FALL 2010

GOL 131 – 005; Syllabus

 

Introductory Geology

 

 

Instructor: Dr. Chris Barker

Department: Geology

College: Science and Mathematics

Email: cbarker@sfasu.edu

Phone: (936) 468-2340

Office: Rm. 305, Miller Science

Office Hours: Mon: 2-5 pm; Tues: 9-10 am & 2-5 pm; Thurs: 9-10 am & 2-5 pm

Class meeting time/place: Tues/Thurs, 11 am - 12:15 pm, Rm 335, Miller Sci.

 

Please stop by my office to ask questions, dis­cuss prob­lems, or make suggestions. If my office hours are incon­ve­nient, call or email to ask questions or schedule an appoint­ment.

 

Text and Materials: Physical Geology: Earth Revealed, by Carlson & Plummer, 8 edition; ISBN: 978-0-07-337667-7

 

Objective: This 4-credit hour course is a gen­eral survey of planet Earth. It cov­ers ev­ery­thing from minerals and rocks to global-scale plate tec­tonics. You will learn about volca­noes, earthquakes, glaciers, floods, deserts and many other topics. We will discuss how the envi­ron­ment effects your life, and how we effect the environment. In the lab you will get hands-on ex­pe­rience with miner­als, rocks, maps and other geologic materials. Grades from the lecture and the lab will be combined, with the lab counting one-third of the total.

 

Course Requirements: Primarily you will at­tend lectures, read the textbook, study the ma­terial and take three "hour" exams, plus a Final exam. Homeworks, quizzes, writing assign­ments, discussion groups, student presenta­tions, etc. may also be utilized depend­ing on my assessment of your learning needs. I will give sufficient advanced notice of any such as­signments.

 

 

Lecture Exam Dates:

Test 1 -- Thurs., Sept. 23

(may include questions over this syllabus!)

Test 2 -- Thurs., Oct. 21

Test 3 -- Thurs., Nov. 18

Final Exam (comprehensive): Thurs., Dec. 16, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm

 

 

Course Calendar:

Most of the following topics will be cov­ered, though the order may vary slightly. The ap­proximate time spent on each topic may be adjusted to meet the needs of the class.

 

Topic and Chapters:            Approx. % of

                                                           course

Basic Concepts (1, 2, 3)                     15

Matter and Minerals (9)                      10

Igneous Rocks & Volcanism (11, 10) 15

Weathering & Sedim. Rocks (12, 14) 5

Metamorphic Rocks (15)                    5

Rivers and Floods (16)                      10

Ground Water (17)                              5

Mass Movement (13)             5

Earthquakes (7)                                   5

Glacial Landscapes (19)                      5

Desert Landscapes (18)                       5

Seafloor / Plate Tectonics (3, 4)          5

Shoreline Processes (20)                     5

Environ. Geology/Resources (21)       5

 

 

Grade Distribution:

Lecture: Counts 2/3 (66.7 %) of total grade.

Test 1 = 15.6 %

Test 2 = 15.6 %

Test 3 = 15.6 %

Final Exam = 17.9 %

Attendance and Participation = 2 %

 

Lab: Counts 1/3 (33.3%) of total grade.

 

Grade Scale: 90-100 = A; 80-89 = B;

70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; 59 or less = F

 

If I add other assignments I will adjust the grade elements above to reflect that fact.

       Very important: No outside or extra work can be done to im­prove your grade. Your lec­ture grade is based solely on your test scores! Therefore, you must prepare your­self well for each test. Do this by attend­ing all lec­tures, paying at­ten­tion in class, tak­ing good notes, reading your text­book and studying ef­fec­tively and adequately.

       A word of caution: Most professors di­vide up the semester the same way and, unfor­tunately, this often results in students getting socked with lots of tests at the same time. During a 'test week' there may not be enough hours in the day (and night) for adequate study for every test. You might feel that you have to devote more time to one class than another. The result: you can wind up essentially blowing off one (or more) of your tests.

       If that happens in this class, you will be stuck with that low grade, because, as stated above: "No outside or extra work can be done to im­prove your grade."

