Monday Update for Nutrition and Health – Sept 14, 2020
Some Important Announcements:
-
I now emailing to the Class through Canvas
2. If you cannot access Class Recordings through Canvas and Zoom, you must take care of this immediately. You need to call the Office of Information Technologies and they will help you! I will not answer any more emails asking how you can see the recordings on Canvass-Zoom!
3. The first Lecture Quiz will be published at 2 pm today and it needs to be completed by Thursday at 5 pm.
Here are very recent emails from students:
Question: Mr. Dixon, I know it is a little late to be asking this, but I am unsure where to find assignments for this course on canvas. I also haven’t seen any homework aside from reading the lectures assigned to me. Can you please clarify this for me if you have been giving us homework? Additionally, I am not sure if you have given us any quizzes yet since I couldn’t find them on the canvas website. Can you help me out here as well? Thanks,
Answer: Mon 9/14/2020 12:57 PM Hi, I will start the first Canvas quiz today. Did you get the email I just sent out from Canvas? I don’t see the email that I sent out, and this bothers me. All my other emails were sent out through Sakai, which we are not using this semester. We have not had any assignments or quizzes yet. There are still students adding the course! Have you had any other problems? Were you able to see the lectures? Thanks for your emails! I understand completely how you can get a little frantic about this kind of class. Sincerely, Joe Dixon
Question: Professor Dixon, I was just wondering where I could access the recorded lectures for Nutrition and Health. Thanks,
Answer: Do you have access to the canvas site for the course? You must be properly signed up through Rutgers Canvas Zoom. They require an official email account. Please call OIT if you can’t see the recorded lectures on the Canvas site. Just Google them for the telephone number. Joe Dixon
I will not answer anymore emails asking, “How do we see the recorded lectures?” I have addressed this question several times!
Class 3 – Nutrition and Health – Fall 2020 – Sept 10th – Chapter 2 of McGuire Text – On Zoom
In today’s class we will continue going through Chapter 2 of the McGuire Textbook. But before that, I want to go over what I consider the Foundations of Nutrition. Then after the Foundations, and Chapter 2 slides, I want to discuss an important topic that is not in the Textbook – the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994—commonly referred to as DSHEA.
Emails from Students:
Question: Hi Professor, When will the post-lecture quizzes start? I have another class during you class time so I have to watch the videos at a later time each week.
When will the quizzes be starting?
How long will they be open for submission? Thank you!
Answer: Don’t worry about them yet – I will announce them when they are ready. Have you been able to see the recorded lectures?
Question: Hello, I was just wondering if there will be a descriptive study guide/chapter outline of what we are going to cover in the classes? Thank You
Answer: Hi, Thank you for your email. I don’t have a descriptive study Guide/Chapter Outline for each class. I sometimes have an outline in the first few slides of the PowerPoint Lecture. I usually put an outline for each on the Blog Site. I update the Schedule of classes as we go along. At this point you have the Schedule of Classes, the Blog site, the PowerPoint lectures, and the readings in the Textbook. Adding one more thing would add another thing the students would have to check to follow along with the classes. Then about a week before each exam, I give out a review sheet for the exam and it has what we covered. Occasionally, I do not cover a topic and then it is not in the Review sheet. In what form would a study Guide/Chapter Outline be that would be helpful to you? I have been thinking about doing one, actually.
Sincerely, Joe Dixon
Question: Hi Professor Dixon, My name is _____________, I am currently in your Nutrition and Health class and I am confused as to what material we need for the class this semester. Reading through your emails I noticed that we do not necessarily need the Nutritional science book. But we do need the Obesity Explosion book as well as the access code. Once I purchased the Obesity Explosion ebook with the access code from Kendallhunt, I was able to access the ebook but when logging in using the access code for the homework it said the class was not set up yet? Also, is there any other books/material that we need for this class? Thank you,
Answer: Hi, Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I am laughing because somewhere you got the impression that you do not need the “Nutritional science book.” I do recommend you get the McGuire textbook for background material that I can’t get to in the class.
The site for the Obesity Explosion that you get access to with your code will be ready soon. I will make a major announcement when it becomes available. It was just finished last week and I just got access to it myself on the Friday before Labor Day. I am proof reading the questions now!
There are no other books you will need for this class. Thank you for your email!
Sincerely, Joe Dixon
Thursday Night Update for Nutrition and Health 255
Class 2 Today – Sept 3rd – We went through the Slides for Chapter 1 of McGuire. Then we started the Slides for Chapter 2. As I mentioned in class today, Chapter 1 is a little fluffy. Chapter 2, on the other hand, discusses nutrition assessment, which is an important concept.
During today’s lecture, there were questions about quizzes. The quizzes concerning the lectures will be through Canvas. I haven’t put the quiz component together yet.
