Title: Syllabus
Course: GEO 133 RTZ

WORLD & REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY 133 SYLLABUS

Geo 133      Credit Hours 3

CLASS TIMES AND INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK:

[Your class time and instructor feedback policies, if applicable]

TECHNICAL ISSUES OR PROBLEMS:

[Your technical assistance policies and procedures here]

LOG IN, PARTICIPATION AND/OR ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

As this is an online course, students must maintain participation requirements set by the college and instructor which consists of regularly checking emails, completing and submitting assignments by the posted deadlines, and completing online exams if assigned.

[Initial enrollment verification process and deadlines, if required, here]

REQUIRED TEXT:

World Regional Geography, Global Patterns Local Lives (6^st edition), by Lydia Mihelic Pulsipher and Alex A. Pulsipher, 2014.

W.H. Freeman and Company. ISBN-10: 1-4641-1070-0; ISBN-13: 978-1-4641-1070-2;

Available with LaunchPad

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Physical (climate, landform, resources, environment) and cultural (ethnicity, social, religion, political, economy) attributes of the world’s major regions including world place-name geography and maps.

Course Objectives:  Students will:

1. Critically analyze and evaluate the various theories and interpretations within geography.
2. Identify the major regional divisions of the earth.
3. Locate and name the basic regional and political divisions of the world.
4. Identify physical features of the earth on a regional basis.
5. Describe the world's cultural areas and their elements at a national and regional level.

6.  Discuss the integration and interactions of cultural and physical geographies into a comprehensive look at regional differences and similarities.

1. Compare and contrast cultural and physical landscapes on the earth.

EVALUATION:

FOUR ESSAY RESEARCH PAPERS WORTH 70%  (INDIVIDUAL ESSAY PAPERS WORTH 17.5 % EACH)

MAP WORK IDENTIFICATION EXERCISES: REQUIRED = 30%

RESEARCH PAPER DISCUSSIONS WORTH 10% (OPTIONAL EXTRA CREDIT FOR COURSE WORTH ONE LETTER GRADE)

OVERALL GRADE 100% = RESEARCH PAPER 70% + MAP WORK 30%  and EXTRA CREDIT BONUS WORTH 10%

Grading System: [Your grading system here]

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS DUE DATE SCHEDULE:

FIRST WEEK ASSIGNMENT

Click on the Assignments tab on the left side column of the course homepage for instructions to complete.

RESEARCH PAPERS AND DUE DATES:

Research Essay Paper Topics:

Sociocultural (social, ethnic, religion) Historical Geography   WEEK 4

Geopolitical Geography                                                           WEEK 8

Economic Geography                                                              WEEK 12

Physical and Environmental Geography / Climate                    WEEK 15

Research Paper Discussions:

Four 2 component Discussions are required for each of the four assigned papers. Each 2 part Discussion is worth 2.5% for a total of 10% Extra Credit for the course. Research Paper Discussions for each paper topic may be posted anytime prior to the listed due dates.

MAP WORK IDENTIFICATION EXERCISES AND DUE DATES:

Map Work Identification SECTION 1                                            WEEK 4

Map Work Identification SECTION 2                                            WEEK 8

Map Work Identification SECTION 3                                            WEEK 12

Map Work Identification SECTION 4                                            WEEK 15

HOW THE COURSE WILL WORK

GENERAL INFORMATION:

World & Regional Geography 133 covers 11 chapters over a period of 16 weeks.  There is no required time schedule for logging in to the course, EXCEPT for logging in the first week. Your course grade is based upon 2 components: Scores earned from MAP WORK IDENTIFICATION EXERCISES and scores earned from the four RESEARCH ESSAY PAPERS.  Essay paper discussions count as only as extra credit worth one letter grade.

This means the burden of learning and level of achievement for this course is placed squarely on the shoulders of you, the student.  Therefore, you are responsible for the material covered in the text AND submitting your four Research Essay Papers, and submitting Map Work Identification exercises. Questions regarding Map Work Exercise assignments and/ or essay clarification can be addressed by emailing the course instructor or other classmates (in case you want to generate a discussion with your peers) via course email.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNED WORK:

Below is a general description of the RESEARCH ESSAY PAPER AND ESSAY PAPER DISCUSSIONS and MAP WORK IDENTIFICATION EXERCISES.  Please refer to the RESEARCH ESSAY PAPER INSTRUCTIONS below for specific writing instructions and grading criteria.

DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH ESSAY PAPERS AND TEXT READINGS:  (EACH WORTH 17.5% X 4 = 70%)

The course covers 11 chapters from the text and will be the  primary resource for the construction of your research papers. Essay content descriptions are provided up front and cover the following aspects for the 8 Major Regions of geography studied:

- Sociocultural (social, ethnic, religion) Historical Geography;
- Geopolitical Geography;
- Economic Geography;
- Physical and Environmental Geography / Climate.

Each of the four Research Essay Papers should be a thematic application of the four aspects listed above to the 8 Major Geographical Regions.  Your research paper should be constructed following the guidelines provided below and have the following sections:

(1) introduction stating which aspect you have chosen to research and apply across the 8 major regions, (2) identification, comparison, and contrast of the 8 major regions,

(3) synthesization of compiled facts or factors,

(4) analysis with applications of theory and,

(5) summary discussion.

The Research Essay Paper involves 5 distinct parts as listed above:

- (1) an introduction stating which 1 of the 4 above aspects; Sociocultural History, Geopolitical Geography, Economic Geography, or Physical and Environmental Geography / Climate you will apply across the 8 Major Regions of the World,
- (2) identifying, describing, comparing, and contrasting one of the above listed geographical aspects within and among the 8 major regions studied,
- (3) a synthesization of trends, patterns, and commonalities recognized from part 2 of the research,
- 4) an analysis that considers how the trends, patterns, and  interactions developed within and between countries based upon the similarities or differences you identified and an application of the geographical concepts and theories that explain or predict the cause and effect leading to the development of a specific aspect for a country or region,
- (5)  a summary discussion stating your opinion about the factors that you have compiled that addresses the sustainability of the function of countries or regions on a global scale. Please refer to the RESEARCH ESSAY PAPER INSTRUCTIONS shown below for more detailed instructions.

GUIDELINES ON HOW TO PERFORM INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCH OF THE TEXT:

As you are required to construct four different essays based upon different thematic applications to the 8 geographical regions covered in the text, you will need to identify those portions in each chapter that deal with a particular aspect.  You will not need to read each chapter fully, in chronological order, but rather you must scan each chapter and review the power point lectures to select that information which will provide the investigative source for your essays.

Each chapter of the text is organized and divided into thematic topics and issues and those sections can be referenced in the Table of Contents and the text chapter itself.  Use these chapter headings, divisions, and sections to focus your research into each of the four different thematic aspects.  As a result of your investigative work, given the task as assigned, your research should allow you to collect information from the associated chapters of the text, place in an outline format, and then synthesize that data to complete the four different essays.

HOW TO SUBMIT RESEARCH PAPERS:

The Research Essay Papers are to be emailed to the instructor as an email attachment through [Your LMS] email by the assigned due date. Submitted essays should meet the following requirements:

- Essays should utilize topic sentences with supporting statements, written in complete sentences in paragraph form;
- Essays should be double spaced with 12 point font only, essays using fonts less than or greater than 12 will not be accepted;
- Essays should be written in a word conservative and concise manner;
- The maximum length of essays shall be 5 pages.  Points will be deducted (1/4 letter grade per page short) from your research paper if it does not meet the described required length;
- Essays exceeding 5 pages will not be read.  If over 5 pages, edit prior to submittal.

DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH PAPER DISCUSSION POSTING PROCESS:

(EXTRA CREDIT OPTION WORTH 10%)

For each Research Essay paper topic as follows: Sociocultural / Historical, Geopolitical, Economic, and Physical / Environmental, students will post 2 comments on the Discussion Board provided in Canvas, found on the left side column on the course homepage.

- Comment #1 is for each student to post one conclusion that was drawn from their summary discussion section of their four research papers.
- Comment #2 is for each student to pick one other student’s posted conclusion and state your reasons for supporting their conclusion or your rationale for reaching a different conclusion about the factors that you have compiled that addresses the sustainability of the function of countries or regions on a global scale as asked for in the summary discussion section of each paper.

Your two Extra credit Discussion postings for each Research Paper assignment must be completed on or prior to the listed due dates.  Each two part Discussion is worth 2.5% for a total of 10% Extra Credit for the course.

