EVALUATION AND GRADING

   Examinations

Three (3) examinations are given in this course.

•   Mandatory exam deadlines are shown in the class schedule on the last page of the syllabus.  
• All four exams are available for you to take beginning on the first day of the course.  Take your exams before the due date to avoid potential problems.
• If you do not take a required exam by its deadline, you will receive a grade of zero on the exam.  
• • There are no exceptions to this policy.  
• • There are no extensions to exam deadlines.
• Exam deadlines are enforced by the professor.  Even if Blackboard allows you to take a test after the deadline shown on the schedule, your professor will not accept any exams taken after the deadline.  In the event of a situation beyond your control that will look as if you cannot follow these guidelines, it is contingent upon you to contact your professor by phone and e-mail in advance of the examination to communicate any potential conflict. 

Exam questions will be drawn primarily from the textbook, the PowerPoint lectures, and the chapter reviews, which focus on the key material for each chapter.  Exams will consist primarily of multiple-choice questions, along with matching association questions.  There are no exam retakes.

Students will take their exams at home using a computer logged into Blackboard on the web, or a tablet with the Blackboard app.  No special software is required.  Lecture and Lab Exams will be available on Blackboard from the time period indicated on the syllabus.

Quizzes

Lecture quizzes can be taken on any computer or tablet that can access Blackboard or the Blackboard app, and must be completed by the deadlines shown in the class schedule on the last page of the syllabus.  All quizzes are available to you as soon as the course begins.  You are encouraged to work through the material at an accelerated pace and take the quizzes whenever you are ready. Quizzes that are not completed by the deadline will receive a zero grade.  Late work is not accepted.

• The lecture quizzes can be taken as many times as you need to get all the questions right.  The quizzes are designed to help learn the material that you will encounter on the lecture exams.

Laboratories

Laboratory Exercises and must be completed on Blackboard with some paper assignments that will be handed in to your professor by the deadlines shown in the class schedule on the syllabus.  Laboratory exercises that are not completed by the deadline will receive a zero grade.  Late work is not accepted. 

Laboratory Exams

The lab exams will generally consist of questions from the labs or about material covered on them.  Lab Exam 1 and Exam 2 will involve rock and mineral identification and it is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that you spend some time looking over the virtual specimens (based on past experience, the difference in scores between those who go over the study specimens and those who don't is about 10-30% on the laboratory quizzes). 

Grading

Grades will be determined as follows: 

Lecture:          Exam 1                      20%

Exam 2                      20%

Exam 3                      20%

Lecture Quizzes        10%

Laboratory:   Labs Exercise             10%

Lab Exam 1                5%   

Lab Exam 2                5%  

Lab Exam 3                5%   

Lab Exam 4                5%  

The following scale will be used to determine your course grade:

90-100% - A, 80-89% - B, 70-79%    - C, 60-69%    - D, below 60% -F

Students whose final course average is 59%, 69%, 79%, or 89% will be advanced to the next higher grade if their final examination score shows improvement over their mid-term examination scores.

OPTIONAL FIELD TRIP

Geology is primarily a field science and much of the data used by geologists is collected sampling and/or mapping in the field for laboratory or numeric/computational analysis.  This optional all day field trip is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, November, 19, 2022.  Attendance is not required for successful completion of this course, but is designed to illustrate geology in the field.

COURSE POLICIES

Missed Exam and Late Work

Missed Lecture Exams:

Missed Lab Quizzes:

All lab quizzes will be given in the laboratory. There is no make-up for missed lab quizzes unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Attendance/Class Participation

Students are expected to attend lectures and labs, be punctual and participate in class discussions.  Participation is especially true for this course, since the tests are largely based on material covered in class.

Withdrawals

If you decide to drop this class, you must protect your academic record by withdrawing no later than 5:00 PM Thursday, November, 17 2022 deadline.  The professor, however, reserves the right to withdraw a student for not meeting course objectives.  Departmental policy forbids the instructor from withdrawing you from this class after the withdrawal date.  It is your responsibility to verify that you have successfully withdrawn from the class before the Final Withdrawal Date.  You are strongly encouraged to keep copies of paperwork should there be a problem in the computer records.

