World Regional Geography

GEG 101 ONLINE!

SYLLABUS

 Fall 2012

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ORIENTATION

The orientation for GEG 101-W01 is Thursday, 8/23, 5:00-6:15 p.m. in room J-155.

The orientation is optional. All the information is available online on this syllabus and on the orientation webpage at: ORIENTATION

INSTRUCTOR

TEXTBOOK

Printed textbooks can be bought at the Harper College bookstore (L building) or online at: http://www.harperstore.com

REQUIRED:

 

The World Today: Concepts and Regions in Geography, by H. J. de Blij, Peter O. Muller, Jan Nijman, and Antoinette M. G. A. WinklerPrins, 5th edition, 2011

Textbook Website:

BLACKBOARD

 E-MAIL

When e-mailing your instructor always put "GEG 101" and a message in the subject line. Please use proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Option to Forward Mail from your Harper E-mail Account

If you are not planning on using your Harper email account, you can find instructions on how to forward email from that account to one you check frequently by logging in to the Harper Student Portal and clicking on the "My Harper E-Mail" tab. All correspondence in this class will be sent to your Harper e-mail account.

DISCUSSION BOARD

Use the Blackboard Discussion Board for any question which might be of use to other students - like asking a question in class. Do not ask such questions via e-mail. If you use the Discussion Board everyone can "hear" the answer.

Since we do not use the discussion board a lot, it is strongly suggested that you SUBSCRIBE to the discussion board thread so that you get an e-mail whenever a new message is posted. Just go to our Blackboard site, click on the "Discussion Board" link, click on "STUDENT QUESTIONS", then click on the "Subscribe" button.  

BRIEF COURSE OUTLINE

UNIT 1
  • Introduction (NOTE: this is a very important chapter)
  • Chapter 6A and 6B: Subsaharan Africa
  • Chapter 4A and 4B: Middle America
  • Chapter 5A and 5B: South America

UNIT 2

  • Chapter 7A and 7B: North Africa and Southwest Asia
  • Chapter 8A and 8B: South Asia
  • Chapter 9A and 9B: East Asia
  • Chapter 10A and 10B: Southeast Asia

UNIT 3

  • Chapter 1A and 1B: Europe
  • Chapter 2A and 2B: Russia
  • Chapter 3A and 3B: North America
  • Chapter 11: The Austral Realm, and Chapter 12: The Pacific Realm and Polar Futures

 

GRADING

The final grade for the class will be awarded according to the following point system:

Map Quizzes

best 11 of 12 @ 10 points each

=

110 points

Unit Exams *

3 @ 50 points each

=

150 points

Final Exam

1 @ 100 points

=

100 points

Required Activities **

12 @ 4 Points each

=

48 points

Video Quizzes **

12 @ 2 Points each

=

24 points

TOTAL:

432 points

* there is one optional "retake" exam (different questions) and only the higher score will count
** can be retaken as many times as necessary and only the highest score will count

NOTE: Changes may be made to this grading scheme. All changes will be announced on our Blackboard Announcements webpage and via e-mail.

Letter grades: 90%=A, 80%=B, 70%=C, 60%=D, below 60%=F

MAP QUIZZES

All map quizzes will be taken on the Harper campus in the Assessment Center, Student and Administration Center, room A-148, phone 847-925-6541 [see: Assessment Center hours ]. Map quizzes should be taken by the date listed on the class schedule below.  They will be taken online on our Blackboard site at the Harper Testing Center. You will a picture ID and be able to log onto Blackboard.

For each regional chapter (all map quizzes, except the first one) students will be required to name and locate various countries and physical and cultural features on a blank outline map of the region. All of these map quiz locations are listed on the ASSIGNMENTS - BEGIN HERE Blackboard page for each chapter. A link to a blank outline map of each region, and an online tutorial, can also be found there. These map quizzes will consist of ten locations labeled on a map with the numbers 1 through 10. You will be required to select the name of numbered physical or political (country) feature from a list. There is a practice map quiz on the "MAP QUIZZES" link on Blackboard.

The first map quiz is slightly different. Map quiz 1 will require you to know the borders of the 12 world realms discussed in our textbook. See the BLUE LINES on the map in Figure G-3 on page 5 of your textbook. For each of the twelve realms you will be shown five world maps indicating the location of the realm. Only one is correct. You are to select the one that is correct.

If you are able to precisely draw the borders of the 12 world realms as shown in figure G-3 of the textbook, then you will be able to find the correct map for each realm.

