Course Syllabus Fall 2021 San Diego Mesa College
GEOL 100 - PHYSICAL GEOLOGY (Purely
Online and Asynchronous - Canvas) CRN: 70167
3 Lecture Hours: 3 Units; Letter Grade; Student may petition for Credit/No Credit (FT). Associate Degree Credit & transfer to CSU and/or private colleges and universities. UC Transfer Course List.
Office
Hours: Office Hours: Wednesdays from 6:00pm to 7:30pm - Confer-Zoom,
Discussion Board; and E-mail. Also by Appointment.
Course Canvas URL: https://sdccd.instructure.com/login/canvas
Required, No-Cost Course Textbook: An Introduction to Geology Authors: Chris
Johnson, Matthew D. Affolter, Paul Inkenbrandt, Cam Mosher Publisher: SLCC Text URL: https://opengeology.org/textbook/
Prerequisites Advisory for Online Course: 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 dynamic system, including its past, present and future evolutionary processes. Unifying concepts such as plate tectonics, uniformitarianism, and geologic time will be studied. The causes of natural geologic hazards and their effects on people, society, and the environment will also be explored.
Student Learning Outcome: Upon completion of this course: the
successful student will be able to differentiate among the 3 major types of
plate boundaries and recognize their characteristic geologic features.
Accommodation of Disability: A student with a verified disability may be entitled to appropriate academic accommodations, including the assistance of a note-taker in the classroom, and/or extended time for taking exams. Students with disabilities who may need academic accommodations should notify their professor immediately. For further information, contact the Disabled Students Program and Services (DSPS) Office.
Class Attendance, and Enrollment Notes, and Deadlines: ALL STUDENTS registered in this course prior to the start date MUST sign-in into the official Canvas course page sometime on or before the end of the THIRD DAY of classes on the first week of the semester Wednesday, , 2021, in order to stay registered in the course. If you do not log by the above date, then I will drop you and give your seat to a waitlisted student.
The last day to withdraw with a refund and with no grade (no "W" placed on permanent record.) is Tuesday, October 26, 2021. The deadline to file a petition for PASS/NO PASS grade option is Thursday, December 11, 2021. The very last day to drop a class with a "W" is Friday, November 19, 2021, (the official withdrawal deadline). If you fail to withdraw by 11/19/21 and/or you stop participating in class, then a final grade must be assigned to you. It is the students 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 students 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.
It is the students responsibility to drop all classes in which he/she is no longer attending (for on campus classes). Registered students who do not login onto this Canvas course and participate in our virtual classroom over a period of 12 consecutive days will be dropped from this course for lack of participation. Students, who remain enrolled in a class beyond the published withdrawal deadline, as stated above (as listed in the official class schedule) will receive an evaluative letter grade in this class.
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.
Instructors Online Course Policies
A. Student Workload Obligations: 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 homework assignments, 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 students 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. Instructor-Student Communication This course is taught as a completely 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. The instructor will be initiating contact with students on a nearly daily basis, via announcements, discussion board posts, email, Zoom, and by phone. Students are expected to log into the Canvas course page regularly (several time per week) to update communication with instructor and fellow students. A classroom Zoom meeting is scheduled for every Wednesday evening from 6pm to 7pm. This is a non-mandatory, synchronous meeting between students and instructor. The instructor will initiate the Zoom meeting each week for any student in the class that wants to attend. The meeting will be recorded, so that non-attending students can watch it a later time. This weekly meeting is intended for discussion of course curriculum. Note that professor also has an office hour set aside every Monday evening from 6pm to 7pm.
C. Course Assignments and Testing: Assignments, either for discussion on the bulletin board, or for completion and return to the instructor, will be posted on the Canvas course site. 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. Deadlines, Computer/Internet Mishaps, and Backing up: Timelines, Deadlines, etc.: Quizzes will be available each week and will appear with a due date. Availability for quizzes and exams prior to the finishing deadline is roughly three to four days. The research writing assignment will not be accepted or submitted following the due date. Note that because it sometimes happens that computer networks (including your own computer) 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. ALSO, as with any writing endeavor on a computer, YOU MUST ALWAYS BACK-UP ALL YOUR WORK on an external memory device, in timely increments. The excuse that you permanently lost your entire writing assignment file during a computer crash or Internet disruption is not acceptable, because those sorts of mishaps are totally avoidable by doing regular backup. Additionally, you need to make sure to ALWAYS HAVE A BACK-UP COMPUTER at your disposal: family members, friends, or library, school, or even your own secondary computer/smart phone. Finally, you must have a reasonably high speed, solidly consistent, trustworthy Internet connection, especially for test taking, viewing streaming videos, and assignment submission.
