GEOL G100-04l General Geology

Instructor:  Prof. S.A. Isiorho         Office  SB236              Phone: (260) 481-6249

IPFW E-mail:  Isiorho@ipfw.edu…do not use this for any course related assignments.

Teaching Assistant:  P.H. Sundquist          Office  SB226 Blackboard E-mail:  sundph01

Students having questions regarding the course content, or instructions posted in this syllabus are requested to E-mail either Dr. Isiorho or Ms. Sundquist through Blackboard eLearning E-mail.

Dr. Isiorho can be reached by telephone.  Should he be away from his desk at the time of you call, please leave a message on the voice mail system.  Dr. Isiorho will return your call with 24 hours for calls made between Monday through Thursday..

Blackboard eLearning E-mail will be answered within 48 hours of posting except those sent on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday mornings.  If there is no response within 48 hours, assume your mail was not received and send it again.

Do NOT use E-mail to submit assignments.  Assignments sent through regular mail, or any E-mail will not be graded.

1. Course Description:

General geology is designed to provide the student with a basic understanding of physical geology and introduction to structural geology.  During the course, students will study Earth materials, changes on the surface and interior of Earth, and the dynamic forces that cause them to change.  Students should be able to locate physical features such as rivers, lakes, or mountain chains, and should be able to relate geology to environmental problems and natural hazards.

The course is divided into four units. Each unit has a minimum of one written assignment or project, and one examination.

Letter grades are based on the following accumulation of points:

A 90-100

B 80-89

C 70-79

D 60-69

F 0-59

May add + and – to the letter grade at the end of the semester!

Point Assignments are as follows:

Tests and Extra Credit Assignments are scored by computer.

Written Assignments are graded by the Teaching Assistant.

• Optional Credit Assignments generate one additional point per assignment for each of the following:

-          Pre-quiz

-          System Practice Test

-          Learned Report

-          Post Quiz

-          Survey

     Code of Student Rights, Responsibility, and Conduct:

     Students are strongly advised to know the “Code of Students Rights, Responsibility, and Conduct” that can be found in the “Student Handbook and Planner” that is published each fall semester.  Students are expected to read and understand the “Code” as it relates to cheating, plagiarizing, and aiding and abetting others to cheat or plagiarize.  Students caught cheating or plagiarizing on tests, reports or projects will receive a zero for that portion of the course.

Students with Disabilities:

Students that need assistance or special arrangements should contact the “Services for Students with Disabilities” office as soon as possible to make arrangements for special needs.  Students who obtain the necessary documentation attesting to their need and submit it to the professor will be accommodated.  SSD is located in WB113.  Their telephone number is (260) 481-6658.

2.     Textbook Information:

             Geology by Chernicoff and Whitney

         Students are encouraged to use all of the available resources, the text book, class notes, power point presentation prepared by two former students,
        and website links.

3.     Important Dates:

4.     Test Information:

     A unit test for each of the four units will be assigned.  Scores of the highest two of the first three tests will be used when calculation the final grade. 
     The lowest score of the first three tests will be dropped.  The final exam is the Unit Four test and is NOT comprehensive. 
     The material in each of the four units builds upon the prior units.  Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of all materials presented in the
      course is the student’s responsibility.

    Each test is composed of 50 multiple choice questions worth 2 points each; totaling 100 points…to get the points for your course grade calculation,
    divide your test score by 100 and multiple it by 20. For example: supposed you got 90 out of 100 points…this will translate to 90/100 multiplied by 20
    Step 1       90/100 = 0.9
    Step 2       0.9 x 20 = 18

    With this simple calculation, you should be able to figure out how you are doing regarding your potential letter grade for the course. Please, don’t ask
     me or the TA to do this for you.

     The honor system is used during testing.  Students may use written resources i.e., textbook, class notes or other printed materials. 
    Consultation with another PERSON, either verbally or in writing is forbidden.

    No requests to “make-up” an examination will be entertained.

5.     Writing Assignment Instructions:

Generic Instructions:

All assignments must be dropped in the Assignment Box in Blackboard eLearning no later than 4:00 p.m. on their due dates.  Students are encouraged to submit assignments anytime prior to the due date.  Only assignments submitted through the Assignment Box will be graded.

The report submission must be made in the form of an electronic file.  One file should be dropped into the Assignment Box.  Should more than one file appear in the Assignment Box, the first file will be opened and graded.

The file name for the report will include the student’s last name followed by the name of the report.  The file will be in the pdf format.  Example:  NameLearned.pdf.

The following information must appear in the header of each report, with the correct page number appearing on subsequent pages.  The student’s last name must be substituted for “Name” in the preceding and subsequent examples.