The On-line site for the “Obesity Explosion” quizzes will be ready by early next week. I will send you the link when it is ready. I have had many emails about quizzes – please do not worry about them yet.
Concerning the recording of Class 2 – I can see it on Canvas, but I haven’t been able to access it yet. I will call the Office of Information Technology tomorrow and find out what is going wrong. But remember, there are many classes going on-line at this time and there are kinks in the system.
Extremely Important – As someone brought up today, next Tuesday, Sept 8th, is designated a Monday schedule, so there will not be a 255 class next Tuesday. The Schedule of Classes that I sent out is wrong concerning class next Tuesday.
I hope Everyone has a safe and restful Labor Day weekend!
Class 2 – Nutrition and Health – Fall 2020 – Sept 3rd – On Zoom
Notices:
1. I only received a few emails from Students about not being able to get on Zoom. Those that had trouble had not signed up for Rutgers Zoom.
2. I only received one email concerning not being able to access the recording. There is still uncertainty about whether you need a pass code to access the recording.
3. The “Obesity Explosion” print book is now available on the Kendall Hunt site. If you buy the printed book, be careful to choose a low price mailing option!
4. Today, I put the Student Reviews of the Spring semester’s class on the Canvas Site for the class.
5. Today we will start the slides for Chapter 1 of the McGuire textbook.
We may get into Chapter 2 – I’m not sure.
I hope everyone is healthy and safe!
Go to Zoom in Canvas for Lecture 1
All, I was able to get Zoom working in Canvas so I have scheduled today’s lecture in Zoom.
Here is the information, but think you can just go to the class site in Canvas and join the meeting without any need for codes etc.
Hope everything works well!
Lecture 1 – Nutrition and Health – September 1, 2020
What to do to attend the Lecture-
Lecture 1 – Go to Canvas at 2:15 pm and join the on-line lecture by going to Conferences:
Please Note: I have tried to switch this to a Zoom Meeting but my Zoom account is frozen. The class may be too big for Big Blue Button. No matter what – we will try this first.
We will first go over Module 0 (Zero) as shown below:
Then we will start Module 1, which contains Introductory Course Materials:
Please check this Blog site tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1 pm for an Update.
Sunday update for Nutrition and Health 255 – August 30, 2020; Questions from Students
Announcements:
1. The Canvas Site for the class is now established – please try to log on and see the two modules that are now available. Module 0 (Zero) has the Syllabus, Grading Rubric, and the Schedule of Classes.
2. There is a Big Blue Button Lecture planned for Tuesday September 1 at 2:15 pm. Make sure you know how to join this lecture format on the Canvas Site for the class.
Questions from students:
Question: I am a student in your Nutrition and Health Section 1 class (11:709:255), and I am very excited to meet you. Before classes start, I just wanted to email you and tell you a little about myself. I am a Nutrition major and I can’t wait for what it has to offer. I had a few questions I wanted to ask you. How should I prepare for this class? As a first year student at Rutgers, I am a little overwhelmed, so I would like to be prepared for what’s coming. I have seen the syllabus and schedule of classes you sent out.
There was an email you sent out regarding “the Blog.” I am confused about that, will that be your primary way of communication? If so, is there a way I am able to receive notifications on that, because I noticed you answered some questions and I didn’t know until I clicked on the link given in the previously sent email. I would like to thank you for your time.
Answer: Hi _________, Welcome to Rutgers! I can imagine how overwhelming it is to start at Rutgers this way. Quite honestly, everyone is adapting to this new way of learning and attending college. In this class the Blog will be the core or information center of the class. I just set up the Canvas site and it also has interactive features. What I like about the Blog is that you can keep it on your phone and you do not need to sign in to see it.
It is very important that you study the grading Rubric and see how I will grade the class. I think it will be very important to keep up with the lectures and take the lecture quizzes, which are not hard but you need to keep up with them. I hope I have answered some of your questions.
I hope you are healthy and safe and have a great semester at Rutgers!
Joe Dixon
Question: Hi Professor Dixon, I’ve just purchased your Obesity Explosion eBook! However, I’m confused on how to access it on my laptop. Some of the step by step directions given on vitalsource.com were a little unclear for me. May you help guide me? Thanks, ________.
Answer: Hi __________, I believe you can access it with an access code and then keep it open most of the time. I didn’t have any problems getting into the book. The on-line quizzes are not ready yet. Please give it one more try, and get back to me if you continue to have problems. Joe Dixon
Saturday update for Nutrition and Health 255 – August 29, 2020
I have a few notices for the class:
1. This is the Textbook for the course:
Some of you have emailed me asking for confirmation of the Textbook. Students in class are buying this book from many sites, including the Cengage site, where you can get an Ebook version.
