EEES 1050-002 Geological Hazards & the
Environment
Autumn 2009 (updated
08/31/2009)
Distance Learning Format
Dr. Don Stierman, Instructor (click on my
name to send me email)
Text: Natural Hazards (2008 - Second Edition!) by Edward Keller and Robert Blodgett (Pearson Prentice Hall). You are required to use the Hazards City CD-ROM supplied with the textbook. Solution to your CD problem (lost, broken, not included in textbook).
Each student is REQUIRED to have computer and Web access fast and reliable enough to take quizzes in real time without undue risk of a crash. If your home computer is slow and Web service prone to disconnects, take quizzes in a campus computer lab. You are responsible for your computer and selecting a reliable internet service provider.
This course fulfills the Natural Science core requirement in that it:
Students will recognize relevant scientific terms, how scientists seek out and use the best available information to evaluate geologic hazards, and read examples of how some previously unrecognized hazards were discovered. Through short essays, students will demonstrate knowledge of scientific methods and reasoning (example: interpret maps showing variations in seismic shaking due to strong earthquakes). Students will post informed opinions regarding ways of dealing with risks due to geological hazards, drawing their conclusions from the scientific information available while taking into account economic and political realities.
Evaluation (final grade) will be based on:
Written responses to a question posted as part of each
chapter. Sometimes you will have the choice of questions. Submit
these to my private myBlackboard mailbox (I suggest you write and spell check your
essay in your favorite word processor, then cut and paste into email message,
this save me a lot of mouse clicks)(20%). These are usually referred to as
short essays.
Hazard City
projects (instructions will appear in
lectures)(25%)
Participation in chat and/or bulletin board
discussions (15%).
Chapter quizzes (online) (20%)
Midterm and final exam (online) (20% - that's 10% each).
The midterm will cover earthquakes and volcanoes, the final will focus on
surficial processes hazards and impacts, but a few questions on earthquakes and
volcanoes are still likely, particularly if an interesting earthquake or
eruption occurs during the final weeks of the semester.
Those who earn certificates as "Virtual Seismologist" (etc) when assigned will receive "extra credit". Details will be provided in PowerPoint lectures. There will be at least one opportunity for extra credit during each half of the semester (before midterm, after midterm).
Before calculating the final grade, I will delete the quiz, the short essay, and the Hazard City project (one from each category) with the lowest grade from each student's record from my grade book and use (N - 1) grades instead of N grades (N = number of quizzes or assignments during the semester). This means that, if your computer crashes while you are taking a quiz, and that happens only once, you do not have to worry. If you miss one deadline for an assignment, it will not count against you. However, more than one crash suggests an inadequate computer or provider, a problem you have to resolve. I do not calculate grades until the end of the semester but will post assignment grades on the myBlackboard grade book.
Essays should be short (300 words or less, like a letter to the editor in many newspapers) and to the point. Select what you consider a concept you find most critical, interesting or ironic and focus on that. Back up your answer with appropriate facts. In some cases, recognition of facts or arguments opposing your position should be mentioned.
All deadlines (quiz closes, short essays due, Hazard City projects due) will be posted on the course myBlackboard calendar at least a week before they are due. I will not extend deadlines except for serious personal or health emergencies, which have to be documented, or for extended loss of electrical power or internet service across a region (again, documentation required - perhaps a newspaper story). For example, students called for military service can FAX (419-530-4421) me a copy of their orders. Two years ago, one student took a few days to give birth but planned her class work around the probable due date and did just fine (the baby was last reported as thriving as well).
I will not accept and grade late assignments except for reasons given in the previous paragraph. myBlackboard keeps very detailed records of your activities when logged in to the course: date and time you log in and log off, how long you spend viewing lectures, each course email, each bulletin board posting, when you answer each quiz question.
I will be available for 8 hours each week, either in my office or logged in from home, in position to quickly respond to your questions. While in the chat room, my email will not be activated (and vice versa). Please communicate as follows:
Questions of a personal or urgent nature, use my regular email. Subject should include EEES 1050 or your message might get mistaken for spam. I will attempt to answer all such questions during the next office hours period. I open course email only to grade the assignments posted there - if you want an answer use my utoledo.edu email.
Never use the myBlackboard email if you need a timely response, I open that mail only after assignments are due for the purpose of grading those assignments.
Assignments: post to my myBlackboard email box. Subject should include 'Short essay on ****' where '****' is the current topic. Hazard City assignments should be titled 'Hazard City ****'. Copy and paste your Hazard City worksheet to a Word document or capture the screen image and send as a .jpg attached to myBlackboard email. myBlackboard logs the time each email or bulletin board message is posted. I prefer short essays copied and pasted into the message box. Note: I use Microsoft Office (Word) and cannot open some Mac, Works or WordPerfect files. I can open .doc or .txt files. The myBlackboard mailbox is for assignments only! I will post notices on the bulletin board but will not read all discussions until time permits.
Assignments will include a 'send me' instruction. Other questions are frequently posted to stimulate thinking. If a question does not include the 'send me' instruction on the same slide, you are not to send me a written response, but are free to use the bulletin board to bounce your ideas off other students.
