Frequently Asked Questions
Q. When is new material posted?
A. All the material is available from the beginning of the course.
Q. When is work due? Are there deadlines?
A. This is a self-paced course. Lessons are a mix of pre-recorded lecture videos, readings, and assessments. Progress at your own pace but try to cover at least one “week” each week. Please finish before the course closes. Learners on the audit track will lose free access after the number of weeks given as the course length.See the Dates tab for suggested deadlines and the actual course end date.
Q. How do I earn a HarvardX/edX certificate?
A. Participants seeking a certificate of completion should complete the course materials and assignments. This might include, but is not limited to, watching video lectures, reading texts, completing the quizzes and writing assignments, and participating in discussion forums. Students who complete at least 80% of the course will receive a certificate. Students who cannot complete all of the course materials and assignments are welcome and encouraged to audit this class by engaging with the course materials to the extent that they can.
Q. When will the certificates become available?
A. A download button for your certificate will appear in the student dashboard page.
Q. Who can I contact if I have a question or problem?
A. Use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of any course page to report a technical issue.
Q. Where will important news and updates be posted?,
A. Be sure to check Course Info frequently. Important news, updates, and corrections will be posted here throughout the project.
Q. How do I watch the videos?,
A. You can access all the videos for each Unit in the Courseware section.
Q. For technical reasons, I can't watch the videos in Courseware. Can I download them?
A. If you look directly below the video frame, you will see a link for downloading the file.
Q. How can I follow a thread in the Discussion Board?
A. Click on the grey star icon in the top right hand corner of the post.
Q. I only want to view the threads I'm following. Is that possible?
A. In the Discussion Board, click on “Show all Discussions” at the top of the list of threads. From the drop-down menu select “Posts I'm Following”. When you are ready to see all posts again, click on “Posts I'm Following”. From the drop-down menu select “Show All Discussions”.
Q. How can I follow a particular person in the Discussion Board?
A. The edX platform does not currently offer this function. But there is a way for you to see threads with contributions by a specific participant. Just click on that person's username near the top of a post or reply. That link opens a page where you can view recent activity by the participant. You can use your browser to bookmark this page.
Q. I posted a question in the Discussion Board. How will I know if someone responds?
A. When you start a new thread, it will automatically be marked as a discussion to follow. You can get updates about all the threads you follow by going to the Discussion Board Home and clicking on the check box for “receive update”. You only need to do this once. After that, you will receive a daily email digest about activity from posts you are following.
Q. What discussion section am I in?
A. There are five discussion threads, four divided by last name, and one for teachers.
- Section 1 (Last names A-F)
- Section 2 (Last names G-L)
- Section 3 (Last names M-R)
- Section 4 (Last names S-Z)
- Teacher's Section
Q. I found a post that I think is inappropriate. What should I do?
A. You can “flag” the post. A Course Staff member will review these flagged posts.
Q. I'm experiencing technical problems that appear to be related to the platform (new posts won't appear in the Discussion Board, I'm getting 404 errors, etc.). What should I do?
A. Please use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of any page to report this problem directly to the edX team.
Q. I'm experiencing a problem related to content in the project (I found an error in the transcript, I'm having a problem with a self-assessment, video, text, etc.) What should I do?
A. Please take a screen shot and notify the Course Staff by posting in the Discussion Board. It may take some time to receive an answer.
Q. How do self-reports work?
A. At the end of every unit, there is a multiple choice section where you can mark whether you completed the videos, readings, and discussion participation. Just check 'yes' and then click 'check.' You'll then seen a green checkmark appear. Then you can click on the 'Progress' tab and you will see how much of the course you have completed. Completing 80% of the course content will earn you a certificate of completion.