Course Syllabus

GEO204 Section 002: World Regional Geography

Spring 2007

146 Giltner, MW 10.20-11.10 am
Course Instructor
/ Dr. Antoinette WinklerPrins ()
207 Geography Building (personal office)
432-7163
Office hours T 10-12; Th 1-3 and by appt.
116 Geography Building (geo office), 355-4649
Teaching Assistant / Joel Gruley ()
4 Geography Building (personal office) (basement)
353-9940
Office hours M 2-3 pm; W 9-10 am
116 Geography Building (geo office), 355-4649

Course Goals:

GEO 204-002 - World Regional Geography -- is a course designed to make you more globally aware. Given the integration of the world's economic and cultural systems, geography and geographical principles are very important in today's world, even if you have no intention of ever traveling anywhere. This course introduces you to the basic physical and human geography of the world. This is done in such a way that a geographical perspective will become part of your way of thinking, it is not just about memorization of countries and their capital cities, it is about understanding why places are where they are and the sorts of issues that are important there today. Lots of current events are integrated into the course, making it as relevant as possible. By the end of the course you will know where places are in the world and have a good understanding of what is going on there and why it is important to know about these places.

Course Format:

Geo 204-002 is a hybrid course. This means that you will be instructed in-person during two traditional lecture periods per week (MW 10.20-11.10 am) with a third ‘class’ consisting of a lesson you work through online at your own convenience any time between Thursday 9 am and class time on Monday (N.B.: exams are run slightly differently, see below). The third lesson will be available through the ANGEL course management system. If you are enrolled in this course you are automatically included in ANGEL for Geo 204-002. Point your browser at the following URL:https://angel.msu.edu/ and login with your MSUNet ID and password. Do not enter your entire MSU e-mail address as a login, your MSUNet ID is the part of the address that precedes the @ symbol. Please note that you can ONLY use your MSU account to access materials. Once inside the ANGEL system you will need to click on the link for ‘SS07-GEO-204-002 World Regional Geography’ under ‘My Course.’

All emails from me to you will also use the MSU system. If you use a different email system, be sure to forward your MSU account to that other address. All online sessions, course assignments, handouts, assignment scores, and lecture outlines will be available through ANGEL. In-class lecture outlines will be available 12 hrs before the scheduled lecture and will remain posted throughout the semester. Specific readings, assignments and events will be posted on the announcements page. Be sure to check ANGEL frequently, at least daily.

Course Requirements:

Technological requirements: computer, internet connection, web browser (either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox), appropriate applications and plug-ins, etc. Information is listed in the ‘Getting Started’ folder section under the ‘Content’ tab).

Textbook pack: The World Today: Concepts and Regions in Geography (3nd edition) by H.J. de Blij and Peter O. Muller (2007) packaged with a Goode's World Atlas (21st edition).

One copy of each of the textbook and atlas are available for in-library use at the reference desk of the Main Library.

Note: Yes this is a new book. Some of you may choose to use the 2nd edition, but please note that there are significant changes in the new edition as it is more up to date. You are responsible for knowing the most up to date information available in the 3rd edition.

Attendance at the two in-person lectures per week is highly recommended (MW 10.20-11.20) although I do not take attendance. Coming to lecture will greatly enhance your learning in the class and people who skip class a lot tend not to do well in my classes.

Course Assignments:

There will be 4 non-cumulative exams during the semester, each worth 50 points. Additionally there will be an optional cumulative ‘map-quiz’ in-class final exam during finals week, which can be used to replace one of the four exams. All regular exams will be online; only the optional final will be held in-class. The dates of the exams are listed on the course schedule page.

Each exam will be offered during an 8-hour window on the date specified (see course schedule page). Once logged into the exam, you will have 55 minutes to complete your exam and submit it. If you do not submit your exam on your own, ANGEL will automatically save your responses at 55 minutes. At that time your exam will be submitted for you and you will be locked out of the exam. Once you have submitted your exam, the computer automatically scores it, you are given a preliminary score for the exam, and your final score is uploaded to your personal grade-book within 2-4 days (look under ‘Tools’ in ANGEL). Answers and explanations to the exam questions are provided on the course website for a limited time after the exam.

The online exams are open-book but should be taken individually. Team test taking is considered cheating in this course. The course instructors CAN and WILL monitor your exam logs before, during, and after you have taken the exam and they can detect patterns consistent with shared test-taking and have the authority to deal with the matter immediately. Exams consist of multiple choice and T/F questions. Maps and images may be included. All exam questions are selected at random from a pool of equally difficult questions. All answer options for the multiple choice questions are also ordered at random. Please take note that your exam is unique and different from another student's exam. Attempting to send your questions and answers to another person is pointless.

A note of warning: open-book exams may seem ‘easier’ but experience shows that students who do not study for an exam do not do well on the exams. You need to be familiar with the material in order to look it up during the exam. Fifty-five minutes pass very quickly.

Makeup Exams

Makeup exams are only permitted under special circumstances. If you miss an exam due to an emergency, you are required to contact the course instructor or teaching assistant AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BUT NO LATER THAN 24 HRS AFTER THE EXAM. If you do not contact your instructor within this time frame, you will NOT be allowed to take a makeup and will receive 0 points for the exam.

