Peralta Community College District Rita D. Haberlin, Instructor   Online Physical Geography Course Information

This Page Introduction System Requirements Course Materials On-Campus Meetings Role of the Textbook Online Course Components Course Access Attendance Grading Learning Outcomes

Other Pages Peralta Colleges Geography Home Page   Physical Geography ONLINE     Course Description     Course Content        and Learning Modules   Physical Geography LECTURE     Course Information     Course Content        and Learning Modules   Physical Geography LAB     Course Information   World Regional Geography     Course Information

Introduction
Welcome to online physical geography. Physical geography studies the dynamics of the earth as the home of people. Viewed from space you can observe a global ecosystem in which the atmosphere (swirls of cloud), the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere are dynamically interconnected by flows of energy and materials. In this online class, you study the processes at work in the physical environment. You learn why the Bay Area is vulnerable to earthquakes, subject to fog, and milder than the rest of the United States. You predict winter storms from weather maps and explain why daylight varies with the seasons. You realize that you are affected by the environment and that you have an impact upon that environment.
 
This online class is a fully transferable (UC and CSU) physical science that covers the material discussed in a traditional lecture class but requires much more discipline and effort on your part. You must be comfortable using a computer and the Internet. An online class requires more written communication than a lecture class. Rather than being a passive recipient of information, you interact with what you learn from the textbook, the study guide, practice quizzes, assignments, and Internet resources to build your own understanding of how the physical world works.

System Requirements
In order to participate in the online class from home, your system will need to meet the following technical requirements:


• Access to a PC or Macintosh Computer
  * PC (Pentium recommended)
          Windows 95, 98, 2000, (or XP, or Vista preferred)
          128 MB RAM (or more)
  * Macintosh 68040 (including all Power PC machines)
          Mac OS 10 or higher
          128 MB RAM (or more)
• Reliable email software and active email account
• Reliable internet access (from home, college, work, or another facility)
• Modem speed of 56K (or higher recommended)
• Printer strongly recommended
• Sound card and speakers strongly recommended

Required Course Materials and Resources


• Textbook:  Earth Science, 11th Edition, by Edward J. Tarbuck and
  Frederick K. Lutgens, ISBN 0-13-149751-0
  Please purchase the textbook by the first week of class.
• GEODe Earth Science CD-ROM (Included with the textbook.)
• Study Guide:  Physical Geography Study Guide (Provided at the Orientation meeting and also accessible online in the Online Physical Geography Web Learning Modules.)
• Study Time:  You need to make a special effort to set aside a regular time to study for this online course. Choose a time when you know you won’t be distracted. Pay attention to deadlines for graded quizzes and assignments. It is too easy to procrastinate when you do not attend a class.

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Required On-Campus Meetings
Distant learners from outside the Bay Area need to make special arrangements with the instructor.


DATES AND TIMES TO BE ANNOUNCED

We have two on-campus midterms and one final examination. The three examinations will help you assess your progress after each section of course material; Part I Weather and Climate, Part II Earth's Internal Processes, and Part III Earth's External Processes.

Role of the Textbook
Without lectures, the textbook becomes more important as a resource for the course. We do not work through the textbook beginning with Chapter 1 but instead read only those chapters that are most relevant to the course content. This is a physical geography course although the textbook is called Earth Science. I chose the text because it is clearly written and has some excellent resources to help you understand how the physical world works. Physical geography draws from the physical and natural sciences in order to understand the earth as the home of people. With its People and the Environment sections, the textbook addresses the relationship between people and the environment that is the essence of geography. I supplement the textbook resources to make sure that you have an understanding of physical geography within the discipline of geography.
 
For each course topic, I give an assigned reading. You must read the text more than once to fully understand the concepts. There is an excellent summary at the end of each chapter. Make sure that you understand the Key Terms and that you can answer the Review Questions. The GEODe CD-ROM that is included in the back of the text is a vital part of the course. I have Study Questions for the GEODe CD-ROM that will help you concentrate upon the most important concepts.

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Online Course Components
The Course Management System and Web Site To Be Announced
 
There are five sections:  Classroom, Assignments, Tests, Forums, and Messages
 

• Classroom
  The most important link in the Online Classroom is the Lesson of the Week. This is where you begin your studies. Each week, you have a summary that outlines the reading assignments, tutorials, Online Physical Geography Web Learning Modules, graded quizzes, and any assignments or forum discussions to be completed by a deadline.
   
  The Online Classroom also provides course information, the syllabus, calendar, instructions for submitting assignments and using the forum, links to the Online Physical Geography Web Learning Modules and textbook Web site. Each Web Learning Module includes:
   
  • Study Questions for the GEODe CD-ROM or Online Tutorials
  • An online version of the Study Guide including study objectives
  • Practice Quizzes with interactive feedback
    Practice quizzes are not graded but they help you find out how well you understand the material. The Peralta Colleges practice quiz has feedback to all the answers and you can learn even by answering incorrectly.
  • Web Exploration. These are links to the most relevant Web sites for each course topic. Course Assignments will use these resources.

 
• Assignments
  Assignments are posted in the Online Classroom. Here you answer questions by typing into the box provided. If there is more than one question, you should give the question number in your answer.

 
• Tests
  Quizzes provide motivation to keep up with your studies. You have practice quizzes with interactive feedback in the Web Learning Modules. The graded quizzes in the Online Classroom have scores that are recorded as part of your grade. These quizzes are timed and must be completed by the deadline each week.

 
• Forums
  The forum is the section where you interact with fellow students. There will be several forum topics during the semester. You are required to contribute your opinion and provide new information on topics such as natural hazards and the human impact upon the environment. You are also required to comment at least once on each topic to bulletin postings of other students. Instructions on using the Forum are included in the Classroom component.

 
• Messages
  This is where you can send messages privately to the instructor or to fellow students.

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How To Access The Course
The Course Management System for the online physical geography course will be announced at a later date.
Instructions for this section will be posted HERE close to the start of the online course.

Attendance
You must login within the first four days of the start of the online class. If you do not login and have not contacted the instructor, YOU WILL BE DROPPED.
 
Each week's assignments, quizzes, and forum topics will be posted on Monday and should be completed by the following Sunday night. It is your responsibility to attend class online at least 2-3 times a week. If you do not login to the course for more than seven days without contacting the instructor, your login will be disabled and you will be dropped.

Grading
Grades will be based on the following point values:

Participation		100
Weekly Quizzes		200		(After two lowest scores are dropped)
Assignments		200
Two Midterms		200
Final Exam		100

Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of the course you:

• Explain how hydrologic, tectonic, erosional, and atmospheric processes as well as earth-sun relationships are interconnected and together shape the physical environment.
• Summarize the conditions that cause such natural hazards as floods, storms, earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes, and coastal erosion, and explain their impact on humans.
• Analyze the impact of humans on the natural environments and research such local environmental issues as waste management, air pollution, water pollution, and environmental planning.
• Analyze and reach valid conclusions from analysis of graphs, geographic diagrams, statistics, and maps.
• Construct diagrams that accurately explain and demonstrate such earth science processes as the hydrologic cycle, the rock cycle, and the plate tectonic cycle.