GS001 - Principles of Geology

Lecture: Attendance is essential for achieving good grades in this course. You can read all the books and references and figure things out by yourself; you can hire private tutors to help you; or you can come to the class to have your FREE tutor (that's me, not really free but you don't pay extra) working with you. Besides, most exam questions are based on material discussed in the class.

Office Hours are intended to help you with questions related to materials covered in the lectures. They are not for making up for the missed classes. Please feel free to see me, but please be prepared.

Laboratory: Because there are several lab instructors, each with his/her own pedagogical style, we will reduce the discrepancy by sliding the average of each lab instructor's final group of scores to 75% of the total points possible. This might result in some curving upward or downward. Your lab session assignment cannot be changed without a compelling reason.

Exams and grade distribution: We will have one mid-term and one comprehensive final exam. Score distribution:

Lab 25%

Mid-term 30%

Final 45%

Total 100%

Exam Dates:

Midterm: Oct. 5 (Friday), 10:00-10:50 a.m., class room

Final: Dec. 11 (Tuesday), 8:00 - 10:00 a.m., class room

I'll provide a copy of an old exam one week before the exams to help you get familiar with the style and type of questions. All lecture exams will be in the form of multiple choices and will be scored by scanning machines. If you wish to look over one of your lecture exams, you must see me during my office hours (or by appointment) within two weeks following that exam.

Make-up lecture exams and make-up lab quizzes: Let’s hope you don’t have to do that! To be entitled to take a make-up exam you should get my approval BEFORE the exam begins and be prepared to document your illness or grave family situation. That you overslept or your clock failed to alarm is NOT acceptable excuses for missing the tests. The same policy applies to lab quizzes - in this case inform your lab instructor in advance. A single make-up exam for missed lecture exams, which is comprehensive and NOT easier than the normal exams, may be offered near the end of the semester. Please confer with you lab instructor about make-up tests for missed lab quizzes.

Course grading: For a large class, there will always be someone who needs only one more point to receive the next higher letter grade. But the only way to get that extra point is to earn it the old fashioned way. In fairness to your classmates, please do NOT ask for points to be added to your final score except in cases of arithmetical error(s). Letter grades will be in accordance with the following distribution of percentages of points possible: Lower limits (inclusive) of letter-grade ranges A+ through D-

(A+: 97%) (A: 93%) (A-: 90%)

(B+: 87%) (B: 83%) (B-: 80%)

(C+: 77%) (C: 73%) (C-: 70%)

(D+: 67%) (D: 63%) (D-: 60%)

(F: Less than 60%)

Important deadlines: Last day to register, add or change sections: Aug 27; Last day to drop course without a grade: September 24; Last day to withdraw from a course: October 29.Note: If you withdraw after 9/24 (but before 10/29), you will receive a grade W or F based on your accumulated grades at the time of withdrawing. The university policy says that "A student who withdraw from a course after the five-week period receives a grade of W if making a grade of D- or above in the course. If the grade is F, a grade of F is recorded and is counted as an F in the term grade point average.” (UMC Undergraduate Catalog, p. 25).

Accommodation of students with disabilities: Students who have special conditions as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and who need any test or course materials to be furnished in an alternative format, should notify the instructor immediately. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of these students. Such students should also register with the Access Office for Students with Disabilities, A038 Brady Commons, Voice (573) 882-4696; TTY(573) 882-8054.

MU policy on academic honesty: Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of our university. Members of our academic community must be confident that every student's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort on the part of a student to gain an advantage not given to all students (including the asking of an instructor to arbitrarily change a grade) is viewed as dishonest, whether or not that effort is successful. Our academic community regards academic dishonesty as an extremely serious matter, with serious consequences that range from probation, to suspension, to expulsion. If you are ever in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult your course instructor.