ESCI 103

Course Menu

 Home Page

 Required Materials

 Syllabus - What to Do

 Chapter Materials

 Laboratories

 Grading Policy

 Gradebook

 Contact the Professor

 Practice Exercises

 Course Evaluation

Other Resources

 Textbook Website

 My USD Website

 ESCI 101 Online

Grading Policy

Exams:

There will be 3 required lecture exams during this course, including 1 comprehensive final exam. Each exam is worth 25% of your total grade. Exams will consist of multiple choice questions and/or true-false questions. The exams will cover the material thoroughly. Grading is done on a 10 point scale, meaning that 80-89% is a B, 70-79% is a C, etc.

Laboratory:

There is a required laboratory for this course. Laboratories should be done using your lab manual and then mailed to the professor for grading. Your final lab grade will account for 25% of your total course grade.

Grades will be posted on this website a day or two after an exam. The grades will be listed by your College ID number. This is different than the number on your ID card. You can find your College ID number on your tuition bill, among other places. If you cannot find your College ID number, you can contact me or contact the registrar. The Geology Department secretary cannot give you the number.

Grading Summary:

Exams:	3 @ 25% each =	75%
Labs:	6 @ 4.2% each =	25%
TOTAL:	100%	100%

Studying Suggestions

A. Check out the review questions at the end of each chapter in your textbook.

B. Read and take the time to understand the chapters in the textbook. This is a secret I personally didn't discover until I was in graduate school.

C. Take the practice exam above over and over again until you can correctly answer (and understand) each question. Your score on the practice exam is a good gauge of what your score will be on the real lecture exam. This is one of the best suggestions.

D. Keep up with the material. Everyone's tendency is to put off studying until a day or two before an exam. Unfortunately, this is the main reason that so many people get bad grades - it's not because the subject matter is difficult. It's because you cannot assimilate so much material overnight.

E. Try to visualize concepts in your head. Geology is a three dimensional subject, so it helps to have a picture 'stored' in your mind.