E. Online Netiquette and Student Code of Conduct: This class will be conducted in accordance with the college code of student conduct and basic standards of academic honesty. 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 academic 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.
Cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in this class. Violations of standards of academic honesty will be reported to the school dean for appropriate action. A detailed explanation of academic integrity of students is found below:
The academic integrity of the students in this course and Policy 3100, the San Diego Community College District Student Code of Conduct, require that all student work including, but not limited to, discussion postings, assignments, essays, papers, and exams be free of plagiarism. Students must fully cite any text, graphics, or others ideas they include in that work. For additional details, please review AP 3100.3Honest Academic Conduct.
As part of my commitment to academic integrity, student work in this course may be submitted to an online plagiarism checking service.
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 assignment. 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 directly from the textbook. Note: youre welcome to summarize the information from when completing homework assignments, but please phrase homework answers in your own words!
· Using unauthorized notes while taking an exam or copying another students work.
· Sharing exam answers or collaborating with another student during an exam.
· Turning in homework that contains large blocks of text that are identical or nearly identical to another students (both parties will receive zero score).
· 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. This includes the use of work completed by other students.
To avoid any possibility of someone else plagiarizing your work, I highly recommend that you not share any content-specific material (such as exam answers, homework, or field trip reports) with any other students.
Please note that if I receive any course work from two or more students that is identical or strikingly similar, I reserve the right to assign all such students a score of zero for the assignment in question.
Please note that if I suspect academic dishonesty on an assignment or an exam, I reserve the right to schedule a one-on-one Zoom meeting to give you the opportunity to demonstrate that you understand the answer(s) you supplied. If a student is unable to demonstrate their understanding of an exam/assignment answer, I reserve the right to assign the student a score of zero for that exam/assignment.
If you have any concerns regarding plagiarism or cheating, please contact the instructor.
GRADING/EVALUATION: Grading is based on points earned by completing assignments and tests. Final course grades are based purely on point percentages without any type of weighting. The following is the course grading points breakdown based on the assessment activity:
I. Quizzes (10 @ 30 points each) = 300 points. Note: You get three (3) attempts per quiz. Untimed/Open book.
II. Exams (2 @ 150 points each) = 300 points. Note: You get one (1) attempt per exam. Timed/Open book
III. Assignments (3 @ 15 + 40 + 75 points) = 120 points; Personal greeting assignment (mandatory) = 15 pts;
Geology
in News assignment (mandatory) = 40 pts, San Andreas Fault Zone assignment
(conditional) = 75 pts
Note: A student can waive doing the SAFZ assignment if he/she gets 100 points or more on their midterm exam.
V. Late Work Policy: No late work accepted - No exceptions.
VI. Extra Credit Policy: Extra credit is available - up to 30 points maximum. Last day to turn in
extra credit work is Friday, December 17, 2021 - Absolutely no EC work accepted after this date.
VII. Grading Scale: Your final grade is based purely on total percentage out of possible 720 points (with SAF assignment) or 645 points (without SAF assignment):
100% 90% = A
89% -- 80% = B
79% -- 70% = C
69% -- 55% = D
Less than 55% = F
Note: Minor adjustments to the deadlines and total course grade points may be made by instructor during the semester. If changes are made, the instructor will inform the students in a timely manner.
Course Testing Schedule:
1) Quiz I: Sunday October 24
2) Quiz II: Sunday October 31
3) Quiz III: Sunday November 7
4) Quiz IV: Sunday November 7
5) Quiz V: Sunday November 14
6) Quiz VI: Sunday November 14
7) Midterm Exam I: Sunday November 21
8) Quiz VII: Sunday December 5
9) Quiz VIII: Sunday December 5
10) Quiz IX: Sunday December 12
11) Quiz X: Sunday December 12
12)
Final Exam: Sunday December
19
Extra Credit Deadline: All extra credit must be turned in by Friday, December 17th for credit. Late extra credit work will not be accepted - no exceptions period.