RESEARCH ESSAY PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

FIRST STEP:

YOU must construct four separate essay papers for each of the 4 aspects of World and Regional Geography to do research across the 8 Major Regions of the World described in Chapters 1 through 11 of your Geography text. No outside research or references are required other than the text but you may include other sources if referenced correctly.

4 ASPECTS:

- Sociocultural (social, ethnic, religion) Historical Geography;
- Geopolitical Geography;
- Economic Geography;
- Physical and Environmental Geography / Climate.

8 MAJOR REGIONS:

- REGION 1: Europe
- REGION 2: Russia

- REGION 3: Middle East & North Africa
- REGION 4: Monsoon Asia
- REGION 5: Pacific World

- REGION 6: Africa South of the Sahara
- REGION 7: Latin America
- REGION 8: United States & Canada

SECOND STEP:

A Research Essay Outline should be constructed prior to writing your essay that describes how you will organize the content of your paper. It should be placed as the first page of your submitted essay AND is NOT counted as one of the five required double-spaced pages. Your outline must follow the Format below and have the following headings:

- INTRODUCTION

State which aspect you have chosen to research, why you chose it, and apply that aspect across the 8 major regions

- COMPARISON AND CONTRASTS

Identification, comparison, and contrast of the 8 major regions

- SYNTHESIZATION

Synthesization of compiled facts or factor

- ANALYSIS

Analysis and applications

- SUMMARY

Summary discussion

THIRD STEP:

The Research Essay Papers involve 5 distinct parts and will be structured so that is it divided into the 5 format headings as described above and includes the following details:

- an introduction stating which 1 of the 4 above aspects; Sociocultural History, Geopolitical Geography, Economic Geography, or Physical and Environmental Geography / Climate you will apply across the 8 Major Regions of the World,
- identifying, describing, comparing, and contrasting one of the above listed geographical aspects within and among the 8 major regions studied,
- a synthesization of trends, patterns, and commonalities recognized from part 2 of the research,
- an analysis that considers how the trends, patterns, and  interactions developed within and between countries based upon the similarities or differences you identified and an application of the geographical concepts and theories from the text that explain or predict the cause and effect leading to the development of a specific aspect for a country or region,
- a summary discussion stating your opinion about the factors that you have compiled that addresses the sustainability of the function of countries or regions on a global scale.

RESEARCH  ESSAY PAPER LIMITATIONS AND GUIDELINES:

Research Essay Papers when submitted should meet the following requirements:

- Essays should utilize topic sentences with supporting statements, written in complete sentences in paragraph form;
- Essays should be double spaced with 12 point font only, double spaced essays using fonts less than or greater than 12 will not be accepted;
- Essays should be written in a word conservative and concise manner;
- The maximum length of essays shall be 5 pages.  Points will be deducted (1/4 letter grade per page short) from your research essay final paper if it does not meet the described required length;
- Essays exceeding 5 pages will not be read.  If over 5 pages, edit prior to submittal.

Research Essay Paper Return and Feedback:

The Research Essay Paper grades will be posted at the student grade book located on the course homepage within one week after the assigned due date. Submitted and graded papers will be emailed back to the student for review after all the papers have been submitted and grading is completed. Grading criteria for the paper is as follows:

GRADING CRITERIA:  TOTAL OF 70% TOWARDS YOUR FINAL GRADE

INDIVIDUAL PAPERS EACH WORTH 17.5% (EACH ESSAY PAPER HAS AN ASSOCIATED EXTRA CREDIT DISCUSSION OPTION WORTH 2.5 POINTS)

SPECIFIC GRADING COMPONENTS TO CONSIDER:

- USE OF FORMAT HEADINGS AND FOLLOWING OUTLINE
- LENGTH AND PROPER SPACING / FONT
- CONTENT AND LOGICAL SEQUENCING OF INFORMATION AND IDEAS
- GRAMMAR, USE OF TOPIC SENTENCES, SUPPORTING SENTENCES, ETC.
- EVIDENCE OF PLAGIARISM WILL RESULT IN A ZERO FOR THAT ASSIGNMENT AND A POTENTIAL "F" IN THE COURSE!

DESCRIPTION OF MAP WORK IDENTIFICATION EXERCISES:

REQUIRED (WORTH 30%):

The course covers 10 out of the 11 chapters for map place/name identification.  Map identification requires that the student correctly locates and places the country or province names and/or regions on the blank outline maps provided for each chapter. Labeling criteria consists of identifying regions, countries, and provinces as described below for the 8 regions of the world.