 

 

Map quizzes can be taken individually OR at the time you take the unit exam. All map quizzes for each unit should be completed before you take the unit exam. I strongly recommend that you take the first few map quizzes individually so that you can judge their difficulty and time commitment. There will be 12 map quizzes (one for each chapter, including the introduction, and chapters 11 and 12 will be combined on one map quiz) and only 11 will be counted (for 110 points).

 

EXAMS

All exams will be taken at the Testing Center on the Harper campus in the Student and Administration Center, room A-148, phone 847-925-6541 [see: Assessment Center hours ]. You will need a picture ID and you will need to log onto our Blackboard site. Exams should be taken by the date listed on the class schedule below. 

The three unit exams will consist of about fifty multiple choice questions. The comprehensive final exam will have 100 multiple choice questions.

Optional "retake" Exams will be available for exams 1, 2, and 3. If you choose to do the "retakes" only the higher exam score will be included in your total score. Please do not take the retake on the same day that you took the exam. If you need to retake an exam then you need to study more first.

Students will be allowed to take an exam at a later time other the scheduled week ONLY IF:

1. the instructor is notified BEFORE the week the exam is scheduled AND
2. the student has a very good reason.

BEFORE taking the exams, be sure to see the "EXAM STUDY GUIDES" Blackboard page. THESE EXAM STUDY GUIDES ARE VERY IMPORTANT. If you cannot do them you will do poorly on the exam. Be sure to use the Discussion Board to ask questions from the review activities.

 

REQUIRED ACTIVITIES

The required activities will most often be 20 multiple choice questions for each chapter. They will be completed at home via Blackboard and you can take them as many times as you wish. Only the highest score will count. The Required Activities can be found on the ASSIGNMENTS - BEGIN HERE link on Blackboard.

VIDEO QUIZZES

The Video Quizzes consist of matching or multiple choice questions based on the online video assigned for each chapter. They tend to stress WHERE things seen in the video are located. They will be completed at home via Blackboard and you can take them as many times as you wish. Only the highest score will count. Both the links to the videos and the video quizzes can be found on the ASSIGNMENTS - BEGIN HERE link on Blackboard.

SCHEDULE:

 


Accessibility Statement / Access and Disability Services: Your success in this class is important to me. If you have a disability (learning, physical, psychological or other) and may require some accommodation or modification in procedures, class activity, instruction, requirements, etc. please contact me early in the semester so we can refer you to ADS who will discuss and arrange for reasonable accommodations. The Access and Disability Services department is in the Building D, D119, 847.925.6266 or TTY (847) 397-7600

Equal Opportunity Statement: William Rainey Harper College provides equal opportunity in education and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability.

Student E-mail Notifications: All notifications related to student registration or other business activities are sent to students via a G-mail account that is assigned to students upon registration. Students access the G-mail account via an icon in the student portal (where you registered for classes). Please check this e-mail frequently. To forward e-mails from this account to a personal e-mail account please follow the instructions for forwarding Harper e-mail available at http://harper.blackboard.com/  

Academic Honesty Policy

Harper College is strongly committed to the promotion of high ethical standards. Such standards can best be accomplished in an environment where honesty and integrity are practiced. For this reason the College strongly condemns academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism or other improper appropriation of another's work as one's own and falsifying records to advance one's academic standing.

Cheating includes but is not limited to copying answers, stealing and/or disseminating tests or answer keys, using someone else's data in preparation of reports or assignments, and assisting others in such practices.

Plagiarism involves the presentation of another person's words, ideas, or work as one's own. It includes but is not limited to copying any material (written or non-written) without proper acknowledgment of its source, and paraphrasing another's work or ideas without proper acknowledgment.

Falsifying records includes but is not limited to falsifying or improperly altering college records and documents, or knowingly supplying false or misleading information to others (e.g., the College, other educational institutions, or prospective employers).

Any form of academic dishonesty as defined by the faculty member or department is a serious offense requiring disciplinary measures. Discipline for academic dishonesty involving a specific course shall be first determined by the instructor of the course and may include failure of the specific assignment, project or test, or failure of the course. The student may appeal the instructor's decision in accordance with the College's Student Academic Complaint Procedures. In cases of academic dishonesty the faculty assigned grade supersedes a student-initiated withdrawal. In cases where disciplinary measures beyond course failure may be deemed appropriate by the instructor, or dishonesty that is not related to a specific course, the student may be disciplined in accordance with the Student Conduct Policy with the appropriate vice president involved in the decision.