General Geology
101 Syllabus Summer 2011 MiraCosta
College
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Geol 100 - General Geology (Online) Course # 1058
3 Lecture Hours Equivalent, 3 Units; Letter Grade,
Student may petition for Credit/No Credit
Online Period: June 20 through
July 29
Instructor: Ray Rector
Contact: phone# 760-942-9201; e-mail: geoprof@terrasonics.com
Instructor’s Web site: http://www.terrasonics.com/
Required
Text: Earth :
An Introduction to Physical Geology (9th
or 10th Ed.) (Paperback)
by Edward J. Tarbuck, Frederick K Lutgens, Dennis Tasa
9th Edition: ISBN 0131148656 10th Edition:
ISBN 0321663047
9th Edition
10th Edition
Textbook Support Site: http://wps.prenhall.com/esm_tarbuck_earth_10
Prerequisites Advisory: This being an online course, it is advisable that
you are computer literate, with a good working knowledge of the World Wide Web,
e-mail, and word-processing. A high speed
Internet connection is most advantageous.
Course Description: Pursuit of understanding the physical
characteristics of the earth as a whole and its past, present and future
evolutionary processes. Unifying concepts such as plate tectonics, uniformatarianism,
and geologic time will be studies.
Additionally, the causes of natural geologic hazards and their effects
on people, society, and the environment will be also be explored.
student learning outcomes: Upon completion of this
course, students should be able to:
1. Diagram the Earth’s interior layers, and compare
and contrast the major features of those layers.
2. Explain the theory of plate tectonics and relate it
to the major features of the Earth’s surface.
3. Compare and contrast igneous, metamorphic and
sedimentary rocks and relate them to one
another using the rock cycle.
4. Relate major rock deformation features to the
geologic processes that cause them.
5. Compare and contrast the geologic processes that
modify the earth's surface (i.e. weathering, mass wasting, stream,
glacier, desert and shoreline systems).
Class Enrollment Notes: It is the student’s responsibility to add,
drop, or withdraw from classes before the deadlines stated in the class
schedule. Petitions to add, drop, or withdraw
after the deadline will not be approved without written proof of circumstances
beyond the student’s control, which made her/him unable to meet the deadline.
Lack of money to pay fees is not considered an extenuating circumstance. Students anticipating difficultly in paying
fees before the deadline should check with the Financial Aid Office about
sources of funds or other alternatives for which they may be eligible. If you decide to withdraw from this course,
you are reminded to do so before the posted withdraw date). If you fail to withdraw by that date and you
stop participating, a final grade must be assigned to you.
Instructor’s Online Course
Policies
A. Independent direction, discipline and
motivation of the student are critical to both learning course content and
academic success in this online course.
It will be up to you, the student, for staying up with assignments,
field trips, quizzes, and exams. Make
sure and consult the instructor and/or fellow classmates about anything in this
course that you find difficult and/or confusing. There are no make-up exams or accepted late
work, unless the student provides proof of some compelling reason for the
make-up. It is the student’s
responsibility to contact me personally to forewarn me of any problem in
completing the regular-scheduled exams or other coursework by their due
dates. Business, pleasure, or being
generally ill, is not a compelling reason.
Being deadly sick, or having a death in the family is good reason.
B. Teaching, Learning and
Evaluation Methods and Policy: This course is taught as an on-line course. That
is, the communication between the instructor and the students, as well as among
students, takes place via electronic means on the Internet. Note: while the communication will occur by
electronic means, the most important sources of information for the student,
besides the course website, are the textbook and its associated tutorial CD,
streaming instructional videos, and the instructor’s complimentary website.
C. Assignments, either for
discussion on the bulletin board, or for completion and return to the
instructor, will be posted on the World Wide Web. Student contributions will be
evaluated on both the quality (intelligent use of scientific terminology
learned from using the textbook and other sources) and quantity (frequency and
length) of comments. Reports from students, which are submitted directly to the
instructor, will be evaluated based on quality (use of appropriate scientific
vocabulary, for instance) and on rigor of the analysis. Testing will occur via
the Internet, and tests will use a variety of formats (true-false, multiple choice, matching, short answer, and essay).
D. Timelines, Deadlines, etc.:
Assignments and quizzes will be available each week and will appear with a due
date. Availability of each activity
prior to its due date is as follows: 10 days for assignments, and 3 days for
quizzes and exams. Student assignments will not be accepted or submitted
following the due date. Note that
because it sometimes happens that computer networks are down or unavailable, it
is preferable to get assignments done a day or two earlier, so as to avoid
trying to post an assignment on the very last minute of the due date, only to
find that ones Internet Service Provider is down, for example.
