Dr. Diane Hamilton's Blog

Ask Dr. Diane: Starting Over In Life – How to Catch Up Financially

Today’s Question Is:    I am pursuing my Masters. I am divorced, 49 and just starting over in my life.  I now have a 30 year mortgage on a home (I look at it as an investment).  I really am worried about my future and how well off I will be financially.  Starting over has cost me a fortune but personally I am extremely happy, until I think about my future, and then severe anxiety.  Not to mention paying student loans.  Anyway do you have any resources for women like me?  I feel happy that I am an RN and am actually working but I want to be better off financially.

Ask Dr. Diane: What are the Top 15 Writing and Grammar Mistakes You See as a Professor?

Today’s question is:  What are the top mistakes you see students make in terms of spelling and/or grammar?  Here is a list of some of the common mistakes I see on a regular basis:

1. A lot should be written as 2 words and not as one word as in a lot.
2. Cannot should be written as 1 word and not as two words as in can not.
3. Use effect as a noun and affect as a transitive verb.  Example: Something may have a lasting effect.  The delay may affect your plans. 
4. Use except as a verb and accept as a preposition.  Example:  He counted all of them except the last one.  Please accept my apology.
5. When including numbers in your writing, be sure that you spell out the number if it is the first word in a sentence.  Example:  It is correct to write:  Fifty people were in the crowd.  It is incorrect to write:  40 people were in the crowd.
6. Many people still get its and it’s mixed up.  You only use “it’s” when you mean it is.  Example:  It’s getting late.  Use “its” to show possession of something.  Example:  Its case is blue. 
7. Irregardless should not be used as a word.  You might find it in dictionaries as you would ain’t.  However, it is not proper to use as a word.
8. Many get lose and loose mixed up as well.  Lose sounds like looze and is used when something is lost.  Loose means not tight and is used as an adjective. 
9. Use anyway as one word if you mean “in any event”.  Example:  She is going to the party anyway.

10.  It is correct to say between you and me and incorrect to say between you and I.

11.  It is correct to say I couldn’t care less and incorrect to say I could care less.  Interestingly only 1 in 5 people say it correctly. 

12.  When to use e.g. and i.e.  Use e.g. When you mean “for example” and use i.e. when you mean in other words. 

13.  Use farther when you are talking about a more advanced point.  Example:  Drive farther down the road.  Use further when you mean to assist.  Example:  He was trying to further his ambition. 

14.  If someone is from Scotland, they are Scottish and not Scotch.

15.  When to use I or me . . . It is correct to say it has been a good year for Bob and me.  It is incorrect to say it has been a good year for Bob and I.  Take the words “Bob and” out of the sentence and it helps to tell you if you are correct.  For example:  It has been a good year for me sounds correct.  It has been a good year for I does not.

Ask Dr. Diane: First Time Online Student Questions

Ask Dr. Diane:  This week’s question is actually a compilation of several questions my “new to online learning” students have asked this week.

1.  How much time does a student have to complete an online quiz?  This varies by school and by quiz.  In most of my courses, there is no time limit on taking the quiz.  However, many of the quizzes are set up so that you can only take them once.  If you get out of it, they often do not let you get back into it.  If you have technical difficulties, you might be able to call technical support and have them reset the quiz for you.
2. How many discussion questions do I have to answer each week?  This also varies by school.  I have schools where I post one or two discussion questions each week that we get into a lot of depth discussing.  I have others were we have 5 questions.  Most schools require that you not only answer the initial question but that you also respond to some of your fellow classmates’ responses to that question. 
3. How much time will I need to spend online each week?  This is a complicated question to answer.  Most of the classes I teach are asynchronous which means you can access the class during the hours of the day when it is most convenient for you. If a class is synchronous that would mean you would have to be online at a specific time.  In asynchronous classes, like the ones I teach, the majority of times students will spend will depend upon the course being taught.  It has been my experience that first-time 100 level courses require more reading than they do a lot of writing.  As you progress into master level courses, more research and writing will be required.  If you are reading more than writing, the time you spend online would depend upon whether your books were online books or regular books.  Even if they are online books, you could technically print them out.  I have some students say they spend about an hour a day online while others spend much more time.  A lot depends upon your learning style and that week’s assignments’ requirements.
4. How are assignments submitted?  Each school uses a software program to have you access their classroom materials.  This software is called a platform.  The schools where I work use: OLS, Angel, eCollege and Blackboard.  The software for each school may differ to some extent, but in general, you will post answers to questions by responding in a way that is similar to responding to an email or a blog posting.  To upload assignments, it is very similar to uploading a file as you would if you were attaching it to an email. 

I answer a lot of these questions and more in my book:  The Online Student User’s Manual.

Ask Dr. Diane: How to Become an Online Professor

Ask Dr. Diane – Today’s Question About: Online College Student’s Learning Style