Welcome

Welcome to online education at Cuesta College and the online version of GEOL 210L—Physical Geology (CRN: 30820) for Spring 2021! This letter is to inform you of important details prior to the beginning of this online class. The full syllabus will be available in the first week of classes. Please read the contents of this letter carefully.

Introduction

My name is Jennifer Shellhorn, your instructor for this course. If you need to correspond with me before, during, and/or after the semester, the best way to reach me is by emailing jennifer_shellhorn@cuesta.edu. Note that our class does not start prior to January 19^th, 2021, but I will make our course available for student access on January 16^th, 2021 via Canvas, the campus Learning Management System (LMS). If you’re new to the Canvas LMS, Cuesta College has provided students a quick access guide to CanvasLinks to an external site. Anticipate effective contact between you and myself twice weekly, including weekly lab interactions and assignment feedback.

Course Description

Physical Geology is an introductory course that focuses on Earth’s materials and processes. My hope for you is that you will have a more informed understanding of how our planet, Earth, functions by the end of the semester. You will understand both the internal and external processes that created the majestic landscapes of Earth from peaks to valleys and everything in between. You’ll understand just how long these landforms can take to be made and how earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides can change these landforms in an instant.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Explain the scientific method and the doctrine of uniformity (actualism) and how geologists measure geologic time and the age of the Earth, minerals, rocks, and geologic events.
• Demonstrate an understanding of plate tectonic theory, and the formation and evolution of minerals, rocks, landforms, and the Earth’s interior.
• Explain the origin, measurement, and distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes, and the geophysical methods used to study the Earth’s interior.

Required Meetings

To help us better understand Earth’s materials and processes, this course also has an online laboratory component. There are no synchronous lab meetings for this course. You will, however, be required to visit campus twice during the semester for a sample kit reception and subsequent sample kit return. The days and times for sample kit pick-up and return will be determined at a later date. If you have restrictions that would inhibit you from receiving and/or returning the sample kit, contact me before the end of the first week to discuss the situation.

Additionally, note that all lab activity deadlines will be constrained to Fridays at 11:59 pm PST, pre-lab readings and quizzes will be on Wednesdays at 11:59 pm PST, due dates for lecture activities including SmartBook assignments and instructional videos will be constrained to Wednesdays and/or Sundays at 11:59 pm PST, and both lecture and/or laboratory exam dates will only be for 24-hour windows beginning on Fridays and closing on Saturdays.

Course Materials

Lecture Materials

The textbook utilized in our course is an electronic textbook with integrated SmartBook technology via McGraw-Hill Connect. Your enrollment in this course automatically purchases access to Physical Geology, Plummer, Carson, and Hammersley; McGraw-Hill 16^th edition. On the first day of the semester, access the Navigation Panel in our course (GEOL 210) Canvas shell, select Course Materials (First Day Access), and finish any required setup. If you drop this course on or before the course drop date, January 31^st, you will receive a refund for this access, otherwise, you will be charged directly by the Bursar’s Office.

Lab Materials

There is no lab manual requirement. Your labs will be provided to you digitally, but they do require you have reliable access to technology that will allow you to write/draw by hand and submit a digital copy. The remainder of your laboratory materials will be kits provided to you. These kits are loans and are required to be returned by the end of the semester.

Additionally, you will need a ruler with both Imperial (inches) and Metric (centimeter) scales, access to a calculator (physical or web-based) with basic calculating functions plus exponential functions, a protractor, and colored pencils.

Technological Materials

You will need to be able to open and edit documents. Course materials will be provided to you digitally, as such, they require you have reliable access to technology that will allow you to open the documents. There are numerous questions in labs and assessments that require you to annotate and/or draw by hand and submit a digital copy—this could be completed by printing the document, drawing by hand, and utilizing a free scanning app like Adobe Scan, or a device where you can open the file in Microsoft OneNote and save the image; any way works for you! Cuesta College has provided a resource with the computer requirements for online education students.

