Wednesday, December 3, 2008

1:25 MWF Final Exam - Update

The final exam will begin a little early on Friday and if you can start early, please do so. I will be ready to start the final at 12:30PM. The latest you can come to take the final is 1PM (the regularly scheduled time).

Study hard and let me know if you have any questions.

Attention MWF 1:25 Peeps

If you are NOT in the MWF 1:25 section, please disregard this message. If on the other hand you are one of my peeps from the MWF 1:25 section, PLEASE read on....

A beloved uncle of mine has passed away and I must leave Friday afternoon to attend the memorial service in Orlando. I was wondering if any of you would object to moving our final up a little bit (say 15 minutes, more if there are no schedule conflicts with the final that ends at 12:30 for MWF 10:10 classes); leaving a little early will help get us on the road and through Atlanta traffic on a dreaded Friday afternoon.

We will discuss this tomorrow during our review session. If you do not plan on coming to the session, send your opinion with a friend or email me; otherwise, I will assume you do not have a conflict.

Thanks for your consideration of this matter and I really hate that I have to ask, but, for obvious reasons, circumstances beyond my control are at work.

Thanks again and I will see you tomorrow (well, at this point I really mean today).

PS I have graded almost all of the MWF 1:25 projects and overall they have been very good, with some really exceptional products among the bunch. I should have all of the MWF 1:25 projects graded and ready for return tomorrow.

Monday, December 1, 2008

The coolest thing abut science is...

The coolest thing about science is that our understanding of nature is constantly improving as technology improves and as we collect new data about the world. Here is a great example of this constant improvement (we'll still test on the stuff we learned in class, no worries. Next semester's students will have to learn the new stuff, though!).

A New View of the Early Earth

Final Exam details

Hey y'all,

As promised here is some information to help you prepare for the final exam. Remember, I will be available everyday this week with office hours if you have questions about content or your grade AND we'll be having review sessions on Wednesday during your regularly scheduled class time fr content questions.

Study hard and please let me know if you have any questions!

Test format
  • Multiple choice questions (the pre-test questions minus questions on topics we did not cover)
  • Lots of completion questions (40-60)
  • 3-7 short answer questions
  • NO essay questions! (Bummer for some, joy for many others)
Materials to study
  • All three exams
  • The many quizzes we had this semester
  • Notes, notes, notes - pay particular attention to topics that we spent a lot of time on in class, but did not get asked about on any exam
  • Specific topics I will definitely be including (but NOT limited too and in no particular order)....
    • Details of the scientific method (including the real and best definition to the term "hypothesis")
    • Electromagnetic spectrum
    • 3 forms of energy transfer
    • Big Bang Theory
    • Nebular Theory
    • Planets and astronomical objects in our solar system
    • Plate Tectonics and continental drift
    • The rock cycle
    • Geological time
    • Soils
    • The layers of the atmosphere
    • Weather vs. climate
    • The greenhouse effect
    • The anthropogenically enhanced greenhouse effect and global climate change
    • The hydrologic cycle
    • Food webs and chains
    • Producers and consumers
    • Types of metabolism (producers and consumers)
    • Biogeochemical cycles
    • Because we never really got to talk about it, Evolution will, with regret, not be on the Final. Sorry, I am bummed about that.

Class Evaluations

Instructor/Class Evaluations

Class evaluations at NGCSU are now conducted on-line through Banner. Evaluation of the class is considered a component of the course and students will not be permitted to access their final course grades until all the evaluations have been completed. The evaluations for each semester will be accessible beginning one week prior to the first final exam. Specific step by step instructions for completing the survey are listed below.
Your opinions are important. Please take the time to respond to the survey questions in a thoughtful manner. All responses will remain anonymous. Faculty will only have access to summary data related to them. No responses will be identified with any specific student.

Student instructions:
1- Log in to Banner, using NGCSU ID number and Password.
2- Under the Main Menu select "Student & Financial Aid"
3- Under Student & Financial Aid menu, Click on the link "Student Rating of Instruction Survey" to access the survey.
4. Carefully read the instructions and select the course and instructor (if listed) you want to evaluate from the drop down menu. This menu will consist of all the classes you are registered for that are subject to the evaluations.
5. Click and follow the instructions for completing the survey and click submit.
6. You will receive a confirmation page, acknowledging receipt of your survey.
7. Below the acknowledgment click on "continue". This will bring you back to the survey menu and allow you to choose another class for evaluation. It will continue to bring you back to the survey menu until all of your classes have been evaluated.
8. After you have completed all your class surveys you will be returned to your student menu.

Monday update....

Just got back in after a day of fun with dentists. What fun!

Couple of quick updates:
  1. I haven't had a chance to get together the info about the final, but rest assured that I will be posting that material later on this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest.
  2. I have extended the posting deadline to LiveText until tomorrow, so if you did not get your material in by the e-deadline, now is you chance to finish that up.
Stay tuned for more....