Course Specific Information

Expectations

Successful completion of this course requires mastery of certain skills not necessarily as critical in face-to-face courses. These include:

Self-discipline--Unlike a traditional face-to-face course, the instructor will not push the students to study in on-line courses.  Therefore, the students in an on-line course have to be very self- disciplined in order to successfully complete this course.

Time Commitment--This course is by no means easier and less time consuming than a traditional face-to-face geology course.  We won’t have formal lectures; instead, you are expected to a complete a significant amount of work on your own.  Realistically, you should expect to spend at least 10-15 hours per week on this course.

Time Management--Most of the students who choose to take an on-line course are very busy, so they have to be good at time management to be successful in an on-line course. 

Prerequisites 

Advisory: completion of ENGL 056, each with a grade of "C" or better, or equivalent, or R5.

You are expected to be able to read and write at the college level.  I highly recommend that you satisfy the minimum transfer requirements in English prior to taking this class.  Each exam will have a writing component, and there will be several writing assignments. 

Academic Calendar Dates

You are responsible for observing all important administrative deadlines, including add/drop, credit/no credit, and course withdrawal dates.  Check the class schedule, or consult with Admissions for administrative deadlines. 

Grading

All students will receive a letter grade unless prior arrangements for credit/no credit have been made.  Grading will be based on a point system as described below:

Total possible points: 510 (3 exams, 3 homework assignments; 2 Earth Inquiry Exercises; 8 discussion board posts; 1 field trip assignment). Final letter grades will be assigned as follows:

Exams   (350 pts)

There will be three exams, including two midterms and a final exam.   Midterm exams are worth 100 points each and will cover material applicable to each exam.  The final exam is worth 150 pts and will be comprehensive.  Exam material will be taken from textbook reading assignments, chapter study guides, exam study guides, and homework assignments.  Exam questions may include multiple choice, true/false, short answer, essay, and discussion questions. 

Exams must be completed within the time allotted.  If your exam log indicates that you logged on and off excessively during an exam, I reserve the right not to count your exam score and to ask you to take an alternate exam.

Homework Assignments   (75 pts)

Three typed homework assignments (25 pts each) will be completed throughout the semester. Homework assignments will consist of selected review questions from each chapter of the textbook. Review questions must be typed (single-spaced, 12-pt font, 1-inch margins).  Please submit homework assignments as a Microsoft Word or pdf file via the www.turnitin.com antiplagiarism website (instructor to provide access codes).

Homework assignments are due by midnight, Pacific Standard Time, the day before each exam.  Homework solutions will be posted online at 5 am on the day of the exam, so that you can check the accuracy of your responses to homework questions before you take the exam.  Homework assignments submitted after the due date/time but before the homework solutions have been posted will be docked a minimum of 5 pts.  No homework will be accepted after homework solutions have been posted.

Earth Inquiry Exercises (20 pts)

Earth Inquiry Exercises are in-depth, Internet-based exercises that allow you to explore selected topics in greater depth.  During this class, students will complete two of these exercises (one on volcanism and one on earthquakes) in addition to regular, homework problems.  Please submit Earth Inquiry Exercise answer sheets as a Microsoft Word or pdf file via the www.turnitin.com antiplagiarism website (instructor to provide access codes).

Discussion Board Posts  (40 pts)

Each week you’ll be expected to post at least one message to the class discussion board on a topic determined by the instructor.

Field Trip Assignment (25 pts)

Here’s your chance to get away from your textbook and out into the real (or virtual) world.  For your field trip assignment, you can choose between doing an instructor-led or self-guided geologic tour, a geologic tour of someplace you choose yourself (subject to instructor approval), or touring the geology displays at the San Diego County Natural History Museum. Please submit field trip assignments as a Microsoft Word or pdf file via the www.turnitin.com antiplagiarism website (instructor to provide access codes).

