HERE IS A RUNNING FAQ ON ISSUES THAT HAVE COME UP IN THE DISCUSSION FORUM:
Q: Do I have to pay to take this course?
A: No. There is no fee to take this course. However, there is a fee for an ID Verified Certificate.
Q: What kind of certificates are there for this course?
A: There are two kinds of certificates currently available for this course. The ID Verified Certificate of achievement certifies that you have successfully completed your edX course and verifies your identity through your photo and ID. Verified certificates can bolster a college application or help advance your career, and you can post them on LinkedIn. edX also maintains a digitally verified copy of the certificate, so an employer can verify the certificate. Verified certificates are available for a fee. edX shares your contributions with our university partners so together we can continue offering great free courses to the world. The second type of certificate is the Honor Code Certificate which shows that you have successfully completed a course, but does not verify your identity. Honor Code certificates are currently free. For more information on certificates see here.
Q: Do I have to sign up for a certificate?
A: If you want an ID verified certificate, you have to sign up into the Verified Track. But you do not have to sign up for an honor code certificate. When you enroll to audit the course, your are automatically eligible to receive the honor code certificate if you pass the course. Auditing a course is free.
Q: I registered to audit the class, but now I want to register for a certificate. How can I do that?
A: You can register for a verified certificate by going to the course on your edX dashboard and clicking 'Upgrade to Verified Track'. In a Circuits and Electronics course, you can opt into the Verified Track anytime before you open the final exam.
Q: I registered for an ID Verified Certificate, but have now changed my mind and want to downgrade my certificate or only audit the course. Can I downgrade and receive a refund?
A: You have two weeks from when you registered to change your mind to receive a refund. To downgrade you must unenroll and re-enroll for the course to change your registration status, and to coordinate a refund contact billing@edx.org.
Q: How can I check my registration status for the course?
A: If you are registered with the ID Verified Certificate, you will see a "Verified" badge next to the course in the dashboard. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no badge to differentiate between auditing and an Honor Code Certificate.
Q: What passing grade is required to earn a certificate?
A: To earn a certificate, you must achieve a grade of 60% or higher.
Q: What does a checkmark in the forum mean?
A: The check mark is controlled by forum moderators, course staff and community TAs and is an endorsement of the post to give those postings more weight and relevance.
Q: What does a pinned post in the forum mean?
A: A pinned post sticks the discussion to the top of the list of all discussions and can be done by the forum moderators, course staff and community TAs. This is done to relevant posts that we want to call attention to.
Q: What time zones are the deadlines and release date based on?
A: All deadline and material release times are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). See here for converting the time where you are.
Q: Will there be any offline notes posted compatible with ereaders like Kindle, Nook, etc? What about an offline version of the textbook?
A: For version control purposes, there is no plan to have the course available offline as things can change at any time. The textbook cannot be available offline.
Q: Where can I purchase a physical copy of the textbook?
A: The textbook may be purchased from Elsevier. Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits. Agarwal, Anant, and Jeffrey H. Lang. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Elsevier, July 2005. ISBN: 9781558607354.
Q: How many times can I check my answer? Does the number of checks affect my grade?
A: You can check your answer on each homework problem up to 25 times. The "Show Answer" button will appear after the 25th try and you will not be able to check your answer again. The number of checks used will not affect your grade. Just make sure to get a green check to receive points for that problem. To maximize your learning, we encourage you to work diligently to obtain the solutions to the problems, but if you really wish to see the solutions sooner, you can go through the annoying process of clicking the "Check" button 25 times. Note that exam problems have only 4 checks allowed.
Q: Can I download a full video lecture sequence at once?
A: You can download videos for a whole sequence onto your mobile device using the edX mobile app. However, for now, you can only download a single video at a time on your PC. We will keep it in mind and try to make that available in the future.
Q: Where can I find companion materials to the textbook?
A: These resources can be found at this link.