan
    • 33 Tucker
    • 119 North Hall

    Humanities and Social Sciences
    • 302 and 362 Harrelson (Foreign Language/History Labs)
    • 110 Tompkins
    • 113 Tompkins
    • 118 Winston
    • 309 Winston
    • Foreign Language Lab in the Old Laundry Building
  19. I need software but I can't afford to buy it. Here are two free options for quality software. Get Portable Apps in case you need software for use on many different computers. You can install the programs on a portable thumb drive and plug them into any computer's USB port. Or download Open Office, a free equivalent to MS Office. Finally, Google offers both web-based and downloadable programs.
  20. Why do you grade on execution not just content? You I need Internet skills for any future work. You also need writing and speaking skills. You need to be able to follow instructions without someone standing over you. I can't help you online with speaking, but we will work on all the other areas. Today using the Internet, word processing software, and other computer skills are not optional for success in college, business, and life. I help you to hone relevant, important, useful skills AND to learn about history. Everyone thinks an astroid got the dinosaurs. Actually, they just never learned to use computers and thus became extinct! :-)
  21. Question not answered? Ask Email Dr. Slatta