Reading Quizzes – We’ve got a lot of reading to do and I can imagine someone (of course not you) might consider not doing all of it. That of course would detract not only from what said-someone would learn but also what he/she would contribute to discussion (thus what others would learn). So, in the interest of all concerned, I’ll give periodic, short, and terribly obvious reading quizzes. An added benefit is that I’ll more confidently be able to credit quiet students with having done the reading (instead of relying solely on class participation).
Writings – I ask that you write one paper each week: one (full) two-page Reading Paper each of the first three weeks and one four-page Linkage Paper the fourth week. While I am quite open about the format, I do expect strong support (logical and textual) for all theses proposed.
Reading Papers - As the process of writing facilitates deeper thought, these papers are intended to help you dig more deeply into the readings. Each week’s Reading Paper should focus on the reading for a particular day of that week (you may draw on additional resources, but you needn’t) and should be turned in by the beginning of class that day. You are free to choose for which day/subject you wish to write. A desirable side effect of this assignment is that the thought invested in writing the papers will strengthen class discussions.
Linkage Paper – By the end of this course, I hope that you will see how surprisingly broad and significant Energy issues are. By the beginning of the last day of class (Thursday the 24th) you should turn in a paper that investigates a connection between Energy issues and your chosen major / emphasis. For this paper you may need to draw on some resources beyond the assigned readings of this course. On that last day of class, you will have 10 minutes to present your findings.
Presentation – In case you missed it under the “Linkage Paper” heading, during our final class meeting, Thursday the 24th, we will have a symposium in which everyone gives a 10 minute presentation on the subject of his/her Linkage Paper – a connection between Energy issues and his/her major/emphasis.
Homework – At the beginning of class every Monday and Thursday, a handful of homework questions and problems will be due. Broadly speaking, these are to help you mull over the reading. More specifically, mathematics is such a precise language that it can be used to reach unambiguous but non-obvious conclusions; however, it’s such a sparse language that it’s hard to really follow mathematical arguments without actually working through them yourself. So the homework problems are to help you do that. Homework will be graded on a three-point scale: 0, 1, or 2 points per problem. A “2” means “perfect” and a “1” means “something’s wrong, but you can fix it.”
Redos: If you get a “1” on a problem, you can identify and fix the error (perhaps on your own, or perhaps by working with me or a fellow student), and resubmit the homework at the beginning of the next class in order to get a “2.” To make the redo process educationally worthwhile, I’ll refrain from writing detailed explanations when grading (i.e., I won’t correct the error for you), but I’ll be happy to discuss the problem in person.
Field Trips – These should be a lot of fun and educational too. Since we have hosts waiting for us at the other end, it will be very important that we depart on time.
Labs – These are optional. Students interested in petitioning for this course to satisfy the MS1 (Lab Course) requirement, or just interested in getting a more hands-on perspective, should join me in performing some laboratory experiments. We will arrange an out-of-class lab time.