1. Goal: The goal of this course is to provide an introduction to astronomy, which is the scientific study of the Universe. This introduction will aim to show by example how science is done, and also to show some of the beauty of the Universe we live in.
2. Time: MWF; 11:30-12:20; Location: 1410 Biomedical & Physical Sciences Bldg.
3. Text: "The Eessential Cosmic Perspective" (3rd ed.)
Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit
4. Instructor: Prof. Steve Zepf
5. Office hours: Currently Monday 12:30-2:00, Thursday 2:00-3:00 and by appt. 3258 BPS. Questions can also be e-mailed to isp205-2@pa.msu.edu.
6. Exams:here will be three mid-terms, and a final exam. The mid-terms will occur during the regular class times and location and will total 70% of the grade. The final exam will occur at the official time and place (Monday Dec. 12, 8-10 PM, location tba) and will be worth 30% of the final grade. The final will include both some material from the course after the third mid-term and from earlier sections covered by the previous mid-terms (including questions taken from the earlier mid-terms). Students can be excused from the exams only for serious medical or personal reasons. A signed letter is necessary to be excused.
7. Grading: The following grade scale is guaranteed. For example, you will get a 4.0 if your score is above 91% no matter what. 0.0 - 0.0% to 47.0%, 1.0 - 47.0% to 54.0%, 1.5 - 54.0% to 61.0%, 2.0 - 61.0% to 68.0%, 2.5 - 68.0% to 76.0%, 3.0 - 76.0% to 84.0%, 3.5 - 84.0% to 91.0%, 4.0 - 91.0% and above.
8. Extra Credit: There will be a number of in-class problems involving both the H-ITT clickers and written work. Each assignment completed will result in a small amount of extra credit so that the total amount of additional credit if all are completed is 3\%. In detail, for written assignments, any reasonable attempt will receive credit, and for the clickers, the correct answer will receive full credit and any response will count as 2/3.
9. Homework: To help with monitoring your understanding of the class and preparing for the tests, example problems from the material covered in class will be posted on the homework site for this course most Thursdays, and then solutions to these problems will be posted the following Thursday (along with the next week's problems). Sample problems from tests from previous years will also be posted online to help you assess your understanding of the material.
10. Study Guides: Before each exam, an outline of the material covered will be placed on the class website. Note that this is an outline, and not a replacement for class notes or the book.