Astronomy Today, Vol. II Stars and
Galaxies (7th Edition) by Chaisson and McMillan.
CPS transmitter.
The
class participation part of your grade will be completed using the CPS
transmitters during class
to answer discussion
questions. The CPS transmitters are sold in the Hornet
Bookstore. .
Final course grades will be based upon
homework, the best 2 out of 3 exams, a cumulative final exam, and class
participation
during
in-class exercises.
Homework
SacCT
|
20%
|
Exam 1
|
15%
|
Exam 2
|
15%
|
Class participation
|
20%
|
Final Exam
|
30%
|
Homework will
be assigned
on SacCT by Friday each week, and will be due
on the next Wednesday. You will
always
have the weekend to work on the homework assignments.
All homework assignments are done
using SacCT!!
Exams will be mulitple choice, and you will need to bring a
General
Purpose
Pearson
NCS
Answer
Sheet,
form
no.
4521 (available
from the bookstore), and a number
2 pencil.
You will also have to bring photo ID to all
exams!
Letter grades will be assigned as follows:
A
|
>=95%
|
A-
|
>=90%
|
B+
|
>=87%
|
B
|
>=82%
|
B-
|
>=77% |
C+
|
>=73%
|
C
|
>=69% |
C-
|
>=66% |
D+
|
>=62% |
D
|
>=58% |
D-
|
>=55% |
F
|
less
than
55%
|
Contacting Me
The best way is by e-mail [ctaylor (at)
csus.edu], since I
don't check my voice mail very often. Coming to office hours is
also
good, and any time my door is open, please come in.
Attendance:
Attendance is not mandatory, but is highly encouraged. If you
miss an in-class exercise, then you will receive zero points for it,
which will be reflected in your grade. Class participation is
one-fifth of your final course grade, and you can't earn any class
participation points if you aren't here! Each class participation
question is worth two points: you get one point for being here
and answering the question, and an additional point for getting the
answer right.
Make up Exams:
I will announce exam dates at least 2
weeks in advance of the exam. If you have a conflicting activity
that
cannot be rescheduled, you must see
me at least 2 days before the exam.
If you don't, there will be no opportunity to make it up. You must
bring me documentation of your conflicting activity (i.e. if you have
jury duty that day, show me the form they sent you. If you have a
brain transplant scheduled, bring me a note from the surgeon).
Math:
Algebra is required in this
course. I plan the exams so that you cannot get an A if you get
all the math problems wrong. However, if you get every math
problem wrong, but get everything else right, you can still get a B
Calculators are allowed on the exams. PDAs, smart phones or other
cell phones with math functions are
not
allowed.
Cell phone:
Please turn your cell phone to vibrate
before class starts. Cell phones that ring in the middle of class
are
disrespectful to your fellow students, and to me. If your cell
phone
goes off in class and it is a call you must take, please go into the
hallway to answer it.
Cheating:
The
faculty
of
the
Department
of
Physics
and
Astronomy
do
not
tolerate
academic
dishonesty.
Falsification
of
data,
copying, unauthorized collaborations, plagiarism, alteration of graded materials or
other actions (as described in,
but not necessarily
limited to the CSUS
Policy
Manual) will be promptly reported to the Office of Student
Affairs. The offending student will be penalized
on the assignment in
question.
Serious infractions will result
in course
failure and a recommendation for administrative
sanctions.
Students with disabilities:
Please see me before the end of the
first week of class.
Chris Taylor :
ctaylor (at) csus.edu