Final exam

The optional final exam is given in the course classroom and consists of a closed-book map-quiz. It can replace an exam score and is worth 50 points. The final for this class will be on Tuesday May 1, 2007 from 10 am to 12 pm.

Short Reflection Papers:

In addition to the exams, you are required to hand in (hardcopy, in-class) short reflection papers (1-2 pages) based on a posted discussion question. There will be 5 total, with your lowest scores being dropped. Your answers to each of the 5 short reflection questions will be due by the beginning of the class period on the date they are due (see course schedule). Please note that only your 4 best short reflection scores will count towards your final grade in this class.

The reflection papers questions will be loosely based on the particular world realm(s) that we have or are working on. Reflection papers are worth 15 points each and will be primarily graded based on how well you answer the question, but quality of writing is also important. LATE reflection papers will be downgraded one point per day late.

The topic of the reflection papers will be posted in ANGEL on an asynchronous discussion board (under the ‘Lessons’ tab) for discussion purposes with your classmates. DO NOT POST YOUR FINAL RESPONSE ON THE DISCUSSION BOARD. Reflection papers need to handed in in-class.

Course Policies:

Academic Honesty. Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states "the student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards." In addition, the Department of Geography at Michigan State University adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades, and in the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades, which are included in "Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide". Students who commit an act of academic dishonesty may receive a 0.0 on the assignment or in the course.

Cheating. In this class I consider cheating to be the copying of other student’s answers, assisting others when an exam should be completed individually, as well as the use of materials such as books and notes (including crib sheets) when those are not permitted (e.g. during the optional final). I do NOT tolerate cheating. Cheating on an exam or a reflection paper will result in a failed grade for the course as well as the student being reported to the appropriate college administrators.

Plagiarism. Plagiarism is

"to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own" or to "use (another's production) without crediting the source " (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

With the advent of the internet, studies indicate that plagiarism is on the rise at most universities, including MSU, since it is relatively easy to copy text directly from a website and use it as your own. It is essential that you provide references when you are basing your responses on material other than your own thoughts. In other words, information that does not originally come from you needs to be cited or referenced, even course materials such as the textbook and accompanying website. Your responses need to be phrased in your OWN, original words. If the instructor or teaching assistant suspect that a part or all of a reflection paper has been plagiarized, the student will be contacted immediately and the relevant paper given 0 points.

Please see the example below for clarification:

THE QUESTION ASKED:

How do humans influence species populations and ecosystems?

THE WEBSITE MATERIAL:

"Increased human population often leads to greater influence on the environment and sharper declines in species and ecosystems. According to the authors of the human footprint study, however, land transformation probably poses the single greatest threat to biodiversity, resulting in habitat loss and/or fragmentation for wild species. Beyond its effects on the nearby area, it can have global consequences, such as worldwide changes in soils and increased demand for fresh water for irrigation.

The authors also found that the greater the human access through roads, rivers, and coastlines, the greater the likelihood of resource extraction, pollution, and the introduction of invasive species. Both human access and land transformation have been fueled by increased power infrastructure (access to fossil fuel and electrical power) over the last century. Throughout most of human history, impact on the environment was constrained by raw human and animal muscle power. But today, one person with a bulldozer can match the power of 300 horses." (The Human Footprint, NASA-EO, 2003)

A PLAGIARIZED STUDENT ANSWER:

‘Increased human population can lead to declines in species populations and ecosystems. Land transformation probably poses the greatest threat, resulting in habitat loss and fragmentation for species. While land transformation can affect the nearby area, it can have global consequences, like global changes in soils and increased demand for fresh water for irrigation. Also, the greater the human access through roads, rivers, and coastlines, the greater the likelihood of resource extraction, pollution, and the introduction of invasive species. Both human access and land transformation have been fueled by increased power infrastructure over the last century.’

Explanation: When reading the above example, the instructor cannot tell whether this student learned anything from answering this question, or if they just looked for key words and then copied a few sentences into their answer. This is the main reason why you must be sure to read the website, think through the information, and then answer the question in your own words. The example below is a good answer - the information is basically the same, but the sentences are not the same as the website sentences, and it is obvious when grading this question that the student has thought through the information before answering. Furthermore, a reference is provided to support the student's answer.

AN EXAMPLE OF A GOOD WAY TO REWORK THIS INFORMATION INTO YOUR OWN ANSWER:

‘Humans can negatively influence species populations and ecosystems through land transformations. As humans transform previously ‘wild’ lands they may encourage habitat loss or habitat fragmentation, both of which may lead to ecosystem degradation and a decline in species populations. Land transformations affecting large areas may even change an ecosystem's soil properties or alter water resources. Humans can also negatively influence species populations and ecosystems through increased access into "wild" lands as more roads are constructed or rivers and coastal areas are more heavily traveled.’ (Web reference: The Human Footprint, NASA-EO, 2003, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/footprint/)

*** Please be conscientious of plagiarism as you work through the course, and do not hesitate to contact the course instructor or T.A. if you have any questions.***