Spring 2012
Instructor and Contact Info:
Professor Peter Guth
Oceanography Department.
Prerequisites:
None
Course Description: This will be a mostly web-based
course showing how history, science, and engineering can be used together to
search for historic shipwrecks from the Age of Sail. John Paul Jones’ ship Bonhomme Richard serves as the case study, but the course stresses
general principles and concepts with broad applicability. We will discuss ship
construction and naval tactics of the era, and the historical record of the
battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis. The course also introduces
scientific models for the tides and ships drifting in the North Sea, as well as
principles of geographical information systems, and the creation of map
databases to display historic data and search results. We will consider engineering principles of
sensor design and employment, and how such historic vessels might be recovered
from the marine environment. Evening in-person guest lectures will complement
the self-paced, web-based weekly lessons.
Format: For
the online portion of this course, you can participate during each week at your
convenience, 24/7. The lectures are
posted on the USNA website at:
http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/shipwrecks/published_syllabus.htm The
week's lecture will be posted no later than Friday of the previous week. There
will be a weekly online discussion for each lecture, which will take place on
the USNA Blackboard system. A
self-grading weekly quiz will also be required.
In-person lectures will
take place as indicated on the syllabus.
Requirements: This course will be a hybrid of online and
face-to-face lectures. Most of it will take place online, and a new lecture will
be assigned each week. Specific
requirements are as follows:
Adobe Connect session at 2030 on Tuesday 10 January. There are directions for using Adobe Connect on the course home page (http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/shipwrecks/historic_shipwrecks.htm). This will take no more than 15 minutes, and is designed to insure that every student understands the course requirements. If you cannot make this virtual meeting you must contact Professor Guth.
In–person Guest
Lectures:
Attendance is
mandatory and roll will be taken at each lecture. If you have to miss a lecture, contact the instructors to
let them know.
Discussion
Board:
In the discussion area of the course, you will interact with
your instructor and classmates to explore questions and comments related to
the content of the course.
A post that says, "I agree (or disagree)."
or "Interesting lecture" is not acceptable. Examples of quality posts
are those that:
Quizzes: There will be a short quiz each week, using the Blackboard system. The weekly quizzes will be open book but individual effort; you will not discuss the quizzes with other students who have not completed it.
Assignment deadlines: There will be two deadlines each week:
Final Exam: There will be a final exam consisting of 40 multiple choice questions, many of which will be similar to those on the quizzes. It will be closed-book. If you pay attention to the quizzes and revisit the lectures, you should do well on the final.
The table below shows the weighting of the different assignments during each marking period:
| Component | 5 weeks | 12 weeks | 18 weeks | Course |
| Discussion Board | 30% | 30% | 30% | 25% |
| Quizzes | 70% | 70% | 70% | 50% |
| Final exam | 25% |
Last revision 1/8/2012