Spring 2008 Syllabus
Geology 110: Natural Disasters
Lecture: Tuesday, Thursday 9:20-10:35
Location: 103 Darwin Hall
My Office: 124 Darwin
My Phone 664-2854 (Note that I rarely check the phone)
My e-mail karner@sonoma.edu (best way to contact me)
Office Hours: T: 11:00-12:00 and 1:00-2:00; Th 11:00-12:00
Text
Natural Hazards: Earth’s Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes (2005) by Keller and Blodgett, Pearson Prentice Hall Publishing. One copy is placed on reserve in the library. This is a relatively new textbook for this class; its contents cover disasters through the start of 2005.
I have set up a website for all my classes. This can be found at: http://www.sonoma.edu/users/k/karner
Once at this website, you can click on the hyperlink to Geology 110. In there you will find my personal lecture notes and PowerPoint slides used for each lecture. I will post these within a few days before or possibly following each lecture, so that if you miss a lecture, you will be able to review the content there. (Note that I some times post these after the lecture because I am constantly updating my lecture materials; I usually update each lecture until the day I give it). About a week before each midterm, I also will post on the website a review sheet of the topics that I will use to construct all of your midterm questions (contrary to what some students say, I double check to make sure all the exam questions are in this study list). Additionally, I will post any important announcements on the website, if any arise. If I fall behind in updating the lectures, please send me a friendly reminder by email.
I strongly encourage you to interact with me by e-mail or by coming to my office hours. If the office hours don't suit your schedule, please contact me and we'll arrange an appointment. With respect to email, I do not care too much if your writing is a bit sloppy; I am more interested in reading what you have to say. However, when it comes time to write essays on exams, I will need you to switch into "professional mode" and pretend that you are writing to your boss.
Course description and objectives
This course provides an overview of natural hazards as seen through the eyes of an objective, cold-hearted scientist (i.e. me). I want you to understand the causes of natural hazards so that you can assess your environment throughout your life. Natural Disasters occur with great enough frequency that we'll be able to use present-day examples during the semester. Consequently, I may introduce materials from outside sources in order to expand on the coverage in the text, and if really unusual events occur, I may stray away from the syllabus in order to cover them.
Hazards can be attributed to the three principle forces that battle it out where we live: the expulsion of Earth’s internal heat (responsible for volcanoes, plate tectonics, and earthquakes), external heat from the Sun (responsible for weather and climate), and gravity (responsible for things “falling” down. I will try to divide the course into three sections that concentrate on hazards associated with each of these controlling forces. I will brief you on other areas of geology and earth science that will help you to understand how and why these processes occur.
Study guides
I will post a study guide on my website approximately a week before each midterm. The study guide will consist of the major points that I have covered during each lecture. You should understand these study items thoroughly; some will be chosen for essay questions, in which case I will expect a thorough answer for full credit.
Examinations
We'll have tests on each of these three sections separately, but there will be a little overlap, since we are trying to get a picture of how the world works, and some hazards are affected by more than one force (for instance, landslides occur some times when there is unusually high rainfall, in which case they are the consequence of gravity and weather).
Examinations will consist of a combination of multiple choice questions, True-False questions, and essays. I make these up the night before the exam, so it is uncertain how many questions I will ask (roughly 50). I will grade your essays based on your scientific reasoning and on your writing as well (grammar, punctuation and spelling of non-scientific words will count!). I do the latter not to be mean, but because communication is one of the most important tools that you should learn in college, and unfortunately, few professors take the time to help you learn to write well. I will expect your midterm essays to be written clearly and concisely, and with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. To obtain full credit on the essays, you should introduce a topic sentence, followed by three to six support sentences that show you know the material. Note that a topic sentence that just repeats the question is unnecessary (and finishing your essay with a summary sentence that repeats your topic sentence also is unnecessary)! If your essay does not receive full credit, then you will have the opportunity to resubmit it after revision (see Extra Credit below).
Extra Credit- redrafting your midterm exam essays
I feel very strongly that you learn how to write well. However, I recognize that many of you may have received little feedback from your professors about how to do it. It does take a lot of time! I'm going to devote my time to giving you feedback to improve your writing. I will line edit your first two midterm essays and return them to you so that you have some idea how to improve your writing. If you take the time to redraft your essay using a word processor, fixing the grammar, spelling, punctuation AND fixing the content so that you fully address the question, and submit it to me along with your original, I will review your resubmission and if it is free of typos, increase your score up to full credit. I will give you one week following the day I return your exams to submit your revisions.
I will not line edit your final exam essays, for logistical reasons.
Grades
3 midterms = 100% of grade. I could make all these of equal weight, but what would be the fun in that? I don't want you to think that bombing one test will ruin your grade. Rather, if that were to happen, I would want you to keep on working to improve your grade. How can I encourage this? By weighting your top test score heavier, and your lowest one lighter. So here it is:
Top midterm score = 45% of your final score
Middle midterm score = 30% of your final score
Lowest midterm score = 25% of your final score
Final letter grade for the class will be based on the percentage of your overall score for the class. I will use the following score chart:
<55% = F
55-60% = D
60-65% = C-
65-70% = C
70-74% = C+
74-77% = B-
77-80% = B
80-82% = B+
82-85% = A-
>85% = A
Note that if you are part of an outstanding class, then I will give a large number of A’s and B’s in that class. I do not have a pre-set number of each grade to hand out. Note that I will not hesitate to assign the dreaded "F" grade to students who earn them. How do you earn an "F"? Don't come to class. Miss an exam without an excuse (see grading policy below). So far, the only people who have flunked my class have missed an exam, and done very poorly on another one.
Policy regarding missed exams
It's tough being a student, and it's also tough being a professor. None of us like to give students bad grades, and none of us want you to do poorly in the class. Nonetheless, some of you will earn a grade with which you will be unhappy. I try to be as fair as I possibly can to students in my class. I do so by setting up rigid standards regarding how your grades are determined. If you all take the exam at the same time and under the same conditions, then I can be confident that your individual performances can be compared accurately to those of your peers. If you try to take it at a different time, then you've changed the arrangement, and you could quite possibly be putting your peers at a disadvantage, unless I gave them all equal opportunity to do the same. To cut to the chase, with 125 students in this class, I won't do that.
There are three exams. If you miss an exam, then you will be allowed to make it up IF you have satisfied one of the following conditions:
1) you have cleared the absence with me beforehand (and note that I will only accept a reasonable explanation- personal choices (e.g. vacations, visiting family) are not a reasonable excuse to miss class. University- related travel for sports would be an acceptable excuse. If you are unsure whether you might be making a personal choice that I won't agree with, then check with me first to make sure that we are on the same page about this).
or
2) you provide me with a doctor's note that states that you were unable to attend class because of illness (note that I will expect you to contact me anyway if you are going to miss class with a medical excuse)
or
3) you have some very compelling other reason (e.g. your car breaks down, in which case reasonable proof would be a repair bill or towing receipt).
If you do not provide me with unequivocal proof to back up your excuse, then I will not excuse you, and your score will be a 0 for that exam. IF you end up with a 0 for your lowest score, but do well on the other midterms, you can still pass the class.
Here are some excuses that have been used in the past, and for which I will not make an accommodation:
I slept through class by accident; I had to move, help a friend, work, go on vacation, leave town early for a holiday because my plane ticket couldn't be refunded; my parents arranged for me to go on vacation with them and so I have to go at this time; I could not get back to town because of some travel difficulty; I felt ill and didn't feel up to coming to class.
Summary: I expect you to respect your education. While the university is in session, I will expect this to be your highest priority.