Course Communication

I can be reached many different ways, any number of which should be used to ask questions, notify me of problems, submit homework/lab assignments, and generally stay up to date about the course. To wit:

ccmiller@purdue.edu
Office phone: 765.496.9474
Google Voice: 765.230.2266
GTalk & Wave: pugolian@gmail.com
Jabber: ccmiller@purdue.edu
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pugolian

2215E EAS (CIVL)
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Library (EAS)
Civil Engineering Building (CIVL)
550 Stadium Mall Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051

…which will be used for course communication in the way we used to use a course listserv. If you are unfamiliar with RSS and how to use it, look into it (1st) or contact me (2nd).

Also of interest is the course calendar, availabe as xml, ics, and html. I would recommend subscribing to this calendar, as it will be updated as the course progresses.

Readings

Homework

There will not be a heavy homework load for this course. The long Friday labs will typically be enough time to execute and write up the work, although there will be occasional labs that may have to be completed outside of the Friday lab session.

Attendance

I am not interested in closely monitoring your attendance. This is an upper 500-level course at a major research institution, and I will be treating you accordingly regardless of your age, academic status, or year. That is, I will assist your learning as much as I am able, but your behavior is your own responsibility. There is a 30-point slice of your course grade devoted to Participation & Quizzes. These 30 points are yours to lose by not attending class, not contributing to discussions, or by generally being whiny or annoying about the coursework.

Purdue expects its students to attend all classes. It’s a reasonable expectation that I share. If you cannot make class for some reason, you are expected to contact me and A) tell me you will not be there, and B) tell me why. The excuse should be good and I reserve the right to demand documentation at any time. Ideally this will happen before the absence. I have many ways I can be reached or messaged, so your only excuse will be some dire circumstance that had better be true.

If you are missing from 3 labs or lectures (the math here is 1 lab + 2 lectures = 3 “labs or lectures”), my eyebrow will raise but I will probably understand (provided there are good excuses attached to the absences — if there are no acceptable excuses your grade will begin to suffer immediately). If you then miss a fourth or more, the excuses will need to be exceptionally solid and interesting and well-documented lest your grade begins dropping precipitously.

All lecture notes/slides will be available online due to our fancy learnLab setup and you will be responsible for having seen them (especially when there are quizzes about their contents). I will be *less* inclined to provide one-on-one or other supplemental support for students who miss labs, by the way, so you’ll be more at the mercy of however well I can describe the lab procedure on our website should that occur (short version — don’t miss labs).

Statements & Policies

If you are a student with a disability, you should familiarize yourself with all of the resources of the Disability Resource Center. Every reasonable effort will be made to accommodate any student who identifies themselves to me as someone eligible for this office’s services. See also the ODOS publication, “Removing Barriers.”

Behavior

Purdue University expects this of its students (link goes to the student code of conduct). Of particular note here is section 2.1 on plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense that undermines not only the foundation of education but is additionally disrespectful to and wasteful of the efforts of teachers and fellow students. If you are at all unclear about what constitutes plagiarism, see this statement from the University Copyright Office or this guide from Purdue’s OWL. Ask if you have any doubt. Do not make me fill out one of these. I get very upset at unnecessary paperwork.

Grading

The following table enumerates the sources of all of your points. Note that the semester project represents a hefty portion of the entire course grade. Note also the Participation and/or Quizzes points, which represents 30 points that are yours to lose. I do not want to prepare, administer, then grade quizzes. Blech. I will do it, however, if I get the impression that any part of the course is not being taken seriously or given due attention.