Instructor's name: ____________________________________
Instructor's e-mail address: ____________________________________
Instructor's phone number: ____________________________________
Where to submit assignments to instructor - address and/or fax # ____________________________________
____________________________________
Course developer: Dr. Pamela J. W. Gore, Professor of Geology
E-mail address: pgore@gpc.edu
Dr. Gore's Home Page:
http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/gore.htm
Office phone: (404) 299-4099
Catalog description:
Fundamentals of Earth Science for Middle School Teachers. This course covers basic principles from the fields of Geology, Astronomy, Oceanography, and Meteorology. Map interpretation, minerals and rocks, processes acting at the Earth's surface and within the Earth, plate tectonics, geologic time and dating, composition and motions of the earth, solar system, phases of the moon, origin and life cycles of stars, galaxies, water movements, ocean floor, weather, and climate.
Prerequisites:
Open to Georgia Middle School Teachers only.
Required textbook:
Publisher's Web Site: http://www.prenhall.com/tarbuck/
Student Handbook for Online Courses
For basic information on online classes at GPC, see the
Student Handbook for Online Courses at the following address:
The Student Handbook for Online Courses provides information to help you decide whether online classes are appropriate for you, provides basic information on orientation, admissions and registration, communicating with your instructor, obtaining a GPC e-mail account (for registered students), accessing the library, online courses offered at GPC (by semester), and lists technical requirements for online courses.
You must check your web browser with the GPC WebCT Personal Computer Analyzer to determine whether your computer and web browser will function properly with WebCT, the course management software.
You will need to download the free version of Real Player G2 or Real Player Basic 7 to see streaming video, which may accompany some of your lecture notes in WebCT.
You must also work through the required Online Orientation, which will introduce you to WebCT. The link to the Orientation is on the Student Handbook page.
Technical Assistance:
For technical assistance, contact the Online Helpdesk by using the online form at: http://www.gpc.edu/webct/repform.html. If you are unable to access the form, you may send e-mail to linx-help@gpc.edu or call 404-298-5210 and leave a message. Your request should be answered within 24 hours during the normal work week. There may be no helpdesk support on evenings and weekends, however.
Class schedule:
Please be sure you have set aside adequate time!!!
What is WebCT?
WebCT is the delivery system for online courses in the University System of Georgia.
WebCT is a course management software package that is accessed with a web browser such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer. WebCT can be used to create sophisticated World Wide Web-based educational environments. It can be used with fully online courses, or to publish materials that supplement face-to-face courses.
WebCT courses also offer student tracking, allowing the instructor to determine at a glance how many times a student has accessed the course materials, which course materials a student has accessed, and times of first and last access.
WebCT offers many course tools for the student such as:
This particular course may or may not choose to utilize any or all of these features.
Accessing your course notes using WebCT course software
Class notes are to be accessed through the following web page:
http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/gore.htm
Click on Earth & Space Science for Middle School Teachers. WebCT class notes (password protected):Once WebCT passwords are assigned, you must log into WebCT, which counts as class attendance.
Communicating with your Instructor
All students must provide the instructor with your private (not shared with anyone) e-mail address, phone numbers and address. This may be done by e-mail.
Regular communication is a very important part of this course.
Please feel free to ask questions of your instructor at any time, either by e-mail,
on the bulletin board, by phone, or in person
during office hours (if available). E-mail response time: Your instructor will generally reply to your e-mail within 24 hours unless they are
out of town (which should bel announced on the WebCT Bulletin Board, e-mail, or
calendar). Your instructor may or may not check e-mail on weekends, depending on their schedule,
so do not expect a prompt reply if you post late Friday afternoon
or Friday night. Your instructor may not see your message until Monday morning.
Basis of Grading
33% Proctored Final Exam
33% Homework assignments, reports, projects, online quizzes, movie question sheets, posting to class bulletin board (you must post as assigned or as requested on the bulletin board).
Each assignment has a specific due date that will be printed on the WebCT calendar when the assignment is given. The assignment will be due on the date specified. There may be some flexibility, but late assignments will lose points. No assignments will be accepted after they are two weeks late or after the instructor has returned corrected and graded assignments to students, which ever comes first.
Assignments will be returned to students by mail several times during the semester, or you may pick them up from the office. Grades will be available through WebCT.
Note on online quizzes: All online quizzes are closed book, closed note quizzes. Students are not to give or receive help on the quizzes. If a student's quiz grades are substantially higher than their proctored Midterm and/or Final Exam grades, the student may be required by the instructor to retake the quizzes in a proctored setting, before the final course grade will be assigned.
THE FINAL EXAM IS CUMULATIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE
A note about the final: Students who get less than 70% on the final exam will not receive an A for a final course grade, and similarly, students who get less than 60% on the final exam will not receive a B for a final grade, regardless of their overall average plus any extra credit.
The lecture grade is separate from the lab grade, if the student is enrolled in a lab.
Grading scale:
90-100% A
80-90% B
70-80% C
60-70% D
below 60% F
EXTRA CREDIT:
There will be opportunities for extra credit projects or papers during the semester. Up to five earned extra credit points can be applied to your final class average. Submit your ideas for extra credit by e-mail to your instructor for approval of topics. Extra credit exercises must be done independently from other students. All extra credit must be typed using a computer word processor.