Incompletes

An instructor may award a grade of “I” (Incomplete) if a student is unable to take the final examination or complete an end-of-the-semester assignment because of extenuating circumstances, such as death of a loved one or illness. A student must request an incomplete in writing with documentation of the extenuating circumstances. The student must complete the examination or assignment by a date set by the instructor. This date shall not be later than the course withdrawal deadline in the subsequent semester.

Blackboard

Students will be expected to access this course’s Blackboard website.   All students have access to Blackboard via their student ID, but you will have to set up a password to gain access.  Important class information will be posted on Blackboard, such as: chapter review notes, copies of handouts and copies of projects.  All students will be expected to routinely visit Blackboard.  Lecture and laboratory sessions will be accessed via Blackboard Ultra video link.  

All laboratory instruction sessions and lectures will be recorded for later reference.

Required Textbooks and Materials

Required Textbooks and Materials

Lecture Textbook

Grotzinger, John, and Jordan, Thomas H., 2010. Understanding Earth (eighth edition):  New York, NY, W. H. Freeman and Co., 654 p. 8th Edition: ISBN 13: 9781319055325

Note: You may use the seventh edition of this text as it is largely current and is less expensive

Laboratory Manual

Ludman, Allan, and Marshak, Stephen, 2012. Laboratory Manual for Introductory Geology (Fourth Edition):  New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 440 p. ISBN 13 : 9780393667608

Note: Unlike the lecture textbook you must use the fourth edition of the laboratory manual as the third edition is significantly different in terms of its structure.

Communication – I can be reached at tbrown1@austincc.edu or via telephone (see below)

Electronic mail:  tbrown1@ austincc.edu - checked daily Monday through Friday

Telephone/ voice mail:  512-422-2534

Office Hours:  2:50-3:30 PM Monday through Thursday after class or by appointment in in RGC 1134.00 and by Blackboard Collaborate.  Appointments can be arranged in person, by telephone or by e-mail.

PHYSICAL GEOLOGY

GEOL 1403 - Fall 2023

Last day to withdraw from class is at 5:00 pm, Thursday, November 17, 2022.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY

This course will be taught in the classroom in a lecture/discussion format illustrated with PowerPoint presentations, along with laboratory exercises and field investigations. The lecture and lab sessions will generally complement each other, but the lectures focus on general geological topics, while the lab exercises will show you how to apply that knowledge in practical ways.  There will be an optional field trip to experience geology in the field. Student learning will be assessed through graded laboratory exercises, in-class lecture examinations and quizzes on laboratory exercises.

COURSE RATIONALE

As the world’s population continues to increase, humans are placing a greater demand on earth resources, encountering natural hazards more frequently, and effecting the earth’s climate system. To make educated decisions about these issues, consumers, voters, and decision-makers must understand how the Earth system works and how scientists have obtained their knowledge. Studying historical geology provides a valuable framework for understanding these problems. This course is designed to give a basic understanding of geology and geological techniques for both geology and non-geology majors.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Course-Level

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the scientific method and apply it in a geological context

Describe Earth’s major systems and explain how they interact

• Identify common rocks and minerals and interpret how they form
• Describe and interpret the development of landforms and geologic structures
• Construct and interpret geologic and topographic maps, cross-sections, and topographic profiles
• Describe the major sources of water, soil, and sediment pollution and methods for their management
• Explain the theory of plate tectonics and its relationship to earth processes, features, and landforms

Program-Level

As a required course for an Associate of Science in Geology, students will be able to:

• Describe and explain processes and features within the Earth, particularly about plate tectonics and the resulting geologic structures
• Describe and explain processes operating on the surface of the Earth and the resulting landforms and features
• Identify common rocks and minerals
• Interpret and construct topographic maps, and geologic maps and cross-sections

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Identify common rocks and minerals,
• Construct topographic maps and interpret geologic maps,
• Describe and explain processes and features within the Earth, particularly about plate tectonics and the resulting geologic structures,
• Describe and explain processes operating on the surface of the Earth and the resulting landforms and features

As a Core Curriculum course, students completing this course will demonstrate competence in:

• Critical Thinking: Gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying information.
• Quantitative and Empirical Reasoning: Applying mathematical, logical, and scientific principles and methods.