Texts

• After many years of relying on a textbook by Klein (Manual of Mineralogy), we have recently switched to a new text, by Nesse: Introduction to Mineralogy. This change is because the content of the course is changing to include basic petrographic techniques, which are not covered at all in Klein. While I realize that this is a bit of a financial burden for some, as there will be fewer used texts, the benefits of this new text for you outweigh the difficulties. Also, for those of you going on to take Advanced Petrography, Geo 407, this text will likely suffice for that course as well.
• We will use the text extensively - bring it to lecture and lab.

Online resources

This document is available online, as are many others revelant to the course (listed below, in part). You can get to the course's home page by a number of routes, the easiest of which is probably http://www.davehirsch.com. The page is also linked from the "Courses Online" section of the Geology Department's site (http://geology.wwu.edu), and also from the (largely empty) BlackBoard site, available to students registered in the course through MyWestern.

• The tentative schedule of labs and lectures is available.
• The web contains superb resources for this course and for general earth science. Check out these links and others.
• I have posted an anonymous comments form. In this way you can give me feedback on my teaching. If you don't want to fill out the whole survey, you can just skip to the end of the form and write a comment in the space provided.
• You can check your course scores online, interactively! This is a new facility that I just finished developing, so let me know if there are bugs.

Email

I must be able to contact you through email. You can make this happen in one of three ways:

1. Use your WWU email address on a regular basis. For those of you who require web access, there is a web email interface that is part of MyWestern. However, I realize that many of you prefer to stick with your old email addresses, or just don't like the MyWestern email.
2. Forward your non-WWU email to your WWU email account. This will re-send all email received at your current address instantly and automatically to your WWU email address. You will need to check with your current email provider to see how to do this; not all providers will allow it.
3. Forward your WWU email to your current email account. This will probably be the best option for most of you. There is an easy way to do this, in the email section of MyWestern. I've made a brief guide to help you with this.

I have learned over the past few years that many of you will not do this voluntarily. In order to force you to comply with this, I will be sending out some quizzes over email.

Lab

• Exercises - Your Lab assignments are due at the beginning of the following lab period without penalty. Because labs are for learning, not evaluation, they will be graded primarily on completeness; complete labs will be graded on a Check plus (11 pts), or Check (10 pts), or Check minus (9 pts) basis. Incomplete labs will be graded according to the amount completed. Assignments handed-in after the beginning of the next lab are late. They may be turned in up to one week late for a grade reduction of one mark. No credit will be given for labs turned in later than one week after due.
• Exam - There will be a lab practical exam during the final lab session, which will focus on techniques covered in the lab sessions.
• You will need a hand lens for all labs (10x or 12x magnification is best, 18x or 20x is too much). These (10x) can be obtained cheaply at the WWU Bookstore. Also, there are numerous Geological Supply catalogs that carry excellent hand lenses - ask me.

Assignments

Your turned-in work, aside from the Midterm and Final exams will include the following:

• Term paper
• Labs
• Homeworks
• Quizzes

Field Trip

Depending on the weather, we may have an optional one-day field trip to a couple of local mineral collecting spots. This trip may include an opportunity for extra credit points - more info later.

Grades

• 25% of the grade will be based on in-class evaluations.

This portion of the grade is calculated from the results of one midterm exam (closed book), worth 150 points, and also of some very short quizzes in lecture and labs (collectively worth 100 points). The midterm date is listed below; attendance at the midterm exam is required. In general, a missed exam will be cause for a grade of 0, unless an acceptable medical excuse is is presented, or a leave of absence from the Office of Student Life. In general, make-up exams will not be given. The short quizzes mentioned above may not be announced in advance, and they cannot be made up if missed (although the lowest one or two will be dropped).

• 40% of the grade will be based on the final exams.

This portion of the grade is calculated from the results of the lecture and lab final exams - each is worth 200 points. The lecture final will be held as scheduled by the registrar (date listed below). It will be comprehensive and closed-book, and it will cover primarily lecture material. There will also be a lab practical exam, held during the last lab session, during the normal lab time (date listed below). It will focus on lab topics, and emphasize mineral identification in hand specimen and thin section and other techniques covered in lab.

• 35% of the grade will be based on non-exam work.

This portion of the grade is calculated from your laboratory work (150 pts.) and any course homework (75 pts.) and the term paper (125 pts.).

• The grades will be curved.

Based on the above distribution, the maximum number of points possible will be (1000). The curve will be calculated and grades assigned in the following manner:

• First a point corresponding to the top of the curve will be obtained from the average of (1)the maximum possible points and (2) the maximum points achieved by any member of the course. [Example: If the highest score achieved is 850, then the point obtained is (1000 + 850)/2 = 925.]
• Each student will be assigned a percentage score obtained by dividing their points by the top-of-the-curve value calculated above. These will be rounded to the nearest 0.1% (so 79.94% = 79.9%, not 80.0%). [Example, continued: If your raw score was 800, then your curved percentage is (800/925) = 86.5%.]
• Finally, letter grades will be assigned by reference to these percentages. Although the cutoffs for each letter grade will not be assigned until the end of the course, they will be no harsher than the list below. [Example continued: If your curved score is 86.5%, then the lowest grade you could get is a B, but you could get any higher grade as well).

Prerequisites

• Grade of C- or better in Geo 211
• Grade of C- or better in Chem 121
• Grade of C- or better in Chem 122

Important Dates

• Exams
  • Midterm exam - Monday, February 10
  • Lab practical exam - Tuesday, December 2
  • Course final - Monday, December 8, 8:00 - 10:00 am
• University deadlines
  • First day that drop privilege is required in order to drop - Monday, October 6
  • University regulations allow a drop without incurring a "W" on or before Tuesday, September 30
  • Last day for late course withdrawal is Friday, November 7

Other Important Notes

• Group work
  • There will be a number of occassions for group work, and group activities. Furthermore, I encourage you to form study groups, discuss questions about the material, and quiz each other on lab and lecture topics. There may even be some group assignments, where a group grade is assigned for work completed. However, you must do your own work on exams and on most assignments. If it is ever unclear what collaboration is acceptable on an assignment, ask your professor!
  • Anyone caught cheating on an exam or turning in work that is not his or her own will be dealt with in accordance with the General Catalog's Appendix D - Academic Dishonesty Policy and Procedure. If you're not familiar with this section, you may want to review it.
• Special exam conditions
  • If you have a condition verified by the Office of Student Life that requires non-standard exam conditions, you must notify me at least one week before the exam in question. I would prefer notification as soon as possible, preferably within the first two weeks of class.