GEOG101 - Introduction to Geography

This is what the course is meant to teach you. My desire is to help you to make progress toward your own short and long term educational goals while insuring you obtain the basic knowledge and skills outlined here. Your grade for this course will be based upon the demonstrated mastery of these objectives.

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

CO-1 Use “spatial perspective” as a critical thinking tool in analysis, problem solving, and inter-disciplinary study.
CO-2 Describe the world’s regions through recognizing their physical and human dimensions.
CO-3 Recognize and differentiate global regions by climate type, characteristic vegetation, and general landform types.
CO-4 Define the modern human dynamics of cultural associations, nation and state development, and resource exploitation.
CO-5 Identify basic spatial and geographic data analysis skills to be used in future studies.
CO-6 Explain physical and human aspects of the world landscape through the use of maps, graphs, and data tables.
CO-7 Assess spatial interaction between places and spatial diffusion from places, including density, dispersion and patterns.
CO-8 Apply selected geographic concepts, ideas, and terms to student interests, other academic subjects, newsworthy events and professional concerns.

Forums

We can learn as much from each other and academic investigation as we will from the material. So it is the purpose of the Forums to develop our understanding of the weekly readings and forum topics. This participation is required. (WARNING: First Forum topic (Introduction) must be at least 250 words long. Your response must be submitted by midnight Eastern Standard Time of the Sunday of the first week, it is our way of confirming your attendance in the course. See instructions in classroom.)

Each week all students should respond to the forum topics indicated in the forums area to express their understanding of the issue and ability to use academic information to add to the discussion. Postings will be evaluated on their quality and the degree to which the postings promote discussion. Participation in all Forums is required. Points are allocated as follows based on the original posting and replies (Total of 100 points).

NOTE: Initial and reply posts submitted after the scheduled due dates may be assessed a penalty according to the late policy in the syllabus.

Initial Post (40 possible points)

• The post is on topic, clearly related to the thread, and addresses all components of the assignment with significant depth, analysis, and clarity.
• The post is approximately 250-350 words long and written in your own words.

Reply Posts (30 possible points)

• Reply to at least two of your classmates’ original posts with responses that are on topic, clearly related to the thread, and further the discussion of the original comment. For example, ask an interesting and related question, or share relevant information on the topic.
• Replies should be approximately 100-200 words long and written in your own words.
• Please reply early enough in the week to allow time for your classmates and instructor to respond.

Creates Conversation and Community (15 possible points)

• Respond to follow-up questions and comments posted to your initial post by your classmates and instructor during the week.
• All posts are written in a constructive and respectful tone.

Terminology, Sources, and Attribution (15 possible points)

• All posts accurately apply scientific concepts and use scientific terminology correctly (including spelling).
• Posts include background information based on credible sources of scientific information, where applicable, to support discussion. *
• All sources used are attributed to the original author with a citation or URL so that your classmates and instructor can locate and view the source. *
• If a post is based on an opinion, the post offers a well phrased and thought out position.

*Please review Academic Honesty Policies.

Please make every attempt to make your post in the forum as early in the week as you can during our first week of class. For the remaining weeks, your initial post will be due by Wednesday at 11:55 PM ET. This will allow your fellow classmates time to provide their comments on your post. All comments on other students’ postings are due by midnight on Sunday of the week.

Final Project

This exercise is designed to have each student conduct research, assess and summarize his or her research findings, and present it in PowerPoint format. This will be like writing a research paper, except that the research findings will be presented in a briefer narrative form in PowerPoint, rather than as a research paper. The exercise has three primary purposes:
1) to show you are very familiar with the topic,
2) to become familiar with PowerPoint software as it is a common tool in business, education, and government, and
3) to express your knowledge in a presentation format - efficient and understandable, captivating for your audience.
Please check the assignment instructions for the details on the research project.

Goals of this project include encouraging development of research skills, familiarization with presentation of academic material, and practice in communicating research to an “audience”. The final project is broken down into 3 separate assignments, an annotated bibiolograpy, an outline, and the presentation. See the assignment section for details.

Quizzes

Weekly quizzes will be used to test your understanding of the readings and discussions of that week, and will be posted in the “Tests and Quizzes” area of our classroom. They are made up of multiple choice questions that are to be carefully read and answered. They are due by the end of each week. You are not to collaborate on quizzes – all work must be your own. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped.

Please see the Student Handbook to reference the University’s grading scale.

Name	Grade %
Discussion Forums	20.00%
Week 1: Introductions and What is Geography?	2.50%
Week 2: Europe and Russia	2.50%
Week 3: The Americas	2.50%
Week 4: Sub-Saharan Africa	2.50%
Week 5: NASWA	2.50%
Week 6: South and East Asia	2.50%
Week 7: Southeast Asia	2.50%
Week 8: Austral and Pacific Realms	2.50%
Annotated Bibliography	4.00%
Assignment 1: Annotated Bibliography	4.00%
The Outline	8.00%
Assignment 2: Outline	8.00%
The Presentation	12.00%
Assignment 3: Presentation	12.00%
Quizzes	56.00%
Quiz 1: Introduction	7.00%
Quiz 2: Europe and Russia	7.00%
Quiz 3: The Americas	7.00%
Quiz 4: Sub-Saharan Africa	7.00%
Quiz 5: North Africa and Southwest Asia	7.00%
Quiz 6: South Asia and East Asia	7.00%
Quiz 7: Southeast Asia	7.00%
Quiz 8: Austral and Pacific Realms	7.00%