Geol 311: Assignments & Grading

Course Components

• Assignments: See course schedule for expected readings. You will get much more out of lectures and labs if you come having read these assignments. In addition, you will be given selected handouts to accompany lecture.

• Homework: Occasional problems will be assigned to provide practice and insight into the types of questions you will find on quizzes and exams. These will be self-graded but must be turned in to indicate you have done the work. You will receive a "+" for each one completed on schedule (normally the next class meeting); these will be counted for extra credit.

• Quizzes: Occasional quizzes will be given in class, normally a few simple exercises to help me evaluate how you are grasping the material. These will be graded and will collectively count toward about 10% of your course grade. They will be announced at least one class in advance.

• Exams: At the end of each half of the course a comprehensive exam will be given covering crystallography and optical mineralogy, respectively (see schedule); the latter will consist of two parts - written and practical. These two exams will each count 25% toward the class grade. See Review Questions to prepare for these exams.

• Labs: Lab exercises and quizzes will be given as per schedule. Lab reports are due within one week of the respective assignments, and will collectively count as 20% of your grade. Late lab assignments will not be counted.

• Student project: A review of a selected (or assigned) mineral group or other suitable topic will be prepared in professional written format and presented orally to the class (see schedule) - 20% of grade.