       There is only one good solution for the 'test week crunch', and that is to study ahead. Study every week for every class—don't wait until the weekend before all the tests hit to start studying!

 

TEST FORMAT. Exams will be mostly mul­tiple choice, possibly with some fill in the blank and short essay questions. You may be asked to repro­duce drawings done in the lec­ture, or answer ques­tions about a drawing. NOTE: Always bring a # 2 pencil and a 50-question Scantron (Form 882) to tests. (Be careful that your scantron does not get crumpled, dog-eared, or folded—because then it won't scan).

       Make-up exams will be given only for doc­u­mented excused ab­sences, may be com­prehen­sive, and may be given dur­ing dead week.

       The Final Exam will be comprehen­sive (as required by our col­lege). This means you are actually tested twice over most material (once on the hour exam and again on the Final).

       When deciding whether to round up a stu­den­t’s grade at the end of the semester, I will con­sider the following: (1) the trend of your exam grades: were they improving? Was there only one bad exam? (2) Your class attendance, includ­ing tardies. (3) Your attitude in class: pay­ing at­tention, asking questions, not talking or distracting people around you. (4) At­tend­ing possi­ble review ses­sions, etc.

 

ELECTRONIC DEVICES. Laptops and other types of com­puters, cell phones, iPods, cameras, cam­corders, Blackberries, and all other elec­tronic de­vices CANNOT BE USED IN THIS CLASSROOM and must be turned off and put away. This is because we have had problems with stu­dents surfing the web, facebooking, emailing, texting, playing games, listening to music, etc., during lecture. If you are caught doing any of that, you will be asked to leave for the day or I may confiscate the device you are using. If it happens more than once, you will be moved to the front row for the remainder of the semester, or dropped from the class.

 

       During TESTS, all electronic devices must be turned off and put away. Failure to ob­serve this rule may re­sult in an F for a test!

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY: In the classroom I will present a significant amount of material that is not in the text­book. My experience is that there is usually a direct correlation be­tween lecture atten­dance and test performance; there­fore, I consider lecture at­tendance manda­tory. I will usually take atten­dance.

 

 

       Regarding attendance, students have asked, "Why should I come to class if I can get the notes from someone else?" That sounds logical, but if you don't come to class, you miss the context in which the material was pre­sented. You don't hear the empha­sis given to cer­tain words, you don't see the profes­sor waving his arms to bring home a point, and most important, you don't hear any of the ver­bal asides made by the instructor about the material—comments that might be very im­portant in clarify­ing things, but that might not get written in an average student’s notes. The students who were in class remember that context, but someone who just copies notes misses all that.

 

 

       One semester I saw a month's worth of notes taken by an "A" student in one of my Intro classes. They were reasonably good notes, but were a little sketchy and in­com­plete, had some inac­curacies, and the draw­ings didn't look much like what I put on the board. Nonetheless, they were ade­quate for the young woman who took them since she got an A for the course. But I think they would have been of limited use to anyone else.

       The bottom line: someone else's notes are not go­ing to help you all that much. (Nonetheless, if you miss a day, you should ALWAYS get the notes from someone because those notes are better than noth­ing!)

       Another story: One day late in a semester I was annoyed to find that there were several absen­tees in my Intro Geology class. Afterwards, I got cu­ri­ous and looked at the av­erage test grade of the stu­dents who were in class that day ver­sus the grade of the slack­ers who were not. Guess what? The av­erage grade of the people who were in class was 86. But the av­erage test grade of the absentees was only 73. That's a differ­ence of more than a let­ter grade! What's the moral? People who come to class do much better on tests!

       There is really no mystery about it. If you cut class, you miss material—and getting someone else's notes is a poor substitute for being there yourself. Every time you skip a class, you are low­ering your own grade!

 

TARDINESS. When students arrive late it is very distracting to everyone in the class. Please DO NOT HABITUALLY COME LATE TO CLASS. This means you need to anticipate the park­ing problems that are part of life at SFA (and every other large univer­sity).

