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Instructor: Steve Macias |
E-mail: smacias@oc.ctc.edu |
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Office: ST-119 |
Phone: 475-7711 |
Course
Objective:
Geology 155 is a study of the main geologic hazards that affect society by
causing economic damage and loss of life.
Upon
successful completion of the course, a student will understand the hazards
associated with earthquakes, tsunami, volcanism, floods, mass movement, and
coastal areas. Case studies are
used as examples, allowing students to recognize which geologic hazards are most common in
various regions throughout the world.
Also, students will learn what steps can be taken to minimize potential
risks from these hazards.
Student
Workload and Course Structure: Students should expect to spend about 15
hours per week on class work. This
includes time spent reading from the text and time spent online. Course work will be posted on a weekly basis
on Mondays at 12:00 a.m. in the Assignments area on Blackboard. Students should check this area every Monday
to see what the assignments will be for the upcoming week and the due dates for
those assignments. Students should have
Internet access, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint to complete the
course.
Group
Work: In
addition to individual work, students will work in Groups on three PowerPoint
assignments throughout the quarter.
Group members can communicate to one another via the Communication/Group
Pages area. In this area students can
send e-mail and files to group members, as well as communicate via a Group
Discussion Board. Students need to
determine how work will be divided within Groups. Students will stay in the same Groups
throughout the quarter. Students who do
not contribute at all to the Group will not receive credit for the assignment,
so it is imperative that you check the Assignments area every Monday to see if
you have Group work assigned. It is your
instructor’s wish that students will share equally in the workload throughout
the quarter. If students do not
communicate with Group members by the end of Wednesday in some way (either
e-mail or on their Group’s Discussion Board), their Group should continue
without them and they will not receive credit for the assignment. Groups may change periodically throughout the
quarter.
Discussion
Board: General questions about course content and
assignments should be posted on the Discussion Board. This is very helpful because many students often
have the same question about an assignment or topic and it can then be answered
once on the Discussion Board instead of numerous times over e-mail. Your instructor will answer questions from
the Discussion Board within 48 hours unless otherwise noted. In addition to the General Discussion Board,
there will be other Discussion Board threads for certain assignments and a
Group Discussion Board for each student Group.
You are must check the Discussion Board frequently to keep abreast of
course questions and student comments.
Microsoft
PowerPoint and Word: Access to Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft
Word are necessary to complete assignments for the course. It is not necessary that students be experts
using this software, though they should be able to edit Word documents and
create new PowerPoint slides that include images and text. This is fairly simple if you have any
background using Microsoft products.
E-mail: If you have
questions you do not wish to address to the entire class, feel free to contact
me via e-mail. I will
attempt to respond to all e-mails within 48 hours unless otherwise noted.
Credit:
Geology 155 is a 5.0 credit Natural Science class that DOES NOT fulfill a
Natural Science Laboratory requirement.
Text:
Natural Disasters, 6th edition, 2008, Abbott, P. L.
Grades:
Final course grades will be based on the percentage of points scored by the
student throughout the quarter. The
formula for final grades is as follows:
Grade
= [final percentage - 0.55] * 10
(example: an 88% would be [0.88 - 0.55] * 10 = 3.3 )
Student Accommodations: Any student who feels
s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability
should contact the Office of Access Services in Humanities 114, or call
475-7540 for information or an appointment.
Missed Assignments: No make-up exams or
assignments will be given without prior approval. Unexcused exam absences
and
assignments are recorded as zeros.
Reserve Clause: The instructor reserves the right to modify the
course requirements, assignments, topics, grading
procedures, and other related policies as circumstances may dictate.