Course Overview:
This course is an introduction to the physical and human landscapes of North America as a traveler across the United States and Canada would see them. Assuming that "pattern suggests process," we set as our goal an understanding of why the landscape looks as it does. Unfortunately, what the hypothetical traveler would encounter is not only the pre-existing physical landscape (which consists of the topography, weather, soils, and plant cover), but also all the changes we humans have made on the landscape as we have occupied it. Beyond doubt, the most widespread change has been made in pursuit of agriculture, although other forms of activity have left indelible marks, as well. Solving questions about why the contemporary landscape looks as it does, then, means paying attention to a variety of features, constraints, and influences that start with the perceived natural assets of different places but also at times must include the goals and histories of the people who settled them. In reaching for such an understanding, we obviously have to combine knowledge and insights from a variety of disciplines to help us understand the overriding questions posed in this course about where people live, what they do, and why. Answering such questions will help us with the underlying theme of the course, which is just why the landscape of North America looks as it does.
A student emerging from this course should have a better factual grasp of the many ways the landscape of North America varies and so should better know what to expect as he/she travels about. More than that, however, the student should be able to look at the various land use patterns (particularly agriculture) as solutions to the problem of making a living within specific environmental, economic, cultural, and political constraints and realize that such solutions are rational and predictable once one understands what the constraints are. In other words, the wisdom this course aims to offer is the logic of land use patterns across North America.
Note: This course has a heavy focus on the geography of agriculture across North America.
Course Objectives:
Accordingly, this course has two primary aims. The first one is to describe the differences that exist from place to place in the contemporary physical/economic/cultural landscape of North America, and the second one is to explain these differences as a consequence of variations in both the physical landscape and the ways in which it has been perceived and utilized. People make choices about how to use the landscape. These choices are based on perceptions of the economic assets/limitations of the landscape combined with the personal desire to "make a living" and are related to (1), the physical resources of the landscape and (2), the complex social, cultural, economic, and political factors that prevail at the time, which are often fairly transparent. Thus, the geographic patterns of agricultural land use and urban economic activity that result (the ways we use the land, in other words) is in most cases the result of rational decisions and are explainable, rather than haphazard or random. The notion that cause-and-effect relationships are involved in the regional differences of land use is an underlying theme of this course, and, although the emphasis is on the North American landscape, the principles we develop apply to most any region. The content of Geography 330 is structured around a regional framework. All "regions" are homogeneous in some respect, whether form or function. In many cases they are defined by physical criteria, though in some cases they are primarily economic. Many are defined "functionally" according to some unifying activity, such as agricultural regions wherein one kind of crop or farming technique (the "corn belt," for example) sets them apart from neighboring ones. The emphasis in the course will be on the regional limitations and the reasons why the contemporary land use and overall economic activity peculiar to specific regions have arisen. Although land uses in North America are diverse and sometimes appear even contradictory or counterintuitive, we will view them all as adaptive strategies in which success is measured largely in terms of costs/benefits (economic, ecological, and social).
The geography of agriculture is heavily emphasized in this course because, as noted, agriculture has so heavily transformed so much of the original North American landscape. At the same time, as an activity it is responsible for much of the food we eat. Therefore, a subsidiary objective in this course is to consider the geography of food, the study of what foods or food ingredients are grown where (and why). By the end of the semester, you will be expected to identify the likely U.S.-Canadian sources of many common foods.
Course Etiquette:
An entirely virtual course is quite different from the traditional courses you have taken at Michigan State University. In a virtual course, the only contact you are likely to have with your section Instructor or with others in the class is through email, discussion boards, or chat rooms. In general, this system works very well and many students prefer it to a traditional (lecture) class because they can ask questions freely without feeling intimidated.
We have also discovered, however, that this same feeling of freedom can be a negative thing, particularly because some students feel they can be rude. Unfortunately, we have had several instances in the past where students were rude to other students during discussions and even to their Instructors during routine question and answer sessions. This increased rudeness seems to stem from the feeling of anonymity that a web course enhances among students, especially those who, for one reason or another are not receiving the grade that they feel they deserve. Again, most students make an effort to respect others and their opinions. We ask that you make a special effort to be one of these respectful people.
Students who make rude comments will be warned the first time by email. Upon the second, you will be asked to discuss the matter with Dr. Harman. REMEMBER: THE ONLY BASIS YOUR INSTRUCTOR HAS FOR GRADING AND DISCUSSIONS ARE THROUGH YOUR WORDS ON A COMPUTER SCREEN. She/he has no other context in which to understand your thinking. Therefore, it is important to be concise, informative, and polite while "talking" with your Instructor and other students in the class.