Reports are to be written in a formal tone, using 12 point Times New Roman font, and are double spaced.  Standard one inch margins and one space after sentence ending punctuation should be used.

A minimum of three references per report are required.  The “References Cited” section of a paper appears on a dedicated page, and is written using APA formatting.  No Wikipedia citations will be accepted as a reference.

No requests to “make-up” a report will be entertained.

Specific Instructions:

Standard report formatting of an introductory paragraph, a body paragraph, and a concluding paragraph is expected.

Report length is one page MAXIMUM.  Do not use a Title Page.  Be brief and concise.

Statements made within the body of the report that are a result of an author’s work product, require appropriate citation (Author, year) before the sentence ending punctuation.

Additional instructions are listed in the UNIT (I, II, III, or IV) of assignment.

6.     10 Photograph Project Instructions:

    Generic Instructions:

    The project must be dropped in the Assignment Box in Blackboard eLearning no later than 4:00 p.m. on its due date. 
    Students are encouraged to submit  this assignment anytime prior to the due date. 
    The assignment must be submitted through the Assignment Box in order to be graded.

     A project submission must be made in the form of an electronic file.  One file should be dropped into the Assignment Box. 
    Should more than one file appear in the Assignment Box, the first file will be opened and graded.

     The file name for the project will include the student’s last name followed by the name of the project.  The file will be in the .pdf format. 
    Example:      Name10PhotographProject.pdf.

     The following information must appear in the header of each page, with the correct page number appearing on subsequent pages. 
     The student’s last name must be substituted for “Name” in the preceding and subsequent examples.

     Captions are to be written in a formal tone, using 12 point Times New Roman font, and should be double spaced. 
     Standard one inch margins and one space after sentence ending punctuation should be used.

    A minimum of three references per report are required.  The “References Cited” section of a paper appears on a dedicated page, and is written using
    APA formatting.  No Wikipedia citations will be accepted as a reference.

    No request to “make-up” a report will be entertained.

    Specific Instructions:

    Select ten photographs and provide a two to four sentence description for each.  The photographs should be numbered from one to ten. 
    The caption for the photograph will explain why or how the subject of the photo is pertinent to this course.

     All photos must be in the .jpg or .jif format.  Source credit must be given beneath the photo as well as the “References Cited” section of the paper.
     All pictures must be in one file...should be in pdf format.

     No drawings, cartoons, or illustrations may be used.

     Additional instructions are listed in UNIT III.

     7.  Personal Water Experience Report:

     Generic Instructions:

     The project must be dropped in the Assignment Box in Blackboard eLearning no later than 4:00 p.m. on its due date. 
    Students are encouraged to submit assignments anytime prior to the due date. 
    Only assignments submitted through the Assignment Box will be graded.

    The project submission must be made in the form of an electronic file.  One file should be dropped into the Assignment Box. 
    Should more than one file appear in the Assignment Box, the first file will be opened and graded.

    The file name for the report will include the student’s last name followed by the name of the report.  The file will be in the .pdf format.                                            Example:NamePersonalExperience.pdf.

    The following information must appear in the header of each page, with the correct page number appearing on subsequent pages. 
    The student’s last name must be substituted for “Name” in the preceding and subsequent examples.

     Reports are to be written in a formal tone, using 12 point Times New Roman font, and should be double spaced.  Standard one inch margins and one
    space after sentence ending punctuation should be used.

    No requests to “make-up” a report will be entertained.

     Specific Instructions:

     The use of pronouns, such as “I,” are acceptable in this report. An informal writing style is not acceptable. References are not necessary, as the
    information contained within the report are from the students own experience.

    Additional instructions are listed in UNIT IV.

8.     Discussion Board Posting Assignment:

    All students must participate in the online discussion in Blackboard eLearning.

    The discussion board should be used to post questions, answers, and other items of interest to the class for discussion.  The professor may initiate a topic to    which students may respond.

     Keep the discussion threads pure by posting discussion for a topic on that topic’s thread.

     Avoid repeating what another student has posted, as trivial postings will not be counted toward this assignment.

     A minimum of two postings per week is required.  Only one posting per day will be counted when figuring the two posting per week minimum requirement.

     A week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.

     Postings made between the August 23 through November 20 will count towards the final grade.
        Postings can be made both before and after this time frame, and are encouraged, but will receive NO credit.

    0.8 points will be earned for an introductory paragraph WITH an attached photograph of the student.

     The remaining 4.2 points will be distributed amongst the 28 required postings.

     This assignment is graded by the Teaching Assistant.