DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

USU 1360

INTEGRATED PHYSICAL SCIENCE

ENERGY

SPRING 2008

Tonya Triplett

Course Information

            Textbook:         ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT 2^nd Edition, Ristenen and Kraushaar, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006

            Instructor          Tonya Triplett, SER 234, 797-8308, tonya.triplett@usu.edu

            Classroom        ESLC 130

            Time                 12:00 – 1:15 Tuesday and Thursday

            Office hours      by appointment – T/H mornings

            Website            Use USU’s WebCT program

Course Goals

            The purpose of the course is to educate you on aspects of energy management for the benefit of mankind on a national/global basis.  By energy management I mean the discovery, extraction, conversion, distribution and utilization of energy resources historically, now and in the future.  This involves considerations of science, engineering, economics, social science and politics.  It is clearly a subject with great breadth and depth.  In the time available in one semester it is only possible to provide a broad overview of events leading to the present energy situation and prospects for energy management in the future.  The course is not intended to be a physics or engineering course, but it will be necessary to address some of the basic physics and practical engineering considerations which play a role in energy management.

            My goal as far as you are concerned is that you will emerge from the course with enough background knowledge to give you a better understanding of the many issues involving the utilization of energy for the benefit of humanity.  This topic will continue to be discussed in State legislatures, Congress, the United Nations and other international meetings and consequently will obtain significant media exposure.

I hope that you will leave the class with a better understanding of the importance of energy to our civilization, and will become a more thoughtful user of this precious resource, essential to the maintenance and improvement of many aspects of our standard of living.

Tests

            There will be four tests given as listed in the calendar.  The tests will have multiple choice answers, and will be answered on scantron forms.  Each test will be worth 150 points.

The department will provide the scantron forms for all tests.  It is your responsibility to bring a number 2 pencil to the class on test days.  The scantron system will e-mail your test score to you as soon as it is processed by computer services.  It is therefore very important that you establish an e-mail account with USU computer services as soon as possible.  The provision of the USU e-mail account is included in your fees.  Accounts can be set up at the Computer Services Help desk.

On-Line Quizzes/Homework

            Quizzes are based on homework questions in the text.  In order to have your work graded, use WebCT.  Each homework assignment/quiz will be worth 20 points and you may accumulate a maximum of 200 points in this manner.  More than 10 quizzes will be offered, so I would expect that most students would get 200 points in this area.  WebCT is available from the USU home page.  Your login name is your A # and the password is your standard password.  All assignments and due dates are available on WebCT.

Group Project

            In order to address several of the pedagogy guidelines for a University Studies Integrated Science course, a group project will be used to complete the final grade computation.  In the fourth week of class, you will be assigned to a group.  Each group will produce a project providing you with valuable experience in working collaboratively and experience in writing and research all of which are goals of the University Studies program.

            In the first group meeting, each group will select a spokesperson.  This spokesperson will be the link to me in matters connected with the project.  The prime method of communication will be e-mail.  You will also select a topic for the project and discuss what each group member will contribute to the project. 

            I will only grade one project for each group, and each group member who contributes to the project will receive a grade.  50 points of the grade will be based on work done in the group during class time meetings and the preparation for those meetings.  These points cannot be earned if you do not attend the meetings prepared for them.  Each individual contribution to the project will also gain up to an additional 150 points, so the individual group member names must be clearly shown on their contributions.

            The group spokesperson will be responsible for contacting the group and conducting meetings.  The group spokesperson will also assemble the final document for submission at the end of the semester.  He or she will gain extra credit of 15 points when a complete, acceptable group project document is handed in.

            The project should include parts that are written, illustrations with written descriptions, graphical/tabular with written descriptions, quantitative calculations with written descriptions, references and any other media that is appropriate to the topic of the project.  The material should be organized in a logical manner to provide the reader with a clear view of the background, issues and future prospects involving the topic chosen.  A more detailed description of the project and suggested topics will be distributed later.  There is no need for elaborate binding – a collection of the items in a manila folder will be adequate.

Composition of Final Grade

Exams                                                                          60%                 600 points

On-line quizzes/homework                                            20%                 200 points

Project - group contribution                                            5%                 50 points

Project - individual contribution                         15%                 150 points

The assignment of letter grades will be as shown in the table below:

Letter grade      A         A-        B+       B          B-        C+       C         C-        D+       D

% Score           94.0     90.0     87.0     84.0     80.0     77.0     74.0     70.0     67.0     60.0

The scores represent the lower bound for the adjacent letter grades.  Marks of 59% and below will be graded F.

Supplemental Instruction (SI)

This class is scheduled to have a Supplemental Instructor (SI) to assist individuals or groups.  Your SI Leader is Michelle Fawson.  Sessions will be held Monday 3:30-4:30 in AGSC 234, Wednesday 5:30-6:20 WIDS 007, Thursday (time?) ESLC 053.  This is an excellent opportunity to go over homework problems, discuss topics that were unclear to you and learn general study skills.  There is a historical precedent for higher grades for students who attend SI.

Course Fee

A $5.00 fee has been assessed for this course to pay for scantron forms and processing.

Materials for Persons with Disabilities

In cooperation with the Disability Resource Center, reasonable accommodation will be provided for students with disabilities.  Please meet with the instructor during the first week of class to make arrangements.  Alternative format print materials, large print, audio, diskette or Braille will be available through the Disability Resource Center.