NSCC Online Oceanography 100
Course Syllabus
By this time, you should have already read the Course Homepage and WebCT Homepage and taken a look at the Week-by-Week Schedule for due dates. This Syllabus lays out the basic ground rules for the course and provides brief descriptions of all of the elements of the class.
By staying registered in this course, you agree to abide by all of the rules and expectations provided by the instructor in this Syllabus and elsewhere on the course site, by the NSCC student conduct code, etc.
Topics covered in the Syllabus are:
Orientation: There will not be an on-campus orientation to the course. Instead, you are expected to read and understand all of the information posted in this Syllabus and throughout the course site, and ask clarifying questions on the course’s Discussion Boards.
- Textbook: We will rely on Introduction to Oceanography, CUSTOM 5th edition (2008) by Tom Garrison; ISBN: 0495840149. Specific readings will be assigned each week from the textbook.
- Course PowerPoints (PPTs): I will post PowerPoints (PPTs), in .pdf format, for each textbook chapter. These PPTs are required reading, too.
- Web Resources: Required or recommended web resources to supplement the textbook and course PPTs will be posted. In addition, please websurf for good websites, and let us know what you find.
- Video Resources: Please arrange to borrow or rent An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics) and Blue Planet: The Deep (BBC/Discovery Channel, 2003). I will put a copy of each on reserve at the NSCC library. They are also widely available through public libraries, Neflix, Blockbuster, etc.
- Reliable online access. Check our course site and your email at least once a day. You can use your own computer, or the computers on campus (in computer labs), at public libraries, etc. Have at least one “back-up plan”! Online problems are not an excuse for late assignments, so plan your life accordingly.
- Dictionary. Good writing is important. Coursework should be written well, proofread, and submitted in a neat, professional manner. Please check your spelling, grammar, and usage by hand (as well as using a spell-checker and grammar-checker) before submitting your assignments.
- Simple calculator. Homework Projects and Quizzes may involve simple calculations. You do not need a fancy calculator! Even a cell-phone calculator should suffice for our purposes.
- A few items that most people will have at home or are readily obtainable. Some of the Homework Projects will require sand, water, vegetable oil, salt, cotton balls, colored pencils, etc.
Due Dates: Check the Week-by-Week Schedule for the due date for each assignment. As NSCC is based in Seattle, Washington, all assignments will be due before midnight Seattle time. No late work is accepted without prior permission and for exceptional cause (with written documentation), so please work well ahead of the deadlines! Work with NSCC Distance Learning to resolve any technical issues. (They can be reached at distance@sccd.ctc.edu or 206-527-3738.)
Communication: Please use the Discussion Boards to interact with me and with your classmates. We will use MSN Messenger for “office hours” (free for PCs and for Macs; I’m there as Gwyneth-Jones@hotmail.com). If you need to talk with me privately, we can use WebCT Private Mail or MSN Messenger. If for some reason that is not possible, you may email me at gjones@sccd.ctc.edu; be sure the subject line includes: YOUR NAME, and OCEA100, and WHY YOU'RE WRITING.
Students with Special Needs: NSCC Disability Services provides academic accommodations for students with a documented, permanent or temporary physical, mental, or sensory disability. By providing reasonable academic adjustments based on an individual's need for services, Disability Services assists students in pursuit of their academic goals. The law states that a student may present documentation anytime and the college must make a good faith effort to accommodate. The Disability Services office is in Room CC 2346A (206-527-3697 or TTY 206-526-0079; ds@sccd.ctc.edu; http://www.northseattle.edu/services/disability). If you're not sure whether you might qualify for course accommodations, please feel free to contact Disabiity Services or me. To quote one of my former students: "I am very open about having a learning disability. I learned long ago that being ashamed of it means that that cycle will continue, which causes children to feel that there is something wrong with it. Just like any challenge, the individual has to decide if they want to fight for what they want or fall down in defeat. I learned late in life that I would rather fight than fall. {smile}"
Respect for Students and Your Instructor: One of the problems of online interactions is that people sometimes lose perspective. By this I mean that we may forget there is a living, breathing person at the other end of our online comments. We may type things that we would not repeat in a face-to-face situation. Therefore, I implore you to be kind to others and treat your fellow students — and me — with respect. I reserve the right to limit your access to the online Discussion Boards and other parts of the course site (which would negatively impact your grade) if I deem it necessary. I may also report incidents to the NSCC Dean or VP.
