disclaimer
I was asked to be a tutor for this course, to which I objected, but since my protests were not acknowledged, I decided to turn this into an experiment in online learning, to gain experience with online classrooms, in wiki @ VU. There are many way to give substance to a course like introduction IMM, however to my mind, the structure of the course is not well set, and easily allows for non-productive digressions, or the sort of pseudo-scholarship I dislike. Whatever way you look at it, however, students are encouraged to take profit from the opportunity offered to deepen their intellectual understanding, pay attention to interesting topics, gain presentation experience, and not the least important improve their academic skill(s). As such students are required to be (in a high degree) self-organizing, sufficiently independent, and willing to make an effort to produce good work and look with a critical eye to the work of others, and moreover make their contribution(s) not only in class but also available online in the digital classroom. In other words, practice active learning! My role will be no more than being present if needed, not as a teacher, and certainly not as the proverbial sage on the stage, not even as a guide on the side. I do not only hope for, but actually demand, your cooperation in this. And, finally, eventhough the procedures followed in other groups may be different, this cannot be used to change my approach or to deviate from my rule(s)!
postscript: this disclaimer was originally formulated for academic english, but is likely to apply to a large extent also for this course, since the aim of academic skill(s) remains somehow/somewhat ephemeral!
