Course Materials

Guided Independent Study DE Courses

The Study Guide
The study guide is the means in which your instructor communicates with you regarding how to proceed and complete the course. It provides an ordered series of lessons (akin to lectures in an on-campus course), assignments, and exams that you will be asked to complete in a prescribed sequence. Within certain guidelines (described below and in your study guide), you may proceed at your own pace. The study guide will direct your reading, the ways in which the instructor wants you to express your understanding of the material, and will describe how to arrange for proctored exams.

From your ICON course site you may download your course study guide or follow the link to purchase a printed copy. Since the downloaded study guide resides on your computer, you can read it offline. Some course features may require an Internet connection, such as hyperlinks to media or external Web sites related to the course material.

Only students admitted to the BLS or BAS program are able to enroll in GIS courses without any Internet access. Only a limited number of GIS courses are available entirely in Print-Only format.

General Directions and Forms
You may download the general directions and Forms file for your course from your ICON course site if you did not purchase a printed copy of the study guide.

Online, WWW/plus meeting, and Face-to-Face Off-Campus Courses
Depending on the type of delivery system for your course, you may access course content online, by meeting in an off-campus location, or by a combination of these methods. Logistical information for each course is provided through the online Course Overview Pages on ISIS (see “Getting Started”). Some details may not become available until close to the start date of the course.

Most courses require one or more textbooks. In most cases, you must purchase any course materials from a bookstore.

If an instructor has provided advanced notice of the textbooks for a course, this information will be posted on the Course Overview Page
(see “Getting Started”, http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/ccp/stuserv/mc_start.htm).

Otherwise, you should wait to order books until you attend your course or access the online components to view the textbook order form or course syllabus. Please attention to the required edition. In most cases, the textbook order form or syllabus will indicate from which of the following vendors you may obtain the texts and materials.

Iowa Book, L.L.C.: http://www.iowabook.com/
University Bookstore: http://www.book.uiowa.edu/