Earth, Body, and Mind:  Changes in Scientific Thought

Course Procedures

Textbook and Readings:

Textbook: The Hunter-Gatherer-Within: Health and the Natural Human Diet, 2013, by K. Brock and G. Diggs, (Available in the Austin College Bookstore). Other readings are available as live links on the course schedule page, on Moodle, or will be handed out in class.

Attendance, etc.

We consider class attendance to be of paramount importance. As a result, we expect your attendance at every class session. Seats will be assigned and role will be taken. If you miss a class session, you will be required to complete a makeup assignment. Absence for any reason will require the makeup assignment. After three absences, each additional absence that is not due to a required, conflicting campus event (e.g. athletic event or road trip, choir performance, Model UN) will result in the loss of one percentage point off your final grade if you turn in the makeup assignment, and two percentage points if you do not. After five absences you may be dropped from the course without consultation. Makeup assignments will consist of a typed, detailed outline/summary of the lecture —you will need to borrow lecture notes from a classmate, organize the notes, and turn in a summary in your own words. In the event that most of the class session involved a video presentation, your outline/summary will be over the video. The outline/summary must be a minimum of one and one-half typewritten pages and must be turned in at class within one week of the missed session. Summaries that do not represent college level work will be returned without credit for revision. If the makeup assignment is not turned in within one week of the absence, your semester grade will be reduced by one percentage point unless you provide documentation of emergency or illness to justify a later due date. Arriving late to class (after attendance is taken, which will typically occur during the first five minutes) will count as half an absence. Clearly, two such half absences become a full absence. Makeup assignments will be required within one week of a "full" absence, and points will be lost on the final grade as described previously. In all cases students who miss a session are fully responsible for finding out what was covered and for meeting the makeup deadline without being reminded. Please make an effort to attend class and to be there on time. Use of electronic devices in class is not permitted without prior arrangement with one of us.  This includes laptops and hand-held internet devices, cell phones (e.g., texting), mp3 players, etc.  If you wish to take class notes on a laptop, please discuss it with one of us. We may count sleeping or texting in class as a half or full absence. In class we expect you to behave like a professional at a meeting. Please do not engage in small talk or “come and go” from the classroom – leave the room only in an urgent situation. To do so is distracting to both speaker and audience. If you must leave the classroom at any time, we will assume you have become ill (for example, you may be nauseous) and will not return, and we will expect to hear from you later. Leaving and then returning is inappropriate in most cases. We will not lock you out as some professors do, as there can be unexpected urgent needs, but we will expect to meet and discuss a solution if you leave more than once. Please don't expect us to police you in this regard – just plan to stay in class for 80 minutes. Please choose a different class if you don't want to meet for the full session three times a week.

Cell Phone Rules: Turn your cell phone off before coming to class. Do not just silence it. If you forget and it goes off we will not be upset (unless that happens repeatedly; accidents can happen), but do not read text messages or send text messages during class. We will drop you from the course for reading or sending text messages during the class period. Students fiddling with phones cause a distraction to speakers (us). Fiddling with a phone in your lap below a table is just as distracting and does not fool anyone. It is rude to distract a speaker. Distractions cause speakers to lose their train of thought, which in turn reduces the quality of the audience members’ experiences. If you expect an emergency communication during class then let us know ahead of time. Any other type of communication can wait. Students who use a cell phone or other electronic device during a quiz or exam will be assumed to be cheating on the exam and will be dropped from the class with a failing grade.

Grading

There will be four scheduled exams and one optional, cumulative final exam in this course. The dates for these exams are given later in this course syllabus. Your grade will be computed by averaging the four highest scores you achieve. Thus, if you achieve a higher score on the final than on one of the unit exams, that score will be substituted for the lower one. Conversely, if your final exam grade is your lowest, it will be dropped.

Course grades will be assigned using approximately the following distribution:

Plus and minus grades will be assigned for the upper 3 points or lower 3 points of each scale, respectively.

Examination Policies

Examination Format: Exams will include a variety of question types such as multiple choice, fill in the blank, true-false, short answer (one or two sentences), or short discussion.

Lateness: Exams begin at 11 AM. Once the first student leaves an exam room, no one else can begin the exam. The first student will probably leave around 11:20, so oversleeping can cause you to have to take the makeup exam.

Missing an Exam: If serious circumstances beyond your control or college-sanctioned travel make it impossible for you to take an exam, you must notify Dr. Kerry Brock in writing (e-mail only: kbrock@austincollege.edu) of this in advance of the exam, not after you miss it (this e-mail message will constitute your request to take a makeup exam). If a sudden and unanticipated calamity occurs (for example an automobile accident on the way to the exam, a death in the family, hospitalization for illness) and you are unable to tell Dr. Brock about it before the exam, you must submit written documentation of this calamity as soon as possible with your request to take the makeup exam. Please note that some exams fall on Fridays, and the personal choice to leave early for a weekend trip home or elsewhere is not

Taking a Makeup Exam: Permission to take a makeup in place of the scheduled exam is at the discretion of Drs. Brock and Diggs. They reserve the right to deny you the opportunity to take a makeup exam. There will be specified times set for makeup exams (these times will be announced in class). There is no makeup for the optional final.

Why You Should Avoid Makeup Exams: Examinations are difficult to construct. The best sets of questions will have been used in constructing the regularly scheduled examinations. This means that the makeup exams are unavoidably more difficult than the regular exams; routinely, grades are lower on makeups. It is therefore to your advantage to take the regularly scheduled exams, even in the face of some hardship.

Preparing for Exams

Doing the assigned readings and paying attention in class are strong predictors of exam performance. Taking careful notes in class is essential to success in the course. Keep in mind that exam questions may cover a variety of audiovisual materials used in class (video, film, slide, tape, etc.) as well as assigned readings, discussions, and lecture material. We will attempt to have exam questions from each class session and each required reading.

Outlines of most lectures will be passed out at class time. Be sure to take one and to save it; the outlines will not only help you follow the lecture but will also be invaluable aids in organizing your studying.

Two other hints for exam preparation are to study throughout a unit rather than trying to cram your studying into the night before an exam and to spend a portion of your study time with other highly motivated students.

Academic Integrity

The principles of academic integrity apply to all your work in this course. You are responsible for your own work. During examinations you are neither to give nor receive help from any source except course faculty (if, for example, you have questions during the exam). Cheating on an exam will be dealt with harshly; it may result in expulsion from the course with a grade of F for a first offense. Austin College's published guidelines will be followed in dealing with any and all infractions of the honor principle.

All material on this page copyright 2014, George M. Diggs, Jr. & Kerry G. Brock