Geology 101, Section 150
10:30-11:20 pm MWF; 117
Bessey Hall
Spring Semester, 2009
Instructor: Dr. David B.
Loope, 322 Bessey Hall; 472-2647 (my office) dloope1@unl.edu
or
472-2663 (Geosciences Dept. Office, 214 Bessey)
Office Hours: IÕm always
available right after class (11:20 MWF until the last student is gone).
IÕm generally
available Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30-11:30.
Textbook: Earth's
Dynamic Systems (10th Edition)
by W.K. Hamblin and E.H. Christiansen
Note: earlier
editions (like 7th, 8th, and 9th) are OK;
differences are minor and price is much cheaper
(see Amazon.com, for example)
Class Website: http://www.geosciences.unl.edu/~dloope/Teaching/GEOL2009web/index.html
(not
Blackboard); bookmark it, or find it from UNL
Geosciences>people>faculty>Loope; click on my picture, go to Geology
101
Lab Website: http://www-class.unl.edu/geol101g/
Test Grades: Tests in the
lecture portion of the course will count for 75% of your grade. Lab will count
for the remaining 25%. Your lab grade is submitted to me by your lab TA at the
end of the semester. Your lecture grade will be calculated on the basis of your
performance on five (5) tests. Each test will consist of about 30 multiple
choice questions. The tests arenÕt easy.
Tests: All tests will
be taken at the Arts & Sciences Testing Center in 127 Burnett Hall
(building is adjacent to Oldfather on the south side)—you wonÕt be all
together in Bessey 117, filling out bubble sheets on test days. Test Center
hours are: Mon-Thurs 9AM-9PM; Friday 9AM-5PM; Sunday 1PM-9PM. When you are
ready to take the test, you go to the testing center (with your photo ID)
during its open hours. For the first test, you will need to register and create
a password. Each test will be
ÒopenÓ for about a week—usually from Monday 9AM to Sunday 9PM. You can
take each test only once, and will find out your score upon completing the
test. If you (for any reason) miss the testing Òtime windowÓ, you can take the test, but with a
penalty that starts at 8 points for the first late day (typically Monday). This
means if you took the test one day late and if you got all 30 right, your score
would be 22. The penalty increases
by 2 points for each remaining day until your best possible score is zero.
Test
Intervals
Text Chapters
Web page for testing center:
February 2-8
1-4
http://calculus.unl.edu/edu/classes/geol101L/
February 23-March
1
5-8
March 23-29
9,10,17,18
April 13-19
11,12,13,15
Attendance and Clickers: Clickers have been shown to be an effective tool,
especially in high-enrollment classes. Bring your clicker to class every day.
You wonÕt be directly graded on
your attendance. In order to take advantage of extra credit reading and
reporting, however, you
must (at the time of your report) have attended half of the lectures since
January 23. You donÕt need to get the clicker questions right in order to
ÒscoreÓ for attendance.
Course Grades: The maximum total score for the lecture part of the
class (total score from 5 tests) is 150 points. As a rule of thumb, I consider a score of 75 points (50%) to
be the minimum passing grade. This
sounds easy, but some former students would disagree. Obviously, your lab grade
(25% of the course grade) could pull you up to a passing grade, or it could
pull you down to a failing one.
In order to take full advantage of the lectures, you
need to read the textbook. It is easy to pace your reading to coincide with
lecture (see
http://www.geosciences.unl.edu/~dloope/Teaching/GEOL2009web/101Schedule09.htm. On tests, I almost never ask questions about material
in the text that is not covered in lecture. Some questions are meant to be
difficult, some to be easy. Some
questions will be based on images that were projected in class. Don't plan to
cheat in this class. Telling classmates what is on the test is cheating.
Bringing a classmateÕs clicker to class (and sending your clicker to class with
a classmate) is cheating.
My advice for success in this class:
1)
Attend every lecture, and use your clicker.
2)
Having trouble staying alert in class? Get more sleep. Sit nearer to the front.
Sit on the edge of your seat with your eyes wide open.
3)
With a pencil or pen in your hand, take notes. If you can't understand your
notes after you leave class, they aren't good notes. The Power Point slides I
present will be available after lecture on the class website. You donÕt need to copy the stuff on the
slides, but jotting down comments, queries, and slide #Õs is smart.
4)
Read the text material before lecture and again, as test time draws near.
5)
Ask questions during and/or after lecture.
6)
Get interested in your planet.
7) Invest in education, not just a
degree.
Extra Credit Reading and Reporting
Read one of the many books listed on
the course website http://www.geosciences.unl.edu/~dloope/Teaching/GEOL2009web/Books2009.htm and discuss it with me (by appointment), and you earn
up to 5 points of extra credit.
The maximum extra points you can earn is 20 (at least 4 books). The books will be on reserve in the
Geology Library (in the basement of Bessey Hall); books can be checked out for
7 days. The last day to discuss books is Monday, April 20; one book per
discussion; time between successive discussions is at least 7 days.
Lab: Your lab will be taught by one of the instructors
listed below. That person will submit your lab grade to me at the end of the
semester. The sequence of lecture topics prepares you for the labs, but please remember that I donÕt teach the labs. Lab web
page: http://www-class.unl.edu/geol101g/
Section 151 (Tuesday, 8:30 am), 155
Jamie Shamrock jshamroc@bigred.unl.edu office-216 Bessey
Section 153 (Wed., 11:30 am), Section 154 (Wednesday 6:30 pm)
Brandi Bracht bbracht@bigred.unl.edu
office-312 Bessey
Section 152 (Tuesday, 2:30 pm); Section 155 (Thursday, 8:30 am)
John Sarao jsarao1@bigred.unl.edu; office-107 Bessey
Section 156 (Thursday, 2:30 pm)
Becky Schmeisser rschmei@bigred.unl.edu ; office-107 Bessey
Required half-day field trip:
Saturday, April 4. You will be able
to choose either a morning or an afternoon trip.