INSTRUCTOR:         Donald E. Hallinger
OFFICE:                    Office A in Physical Sciences Building
TELEPHONE:           On campus 2663 – Off campus (626) 791-4768
E-MAIL:                    dhallinger@sbcglobal.net or dhallinger@cerritos.edu
OFFICE HOURS:      MW 3:30 to 4:30 PM and T 12:30 to 1:30 PM

Many of you will have the overriding objective of obtaining a passing grade that will advance your goal of a degree or transfer. This is a most acceptable objective.

On the other hand, both I and our school have several objectives for you.

Our School and Society have several objects for you as well.

I will have four Exams. They are listed on the schedule and are roughly at equal points during the semester. I have tried to group some topics as they make a logical grouping for an Exam. My Exams contain true/false, multiple choice and matching questions as well as some thought problems. For the later, I usually start with some easy fill-in-the-blank questions, followed by questions requiring short statements or paragraph answers. Sketches or labeling diagrams can also be a part of this type problem. You will NOT be graded on your artistic ability. I only ask that you make them legible.

Each of the Exams will concentrate on the material covered in lecture since the last Exam. Note that I said lecture. I will be presenting some material that is not in your textbook. I will be giving handouts and you will be held responsible for that material. I may however, have some questions from the subject matter covered by the prior exam. For instance, if the majority of students miss questions on a topic, we will go over that material again and you will see it or some version of it on the next Exam. Plate Tectonics is very important so you will see that one every Exam after it has been covered.

Study guides for each Exam will be posted on my web page. They will highlight the material that I think is important. Exam questions will be drawn from the study guide. Because of time constraints, however, not everything on the study guide will appear on the Exam. Time permitting I will offer some review on the last class before the Exam. By this I mean I will answer your questions. I will not just repeat my lectures. I will also offer an opportunity for questions prior to the Exam itself.

During the next class period following the Exam I will go over the questions with you.

I will allow you to have one 8 ½ by 11 inch sheet of paper on your desk during the Exam. You may put on this paper whatever you wish and on both sides. This is your Cheat Sheet.

There will be 10 quizzes. Their total score will count as one Exam grade. The quizzes will be drawn from the Key Terms found in each chapter. Typically these are the words that appear in bold print in the chapter. I will provide a list of key words on my web page for each chapter/handout quiz. The quizzes will be given at the beginning of the class and will be on the announced topic to be discussed that day. By doing these in advance of the discussion I am attempting to encourage you to read ahead so that you have some familiarity with these technical terms before I start using them in class.

Cheating of any sort, on any Exam or assignment, will be reported to the Office of Student Affairs and the student will receive a zero points for that Exam or any assignment. If it is an Exam the zero points will count and you will not be allowed to drop that Exam grade. There is no reason to cheat. I have set the grading up so that there are enough grades so that your doing poorly on one Exam will not 1) force you to do A work in order to pass and 2) automatically fail you.

There are two required field trips for this class. I will be offering several trips during the semester. The field trip is your opportunity to see the countryside through the eyes of a practicing Geologist. My intention now is to arrange a trip to go behind the scenes at the Los Angeles County Museum of natural History and the Page Museum. I am attempting to arrange one trip to a local where you may collect fossils. For those unable to attend the trip, I will have a self-guided trip that you may take on your own time.

This is a combined Lecture and Laboratory class. You are enrolled in both. The lab work is designed to compliment the Lecture. Typically, our 3-hour meeting, twice a week, will be divided equally between Lecture and Laboratory work. Occasionally, the Lecture or the Lab will occupy the entire period. You will receive one grade for this class. The Laboratory work will be worth 25% of your final grade. That portion of your grade will depend upon a series of quizzes. I will attempt to have Lab Quizzes on days when we do not have a Lecture Exam. Lab Quizzes will be similar to the work being done in labs. They will not be cumulative.

I have given you a listing of office hours in the heading of this Syllabus. During those times, unless something unforeseen occurs, I will be in my office to help you. This is the time for you to come to me to talk about additional help, to clarify some topic, to get help studying for an Exam and in the techniques of taking an Exam. If you are looking for help in taking an Exam or just looking for help I will ask you to bring your Cheat Sheet so that we may discuss what you have not listed on it. I will also ask you to bring your Exam so that we may learn what types of questions are causing you problems. In this way we will be able to kraft a study program for you so that you are able to perform at the level you wish.

