Instructor: Dr. Carol Thompson
Office: 117 Science--ext. 9739
Office Hours:, W 8:30-9:30, Th, 1-3, other times email to set up an appt
cthompson@tarleton.edu

Required Text: Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology 9th ed. - Tarbuck and Lutgens
The CD supplied with book also has a lot of useful information, study help etc.
Required Supplies: Index cards
Required Lab Manual: Physical Geology, TSU (in a brown paper envelope)
Book Web Site: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/mygeoscience/books_geology.html
The 9th edition of the book has a password-protected web site, access with every new book. The site contains concept review, quizzes, chapter tests.

Academic Honesty:
Tarleton State University's Academic Honesty Policy, outlined in the student handbook, states that each professor is responsible for determining academic honesty policy in his or her classroom. In this class, each student will be expected to do his or her own work on all exams, labs, and other assignments. If a student is observed cheating on any assignment, or in any other way represents someone else's work as his own, he or she will receive a grade of 0 on the work and will be referred to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.

Intended Knowledge, Skill, and Value Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to: identify common rocks and rock-forming minerals, and determine how each major type of rock was created; read topographic maps and recognize landscape characteristics on these maps; read geologic maps and interpret geologic structures on the maps; recognize faults and folds; compute plate velocities from tectonic data; understand the processes that drive earth's global cycles; identify potential for and causes of natural disasters; and understand where and how natural resources are found. At the conclusion of this course, students will appreciate the complexity of the earth's natural systems and human impact on these systems, as well as the importance of geology in our everyday lives.

Class Information, Notes, Announcements:
Information for this class can be found on the web at:
http://www.tarleton.edu/~cthompson/pg/index.html
Announcements of exam times, homework, review sessions, grades and other pertinent information will be posted at this web site as appropriate.

Claim your Tarleton email account. All official information will be sent using that email.

Grading:
Grades will be posted on my website by University ID.

Exams: 50%
There will be four exams. Exams will be multiple choice. For exams you will need a purple scantron and a No. 2 pencil. Exams cover material in lecture and in the text. There usually will be between 50-60 multiple choice questions.

Make-ups for authorized school functions (athletics, class outings) should be scheduled in advance of the test.
Other make-up exams must be scheduled within 2 school days after the exam is missed. All make-up tests done after the test date are short answer not multiple choice.

Final: 15% comprehensive, usually about 120+ multiple choice questions.

Homework: 5%
The review questions are in the back of each chapter. I will assign these for each chapter as well as the due date. Turn these in at the beginning of the class on the day due. You need to do 10 of the assignments. I will not give these back, but grades will be posted. Put the answers in your own words, not the book's nor your friends. Copying is not tolerated.

They will be graded on the following scale:
2 complete answer, shows understanding
1 somewhat of an answer, but incomplete or poor understanding
0 incomprehensible and/or can't be read

In-Class Quizzes and Other Exercises 5%
There are multiple choice questions embedded in the PowerPoint. These will be graded. That's what the index cards are for. Put your answers on the card and your name and turn them in. If I can't read your name I can't grade them.

We will spend some time in class on conceptests, concept sketches and other engagement activities. This will help learning and the same things may appear n later quizzes or tests. However it also means that I may not finish lecturing on everything in a chapter. That puts more of the responsibility on you to read the chapter and ask questions about what you don't understand. Learn how to study for a large class. This web link has some tips for a large class http://www.ns.msu.edu/cisgs/CISGS/Newsletters/succeeding.fs01.html

Laboratory: 25%
Labs will not meet the first week.
This is a lab class. Therefore you must attend lab in order to pass the class. If you miss more than three regular labs, or fail to take either of the two lab exams you will have this semester, you will automatically fail the course. Not just the lab, but the entire course. It is imperative that you attend your scheduled lab every week.

Labs meet on M, T, W, at 1:00 and 3:00 PM, Th at 1 PM and W at 6:00 PM. After the holiday labs will start on T, so the "lab week" will be T-M.

You must go to your assigned lab. Do not sign up for a time you cannot make. If you miss a lab you should come to the office, Room 117, and get a green sheet for a replacement lab. It is up to the instructor of the replacement lab whether you can stay or not. The green sheet must be presented at the beginning of the class. Make-ups have to be done while the same lab is being done. Occasionally the lab instructor may let you work on a previous week's lab.

Make sure you pick up your graded labs each week. These are your proof that you did the lab if a grade gets lost. Check your posted grades.

Extra Credit: Extra credit is not a solution to not studying. If you are getting bad grades on your tests, extra credit assignments only take away from your study time. However I will allow 6% extra credit to be handed in during the semester based only on the time schedule below and only for the assignments shown. (3% each assignment)

Extra Credit 1: Due by 10/8 Go to the library and read an article in Geotimes published during the last two years. This should be one of their featured articles which are about 3-5 pages, not the shorter News Notes. Write a two page double -spaced report in your own words (Times New Roman, 11, 1.25 margins). What was it about? What did you learn? I will grade grammar as well as content.

Extra Credit 2: Due by 11/12 Write a two page double -spaced report (Times New Roman, 11, 1.25 margins) about a geologic event that occurred during the time span of this class. What was it, where did it occur, why did it occur, if a disaster such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption what plate tectonic setting was it in?

Attendance Policy:
There is usually a close correspondence between attendance and grades. Students that don't come, usually don't do very well.

Class Disruption:
Turn off your cell phones, pagers etc when you come to class. If it is absolutely necessary that you be available, make sure that your device is not audible. Also be courteous to both your fellow students and me by not talking during class. You will be asked to leave if this is becomes a problem. Please try to be on time for class and I would appreciate your staying throughout class. Unless absolutely necessary please don't leave and return during class. It is distracting to me and others. Class starts at 9:25 and ends at 10:40. Try to be on time and don't start rustling about 10 min before the end of class.

Below is a tentative outline.  We might move faster or slower or I may change my mind. 

Lab Schedule
After Labor Day, Tuesday will be the beginning of lab week, last lab for that topic is Monday

UNIVERSITY POLICIES
I. Academic Honesty: Tarleton State University expects its students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct. Students guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials.
II. Services for Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities may request reasonable accommodations which will enable them to participate in and benefit from all educational programs and activities. Students should contact the director of student Disability Services in the Mathematics Building Room 201, 254-968-9400 or disability@tarleton.edu. If you require special accommodation, you must make arrangements with the faculty member.
III. Attendance Policy: Students are expected to regularly attend all classes in which they are enrolled. Student absences are considered by the University to be strictly between the individual student and faculty member. The faculty member has the responsibility and authority to determine whether make-up work can be done because of absences. Please refer to the current University Catalog for additional information regarding class attendance.
IV. Grading Policy: Please refer to the current University Catalog for additional information regarding grading and course withdrawal policies. For this course, your grade will be determined as described previously.
V. Computer Usage Policy: Use of the computer resources at Tarleton State University is a privilege, not a right. When using these resources, individuals agree to abide by the applicable rules, regulations, and policies of the University, as well as federal, state and local laws. The University reserves the right to limit, restrict or deny access to its technology resources, as well as to take disciplinary and/or legal action against anyone in violation of these regulations or applicable law. http://www.tarleton.edu/~policy/279999t101.htm