Possible extra credit projects (one point each):
GPC WITHDRAWAL POLICY (for students taking this course for College Credit)
A student who officially withdraws by the midpoint of the course will receive a grade of "W". A student who withdraws after the midpoint of the quarter will receive a "WF" unless approval as a hardship withdrawal is received from the dean.
If you choose to stop logging in to WebCT, or to stop reading and responding to e-mails from the instructor, you must complete the withdrawal process through the Registrar's Office by the specified dates, or you will receive an "F" for the course. It is not the instructor's responsibility to withdraw students, but the instructor reserves the right to withdraw a student for non-attendance (not logging into WebCT, not responding to e-mails, or not turning in assignments).
POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Academic dishonesty (cheating and plagiarism) will not be tolerated. Georgia Perimeter College students should read the sections on cheating and plagiarism in the Georgia Perimeter College Student Handbook and Georgia Perimeter College Catalog.
Cheating includes (among other things), use of unauthorized papers during a test (no matter what the content), copying from another student's paper during a test, allowing another student to copy from your paper during a test, unauthorized access to old exams or to an exam given to the class if you are taking it late for some reason, copying another student's homework assignments, using or turning in a photocopy of another student's assigned work, paying someone to write a paper or do an assignment for you, buying or downloading a term paper, or leaving the room during or before turning in your paper.
With online testing, it is particularly important to pay strict attention to academic honesty. Do not access a test online before you are ready to take it (soon the computer will recognize you and only allow you to access it once). Do not look at a printout of the test before you take it. Do not look at your books or notes or other papers while taking an online test. Do not have another person take the test for you. Do not have another person tell you answers to the test.
Plagiarism includes copying any phrases, sentence, or sentences verbatim from the reference source without using quotation marks and without providing a complete reference (author, date, source of material, volume, pages, etc.), or printing out an article directly from a computer database (such as Encarta or off the World Wide Web) and turning it in as your own work. Students must read, synthesize, and write their own original sentences; learn to paraphrase. Even when paraphrasing, a complete reference must be provided to the paraphrased sentences. NEVER steal words directly from any source and present them as your own.
Students are responsible for doing their own work, even if they "work together". If two papers are turned in that show great similarity such that the instructor interprets it as evidence of cheating or plagiarism, both will be penalized.
A report will be filed with the Campus Dean of Student Affairs for any alleged cheating or plagiarism incident. (See procedure in Georgia Perimeter College Catalog.) The case will be heard by the College Court. Penalties may include suspension or expulsion.
The faculty member is free to assign the grade he or she thinks is appropriate for the assignment or for the semester (regardless of any outcome from College Court).
Any student found by the instructor to have represented someone else's work as his/her own, will receive a zero for that quiz, exam, or assignment for the first offense. The second offense will result in the assignment of a grade of "F" for the course. (If several papers are turned in together or at the same time, and each contains evidence of cheating or plagiarism, they will be considered as separate offenses, and will result in immediate assignment of a grade of "F" for the course.) T his policy applies to cheating or plagiarism on extra credit work as well.
Cheating on an exam will jeopardize your grade; if you receive a zero on an exam it will be extremely difficult to receive a passing grade for the course.
STATEMENT OF NON-DISCRIMINATION
Georgia Perimeter College supports the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order #11246, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. No person shall, on the basis of age, race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or disability, be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of the college.
Any individual with a grievance related to the enforcement of any of the above provisions should contact the Assistant Director of Human Resources, Ombudsperson.
Lecture Schedule
The detailed lecture schedule, assignments, quizzes,
exams, and required readings are posted on the WebCT Calendar.
The following is a summary of what will be covered in this course:
FINAL EXAM COVERS ALL CHAPTERS
The schedule is tentative and may change.
All changes will be announced through the WebCT calendar, e-mail, or
Bulletin Board.
It is your responsibility to check your e-mail (personal e-mail, in addition to WebCT internal e-mail),
Bulletin Board, and Calendar or you may miss a quiz or homework assignment.
Page created by
Pamela J. W. Gore
May 5, 2000
Do Exercise 22, Metric Lab
Do Metric conversion exercises.
Do Exercise 3, Topographic Map Lab
Do Scale Conversion Exercises
Take Quiz on Topographic Maps and Metric conversions and Scale conversions
Do Exercise 1, The Study of Minerals
Take Online Quiz on Minerals
Do Exercise 2, Common Rocks
Take Online Quiz on Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks
Do Exercise 4, Shaping Earth's Surface
Take Quiz on Earth's External Processes
Do Lab 8, Earthquakes and the Earth's Interior
Take Quiz on Earth's Internal Processes
Do Exercise 6, Determining Geologic Ages
Take Quiz on Fossils and Geologic Time
Do Exercise 9, Introduction to Oceanography
Do Lab 11, Waves, Currents and Tides
Do Lab 10, The Dynamic Ocean Floor
Do Lab 14, Atmospheric Moisture, Pressure, and Wind
Do Lab 15, Air Masses, the Middle-Latitude Cyclones, and Weather Maps
Collect weather data for 2 weeks
Do Exercise 18, Patterns in the Solar System
Do Exercise 20, The Moon and Sun
Do Exercise 17, Astronomical Observations
Do Research project to find the history of the space program, and space technologies used in everyday life
Georgia Perimeter College
Updated May 22, 2001