ORGANISATION
1. How much time do I need to spend on the course?
The planned study load is about 6 to 8 hours a week.
2. Do I need to watch the lectures live in the corresponding week?
No, during the course, you can watch the lectures whenever you like.
3. Can I contact the instructor or teaching assistants?
Not directly. The discussion forum is the appropriate venue for questions. Instructors monitor the discussion forum and try to respond to the most important questions; in many cases, the response from other students and peers will be both adequate and faster.
4. Can I still finish all assignments when I start later in the course?
Yes, you can. The peer review assignment in module 5 should be submitted by 27 December 2018, 23:00 UTC. All other assignments have to be finished by 10 January 2019, 23:00 UTC.
INTRODUCTION & PREPARATION
5. Which browser can I use when working on this edX course?
We advise you to use Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer 11.
6. How can I download the transcripts?
On the right side of the 'download transcripts'-button underneath the video is the option to choose between an .srt-file of a .txt-file. Choose the .txt-file to download the text. When you prefer a more readable document you can copy-paste this to a Word file.
7. Can I use the Food for Health photo-app if I don’t have a smartphone?
Yes you can use the desktop version of the app. Read the instructions in module 0.3.4.
8. The app is not working, what did I do wrong?
Check your location privacy settings, location tracker, or GPS and make sure they are set to enable or on. Also, make sure the installation guide steps in module 0.3.4 were completed correctly. The desktop version of the app does not function well in Internet Explorer. Please use Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
COURSE WORK
9. You can download the PowerPoint presentations used in the lecture videos by clicking on the ‘Download handout’ button under the video. Only the PowerPoint presentations that contain significant information have been made available for downloading.
10. Can I write my answers in a language other than English?
No, the official language of the course is English. All course materials are provided in English, and all communication, including answers, posts, and assignments, need to be written in English.
QUESTIONS FOR GRADING
11. What if I am having trouble with a question (for grading)? May I discuss this with others to get some help with solving the problem?
There are many assignments to practice. You can use these to discuss with your fellow students in the discussion forum. Do not share any answers on the forum for the Questions for grading. The formulas, together with the understanding of the matter brought by the videos, should give you hints on how to solve the questions.
12. After I checked an assignment, an asterisk was shown and I received the feedback ‘This answer is partially correct’. What does this mean?
In this MOOC, partial credit is used. This means that whenever you submit an answer that is partly correct, you still receive credit. You get points for selecting a correct answer as well as for not selecting a wrong answer.
For example: there’s a question with 5 answer options, of which 3 are correct. A learner selected two of the three correct choices, and did not select any incorrect choices. The learner therefore had four out of five correct answers. Because the course team set this problem up to award partial credit for every correct answer selected and every incorrect answer left unselected, the learner earned 80% of the points for this problem (for more information, see the help page of edX).
PEER REVIEW
13. What to do if I feel I am being treated unfairly in the peer review?
Reviewing is the responsibility of your peers and so far we are not able to manipulate these after the peer-reviewing. The community consists of highly capable and motivated people, so we trust that this will be done fairly. Double check your submission before handing it in and write your submission in English.
14. Why can I not click on 'Upload' in the submission of my assignment in the peer review module?
The button will become active if there is also text added in the response box. So if you just type a few letters it will be possible to save your progress. You can then finish your assignment at a later moment.
15. How many peers do I have to review in the peer review module?
In the peer review you will have to review the work of 3 of your peers. You will also receive feedback from 2 of your peers, however we would like to ask you to assess more peers to make sure everybody will be graded especially in the last weeks (27 December 2018 - 10 January 2019).
AUDITING AND VERIFIED CERTIFICATE
16. What does it mean to audit a course?
If you audit a course, you are participating for free and you have access to most course materials (including the discussion forum). The audit track does not grant access to graded assignments and unlimited course access. At the end of the course, you don’t receive a certificate. These things are exclusively for verified learners who have paid a small fee for unlimited access to the course. Please visit the verified overview page if you would like to know more about the difference between audit and verified, how the upgrading process works or to upgrade immediately.
17. When can I sign up for a verified certificate?
The deadline to upgrade to a verified certificate is 27 December 2018, 23:00 UTC. Check the course info on how to do this. After the option of upgrading is closed, it is no longer possible to get a verified certificate.
18. When do I receive my verified certificate?
Any time after you have qualified to pass the course, if you have a minimum average grade of 70% and meet the peer review requirements, you can download your verified certificate from your edX dashboard. For more information on how to generate and download your certificates, explore edX’s documentation on how to generate your certificate.
Courseware
19. If fat cannot be converted to glucose how can fat then be turned into energy?
You can compare it with a car which drives on fuel. A car can drive on different fuels. Which fuel the car uses is dependent on what we put in it. In the same manner, what we use to obtain energy is dependent on what we eat. However, when our energy intake is lower than our energy needs we have to rely on our energy storage. In this case, fat is the most readily available source of energy. This explains why we mainly use fat as an energy source.
In more detail: When our energy intake is lower than our needs we start to break down triglycerides from our adipose tissue. The breakdown of triglycerides gives glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted into a glycolysis intermediate (dihydroxyacetone phosphate). The dihydroxyacetone phosphate can be converted into pyruvic acid through the glycolysis pathway and further oxidized in the citric acid cycle and electron transport chain to provide energy (ATP). The free fatty acids are oxidized to acetyl CoA in the mitochondria using beta-oxidation. The acetyl-CoA is then converted into energy (ATP) using the citric acid cycle and the electron transport chain.