HOW TO ACCESS AND SUBMIT BASE MAPS FOR THE COURSE MAP WORK ASSIGNMENTS:

Blank outline maps can be found for each chapter by clicking the Student Resources link provided in your textbook. To access the Blank outline maps for each chapter from the Student Resources link follow these steps:

- Click on Student Resources
- Click on Chapter #
- Click on Blank Outline Maps

Print or download the maps and label the countries, provinces, or regions of the assigned chapters.  Resource information for names and locations are found in the text and in the interactive Map learning exercises given for each chapter under the Student Resources link.

HOW TO SUBMIT COMPLETED MAP WORK IDENTIFICATION EXERCISES:

Completed map work identification can be submitted [using your assignment submission conventions].

Map work identification exercises are due at the assigned section end date stated on the Schedule but should be performed weekly to avoid falling behind.  Map work identification grades are based upon the percent completed out of the total assigned and worth 30% of your total final grade for the course.

NOTE: Map work not received by due date [credit/non-credit scoring based on your college late assignment policy]

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES:

The student, that’s you, is responsible for reading the text and completing assigned exercises and submitting the work to the college by mail, scanned and emailed or hand-delivered to [Your college/institution].  Students mailing in or delivering assignments postmarked after the due date will receive a ZERO for the map work of that section.  It is recommended that students make copies of their original map work to keep in case of loss of their submitted original pages through the mail system.  As this course is self-paced by nature, a student may complete and submit map work identification AT ANY TIME prior to or by the assigned due dates.

MAILING ADDRESS FOR MAP WORK IDENTIFICATION EXERCISES:

[Your college/institution name here]

[Your department name, if required, here]

GEO 133-WEB

[Your college/institution mailing address here]

ATTN: INSTRUCTOR FOR GEO 133

ASSIGNED MAP WORK IDENTIFICATION AND POINT VALUES

SECTION 1:  DUE WEEK 4

CHAPTER    Pdf MAP FILE NAME      (LABELING CRITERIA)                                                   POINTS

Chapter #1: The World              (Regions of the World: see Figure 1.1 text)                                     20

Chapter #3: Central American & the Caribbean, Middle and South America (countries)                  35

SECTION 2:  DUE WEEK 8

CHAPTER    Pdf MAP FILE NAME      (LABELING CRITERIA)                                                   POINTS

Chapter #4: Europe (countries)                                                                                                         30

Chapter #5: Russia and the Newly Independent States (countries)                                                  10

Chapter #6: North Africa and SW Asia (countries)                                                                            30

SECTION 3:  DUE WEEK 12

CHAPTER   Pdf MAP FILE NAME       (LABELING CRITERIA)                                                   POINTS

Chapter #7: Sub-Saharan Africa           (countries)                                                                           20

Chapter #8: Asia, South Asia                (countries)                                                                           20

Chapter #9: China                                 (provinces)                                                                          15

SECTION 4:  DUE WEEK 15

CHAPTER    Pdf MAP FILE NAME      (LABELING CRITERIA)                                                   POINTS

Chapter #10: Southeast Asia                 (countries)                                                                          10

Chapter #11: Oceania                             (countries)                                                                         10

TOTAL POINTS = 200

Map Work Identification Return and Feedback:

Map work grades will be posted [using your posting procedures and location(s)]

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

By clicking on the Student Resources link provided in your textbook, you can access several learning tools to help in your research essay preparation and map work exercises.  Each chapter of the text has a PowerPoint Lecture and several other Course Features that provide various learning opportunities. The following is a short description of each Course Feature:

- PowerPoint Lecture: lecture material presented by PowerPoint (you must disable pop-up blockers and may have to re-logon to course to access lecture if kicked out),

- Working with maps: provides animated and thematic concept maps,
- Map learning exercises: interactive maps that help students learn and locate country names and physical features,
- Blank outline maps: Pdf maps you may download for your map work identification exercises,
- Selected readings: supplemental resource material and references,
- Flashcards: interactive presentation of terms and concepts that will be tested in the quizzes,
- Pronunciation guides and cultural extras: how to pronounce words in different languages and various cultural specifics to a region.