CLASS:
Lectures will generally follow the text in outline form; however, I don't believe
that me just reading the text to you is productive. Instead, I will choose specific
topics from the reading that require reiteration or elaboration.
Where necessary, additional material will be included that is not in the text.
In addition, you are responsible for films that are shown in class and
the astronomy news items that are posted on the web site.
I suggest that before you come to class that you read the text material
assigned for that day, and that you also read over your lecture notes from the
previous class.
HOMEWORK:
Homework from the MasteringAstronomy web package will be assigned regularly. You should have received
a student access packet with your textbook - if you didn't, you'll be able to register on the MasteringAstronomy
website for a small fee payable with a credit card.
The homework will involve questions and short problems based your textbook readings; some will be for extra credit.
Each problem is graded as you do it. The due date and time for a particular assignment
will be posted on the course calendar.
Late Homework Policy: Any problem completed before the due time
will be graded for 100% credit; any problem completed at any time (including up to the beginning of the final exam)
after the due time, will
be graded for 50% credit.
Your homework score is simply the percentage of homework points that you have accumulated.
EXAMS:
There will be three mid-semester exams (100 points each) given and a comprehensive
final exam (150 points). The mid-terms will have 50
multiple choice questions/problems, and
the final will have 75.
No make-up mid-term exams will be given! If you must miss a mid-term exam, contact the instructor before the
exam.
If you have a legitimate reason for missing the exam, you will be assigned an estimated score as follows:
Estimated Score =
(Your average of other two exams) (Class average of other two exams)
X (Class average of missed exam)
Assignment of this score is not automatic; you must submit to the instructor a written
request (email preferred) for an estimated score, along with a statement of the reason for missing the examination.
If you miss two or more exams you will receive an Incomplete grade for the course. Also note that
the final exam must be taken at the designated time on the course calendar.
GROUP WEB PROJECT:
You will be assigned to a group to research an assigned topic and produce a web page to be posted
for the rest of the class. The project is worth 50 points.
The details of the assignments will follow after the groups have been selected - sometime after
the first mid-semester exam. (Incidentally, in the past,
students have used the group as a study group too!)
EXTRA CREDIT:
You may earn extra credit points by several activities that add directly to your course score:
Attend a Planetarium Show (proof required); 2 points.
Attend MU Astronomy Club Observing Session (proof required); 2 points.
Attend Extra Credit Feature Movie; 1 point/movie.
(The answer to your questions: "can I get credit if I rent the movie myself or
if I've already seen it?" are, NO!)
Attend Physics Department astronomy-related seminar. These may or may not happen; they will be posted
on the course calendar. 1 point/seminar.
Note, except for numbers 3 and 4, you may do each of these once.
GRADING POLICY:
If you have kept track of the above, the exams, homework, and project add up to 600 total points.
Your course score is simply the percentage of possible points that you have earned.
The corresponding letter grade for your course score
is nominally based on a straight
percentage distribution (i.e., 100% to 93% = A; 93% to 90% = A-;
90% to 87% = B+; 87% to 83% = B; 83% to 80% = B-; etc.).
However, depending on the performance of the entire class, this may be
curved downward ( it will never be curved upward!).
You can always get a worst-case scenario of where you stand at anytime during the
semester simply by calculating
your percentage of the possible points up to that time. For example, suppose after the
second exam you have received a 65 on exam 1, an 80 on exam 2, 420 homework points out
of 550 for a homework score of 420/550 = 76.4%. In addition, suppose that you have attended
an astronomy club observing session for 2 points and seen one extra credit movie for 1 point.
Your course score is then
Course Score =
(65 + 80 +76.4)
(300)
= 73.8 % + 3 points extra credit = 76.8%
For this example, the worst case grade would be a C.
COURSE WITHDRAWAL POLICY:
The course withdrawal policy of the University can be confusing. In summary, the policy is:
If a student drops a full semester course by the third week deadline, the course
will be removed from the record. For Fall 2009, this date is September 14.
If a student drops a course between the third week and ninth week of the term,
a "W" will be recorded. For Fall 2009, this date is October 30.
A student cannot normally drop a course after the ninth week of the term (he/she is
in it for the duration) and the only way to drop at this point is by petition.
For a more complete description of the withdrawal policy, see the
Miami Handbook; look under sections 01.203.