Statement of Retention: Students, please discuss your plans to withdraw from
class with your instructor. You might
have options that may allow you to continue in class.
Online Netiquette and Student Code of Conduct:
· Students are expected to
respect and obey standards of student conduct while interacting online in this
course. As your instructor, I have the following expectations of your
communicative behavior while online:
· Promote a positive learning
environment by exhibiting mutual respect and consideration of the feelings,
ideas, and contributions of others, as reflected in your written dialog.
· Demonstrate a genuine desire
to learn, interact, and improve.
· This class will be conducted
in accordance with the college code of student conduct and basic standards of
academic honesty. Cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty
are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Violations of standards of academic honesty
will be reported to the school dean for appropriate action. A detailed explanation of my plagiarism
policy is found on the menu page for this course on the instructor’s website. It is well worth your time to read my
detailed policy if you have any concerns
regarding plagiarism or cheating.
Grading/Evaluation
I. Assignments (3 total --- 1
@ 10 pts; and 2 @ 120 pts) = 250 points
II. Quizzes (10 @ 15
points each) = 150 points
III. Exams (2 @ 75 points each) = 150 points
IV. Late Work Policy: No
late work accepted
V. Extra Credit Policy:
Extra credit available upon request
VI. Grading Scale: Your final grade is based purely on points
percentage:
100% – 90% = 550 -
495 points = A
89% -- 80% =
494 – 440 points = B
79% -- 66% =
439 - 363 points = C
65% -- 55% =
362 - 300 points = D
Assessment Activities - Logistics and Vital information: Assessment of student learning outcomes for
this class includes two research writing assignments, ten quizzes, and two
exams in this class. Each assessment
activity has a specific submittal due date.
Make sure to keep a very close, repeat, VERY CLOSE track of the class
schedule of activities, so that you stay on track with your coursework, and get
all your fully completed work turned in on time. I suggest printing out the class schedule and
taping it somewhere around your work area that you can view it regularly. Note: It is your
responsibility to know when
these assessment activities are due.
I do not accept late work. It is
in your best interest to attempt to turn in completed work ahead of time in order to
avoid worry, anxiety, frustration, and the possibility (a very one real one) that
either your computer, the server, acts of God, or other unforeseen forces, may
prevent you from getting your work turned in during the last few moments before
the deadline -- save yourself that grief by staying a day ahead of all the
deadlines. The coursework due dates are regularly scheduled each week on a
Wednesday and/or Sunday (except for the final exam) to make them easier to
remember:
1) Quiz completion dates are
Wednesdays and Sundays;
2) Midterm exam completion
date is Wednesday, July 13, 2011
3) Final exam completion date
is Friday, July 29, 2011
4) Research writing
assignments are due on Wednesdays
The two research writing assignments will
definitely take the lion’s share of your study time in this class, as an online
science class should. Therefore, it is
important that you understand how I would like those assignments completed and
submitted. I give VERY DETAILED
instructions on what and how to complete both assignments.
The
Two Geology Research Assignments are:
1) Plate Tectonics,
Minerals, Rocks, and Resources
– Due Wednesday,
July 6 @ 11:55 pm
2) Geologic Time and
Crustal-Shaping Processes and Features
– Due Wednesday, July 27 @ 11:55 pm
The general format of how you should
organize and submit your writing assignments for the
benefit of both, you writing it and me grading it, is as follows: Your response to each of the six topics of
the assignment should be broken into the number of topics listed in the
assignment. Additionally for each topic,
break up your written response to each topic into the number of each separate
subtopic questions listed in the topic.
Therefore, your written
response should look like an OUTLINE or laundry list in format – NOT a huge
essay. I prefer that you
submit your assignment (as an attached file) as a Word.doc using Microsoft Word
(name.doc) –
I cannot open a WordPerfect file, for example.
An example of what the assignment format should look like will be posted
on the Internet, and in the assignment center.
Extra Credit: There are several extra
credit assignments available upon request, including self-guided real and
virtual fieldtrips. The last day to
submit extra credit work is Sunday, July 25. If you are interested in doing
extra credit work, then contact the instructor for more information.