IMPORTANT COURSE
DATES: Assessment
of student learning outcomes for this class includes 10 quizzes, 2 exams, and 3
assignments. Each assessment activity has a specific submittal due date. Make
sure to keep a 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. Below are the
most important course dates for this course:
1)
Quiz and Exam completion dates are all on Sundays.
2)
Class Introduction Discussion Assignment due by Wednesday, October 20,
2021
3) Last
day to drop without a "W" is Tuesday, October 26, 2021
4) Geology
in the News Discussion Assignment due Sunday, November 14, 2021
5) Last day to drop with a "W"
(withdraw) is Friday, November 19, 2021
6) Midterm exam completion date is Sunday, November
21, 2021
7) San
Andreas Fault Zone Research Assignment due Sunday, December
12, 2021
8)
Last day to turn in extra credit is Friday, December 17, 2021 No late
exceptions!
9)
Final exam completion date is Sunday December 19,
2021
Extra Credit: There are several extra credit assignments available: they include virtual fieldtrips, and a couple other research activities. Extra credit assignments are listed in the Extra Credit Folder. Last day to turn in extra credit work is Friday, December 17, 2021. Absolutely no EC work accepted after this date. Up to 30 points of extra credit is allowed in this course.
STUDY MATERIALS FOR THIS COURSE:
There
are several primary sources of information that are available for successfully completing
this course - they are: 1) Free, open-source website textbook; 2) Earth
Revealed Video Lessons available online from the instructor's personal website;
4) the instructors PowerPoint lecture slides and lecture notes. 3) Geology video slide tutorial
lessons. Carefully read and study all
assigned textbook reading prior to completing the associated quizzes, exams,
and assignments. Note: the SLCCC e-textbook has additional resources and
activities to help master the curriculum, which includes summaries and quizzes.
1) Cost-free E-Textbooks:
Primary
text: Introduction to Geology E-Textbook: https://opengeology.org/textbook/
Supplementary text: Physical Geology 101: http://gotbooks.miracosta.edu/geology/index.html
This geology course uses a no-cost website-accessed
e-textbook titled A Introduction to Geology. Written by Chris Johnson, Matthew D. Affolter,
Paul Inkenbrandt, Cam Mosher and published by
Salt Lake Community College, it covers all the course topics, and includes key
concepts, practice quizzes and study guides.
To compliment the SLCCC text, there is another free geology e-text called
Physical Geology 101 by GotBooks. It also does a good job of covering the
course topics, and includes practice quizzes
2) Earth
Revealed Geology Video Series: www.learner.org/resources/series78.html
The Annenberg Media Company has
available an excellent geology video instructional series called "Earth
Revealed" (a total of twenty-six 30-minute videos). Links to these videos can be accessed from
the instructor's personal website. 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.
Some quiz questions pertain to Earth Revealed content.
3) Instructors Personal Student Website: www.geoscirocks.com
To compliment the textbook and ER video series learning resources, the professor has a personal educational website for students that include lecture notes and PowerPoint presentations, plus 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 slide presentations can be directly accessed from the instructors personal website, which includes an even wider variety of other web-based resources that may be of personal interest. Please check out the above URL.
Click on the Miramar Online link to access all information pertaining
directly to this course. Browse down the left-hand side menu for pertinent
coursework information and resources.
Additionally, the site has links to the Earth Revealed geology
instructional video series a set of 26 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 homework study each week within the class schedule below
the textbook chapter reading assignments.
Note that information found within the Earth Revealed videos is included
in the test questions within the quizzes and exams.
4)
Geology Video Tutorials: http://www.geoscirocks.com/intro_to_geology_lectures_silde_videos.htm
Finally, there are a set of
geology video slide study tutorials that are designed to help you better learn
the course curriculum. These captioned
video slide shows were put together by an earth science professor at the City
College of San Francisco and are very well designed and highly recommended as
part of your study plan.
5) Course Study Schedule: http://www.geoscirocks.com/mesa_online_sched.pdf
Below is the course study and test schedule. The course schedule is a very important
document that should be checked on daily.
