Coronet (NASA/Chandra)
Astronomy 307 - Spring 2009
INTRODUCTORY ASTRONOMY
TTh 9:30 - 11:00 · RLM 15.216B · Unique No. 48495
Professor
RLM 16.324 · (512) 471-3449 · email
Courses - Spr '09 | Course Website
COURSE PHILOSOPHY: Some students sign up for a class with the idea that they can pass the course (and even earn a good grade) by "ace-ing" the exams, without having to attend regularly or keeping up with the assignments. Ast 307 is not a class where you will be successful with this approach. A significant portion of your grade is based on activities in class that help direct the pace and content of the lectures, and you cannot make up for missing this work by taking exams.
GRADING BASIS: Course grades are based on individual performance, rather than graded on a curve; there are no quotas on the number of A's, etc. You will be able to access your grades via eGradebook. Semester grades will be computed as follows:
Hour Exams: 60%. There will be 3 in-class hour exams during the semester. The format will be "mixed," a combination of fill-ins or multiple choice, short essays, and numerical problems. Bring your calculator; we will provide paper and a list of equations. As an alternative to taking the last hour exam, you may elect to take a comprehensive final exam that covers the same material as Exam 3, in addition to earlier material.
*** Important: I do not give make-ups for missed hour exams, period. If you miss an exam for any reason, even a valid one, you must take the comprehensive final exam, which serves as an all-purpose make-up exam. Alternatively, you may take the final exam in addition to the hour exams, in which case your grade will be based on the best 3 out of the 4 exams. Again: the final exam will cover the whole semester.
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Hour Exams: The dates of the first two hour exams are not yet set, but are likely to be mid to late February and towards the end of March (after Spring Break) respectively. Exam 3 will be on the last class day, May 7. Optional Comprehensive Final Exam: Saturday, May 16, 2 – 5 PM |
Graded Homeworks: 20%. There will be roughly 8 graded problem sets
during the semester. We will drop the lowest score to compute the "homework total." Generally you will have a week to
complete the homework. While you may discuss homework in a general way with classmates, and are encouraged to
seek help from the T.A. or the instructor if you need it, the work that you turn in must be your own (see below).