Web REsources for this course:
There are several
major sources of geological information at your disposal for successfully completing
this course – they are 1) your textbook, 2) the publisher's resource website that
accompanies your textbook, 3) Earth Revealed Video Lessons available online,
and 4) the instructor’s lecture notes and PowerPoint lectures found at his
personal website. The first and
foremost course resource is your textbook and its accompanying website. Carefully read and study all assigned
textbook reading prior to completing the associated quizzes, exams, and
assignments. Note that the textbook has
a complimentary textbook support site, which has additional resources and
activities to help master the curriculum, which includes some good
animations.
1) Textbook Support Websites: http://wps.prenhall.com/esm_tarbuck_earth_10 (10th Ed.)
or http://wps.prenhall.com/esm_tarbuck_earth_9 (9th Ed.)
Secondly, Annenberg
Media Company has available an excellent geology video instructional series (a
total of twenty six 30 minute videos) on their website that is totally free for
streaming video viewing (requires a simple initial registration by the student
and a high-speed connection). Their
website link to this valuable learning tool is found at:
2) Instructor’s Personal Student Website: www.terrasonics.com
Click on the MiraCosta Online link to access all
information pertaining directly to this course. Browse down the left-hand side menu
for pertinent coursework information and resources.
3) Earth
Revealed Geology Video Series: http://www.learner.org/resources/series78.html
I have listed the
Earth Revealed video series number(s) that correspond to the specific topic(s)
of study each week within the class schedule next to the textbook chapter
reading assignments.
Thirdly, the
professor’s online lecture notes and
PowerPoint presentations provide a
wealth of additional, useful information – carefully read and study the lecture
notes and view the complimentary PowerPoint presentations prior to completing
the associated quizzes, exams, and assignments.
The lecture notes and presentations can be directly accessed from the instructor’s
personal website, which includes an even wider variety of other web-based
resources that may be of personal interest. Additionally, the site has links to
the “Earth Revealed” geology
instructional video series – a set of 24 half-hour lessons that requires a
high-speed connection to watch. I have
listed the “Earth Revealed” video series number(s) that correspond to the
specific topic(s) of study each week within the class schedule below the
textbook chapter reading assignments
MiraCosta Geology 101 Online Schedule – Summer 2011
|
Week |
Textbook &
ER Videos |
Assignments,
Fieldtrips, Quizzes & Exams |
Due Date |
|
1 |
Welcome
Messages |
Posting of
Personal Greeting to Class |
Mon 6/20 |
|
1 |
Course Syllabus |
Quiz #1 - Syllabus |
Wed 6/22 |
|
1 |
|
Quiz #2 – Earth Overview and Plate Tectonics (Ch 1 and 2) |
Sun 6/26 |
|
2 |
Ch 3, 23; ER
Video 12 |
Quiz #3 - Minerals and Resources (Ch 3 and 23) |
Wed 6/29 |
|
2 |
Ch 4, 5; ER Videos 13 & 14 |
Quiz #4 – Igneous Rocks, Magmas and Volcanoes (Ch 4 &
5) |
Sun 7/3 |
|
3 |
Ch 6 -8; ER Videos 15 -18 |
Quiz #5 –Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks (Ch 6, 7, and 8) |
Wed 7/6 |
|
3 |
|
Research Assignment #1 – Due |
Wed 7/6 |
|
3 |
Ch 9; ER Videos
10 & 11 |
Quiz #6 – Fossils and Geologic Time (Ch 9) |
Sun 7/10 |
|
4 |
Exam Review –Ch
1-9, 23 |
Midterm Exam - (Chapters 1 through 9 and 23) |
Wed 7/13 |
|
4 |
Ch 10, 13, 14; ER
Video 7 |
Quiz #7 – |
Sun 7/17 |
|
5 |
Ch 11, 12; ER
Videos 8 & 9 |
Quiz #8 – Earthquakes (Ch 11 and 12) |
Wed 7/20 |
|
5 |
Ch 16,17; ER
Videos 19-21 |
Quiz #9 – Rivers and Groundwater (Ch 16 and 17) |
Sun 7/24 |
|
6 |
Ch 15, 20, 21; ER
Videos 16, 23 & 24 |
Quiz #10 – Mass Wasting, Shorelines, and Climate
Change (Ch 15, 20 and 21) |
Wed 7/27 |
|
6 |
Exam Review –Ch
10 to 20 |
Research Assignment #2 – Due |
Wed 7/27 |
|
6 |
Exam Review –Ch
10 to 20 |
Final Exam - (Chapters 10 through 20) |
Fri 7/29 |