       Leaving the classroom during the lecture, except for illness or restroom emergency, or sleeping during class, counts as one tardy. Talking during class, if it disturbs me or your classmates, counts as a tardy. Two tardies will count as one ab­sence.

 

DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR. A studious atmosphere must be maintained in the classroom so that everyone can concentrate on the material being presented. Disruptive behavior, including but not limited to, whispering and talking, repeatedly making noises, using electronic devices such as cellphones, will not be tolerated if it disturbs your classmates or the professor. Shown below is the university’s statement on

 

“Acceptable Student Behavior”:

Classroom behavior should not interfere with the instructor’s ability to conduct the class or the ability of other students to learn from the instructional program (see the Student Conduct Code, policy D-34.1). Unacceptable or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Students who disrupt the learning environment may be asked to leave class and may be subject to judicial, academic or other penalties. This prohibition applies to all instructional forums, including electronic, classroom, labs, discussion groups, field trips, etc. The instructor shall have full discretion over what behavior is appropriate / inappropriate in the classroom. Students who do not attend class regularly or who perform poorly on class projects/exams may be referred to the Early Alert Program.  This program provides students with recommendations for resources or other assistance that is available to help SFA students succeed.

 

COURSE EVALUATION. At the end of the semester you will be asked to evaluate the course on-line. Your evaluation is important because it helps me improve the course. The evaluation pe­riod is usually the last couple of weeks of the semester, but it ends BEFORE final exams begin. Important: Students who do not complete the on-line evaluation may re­ceive an incomplete for the course! I will re­mind you about evaluations near the end of the semester.

 

READING THE TEXTBOOK. I strongly suggest that you read assigned chapters or sec­tions from the text­book before that topic is covered in class. Look at the list of "Topics" on the first page of this syllabus to see which chapters to read.

       You are not responsible for everything in the text, but you need to assimilate the main points—furthermore, there will al­ways be some ques­tions on the tests that come di­rectly from the textbook! Ideally, you should read and high­light your text, and then skim over it each morning be­fore entering the classroom. Reading the text will also help you prepare for lab, which covers some topics not addressed in the lecture. Primarily, the text should be read be­cause it will improve your under­standing of the lecture and lab mate­rial. That will help you to do better on the tests. My estimate is that reading the textbook may in­crease your final grade by as much as a let­ter!

       "What if I get behind in the reading, and it's the night before the test—should I read the text­book or study my notes?" If you only have lim­ited time—and lots of material to learn—I suggest you spend it studying your notes be­cause most of the questions come from the lec­ture. You should read the text­book well in ad­vance of the tests (as mentioned before, it is best is to read it before a topic is covered in class).

 

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS. Most of what I want you to know will be pre­sented during class­room lectures. Please feel free to ask ques­tions at any time. I like stu­dents to ask ques­tions be­cause that stimulates dis­cus­sion and helps clarify concepts for ev­eryone.

FIELD TRIPS. There is not a field trip di­rectly linked to this course. However, the SFA Geology de­part­ment of­fers several field trip mini-courses that you can take for addi­tional college credit. These courses are con­ducted over a single week­end and have no test or term paper. Instead, your grade is based on notes you take at dif­ferent "stops"—many of which are at the most scenic locations in Texas and nearby states. Getting to see geology in the real world—instead of just hearing about in lecture—makes it fun and easy to learn. Countless students have told us that these field trips were the most enjoy­able courses they ever had at SFA.

     The field trips are later in the semester, but if you want to go on one, you need to sign up imme­diately because they fill very quickly. The Field Trips count as upper level electives, and are a great way to get 1 to 2 hours of col­lege credit. You can sign up for them on-line by adding them to your current group of classes. (If you can't add a field trip on-line, talk to Shana Scott in the geology de­part­ment—phone 3701.) For more in­formation see: www.geology.sfasu.edu/FieldTrips.html

      I particularly recommend the Hill Country Field Trip. It is our most popular trip and goes to beautiful places like Enchanted Rock and Pedernales Falls State Parks. Plus it also goes to "Coopers" in Llano—the world's best bar-b-que joint!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW and HOW TO STUDY. What do I expect you to know? You are responsible for all the material covered in class, and for major con­cepts and facts in the text. This is a science survey course and for that rea­son, you will have to learn many new terms and concepts. In some regards, it is similar to learning the vocabu­lary of a lan­guage—the lan­guage of geology.

