ESRM 201

Sustaining Pacific Northwest Ecosystems

Landsat Image, September 25, 2000

Assignments

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Important dates– please read this table carefully and mark your calendar!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Participation

Your presence, punctuality, and participation in class are assumed.  Please notify the instructors in advance of any anticipated absence so you can make up the material and any in-class assignments.  You are expected to participate regularly, voluntarily and productively in lecture and discussion.  Please be courteous to other class members.  Turn off any distracting electronics and strive to make your comments constructive ones.

 

Exams

There will be one mid-term exam on Thursday, October 22 (covering the first part of the quarter) and one final exam (comprehensive over the whole quarter) on Thursday, December 10 during the normal class period.  The lab exam will be on Thursday, December 3 during normal lab time.

 

Writing

Written assignments are expected to be at the quality level expected of professional land managers and will be graded as such.  Essays should be logically structured.  Assertions should be supported by specific references to lectures, readings or field trips (see Report Format, below).  Paragraphs should have clear topic sentences.  Proofread your assignments for punctuation, spelling, and grammar.  Generally, the instructors do not have enough time to make specific grammatical notations on your papers, but your evaluation will suffer if your papers are riddled with errors.

 

Reading Reports

Every Thursday evening a reading (and questions) for the following week will be posted on the web site.  Each student is expected to do the assigned reading and to hand in a report responding to the posted questions.  Reports are due at the beginning of the first class of the week (Tuesday)—late papers will not be accepted.  However, the lowest reading report score will be dropped.  The purpose of the reading assignments and reports is to help you prepare for the upcoming week’s lectures. 

 

Field Trip and Lab Reports

Following each field trip, you will write a report detailing the objectives and findings of the trip, as discussed on the day of the trip.  Several of the labs will also require reports.  Reports are due one week after the field trip or lab unless the instructor allows more time.

 

Report Format: IMPORTANT

Weekly reading report assignments and field trip reports must be submitted in essay report form: Times New Roman typeface, 12-point font, double spaced, 1-inch margins all around.  You should target a length of about 450 words.  However, any papers over 550 words will be truncated and the content over 550 words not evaluated.  You should cite from the reading abundantly using CBE citation style.  Everyone will receive a guide to using CBE citations; use it, please.  Observe the following guidelines:

 

1) The first four lines of your paper must be as follows:

             Your Name

             ESRM 201

             Reading (or Field Trip) Report # N

             Due Date

2) Provide a title for your work

3) Address the question assigned

4) Use citations to tie your ideas to the reading material.  How do your ideas flow from the ideas of others?  How is you idea related to other authors’ ideas?

 

Each report will be graded on a 10-point scale: 0-3 points for the extent and thoughtfulness you addressed the assigned question, 0-4 points for the extent, accuracy and thoughtfulness with which you cited ideas, concepts, and examples from the assigned reading, and 0-3 points for the readability, logic and flow of the narration.  Graded papers will be of the form: 3/4/3 = 10. Remember, the purpose of the reading assignment & reading report is to become prepared for the upcoming week’s activities. For that reason they will not be accepted late but your lowest score will be dropped (consider it your sick leave option). 

 

Nomenclature

Any reference to species must follow proper scientific nomenclature. 

Primer on proper use of species names

Garrison codes (ASCII) and (PDF)

 

Evaluation

The course grade is computed as follows:

                                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due Dates

All written work must be submitted on-time and in hard copy.   Assignments turned in late will be given reduced credit.  While the size of the deduction will depend on the circumstances, generally the decrease will be 20% for each day the assignment is late (except for reading reports, which will not be accepted late).  Please contact the instructors, in advance of due dates, if unforeseen circumstances arise.

 

Working in Groups

Several assignments involve teamwork.  Each individual is expected to participate fully in all group activities. Team members may receive different grades on the same group project depending on their participation.

 

Conferences

You are strongly encouraged to confer with the instructor about your work or the course materials.  You are responsible for initiating contact.

 

Academic Integrity

Plagiarism, cheating, and other misconduct are serious violations of your contract as a student. We expect that you will know and follow the University's policies on cheating and plagiarism. Any suspected cases of academic misconduct will be handled according to University regulations. More information, including definitions and examples, can be found at:  http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm

 

Disability Accommodations

To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206)543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructor so we can discuss the accommodations needed for this class.

 

Field Trip Insurance

Field Trip insurance is strongly recommended for all students registered in any CFR course which includes field trips. Students who do not have the regular University health insurance or adequate personal coverage should consider obtaining a special short-term policy at $0.85 per day for the course of the field trips. Information and applications are available on pages 27-29 at: http://www.washington.edu/admin/risk/documents/Field_Trip_Guidelines.pdf  The completed application and payment (made out to the University of Washington) must be made to the Cashier's Office, 129 Schmitz Hall before the trip.