Texts

• We will be using the 1st edition of "Introduction to Mineralogy", by William Nesse, but other texts will be very useful as well, and will be kept in the classroom. These include "Introduction to Optical Mineralogy" (Nesse), and "An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals" (Deer, Howie, and Zussman)
• We will use the text extensively - bring it to every class meeting.

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 content 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

Labs and lecture will not be very separate. Near the beginning of the course, class time will be mostly lecture as we learn the theory behind the microscope. As we progress, there will be more time spent on lab exercises.

• Exercises - Your Lab assignments are due at the beginning of the following lab period without penalty. 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 may need a hand lens for some labs(10x magnification is best), when there are hard specimens to accompany the thin sections. These can be obtained cheaply at the WWU Bookstore. Also, there are numerous Geological Supply catalogs that carry excellent hand lenses - ask me.
• Students in the past have found colored pencils useful in lab. I strongly recommend Colorase (sp?) which are erasable and not as waxy as most other types - they are usefull for field geology as well!

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 200 points, and also of some very short quizzes (collectively worth 50 points). The full-period exam dates are listed below; attendance at these exams 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, and your grade for an excused absence on a full-period exam will be calculated as the average of your final exam and the full-period exam you do take. The short quizzes mentioned above may not be announced in advance, and they cannot be made up if missed (although the lowest 10% of them 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 (note that lab meeting times are not taken into consideration when figureing out final exam slots). 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. It will focus on lab topics, and emphasize mineral identification and other techniques covered in lab.

• 30% 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 and projects (150 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.
• 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%)
• 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 greater than the following:

Prerequisites

• Grade of C- or better in Geo 306

Important Dates

• Exams
  • Midterm exam - Thursday, February 6
  • Lab practical exam - Thursday, March 13
  • Course final - Tuesday, March 18
• University deadlines
  • University regulations allow a drop without incurring a "W" on or before Monday, January 14.
  • Last day for late course withdrawal is Friday, February 22

Other Important Notes

• Group work
  • There may be some 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.