ugs303: sustaining a planet

Discussion Section

Discussion Session Policies
Homework Grading and Policies
Discussion Section Syllabus
Discussion Session Schedule
Web Citations

Discussion Section comprises weekly 1.5 hour meetings with your TA in room GEO 2.308 at the time assigned to the unique number you are registered for. Activities and discussion during these meetings are followed up by assignments completed outside of the classroom. Discussion section affects your grade in the following manner:

Indirectly: Discussion Section will give you a more in-depth understanding of the course material through hands-on experience. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about confusing topics.

Directly:

a) 18% of overall course grade comes from the Portfolio project, portions of which you will present in Discussion Section.

b) 17% of overall course grade comes from homework:
4 homework assignments: 12% of total grade

1 water-quality experiment report: 5% of total grade

Homework assignments will relate directly to discussion section activities (many cannot be completed without having

participated in the activity).

c) 5% of the overall course grade comes from class engagement (both in lecture and section).

d) Material from the discussion sections will be included on the exams.

Discussion Session Policies

1) Attendance is required.

Attendance in the section in which you are enrolled is mandatory and will be recorded. If, because of extenuating circumstances, you cannot attend the section in which you are enrolled, choose another section that you are able to attend. You will be given credit for attending the week’s discussion section IF you email BOTH your TA and the TA of the section that you plan to attend AT LEAST 24 HOURS before the start of your assigned section or the alternate section (whichever comes first) and then attend the alternate section. If you do not follow this procedure, credit will be awarded only at the discretion of your TA. We understand that there may be one or two times during the semester when attending a different section may be necessary; however, if you take advantage of this policy, we reserve the right to deny your request to attend an alternate section.

2) Students must submit their own work and theirs only, unless otherwise specified.
a) Learning from each other is encouraged (i.e., work in study groups is allowed), but final submitted material must be original

and individual.

b) Any and all written assignments are subject to content evaluation using electronic search engines. Written content can and

will be tested against classmates’ assignments and material available on the web. Please go the Writing Center website if

you need help in determining what plagiarism is or in how to properly reference the work of others.

Homework Grading and Policies

Grading Policies
a) A grading rubric will be provided with each homework assignment.

b) The penalty for late work will be 15 percent per day.
c) All assignments will be submitted electronically and are due 60 minutes before the start of the discussion session.

Homework Assignment Postings and Submissions

        a) All homework assignments will be posted on blackboard.
        b) Students should submit their homework assignments electronically on blackboard.

        For tutorials on how to download assignments from blackboard and how to submit completed assignments to the site,

please see the links below:

http://www.geo.utexas.edu/courses/302p/docs/homeworkTutorial.pdf

Discussion Section Syllabus

The first Discussion Section will take place on Monday, August 31, and from Labor Day until the Thanksgiving Break, the week of repeating Discussion Sections will begin on Tuesday and end on Monday. After Thanksgiving, the week will run from Monday through Friday. There will be no discussion section on Tuesday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week.

August 31: Introductions

September 8: Tragedy of the Commons

September 15: Exam 1 Review

September 22: Climate Change / Greenhouse Gas Experiment

September 29: Science in the Media

October 6: Water Quality I

October 13: Water Quality II / Exam 2 Review

October 20: Solar Pathfinder

October 27: Ecological footprint and material cycles

November 3: Environmental Music Symposium

November 10: Exam 3 Review

November 17: Final Portfolio Presentations

December 1: Review for Final Exam

Discussion Section Schedule

Day	Time	UGS Unique#	TA	Room #
M	930 -1100	65865	Brian C.	2.308
T	930 - 1100	65690	Lindsay O.	2.308
W	930 - 1100	65965	Lindsay O..	2.308
Th	930 -1100	65700	Virginia S.	2.308
F	930-1100	65705	Brian C.	2.308
T	1100-1230P	65710	Lindsay O.	2.308
T	1230 - 200P	65715	Jeff P.	2.308
W	1230 - 200P	65720	Virginia S.	2.308
TH	1230 - 200P	65725	Jeff P.	2.308
F	1230 - 200P	65730	Virginia S.	2.308
F	330-500P	65760	Brian C.	3.104
Th	200-330P		Jeff P.	3.104

Web Citations

This web evaluation worksheet is a good guide to help you determine whether the information you find on a website is reputable. For more information on how to evaluate credibility of websites, please attend one of the training sessions given by library personnel (time and date TBA).