Global Change - Lab Sections X and Y

Global Change - Lab Sections X and Y

GSI:Office:

Email:Office Hours:

Please feel free to email me if you have questions and cannot meet during office hours; we can always find a time that works well for both of us.

Tips for Success

Notes

Print out the notes the day before a lecture is to be given and familiarize yourself with the notes before coming to class. Since the professors update their lecture notes with current material before giving the lectures, it’s a good habit to print out notes no more than one day before the class. In class, spend your time listening and highlighting or supplementing the notes. Having notes available of the web is a huge advantage, but it might also decrease your incentive to study and stay alert during lectures. Some students had a rude awakening last semester during the first exam, when they learned that the shear volume of material covered wasn't conducive to cramming the night before the exam.

Web

Check the web page frequently. Do the self-tests at the end of each set of lecture notes. These will be available within a week after each lecture is given. Keep your eyes open for announcements.

Assessments

Through the course of the year you will be asked to fill out course assessments. These are taken very seriously by the course instructors, and will always be kept anonymous. While your name will never be attached to your comments, you will get points for completing the forms so remember to keep up. There will be no assessment forms accepted after the deadlines.

Grading

The labs are 10 points for each written lab assignment, 3 points for participation, and 2 points for the “GC Week” assessment, for a total of approximately 180 points, roughly 25% of the class grade. Some labs will have no written assignment, and will be graded mostly on participation in the discussion. This means that if a reading is assigned for a discussion lab, you should come with questions or comments about it.

You should be able to do well in lab sections. Prepare in advance when possible, participate, and come see me during the week if you have questions about your assignments. Proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar are important in all written work submitted for this class. If spelling is not your forté, USE SPELL-CHECK!

Lab Attendance

We will usually meet in the same discussion classroom, and walk to an ITD computer classroom after talking about the lab. I will let you know if the meeting place changes for the following lab during the beginning of the lab, and what you need to do to prepare for next week, so please be on time. I will also communicate announcements and help on assignments through email. If you are unable to make your lab section, you will forfeit the participation points, unless you make arrangements with one of the GSIs to attend another section for that week. Plan ahead!

Late Policy

Lab/discussion assignments for a given week will be due at the beginning of the following week's lab/discussion meeting. Grades will be reduced by one point for each day late, unless you have spoken to me in advance about an extension. With good reason, I am happy to work with you so that we can produce quality work.

Term Project

We will spend time during lab week 5 going over the term web poster project. Until then, start thinking about getting into groups of 2-3 and what topics from the course you are interested in investigating. This project is worth as much as the final exam, so take it seriously and don’t procrastinate. Don’t panic if you are unfamiliar with making web pages. Come to my office hours or make an appointment with the course web staff. There is plenty of help and reference material available, but little sympathy for last-minute crises.

Plagiarism

No debatable line. If there is any evidence of the copying or reproduction of anyone’s work in any of the material in which you turn in, then I will reward a zero for that assignment and always take the appropriate action according to the University of Michigan guidelines. (Please be careful to cite all material taken from scientific references you will be using throughout the course. If you have any questions about how and when do you site references, please see me.) There are references to help you abide by these guidelines on the course web page.

How to Approach the Course

The Topics

Global change is full of interesting and controversial topics like population, climate change, natural resource use and sustainability. I hope that you all leave the course more informed than when you began. At the same time, the course doesn't seek to convert everyone to environmental activism, or to turn out hardened skeptics. One of the your challenges will be to become a realist, a critical thinker, able to look at all sides of an issue and form a responsible opinion, or seek out additional information. Some of these issues are emotionally or politically charged and it is hard to know when, if ever, you are getting an objective opinion.

Our discussions this year will be much more interesting if you come into the topics with an open, but critical, mind: and raise interesting questions to discuss with one another. When we are discussing controversial issues, you should make an effort to be politely argumentative. To understand an issue well, you must be able to examine it from all sides. To successfully debate an issue with someone, you must know his or her positions well, or better, than you know your own. Don't just agree with your classmates’ statements or mine. Play the devil's advocate from time to time and we will all benefit.

The Instructors

You should feel comfortable approaching all of the GSIs and the professors involved with the course. We are here to help you, and we actually enjoy hearing from you, the students.

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