The course schedule shows the weekly assigned study materials, tests and
assignments due dates, and important course dates/deadlines. The weekly study materials have hyperlinks
that will take you directly to the listed study information. The due dates indicate both when the listed
course materials need to be studied by, and the last day to take a test or turn
in an assignment. Note the listed
assigned weekly study materials are the Introduction
to Geology text (ITG), the Earth Revealed Video series (ERV), Professor Rays PowerPoint lecture slides (PPP), and the Geology Video Tutorials (GVT)
Geology 100 Online Schedule Fall 2021 - San Diego Mesa College
|
Weekly Study Topic |
Assigned Weekly Topic Homework |
Tests and Assignments |
Due Date |
|
Week 1 10/18 to 10/24 Intro
to Class |
Personal Intro Assignment in Discussion
Folder |
Post
Personal Introduction on Discussion Board |
Wed10/20 |
|
Week 1 Course
Logistics |
|
Quiz #1 Course Syllabus and Intro to Geologic Science |
Sun 10/24 |
|
Week 1 Intro
to Geology & Earth Origin |
Intro to Geology (ITG) Chap 1 Professors
PowerPoints (PPP) 1 Earth Revealed Videos (ERV) 1 Geology Video Tutorials (GVT) 1 - 5 |
|
|
|
Week 2 10/25 to 10/31 Earth Origin, Physiology & Plate Tectonic Theory |
Intro to Geology (ITG) Chap
2, 8 Earth Revealed Videos (ERV) 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Professors PowerPoints (PPP) 2, 3, 4, 5 |
Quiz #2 Earth Origin, Physiology, and Plate Tectonic Theory |
Sun 10/31 |
|
Week 2 Minerals
and Mineral Resources |
ITG Ch 3 |
|
|
|
Week 3 11/1 to 11/7 Igneous
Rocks, Magma, and Volcanism |
Quiz #3 - Minerals and Mineral Resources |
Sun 11/7 |
|
|
Week 3 Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks |
ITG Ch 5 PPP 8 |
Quiz #4 Igneous Rocks, Magmas and Volcanism |
Sun 11/7 |
|
Week 4 11/8 to 11/14 Metamorphism & Metamorphic Rocks |
ITG Ch 6 PPP 9 |
Quiz #5
Sedimentary Rocks & Metamorphic Rocks
|
Sun 11/14 |
|
Week 4 Geologic Time and Earth History |
Quiz #6 Geologic Time/Dating and Earth History |
Sun 11/14 |
|
|
Week 4 |
Geology-in-the-News Assignment Info in Discussion Folder. Post completed assignment on discussion board |
Post Geology News Article Summary + Discussion |
Sun 11/14 |
|
Week 5 11/15
to 11/21 |
Withdrawal
Warning |
Last day to
withdraw with a W |
Fri 11/19 |
|
Week 5 Midterm Exam Review and Test |
Midterm Exam
Review ITG Ch 1-8; ERV 1-6 8-18 PPP 2-10 GVT 1- 28 |
Midterm Exam All
course material covered in quizzes 2 through 6. Midterm available to take on 11/18 |
Sun 11/21 |
|
Thanksgiving Week 11/22 to
11/28 |
No School Work |
Nothing Due |
|
|
Week 6 11/29
to 12/5 Crustal
Deformation and Mountain Building |
Quiz #7 Crustal Deformation and Mountain Building |
Sun 12/5 |
|
|
Week 6 Earthquakes
And
Seismic Hazards |
ITG Ch 2 |
Quiz #8 Earthquakes |
Sun 12/5 |
|
Week 7 12/6 to 12/12 Rivers, Mass
Wasting and Groundwater |
ITG Ch 11, PPP 13, 14 |
Quiz #9 Rivers and Groundwater |
Sun 12/12 |
|
Week 7 Shorelines,
Glaciers and Climate Change |
ITG Ch 12 |
Quiz #10 Shorelines, Glaciers & Climate Change |
Sun 12/12 |
|
Week 7 |
See Earthquake Research Assignment Instructions
in Assignment Folder |
Submit San Andreas Fault/ Earthquake Assignment into the Assignment folder |
Sun 12/12 |
|
Week 8 12/13 to
12/19 |
Extra Credit Work in EC Folder |
Last day to Submit Extra Credit |
Friday 12/17 |
|
Week 8 |
Final Exam Review ITG Ch 2, 9 - 15 ERV 7, 16,
19-24 PPP 11-15 GVT 29- 46 |
Final Exam - All
course material after the midterm exam (covered in quizzes 7 through 10). Final available to take on 12/16 |
Sun 12/19 |
Please Note: This schedule is
tentative and may be changed or modified by the instructor at anytime
during the semester. Students will be notified in a timely basis
if changes are made.