 

LEARNING AND STUDY TIPS:

• Note Taking: Many seasoned students know that the things a pro­fessor says about the ma­terial are of­ten just as important as what is written on the board. Therefore, they try to get some of those ver­bal gems of information into their notes.

• Drawings: Drawings convey a great deal of in­formation. You should be able to reproduce any drawing from lecture or answer questions about any drawing.

• Review Sheets: Review sheets are a good idea. But I think you should make them. Doing so is a very effective way to study.

• Studying: DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE NIGHT BEFORE A TEST TO START STUDYING! There is usually far too much ma­te­rial to learn effectively in one night. Study on a regular basis. Read the textbook before the corre­sponding lecture, not the night before the test.

      Here is my best tip for effective study­ing: form a small study group of 3 to 4 people. Look for classmates who seem se­ri­ous about learning, ex­change phone num­bers, and meet every couple of weeks for 3 or 4 hours to go over all the material in a given unit. Meeting in a small group can be significantly more effec­tive than studying by yourself be­cause when you talk about the mate­rial, you use dif­ferent cognitive processes than when reading. It's of­ten said that the most effec­tive way to learn anything is to teach it to some­one else, and that is essentially what you do when you study in small groups. Furthermore, some­one in your group might un­derstand part of the material better than you, or might have written down something the professor said that helps you all under­stand the mate­rial better.

      Do your group studying in advance, and then on the night before the test, review the mate­rial by yourself. Finally, get a good night's sleep. Don't stay up all night studying! If you do, your brain won't work effectively the next day.

      If you need more help, go to the AARC in the li­brary and ask for their suggestions for studying. And of course you can also come by my office to ask questions, or ask that I con­duct a review ses­sion before a test.

• S.I. Good news! This semester we will have an S.I. (supplemental instruction) arrangement for this class. These sessions will be conducted by a student geology major who did well in this class and I strongly urge everyone to take advantage of the weekly study sessions that she will conduct.

 

      If you make less than an A on any test, you need to study more, or more effectively.

 

A philosophical question: Why study sci­ence if you are not going to be a sci­ence major? The rea­son almost every university in the world has a sci­ence require­ment is because the life-style we live today is based on sci­ence. Through sci­ence we have learned how the physical world works. It gives us the ability to harness electricity, find en­ergy resources, grow abundant crops, de­velop new medicines and make cool gadgets like iPods and hybrid cars. Without a basic under­stand­ing of science—both its limitations and po­tential—you can't really make informed decisions in the work place, the market place or the voting booth.

WHY YOU SHOULD TRY TO MAKE AN "A" IN THIS COURSE. Actually, you should try to get an A in every course you take. Why? Because good grades result in a good GPA—and a good GPA is your ticket to the good life after college. A high GPA will win you schol­ar­ships, it will get you into hon­ors classes, it will later get you into better jobs or better graduate schools. Each of those in turn are stepping stones to still better, more lucrative, more satisfying jobs.

       Employers naturally want to hire peo­ple who were A and B students in college be­cause that high GPA tells them that this is a per­son who is smart and works hard. This is a fun­da­mental fact of life—and it's why you should always try to make a B or better in every course you take.

HOW DO YOU MAKE AN A IN THIS COURSE? Don't miss any classes, take good de­tailed notes, stay mentally engaged during the lec­ture (in other words, don't day­dream), ask ques­tions, read your textbook in ad­vance of lectures and take advan­tage of your pro­fes­sor's office hours. For each test study early, thor­oughly and ef­fec­tively (this usu­ally means in a small study group). Take advantage of the S.I. sessions. If you are struggling, ask for help! The students who do all of these things are usu­ally the ones who make an A.

       Good luck and have fun learning about this fasci­nating physical world!