Course Organization:
While a team of faculty and staff manages the course, an Instructor teaches each section. Moreover, this course is delivered through a series of online lessons. Course assessments are accomplished through online exams (based on online lessons).
PLEASE NOTE:
(1) All course emails will be sent to your MSU (mail.msu.edu) accounts ONLY through the ANGEL system. You will need to check your MSU account at least once a day for emails from your Instructor and Virtual-Geography staff. If you need to, please set your MSU account to forward your emails to an account that you do check frequently.
(2) We highly recommend that you view this course website in Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, as the site was designed specifically for use in these browsers.
Your Instructors and Class Advisor
Dr. Harman is the advisor of this course, as well as the Instructor on record. He created this course based on his lecture version of the course and is the professor responsible for the class in the context of the Geography Department at MSU. During this semester he will NOT be involved in the day-to-day workings of the course.
Instead, your Instructor is responsible for each section of this course, from the day-to-day management to the grading. Specifically, your Instructor takes care of the grading exams, any content questions you may have, any questions about how to work through the course, and calculating final grades. Any email correspondence should go to your Instructor. Beth Weisenborn oversees the Virtual Geography Program, so you may receive notices from her periodically. Dr. Harman will be available only if a major problem arises, which potentially includes problems with the ANGEL system, issues of plagiarism, or final grade concerns.
Lessons
This course consists of 13 online lessons (or lectures). Exams will cover all of the online-lesson material.
Lesson |
Topic |
1 |
Introduction and Overview |
2 |
Mid-Atlantic States |
3 |
New England |
4 |
Atlantic Canada |
5 |
Northlands |
6 |
Interior (Heartland) |
7 |
Appalachian and Ozark Uplands |
8 |
Inland South |
9 |
South and Southeast Coasts |
10 |
Great Plains |
11 |
California |
12 |
Pacific Northwest |
13 |
Intermountain West |
Throughout the lessons, you will be provided with direction boxes (boxes that say "At this time...") with instructions about further exercises. You are required to complete the assignments in each direction box, which may ask you to visit a website or do a particular exercise. Throughout the lessons, you will see boxes containing further explanations of course material (boxes that say "A follow up") -- these boxes are require reading. Also, you will be asked and required, on occasion, to follow many of the supplemental web links in order to answer questions that pertain to them. The lesson's text will indicate whether you need to visit and explore URLs or if such a link is necessary or optional (provided in "Side note" boxes or in the "Above and Beyond" sections). In such cases, exploration of these sites will increase your understanding of the subject matter and will help you with the exams, but are not required.
In each online lesson, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge with several popup or bullet questions. These questions are not graded and do not need to be handed in while you work through your lesson. You will, however, be able to look at the correct answers and discuss any further questions you may have with your Instructor. However, you might see some of these questions (or similar questions) again on an exam.
Textbook (Recommended)
The Birdsall et al. textbook (Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada) is recommended, but not required for this course. While this text is not required and no exam questions will come directly from it, however, it may increase your comprehension of the online material and provide additional background for each region we discuss. We have added the text as recommended course material due to student requests. Past student reviews for this course indicated that a supplemental textbook would have been very helpful in learning course material. Recommended textbook readings for each online lesson are provided for you on the course schedule (Content tab).
Exercises
Some lessons have associated exercises (found in the Content -> Exercises folder). Exercises are entirely voluntary and are not graded. They do not count toward your final grade calculation. Student responses to exercise questions are briefly reviewed by the Instructor, who may give feedback from time-to-time. While not graded, exercises are a great way to 'test' what you've learned and to supplement your understanding of the lesson material by exploring a concept or topic on your own. Completing the exercises can (and will) only help you on a quiz/exam.
Writing Assignments
In addition to the quizzes and exam, you are required submit responses to three writing assignments. Your answers to each of the three assignments will be due at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on the date specified! You are strongly encouraged to submit your responses well in advance of the due date. If you experience difficulty submitting your response, please email your Instructor for assistance before the due date. ONLY 2 out of the 3 of your writing-assignment scores will count toward your final grade in this class.
As with any course, it is the responsibility of the Instructor to uphold the standards suggested by the grading rubrics. While your grade is determined by assessing the quality of your assignment compared to the grading rubric, the grading process is subject to the rigor of the Instructor.
The assignment questions will be based on the lesson(s) you had been working on. Assignment responses are worth 10 points a piece and will be graded based on how well you answer the question, writing quality, and proper usage of spelling/grammar (e.g., 10 points for a superior response, 8 points for an excellent response, 6 points for an adequate (but complete) response, 4 points for an incomplete response, and 2 points for an inappropriate response). Assignment responses should contain 1-2 paragraphs, not to exceed 200 words. A concise response is essential. LATE assignment responses will receive 0 points. We will provide a grading rubric for each assignment, so that you know how your response will be/was graded.