Alternatively, you may complete a series of three internet exercises from the Earth Revealed website associated with the textbook, one exercise each from three different chapters. For details on these assignments, please visit the Field Trip Assignment page of the course (accessible from the Course Tools toolbar).

Extra Credit (10 pts)

You may earn up to 10 points extra credit by completing a second field trip assignment.  For details, please visit the visit the Field Trip Assignments page of the course (accessible from the Course Tools toolbar).

Cheating/Plagiarism

Don’t even think about it! Cheating or plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any student caught cheating or plagiarizing will be subject to the disciplinary procedures given in District Policy 3100, which may include receiving a failing grade for the course. Any cheating or plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs. Specifically, the following behaviors are examples of cheating/plagiarism (this list is not exhaustive):

Copying another student’s work (other than course notes) inside or outside of class.

Turning in homework that is identical to another student’s.

Copying from any source (including the Internet) without citing the source.

 Turning in work completed for another class (unless pre-authorized by the instructor).

Passing off any work as your own that is not.

Makeups/Late Work/Incomplete Work

No makeup exams will be given for any reason.  If you miss an exam for extraordinary reasons (e.g., a family emergency), you must notify me within 24 hours of the missed exam.  If you’re able to document the reason for the missed exam to my satisfaction (e.g., doctor’s note), your final exam score will be normalized to 250 pts to account for the missed exam.

If you experience a severe technical difficulty during an exam that prevents you from completing the exam, you must document your problem so that you can verify to my satisfaction that you were unable to submit your exam.  I highly recommend that you also call the 24-hour Help Desk if you experience a technical problem during an exam. 

Homework assignments and Earth Inquiry Exercises are considered late if they are received after the due date and time (even 1 minute!).  Incomplete and/or late assigments/exercises will be docked points accordingly.  Assignments/exercises more than 1-day (i.e., 24-hours) late will not be accepted. 

Weekly discussion board posts must be completed by the deadline specified in the course calendar.  Each week, the discussion board folder for the weeks’ topic will be closed and locked after the deadline, so late posts will not be accepted.

Field trip and extra credit assignments are due by midnight on the last day of class and will not be accepted after this deadline.

Behavior

You are expected to be courteous and respectful in all correspondence with the instructor as well as with other students.  The student Code of Conduct, disciplinary procedure, and student due process (Policy 3100 and Procedures 3100.1 and 3100.2) can be found in the Mesa College catalog, student handbook, and at the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.

Accommodation of Disability

If you have a disability and need academic accommodations, please notify me as soon as possible.

Statement of Retention:

It is Mesa College’s policy to encourage learning through student retention.  Therefore, if you are considering dropping this course after you have invested some time in it, please consult with me after class or make an appointment to see me.

Reading Assignments from Carlson, Plummer and McGeary (7^th edition):

REGISTRATION DIRECTIONS:

1. Complete Online Application (for new SDCCD students). Go to Student Web Services
2. Receive registration appointment and instructions by email or mail.
3. Register online at the Reg-e, our online registration system
4. Make sure that you pay your tuition so that you don't lose your registration!
   Fees are $20.00 per unit for in California residents and $163.00 per unit for non-residents.
5. Order textbooks online. Visit our online bookstore.

6.  After completion of registration on Reg-e, and several days prior to the start of the semester, you will receive an email with course login instructions. If you don't receive an email please go to http://www.sdccdonline.net and login on the first day of class as follows:
.
Type your WebCT ID = 7-digit College Student Identification (CSID) number
Type your Password =  mmddyyyy (birthdate with no hyphens, slashes, or spaces)
For example:  1010101 (CSID number used at registration)
                          06231980 (password for birthdate June 23, 1980 ) 

7.  If this course is closed, please login to Reg-e to be placed on a waitlist. If the waitlist is full, you will not be able to add your name to the waitlist.

You will not be able to login to your online course until the first day of the semester!!!
You must login to your online course on the first day of the session to avoid your enrollment being dropped. Follow the login instructions at http://www.sdccdonline.net/login.htm