The Office Hours I have listed are the official ones. I am on campus at other times and will be willing to discuss with you some other time for a meeting. Of course it can’t be when I am teaching or in School meetings.

January 21    Last day to add.
January 21    Last day to drop with a refund.
February 11  Last day to withdraw without a W appearing on your record.
February 11  Last day to exercise your option to change from Credit/No Credit
                     to a letter grade or vice versa.
April 15        Last day to drop this class with a W.

It is your responsibility to drop this class if you do not wish to complete it. You must, therefore, go through the process of dropping. If you are on the rolls on November 16, you will receive a grade. These are he School’s rules.

In other words, if you no longer wish to remain in my course after the drop date, and you stop attending class or doing work but do not take the steps necessary to drop the course on your own, the consequences will be a final grade of "F".

I may drop you from the class for  inappropriate conduct or excessive absences.  The school defines excessive absences as more than 12.5% of the class time.  For this class that means 2 class periods. Tardiness can become a problem. After class starts, the back door to the classroom will be locked so that you must enter at the front of the class. There you will be asked to sign in. Three tardies equal one absence.

During the first two weeks, when I am the only one who can drop or add, any absences will be taken as a sign that the student does not wish to stay in class and they will be dropped.  If you petition me I will add you to the wait list.

I am your tutor of first and last resort.  This class has not been given for some time and therefore there are no other tutors available.  I encourage study groups and will try and assist you in any way I can.  The most significant problem will be arranging extra time to view and study specimens.  We will work this out.

I have not had, fortunately, and do not intend to have a problem with electronic devices and other things that go beep, ring, or make a noise in class. However, I have found that they are a great distraction to other students. Cell phones are especially bothersome because we all talk louder on the phone than we do in ordinary conversation. Your time and my time during the class is suppose to be directed towards the subject matter, not conversing with someone. Therefore, electronic devices must be turned off or turned to the silent mode in class. Failure to do so and if it goes off will result in my confiscating the device for the duration of the class. I will consider exceptions in the event that a family emergency necessitates their use.

Grading:

Not frequently, but on several occasions, I have incorrectly entered a grade or failed to enter a grade into my grade sheet.  therefore I request that you keep all returned graded material.  That will be your documentation in case there is a question of a grade at the end of the semester.           

Your grade in this course will be based upon classroom participation, Exams and quizzes, field trips and homework. There will be a total of 880 points. Your final grade will be determined as follows:

792 points + A
704 to 791 points B
616 to 703 points C
528 to 615 points D
less than 528 points F

Consideration will be given to those whose total score is close to the points necessary for the next higher grade.

I will curve the Exam grades. Therefore I will probably be using a different curve each Exam as you begin to master the subject matter. So that each Exam will be equivalent, I will assign a letter grade to each Exam. The letter grades will be equivalent to the following points: A = 95, A- = 91, B+ = 89, B = 85, B- = 81, etc.

Your total points will be based upon the following categories:

Four Tests                             400
Ten Quizzes                           100
Final Exam                             150
Report                                     20
Field Trip each                         20
Homework and participation    10|
Laboratory Quizzes                200

I will treat the total quiz score as an exam grade and then drop the lowest of the 5 grades.  Missing an exam will earn a zero for that exam and it will not be replaced by your total quiz score.

This is your Grade Sheet on which you will be able to keep track of your grades. This does not mean that you should not check with me about your class standing. This is only meant to be a tool to help you monitor your own progress.  After each graded item is returned, enter that grade point on this form.  At any time you can sum your points and divide by the total number of points that were available at that time and determine where you stand.  You may also look ahead and see how many points you need for a specific grade and how many points are remaining, in other words, is it possible to get the grade you want?

ITEM GRADE POINTS

EXAM 1 ________________ ___________

EXAM 2 ________________ ___________

EXAM 3 ________________ ___________

EXAM 4 ________________ ___________

LECTURE QUIZZES LABORATORY QUIZZES

1 ________ 1 __________

2 ________ 2 __________

3 ________ 3 __________

4 ________ 4 __________

5 ________ TOTAL ___________

6 ________

7 ________

8 ________

9 ________

10 ________

TOTAL ___________

Cross-out the lowest score of those listed above.

FINAL EXAM __________________ ___________

FIELD TRIP REPORT ___________

REPORT ___________

HOMEWORK AND PARTICIPATION ___________