Spring Semester, 2007

COURSE OVERVIEW

Geology 100 is an introduction to scientific inquiry and the scientific method as they apply to understanding human interactions with the geologic environment. This class is not  recommended for students with backgrounds in earth science or science majors.  Students are not expected to have backgrounds in math or science beyond the high school level. 

Because this course satisfies a Natural Science General Degree Requirement,  the objective is to develop critical thinking skills.   To facilitate this, I use the "team learning" concept, which means that students participate in small learning groups throughout the semester.  Please note that this is a requirement of the course and an important factor in your final grade.

Required Textbook:

Pipkin, B.W., D.D. Trent, and R. Hazlett, 2005, Geology and the Environment; 4th Edition, Brooks/Cole Thomson Learning, 473 pages.

All readings for the course are from this text, which is available through text rental at the UWSP bookstore.

Attendance Policy:

Attendance is expected at all lecture sessions, and students who routinely miss classes will not do well in the course (see Grading Policy).

Students With Disabilities:

Students with learning and/or physical disabilities are encouraged to contact me to make any special arrangements needed for taking lecture notes or exams.

GRADING POLICY
 

Evaluation Tools:

Your grade in this course will be based on your performance on three exams given during the semester, your participation in a learning group, and your score the final exam.  Learning groups, explained more fully below, will complete eight online assignments and take nine quizzes during the semester. The point values assigned to each of the various grading instruments  (or evaluation tools) are shown in the following table:

Therefore, the total possible number of points that one could earn during the semester is 116, but the final grades are assigned assuming a maximum of 100 points (see table below).  The extra 16 points provide a built-in "extra credit" for those who miss an assignment due to illness, family situations, travel, sports, ... , or who perform poorly on an exam.

Please note that there will be no opportunity to earn extra credit   by completing assignments other than the ones already listed in this syllabus.  Therefore, students are advised to study carefully for all  exams and to participate in all learning group assignments and quizzes.
 

A student's final point total for the semester will translate into letter grades as shown in the following table:

Incompletes for the course are granted only in the case of unusual and/or unanticipated circumstances, such as a long-term illness or family emergency.  Students must arrange for an incomplete before the time of the final exam.

Every student will be assigned to a learning group at the beginning of the semester and expected to complete eight online assignments and take nine quizzes working with other members in their group.  Each group will consist of four or five students selected from the same lab section (groups are assigned during the first lab session).
 

Group Quizzes:

Ten times during the semester, the first 10 to 15 minutes of a Monday lecture session will be devoted to a quiz that covers the material from the preceding week.  Students will work with other members of their group to complete the quiz and are permitted to use their notes and textbook.  Although students are not required to sit with other members of their learning group during the entire lecture period, the group must complete the quizzes together.  After the quizzes are turned in, the answers will be discussed in class.  

Students will receive one point for participating in group quizzes and one additional half-point for every question the group answers correctly.  There are no opportunities to make up a missed quiz!
 

Group Assignments:

Groups are required to complete eight online assignments using Desire2Learn (D2L) discussions.  Instructions for these assignments are given during Monday lecture periods, and the answers are discussed during the following Wednesday morning lecture period.

Group assignments are due by 9:00 am on the Wednesday after they assigned and they must be submitted online using a D2L Discussion Forum.  Late assignments will not be accepted!
 

Assignments are worth two points.  One point is awarded for turning an assignment if it is turned in on time, and an additional point can be earned if the answers are correct (or acceptable).  The criteria for defining "acceptable" answers are provided in an online rubric. 

Each student within a group receives credit for an assignment only if he/she was present for and participated in the group discussion (D2L provides a record of who posted in a discussion and when each post was made).  It is very important to note that students only receive credit for assignments they complete with other members of their group!  There is no credit for assignments that students complete by themselves, and there are no opportunities to make up assignments, REGARDLESS of why a student was absent from his/her group meeting.  Note that nine "extra" points are available during the semester to account for unavoidable absences (see Grading Policy).

To insure that the burden of completing group assignments does not fall on certain individuals within a group, each member will have two opportunities during the semester to act as the group facilitator.  The facilitator starts the discussion thread and is responsible for summarizing the group responses in a final discussion submittal.

EXAMINATIONS
 

Each of the four exams will be a multiple-choice test that covers the material from both lecture and lab.  All of the exams are given in D-102.  Students should begin studying well in advance of a scheduled test date, and members of learning groups are encouraged to study together.  To help students prepare, a series of review questions for each test will be posted on the course web site for each exam.

Remember that the principal objective of this course is to develop critical thinking skills.  Therefore, exams give the opportunity to apply what you have learned rather than simply to regurgitate what you have memorized.  For this reason, "cramming" is an ineffective way to study for exams.  Instead, you should keep current with the material, asking questions about the lectures, lab exercises, and reading assignments as they arise.

Because exams will be computer-graded, students will need to bring #2 pencils to fill in their answer sheets.  Test scores are posted on this web site as soon as they are available.

"Make-up" exams may be given only to those students who have prior approval from the instructor.  Illness is a valid excuse only when the student has verifiable evidence of that illness from a doctor.
 

POSTING SCORES
 

D2L has a place for posting scores and credit for assignments.  By the end of each week I will update D2L to include all assignments, quizzes, and/or exams from that week.  Students should check to make sure that they received appropriate credit for their participation in small group assignments.  Students have one week to correct any errors before they become part of the permanent record.  I refuse to listen to arguments about credit for small group assignments or quizzes at the end of the semester.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Student rights and responsibilities, including the behaviors which are expected of students and faculty in the classroom environment, are described on pages 2 through 4 of a UW-System online document:  http://www.uwsp.edu/admin/stuaffairs/rights/rightsChap14.pdf.