EVR6930: Special Topics
Spring 2005
Lectures: Monday,
Instructor: Johan Liebens,
room 13/213
Phone: (850)474-2065
Office hours: T, R
Textbook: This course does
not have a textbook. Students will have to make many copies and acquire materials
through interlibrary loan.
This course consists of two parts. In the
first part the class will read and discuss scientific journal articles (no pseudo-science
internet info allowed!) related to an environmental issue collectively selected
by the class. Towards the end of the first part the class will formulate a
research hypothesis related to the chosen topic that can be tested locally and will
develop a research plan to test the hypothesis. In the second part of the
course groups of students will collect samples, submit them for analysis (or
analyze them in-house if possible), interpret the results, and write a report. The
report will be in scientific article style and it is anticipated that individual
students can take responsibility for a particular part of the report.
The potential topics for the course are:
·
Heavy metal distribution in a recently
constructed urban wetland
·
Depth distribution of organic carbon as a
function of slope position
·
Heavy metal content in street dust on various
types of pavement
·
Arsenic (lead, mercury?) in surficial
soil materials in public places
Graduate
standing is required for this course.
There are no exams in this course.
Students will write a report in the middle of the semester (date to be
announced in class) and at the end. The first report is worth 30% and the
second 40% of the final grade. Class participation is very important in this course
and is worth 30% of the final grade. The grading scale is a straight curve as
follows: A ³ 90%, 90% >
B ³ 80%, 80% > C ³ 70%, 70% > D ³ 60%, 60% > F.
There is no provision for extra credit
work. Class attendance is crucial in this course and roll will be taken. It is
the student's responsibility to sign roll at the beginning of each class. If you
miss a class you have to present a signed physician's excuse or, if an exam is
missed due to a family funeral, a dated newspaper obituary. Most other excuses
for missing a class are not acceptable. Points will be deducted from the class
participation grade for absences without a valid excuse.
Announcements regarding the course
outline and the schedule of the lectures and other activities may be made in
class. All organizational/administrative announcements made during class are
assumed to be known by all students.
Student
learning outcomes
Students
who successfully complete this course:
1. Will be more
proficient at critically reading scientific information.
2. Will be better
at summarizing and assimilating large volumes of scientific information.
3. Will be able
to formulate practical hypothesis and to develop tests for the hypothesis.
4. Will have
acquired more experience writing scientific documents.
5. Will have a
more in-depth knowledge of the selected environmental issue.
Special
technology utilized by students
Low. Students are expected to be proficient
with spreadsheets and word processing software.
Expectations
for academic conduct/plagiarism policy
Will
be followed as stated at these URL addresses:
http://uwf.edu/studentaffairs/division/publications/classdisrup.pdf
http://uwf.edu/studentaffairs/division/publications/plagbroch.pdf
Assistance for
students with special needs
This
policy is found at http://uwf.edu/DSS/dss_pub.pdf on page 3
January:
Literature review.
February:
Literature review, formulation of hypothesis, development of research plan.
March:
Field or lab work, data processing and interpretation.
April:
Report writing.