2. The other book for the course is now available:
The link for this book is:
https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/obesity-explosion-collision-nutrition-culture-politics-food
The print book should be available in a few days. The reading assignments for this book start on September 15, 2020.
3. The times of the Live lectures are:
Tuesday 2:15 PM – 3:35 PM on the Canvas Site
Thursday 2:15 PM – 3:35 PM on the Canvas Site
Many students have emailed me asking whether the Live lectures are mandatory. The lectures are recorded and you can watch them whenever you wish. However, because of the online Lecture quizzes, you will need to watch the lectures within a week if you wish to do well on the quizzes. The Canvas site will be up and running by Monday at the latest. The only other top concerns are the mid-term exams. As I indicated, there will be several times available to take the two mid-term exams. The final exam needs to be taken at the time set by Rutgers. The official Final exam time is: December 15, 2020 at 12:00 pm
4. On the schedule of classes Excel Spreadsheet I sent out a few days ago, the hours for the class are wrong. It was a mistake. I have corrected it. The hours on the Syllabus and announced on this Blog site are correct.
Update on Nutrition and Health – August 24, 2020
We have about a week to our first class! Last night I emailed everyone the Syllabus and the Schedule of Classes. On the Syllabus was how I use different ways to track your progress (i.e., grade). Please take time and look through this – I will put a clearer version on the Canvas Website, which I am working on this week.
As I mentioned in one of my emails, this Blog site is the core of the Class as I will write messages and update you on things here. An important part of this blog is writing questions I receive from students and posting the answers. I will always keep the letters confidential and I won’t post any personal questions.
Here are two I just answered:
QUESTIONs from Students
Question: Good morning, Hope all is well. My name is B_____________ and I will be in your Nutrition and Health course this fall. I am excited to take the course and wanted to personally ask you for any tips on how to prepare for your class. Thank you.
ANSWER: Hi, Thank you for your email. You asked an important question. I just sent out the syllabus and schedule of classes. It is very important for you to look at how the points are allocated among the various ways I use to follow your progress. This semester the course can be followed with the online lectures (or recordings) and you can keep up on the important topics by taking the Lecture quizzes. Since I started the Lecture quizzes the grades of the class have really improved. Then there are the quizzes for the book “Obesity Explosion.” These are just to work through and complete as you read the book. There are no grades attached to these – you just have to complete a certain amount to get the full points for these.
So really, to do well in the class, you have keep up with the lectures and quizzes, do a good job on the projects, and study for the exams. It is a pretty standard strategy. Sincerely, Joe Dixon
Question: Hello Professor Dixon, I hope you have enjoyed your summer and are enjoying what is left of it. I was reading your email and saw that our class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:15-3:35. I was under the impression that since it is by arrangement we would not be meeting through Zoom and would instead have all our work on Canvas to complete on our own time and turn in. I have another class that conflicts with these timings. It is called Creative Writing and meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well at 1:40-3:00. Since the lectures are recorded am I still able to take your class (and watch the lecturers) or is attendance mandatory? I just wanted to clarify because I have been looking forward to taking this class since the spring semester because I have heard amazing things about it from people I know and have always had an interest in nutrition. What I am thinking is that if attendance is not mandatory, I will just watch the lectures by myself and complete all the necessary work, take the exams during the class times when I need to and let my professor know for creative writing ahead of time. Thank you,
ANSWER: Hi, Thank you for your email. As I mentioned, I needed to have the live class at some time, and I picked the time that did not interfere with other courses in my department. There will be no required attendance and the syllabus and class schedule I sent out last night shows a class where you can work through the projects and quizzes on Canvas. The exams are the only thing that needs you to be present at a specific time. I will have multiple times for the exam and there should be a time you should be able to make.
I am glad you are taking creative writing. I have written a novel (unpublished yet) and I am writing another one now. Let me know if you have other questions! Joe Dixon
Welcome to Nutrition and Health 709:255 for Fall 2020
August 19, 2020
All,
I have received many emails about the time during the week Nutrition and Health 255, section 01, is meeting this fall. As you can imagine, the course has to meet sometime, and it has to overlap with some of your other online classes. I found last semester that the class works better when there are students on line during the class and asking questions through the Chat box. But the lectures are recorded and can be watched at later times. What I do is answer the most pertinent questions on the Blog. The Blog is the center of the course on line. On the blog you can follow the flow of the course and I remind you of quizzes and projects coming up.
Most important are the exams – there are three exams including the final exam. I imagine the final exam will be at a set time set by Rutgers. I will work to make sure everyone can take the 2 mid-term exams. Obviously, there will have to be multiple times to take the mid-term exams.
Of course, you have to decide whether you wish to listen to recorded lectures if you happen to have another class scheduled at the same time.
Please go to the Blog to see this message. Using the blog you can keep up with the ebb and flow of the class.
Best,
Joe Dixon
How to cure obesity 
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