A note about writing assignments: These assignments have been designed to provide you with the opportunity to reflect upon a topic discussed in class on a more personal level and/or to explore an important concept. We do not want to read your unfounded and unsupported opinion about an issue. You must support your ideas and opinions with credible, properly referenced sources when appropriate. Claiming that a phenomenon occurs because it's "mother nature's will" is NOT acceptable and your response will be graded accordingly.
Quizzes/Exams and Their Grading
There are eight quizzes and one final exam during the session. The quizzes are spaced fairly evenly throughout the semester. The course is setup this way so that you can demonstrate your grasp of the material from these lessons while it is relatively fresh. Note: the number of questions on each quiz, and therefore the point value, is based on the amount of material found in the lesson(s) covered.
The dates of the quizzes/exam are listed on the course schedule page and calendar. You will be notified of an upcoming quiz/exam on the course calendar page and through course announcements. This notification will provide you with information concerning the quiz/exam date and access times.
Each quiz/exam will be offered during a large (24 hour+) window (Eastern Time) on dates specified (course schedule page and calendar). You may log into the quiz/exam at any time during that window. Once logged in, you have a set time limit (~ 1 minute per question) to complete your exam and turn it in.
You are expected to treat the online quizzes/exams as you would a quiz/exam in a traditional lecture class - in other words, no cheating of any kind. You are NOT to use your notes, online lessons, webpages, textbook, books, or any other resources for ANY reason during the quiz/exam. Your Instructor and other administrators CAN and DO monitor your quiz/exam logs before, during, and after you have taken the quiz/exam - they can detect patterns consistent with cheating and have the authority to discuss the matter with you immediately. Once you have turned in your quiz/exam, it is automatically graded by the computer and your grades are uploaded to your personal gradebook (Report tab) by the following day. Official grades, answers, and explanations for each question are provided on the course website about 3-4 days following the quiz/exam.
Quizzes/exams will consist largely of multiple-choice questions, although some T/F or short answer questions may be asked. All questions are selected at random from a large pool of questions. All answer options for each question are also ordered at random. Please take note that your quiz/exam is unique and completely unlike any other student's. Attempting to cheat on these quizzes/exams is a waste of time.
A note about my quizzes/exams. They will include foils such as "all/some/none of the above." Additionally, some of the incorrect foil choices may nonetheless be true statements, and in those cases the student must decide which is the best answer by identifying the one that most accurately answers the question, or is the most synthesizing and encompassing. In some cases, the student is asked to draw general statements or principles from information provided in class. I try to emphasize higher-order reasoning instead of only recall or recognition.
Makeup Quizzes/Exam
Makeups are only allowed in special cases. If you miss a quiz/exam due to an emergency, you are required to contact your Instructor IMMEDIATELY. You have one day to schedule your makeup. If you do not contact your Instructor in this time frame, you will NOT be allowed to take a makeup and will receive 0 points for the quiz/exam.
Course Policies:
Academic Honesty.
"Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that 'the student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards.' In addition, the Department of Geography at Michigan State University adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades, and in the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades, which are included in 'Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide.' Students who commit an act of academic dishonesty may receive a 0.0 on the assignment or in the course.
Therefore, unless authorized by your instructor, you are expected to complete all course assignments, including homework, lab work, quizzes, tests and exams, without assistance from any source. You are not authorized to use external websites whose purpose are to facilitate academic dishonesty to complete any course work in this course. Students who violate MSU rules may receive a penalty grade, including but not limited to a failing grade on the assignment or in the course." ("Cheating From Where the Faculty Sits"; Office of the Ombudsman; MSU)
Please be conscientious of this potential problem as you work through the course, and do not hesitate to contact you Instructor you have any questions. All students are required to read this syllabus. By doing so and remaining enrolled in this course, you have agreed to uphold our policies concerning academic honesty.
Grading:
Your final grade will be based on your 8 quiz scores, 2 best writing assignment scores, and 1 final exam score. Here's the breakdown:
The maximum number of points for this class is 225. No extra credit work will be offered!
Final grades will be based on the following STRAIGHT SCALE (that has been specifically developed based on the performance of students in this online course (600+), as well as the lecture course (1000+)):
Percent |
Grade |
91-100 |
4.0 |
84-90 |
3.5 |
77-83 |
3.0 |
70-76 |
2.5 |
63-69 |
2.0 |
56-62 |
1.5 |
51-55 |
1.0 |
<51 |
0.0 |
You can view your grades for the assignments and quizzes/exams using your personal online gradebook.
Extra Credit:
Given the number of quizzes/exams, length of session, and class size, no extra credit work will be considered.