Syllabus for ENS-314

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE


COURSE DESCRIPTION

Global Environmental Change will enable you to develop a clear understanding of the fundamentals of global environmental science and the factors required to maintain ecological stability and preserve worldwide resources. The course materials are organized and presented from a global perspective.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, you should be able to:

  1. Describe the biosphere and how it works and identify causes of environmental problems.
  2. Explain ecosystem equilibrium and how it can be disrupted by human activities.
  3. Describe the effects of population growth on the ecosystem.
  4. Explain the need to balance the human population, food, and energy resources.
  5. Explain the importance of maintaining biological diversity.
  6. Describe the importance of heritage resources such public lands and wilderness.
  7. Identify issues related to energy consumption, including use of alternative energy sources.
  8. Discuss issues related to mineral resource management and the use of nuclear power.
  9. Identify major air pollutants, their dangers to health, and ways to control this type of pollution.
  10. Identify threats to aquatic resources and the water supply and methods for protecting them.
  11. Describe dangers of and problems surrounding the disposal of hazardous waste.
  12. Explain the role of ethics in environmental decision making.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to complete your coursework. Some course materials may be free, open source, or available from other providers. You can access free or open-source materials by clicking the links provided below or in the module details documents. To purchase course materials, please visit the University's textbook supplier.

Required Textbook

ISBN-13: 978-0538735346

COURSE STRUCTURE

Global Environmental Change is a six-credit online course, consisting of six modules. Modules include learning objectives, study materials and activities. Module titles are listed below.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in six graded online discussions and an ungraded "Introductions" forum, complete six written assignments, take a proctored midterm examination, and submit a final project. See below for more details.

Consult the Course Calendar for assignment due dates.

Promoting Originality

One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in this document.

Discussion Forums

In addition to an ungraded "Introductions" forum, Global Environmental Change requires you to participate in six graded class discussions.

Communication with the mentor and among fellow students is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online discussions involves two distinct assignments: an initial response to a posted question (discussion thread) and subsequent comments on classmates' responses.

You will be evaluated both on the quality of your responses (i.e., your understanding of readings, concepts, and practices as demonstrated by well-articulated, critical thinking) and quantity of your participation (i.e., the number of times you participate meaningfully in the assigned forums). Responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, professional, and respectful.

Meaningful participation in online discussions is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered value-adding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate, the reading, or your mentor, state and support your agreement or disagreement.

For posting guidelines and help with discussion forums, please see the Student Handbook located within the General Information page of the course Web site.

Written Assignments

Global Environmental Change has six written assignments, one per study unit. For the assignment topics and questions, see the individual Assignment Modules.

 

The written assignments are the primary means for you to express yourself verbally, controlling content and meaning. Due dates for each assignment are listed in the Course Calendar.

 

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the Assignment Modules and read through the written assignment questions before you begin each reading assignment.

 

Your answers to the assignment questions should be well developed and convey your understanding of readings, concepts, and practices. Formulate responses in your own words. Do not merely copy answers from your reading materials. When quoting or paraphrasing from the text or other sources, be sure to cite the source of information properly according to APA guidelines (see also Basic Documentation Rules).

 

Prepare your written assignments using whatever word processing program you have on your computer. Include your name at the top of the paper, as well as the course name and code and the semester and year in which you are enrolled.

 

Before submitting your first assignment, check with your mentor to determine whether your word processing software is compatible with your mentor's software. If so, you can submit your work as you prepared it. If not, save your assignment as a rich-text (.rtf) file, using the Save As command of your software program. Rich text retains basic formatting and can be read by any other word processing program.

For help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information page of the course Web site.

Midterm Examination

You are required to take a closed-book, proctored midterm examination.  The exam covers all reading and assignments from Modules 1–3 of the course. It is two hours long and consists of multiple choice and short essay questions.

For the midterm, you are required to use the University's Online Proctor Service (OPS). Please refer to the "Examinations and Proctors" section of the Online Student Handbook (see General Information area of the course Web site) for further information about scheduling and taking online exams and for all exam policies and procedures. You are strongly advised to schedule your exam within the first week of the semester.

Exams are administered in the Examinations section of the course Web site. Consult the Course Calendar for the official dates of your midterm exam week.

Statement about Cheating

You are on your honor not to cheat during the exam. Cheating means:

If there is evidence that you have cheated or plagiarized in your exam, the exam will be declared invalid, and you will fail the course.

Final Project

There is no final proctored examination in this course. A 10- to 15-page paper acts as your final assessment and is worth 20 percent of your final grade. You must complete the paper and submit it to your mentor online by the last day of the semester. Your paper will provide an answer to a particular environmental issue and will include a technical summary of the science behind the issue, using at least three (3) outside sources.

For help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information page of the course Web site.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

A

=

93–100

C+

=

78–79

A–

=

90–92

C

=

73–77

B+

=

88–89

C–

=

70–72

B

=

83–87

D

=

60–69

B–

=

80–82

F

=

Below 60

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or better (for an area of study course) or D or better (for a course not in your area of study), based on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., exams, assignments, discussion postings, etc.).

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

ACADEMIC POLICIES

To ensure success in all your academic endeavors and coursework at Thomas Edison State University, familiarize yourself with all administrative and academic policies including those related to academic integrity, course late submissions, course extensions, and grading policies.

For more, see:

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