 

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And now the fine print (no questions will be asked over the following material):

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COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY POLICIES /

GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION:

 

Academic Integrity (A-9.1)

Academic integrity is a responsibility of all uni­versity faculty and students. Faculty mem­bers promote academic integrity in multiple ways in­cluding instruction on the com­ponents of aca­demic honesty, as well as abiding by university policy on penalties for cheating and plagiarism.

 

Definition of Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty includes both cheating and plagiarism. Cheating includes but is not limited to (1) using or attempting to use unau­thorized materials to aid in achieving a better grade on a component of a class; (2) the falsifi­cation or in­vention of any information, in­clud­ing citations, on an assigned exercise; and/or (3) helping or at­tempting to help another in an act of cheating or plagiarism. Plagiarism is present­ing the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own. Examples of plagiarism are (1) submitting an assignment as if it were one's own work when, in fact, it is at least partly the work of another; (2) submitting a work that has been purchased or otherwise ob­tained from an Internet source or another source; and (3) incorporating the words or ideas of an author into one's paper without giving the author due credit.

 

Please read the complete policy at http://www.sfasu.edu/policies/aca­demic_integrity.asp

 

Withheld Grades Semester Grades Policy (A-54)

Ordinarily, at the discretion of the instructor of record and with the approval of the aca­demic chair/director, a grade of WH will be as­signed only if the student cannot complete the course work because of unavoidable circum­stances. Students must complete the work within one cal­endar year from the end of the semester in which they receive a WH, or the grade automat­ically becomes an F. If students register for the same course in future terms the WH will auto­matically become an F and will be counted as a repeated course for the pur­pose of computing the grade point average.

 

The circumstances precipitating the request must have occurred after the last day in which a stu­dent could withdraw from a course. Students re­questing a WH must be pass­ing the course with a minimum projected grade of C.

 

Students with Disabilities

To obtain disability related accommodations, al­ternate formats and/or auxiliary aids, stu­dents with disabilities must contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS), Human Services Building, and Room 325, 468-3004 / 468-1004 (TDD) as early as possible in the semester.  Once verified, ODS will notify the course in­structor and outline the accommo­dation and/or auxiliary aids to be provided.  Failure to re­quest services in a timely manner may delay your ac­commodations. For additional informa­tion, go to http://www.sfasu.edu/disabilityservices/.

 

Program Learning Outcomes (General teaching goals):

 Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental core geologic concepts (mineralogy, petrology, structural geology, stratigraphy, geophysics and geochemistry). (Concepts)

Execute geologic procedures and methods accurately, appropriately and efficiently. (Skills)

Apply principles of logic and reasoning to develop and analyze geologic problems. (Logic - Reasoning)

Demonstrate competence in using various geologic tools, including technology, to formulate, represent, and solve problems. (Critical thinking - Problem Solving)

Demonstrate proficiency in communicating geologic information in an appropriate form to the expected audience. (Communication)

 

Student Learning Outcomes (some of these apply only to the lab)

At a minimum, the student is expected to understand and apply the following concepts to the environment:

Understand and apply method and appropriate technology to the study of natural sciences. This assessment will evaluate the ability to use equipment necessary to identify minerals, such as hand lens, glass plates, and streak plates. These are basic tools used by geologists when differentiating minerals.

To recognize scientific and quantitative methods and the differences between these approaches and other methods of inquiry and to communicate findings, analyses, and interpretation both orally and in writing. This assessment will evaluate the ability to determine stream gradient which could be useful when determining to location of a structure.

Identify and recognize the differences among competing scientific theories. This assessment will evaluate the ability to understand the role of plate tectonics in the formations of rocks.

Demonstrate knowledge of the major issues and problems facing modern science, including issues that touch upon ethics, values, and public policies. This assessment will evaluate the ability to understand, for example, the critical role of water in today's society. An understanding of rock porosity and permeability is necessary for an appreciation of the water dilemma

Demonstrate knowledge of the interdependence of science and technology and their influence on, and contribution to, modern culture. This assessment will evaluate the ability to understand destructive places to dwell in stream-drainage areas. A focus on floodplains and cut-banks of rivers will be addressed.