While I cannot require you to use a computer in this course, multiple programs we will utilize in lectures and in the lab will work best on a computer, instead of a tablet or smartphone. If you do not have reliable access to a computer, consider checking out a Chromebook from the Cuesta College LibraryLinks to an external site.

We will utilize Google Earth in this course. Most assignments or activities that utilize Google Earth will be designed to be completed using the free Google EarthLinks to an external site. app. You are expected to download and install this program on your device. If you are unable or uncomfortable installing this app, check out a Chromebook from the Cuesta College LibraryLinks to an external site. that has been pre-installed with Google Earth Pro. If neither of these options is accessible to you, reach out to your instructor a minimum of 48-hours prior to the assignment due date so we can make other arrangements.

Additionally, there will be numerous videos recorded and embedded throughout our educational content. Be sure you have the means to watch these videos.

Suggested Materials

Geology uses a considerable amount of discipline-related terms students may not have heard of before. Thus, I suggest considering buying or renting the Dictionary of Technical Terms from the Cuesta College Bookstore, or externally if available (ISBN: 9780385181013) for the semester, though the dictionary is not required.

Student Readiness

Enrollment in GEOL 210L does not have any prerequisites, however, there is an advisory for MATH 123—we will be using basic algebra including, but not limited to, simple computations, fractions, and dimensional analysis.

This course is intensive in a face-to-face format and thus, it is intensive in an online learning environment which requires considerable self-discipline. You should anticipate spending ±15 hours a week on this course including three hours of lab, lecture instruction, homework, assignments, studying, and/or assessments. I suggest you should consider whether you are a good candidate for online learning by reviewing the informal online education readiness assessment provided by Cuesta College to determine if online education is for you. Please assess honestly, I would love for you to be enrolled in my course, but I want you to be prepared to meet my expectations.

Add/Drop Policy

Drop Policy

Students are required to complete both the Orientation Module and the first-course content module, Introduction to Physical Geology, by the end of the first week of classes (January 24^th, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. PST) to keep their seat in the course. Otherwise, the instructor will drop the student. 

As the semester progresses, you are expected to maintain an ongoing online presence in our course by participating in course-related activities. If you are not maintaining a weekly presence, you can be dropped from the course. Additionally, if three or more labs are missed, it is the equivalent of missing nine lab hours and the student may be dropped from the course. Students must pass lab with a score greater than 59%; a grade of 59% or lower indicates the student has not met the lab requirements of the course.

Waitlist/Add Policy

If you are a student on the course waitlist, you must meet the same requirements as outlined in the first paragraph of the Drop Policy to receive an official add code. If you are on the waitlist I will manually add you to the Canvas course page so you may meet these requirements, if you are not on the waitlist you must email me with your credentials so I may add you to the Canvas page.

Be advised there are limited lab kits, and as such, I am limited to 32 students maximum in the course. Add codes will be provided in order (one to five) from students on the waitlist and then any students not on the waitlist with interest in adding the course. All students interested in adding the course must meet the requirements outlined in the first paragraph of the Drop Policy or they will not be considered for an add code. It is the responsibility of the student to complete the course adding process once administered an add code by the instructor.

Additional Policies and Resources

Academic Honesty and Student Conduct

Neither acts of cheating, plagiarism, and/or collusion, nor hateful or discriminatory behavior and/or language towards any backgrounds whether they are represented by the student or faculty population in the course will be tolerated as they are in violation of the Cuesta College Student Code of Conduct. Violations may result in but are not limited to a warning, automatic failure of the related assignment or the course, censure, or dismissal from the college. Academic honesty applies to online education, not just face-to-face learning! Additional student judicial and student conduct resources are available for you to understand your rights as a student.

Student Accommodations

This course has been designed to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act by meeting the minimum requirements. If further accommodations are needed, it is your responsibility to me so I can prepare accordingly. This statement is incredibly important regarding labs that are highly visible and require hands-on activities.

If this applies to you and you have not filed for accommodations with Cuesta College’s Disabled Students Programs and Services but think you may need accommodations or are unsure if you may need accommodations, contact DSPS via email or via phone at (805) 546-3148.