Course Syllabus

Course Intro and Objectives

Geology is the core discipline of the earth sciences and encompasses many different phenomena, including plate tectonics & mountain building, formation of volcanoes, earthquakes, landscape formation, earth history, and carbon cycling. Because of the ever-­‐increasing demand for commodities and the changing climate, geology is of considerable societal relevance. This course introduces students to the basics of geology. Through a combination of lectures, labs, and field observations, we will address topics ranging from formation of the elements, mineral and rock identification, and geological mapping to plate tectonics, erosion and climate engineering

The course is designed to be accessible to students from all disciplines. No geology background is assumed. 

Delivery Format 

Blended. Partly online, partly onsite, partly offsite (field trips). Lectures are delivered online via video. Live class sessions are reserved for active lab work. Online activities include group field trip logging and discussions, quizzes, and homework assignments.

Textbook

URL: Exploring Geology - 6th Edition (McGraw Hill)

  Required Work

Readings and Videos

Each week you will be expected to read the assigned chapter(s) or article(s) listed in the online course modules. There are also two hours of video lecture for you to watch each week. These are online so you can watch (and rewatch) them at your convenience. 

Lab Work & Assignments – 25%

We’ll be doing lab work and Q&A in our live face-­‐to-­‐face meetings. These typically lead into or complement assignments that you’ll need to submit for scoring.

Quizzes – 20%

Each week you are required to take a quiz specifically on the readings for the week. These are timed and randomized, but you have 2 attempts. However, your first quiz attempt must be complete before we meet f2f.

Field Trips – 20%

We will be going on 5 field trips during the semester. These happen on Friday mornings. I will begin each site visit with a short lecture that introduces you to the particular environment and connects it to previous lessons.  

You will be working on discovering and logging your field trip work as described in the online course Field Trip assignments.

Paper – 10%

Each of you will write a report or essay based on one of your experiences in the field. You’ll write two drafts of this paper and participate in a peer review process. This is described in the online course.

You probably want to use Google Docs to create and share your paper draft with your classmates. The Collaborate tool in Canvas makes this easy to do.

Exams – 25%

Oh no! You have two exams - the midterm and the final. Don’t worry: if you’ve been reading, studying, watching the lectures, and taking the quizzes you should be well prepared. The midterm & final exams are comprehensive, so practice those quizzes!

The exam is online, but must be taken at a secure, proctored location such as the Campus Testing Center.

Communication

In addition to our face-­‐to-­‐face interaction you can expect to receive regular communications from the instructor from within the course web site. Be sure to configure your Canvas profile to receive notifications the way you want to.  

But in general I’ll be using: 

• Announcements to send class-­wide messages
• Assignment messaging for private, assignment-­specific discussions
• The Q&A discussion forum for addressing general, class-­wide questions
• Conferences or Chat for virtual office hours (by appointment only)
• Conversations if I need to discuss a non-­‐assignment issue privately with you

Group Work

You’ll need to sign up for a Group in the People area of Canvas. Each group will work together on Field Trip activities. Canvas gives each group its own area to discuss, chat, share, etc. Use your Group’s area as a stage for preparing your Field Trip Log Discussion submissions.  

Non-­Discrimination Policy

Our college provides equal opportunity in education and employment and does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, gender, sexual orientation or disability.