Integrity Policy: I expect all students to act with integrity. I believe that most people are honest. Please don't violate that trust by cheating, lying, or blaming (believe me, I've seen it all). Cheating is stealing. Much cheating and plagiarism is unintentional, but as the saying goes, “ignorance of the law is no defense”. If you cheat*, or aid someone else in cheating, the following actions will be taken:
1. You will receive a grade of "0" on the work where the cheating occurred. This grade cannot be dropped.
2. A report of the incident will be sent to the Dean or VP. He or she may file the report in your permanent record or take further disciplinary action such as suspension or expulsion from the college. If you feel you have been unfairly accused of cheating, you may appeal.
*Cheating includes, but is not limited to: Providing or copying answers on tests, homework, or other assignments; looking at others’ tests; swapping papers; stealing, plagiarizing, or illicitly giving or receiving help on any assignment. You must each do all of your own work, and cite all of your sources. For more information on plagiarism, go to the NSCC Loft Writing Center (http://www.northseattle.edu/services/loft).
Figuring Your Grade: Your grade will be made up of weekly Q&As, quizzes, homework projects, and a few other assignments. The breakdown is as follows...
Question & Answer "Q&As": 30% Quizzes 30% Homework Projects: 30% Other Assignments & Participation: 10% Total: 100% If you're not sure why you got a particular grade on an assignment, it is your responsibility to first try to figure out why: Review the assignment instructions; Check other students' Discussion Board posts (if applicable); Reread your submission with a fresh eye, in terms of both content and style.
The NSCC Grade Scale: Assignment of grades will be based on the following published NSCC grade scale...
4.0 - 3.5 A/A- 90-100% 3.4 - 2.9 B+/B 80-89.9% 2.8 - 2.2 B-/C+ 70-79.9% 2.1 - 1.5 C/C- 60-69.9% 1.4 - 0.9 D+/D 50-59.9% 0.8 - 0.0 D-/F Below 50%
Question & Answer “Q&As” (30%): To help you understand and synthesize the week’s readings, and to expand on those readings, you will do a 2-part Q&A assignment each week. In the first part, you will summarize the readings and pose at least 4 questions that cannot be answered in the readings. In the second part, you will answer one of the questions posed by one of your classmates. You will post and reply in the designated Discussion Boards (in the Communication Tools section of the course site).
Quizzes (30%): I will give you a multiple-choice quiz each week. The quizzes will be based on information from required readings (textbook, course PPTs, web and video resources, etc.). You will have a time limit and a due date for each quiz. Each quiz, located in the Assessment Tools section of the course site, can be opened only once, so study well before launching your quiz, and pace yourself during it.
Homework Projects (30%): The weekly homework projects will give you the opportunity to deepen your understanding of the week’s topic. These projects will be submitted like the quizzes (in the Assessment Tools section of the course site).
Other Assignments & Participation (10%): A few other assignments will be given during the quarter. (For example, a 2-part Student Biography is due during the first week.)
Extra Credit: Please focus on learning the required material — It "pays off" more than doing lots of extra credit late in the quarter. However, I have found that interacting actively with the reading material and applying it to “the real world” is a key study habit for successful students. I am open to the idea of your going on an additional field trip, doing a “marine movie review”, or writing a detailed summary and analysis of an ocean-related lecture or program. I generally also give extra credit a few times during the quarter for calculating your course grade, posting specific items, etc (details to be posted on the Discussion Boards). If other opportunities arise, I may offer extra credit for participating and presenting a summary and analysis. The maximum extra credit you may receive for the course is 3% — This is uncommonly generous, so exceptions will not be granted. I do not allow any other type of extra credit, nor any make-up options for missed or deficient work. All extra credit work must be completed by the end (Saturday) of Week 9.
Have a great quarter!!!
The page was updated on 9/3/09.
North Seattle Community College is a member of the Seattle Community College District.