General questions about geological hazards: post to the myBlackboard bulletin board set up for that topic. Students are encouraged to attempt answering one another's questions and will be given credit for participation when doing so.
I will post PowerPoint 'lectures' on the myBlackboard site. View them (required!): embedded are instructions regarding short essay assignments and Hazard City assignments. You will also be expected to use links provided below to view materials posted by others on the Web.
Be alert to news stories on geological hazards. Floods hit Toledo in June of 2006, including homes where students taking this course lived. Close to home (Toledo for most of us - The Blade) is most important, but big (M > 7.8) earthquakes anywhere on earth should catch your eye. A quiz or test question can be based on recent (while the class is in progress) news that is not mentioned in either the lecture or the book (you are of course free to post comments on current events to the Bulletin Board and read - and respond to - posts by the other students).
Expectations: during the normal 15-week semester, you spend 3 hours per week in lectures. Rule of thumb is, 2 hours of study for each hour of lecture. Based on this principle, you should devote 9 hours per week reading the textbook, visiting the Web sites suggested, reading the PowerPoint slides I prepare, taking the online quiz, posting short essays to the appropriate bulletin board and participating in chat rooms. If your job(s) conflicts with chat room times, you can make up for this by superior bulletin board input.
Statement on academic dishonesty.
Policy on excused absences (etc,).
Why I teach this class. Few, if any, of you will become scientists, but you may be elected to public office, serve on planning commissions, or work in a field that deals with public safety, investment, insurance or construction. Ignorance of natural hazards is usually expensive and frequently deadly. Ignorance can also raise irrational fears or panic people into taking hasty but ineffective, costly actions. I hope to help you understand the nature of these geological hazards and learn some ways of reducing harm resulting from exposure to damaging geological processes.
What kind of learner are you? Here's a little peak inside my head. Read this now, please, before the add/drop deadline.
We will use Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 13. We will not discuss chapters 8, 9 or 12 – not because these are unimportant but time is short and I want to focus on hazardous geological processes. Chapter 11 merits a stand-along 3 credit hour class, in my opinion. Please feel free, however, to read whatever else interests you but I will not take time to test on or discuss topics not listed on the schedule below, although I will try to help you satisfy your curiosity about anything scientific.
Although there are no mandatory on-campus meetings, students are expected to submit written work in time to meet posted deadlines and take chapter quizzes within the time frame during which each topic is under discussion. The midterm and final exam will be scheduled for specific days - you may take the time-limited test any time during a 12-hour to 24-hour window while the test is available. I will be available in a chat room at least once a week most weeks. I will host an optional on-campus 'film festival' at least once where interested students can view a couple of videos that deal with geological hazards, if 10% of the class requests such an on-campus meeting.
Students are required to have access to reliable computers with PowerPoint and stable Web links. It is your responsibility to identify and arrange for the resources needed to participate in this class. Unless University systems crash or there is a general regional Web server problem, I will not reopen or reset quizzes missed because of home computer problems. If you want to take Geological Hazards in the traditional lecture format, Dr. Harrell is scheduled to teach EEES-1050 Autumn semester.
Note that some versions of Microsoft Explorer do not like WebCT software - the DL team once suggested Mozilla Firefox, but software and browsers are in a constant state of flux. If you have a problem opening my lectures, post to the 'general questions' bulletin board and tell us which browser you are using. Usually students help one another work this sort of thing out, better sooner rather than later.
If you do not own a copy of PowerPoint, I've been told you can download a free PowerPoint Viewer from
Tentative schedule (check myBlackboard calendar for changes or details):
August 24 - Sept. 1: Chapter 1 – Introduction of geological hazards.
Sept. 2 - 23: Chapters 2 & 3 – Earthquakes and tsunamis.
Sept. 24 - Oct. 16: Chapter 4 – Volcanoes.
Oct. 5 & 6: Fall Break (instructor might be doing field work, you are free to work on the class if you see fit).
Midterm on October 19 covering Chapter 1, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes.
Oct. 17 - 29: Chapter 5 – Floods.
Oct. 30 - Nov, 10: Chapter 6 – Landslides.
Nov. 11 - 18: Chapter 7 – Subsidence.
Nov. 22 - Dec. 5: Chapter 10 – Coastal Hazards.
Dec. 6 - 11: Chapter 13 – Impacts & Extinctions.
December 15: Final exam.
Quizzes and exams are time limited. Students certified by the Office of Accessibility as requiring significant additional time might have to take exams (midterm and final) on campus under supervision. Students who grew up speaking a language other than English may request extended time for online quizzes, as can students certified by the Office of Accessibility. While taking tests on-line you will be permitted to use textbooks and notes (some will use them anyway so why penalize men and women of integrity) but I’ll wager that anyone taking one of my tests without having cracked the book will not be able to look up answers fast enough to pass. Quizzes are multiple choice, with about 1 minute per question (a bit more for unusually long questions), 10 points per question. Sharing your quiz experience with others in a way that helps them raise their grade hurts your grade, as I curve quiz results. Quiz results will be available shortly after the time window for that quiz closes and you will be able to check your results at that point in time.