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Back to Archive List

Nature of course request C02528 :

Number/Prefix change		Description change		Prerequisite change
Undergraduate

From:
Course Prefix & Number	Descriptive Title	Credits/Hours
ES 392	Sedimentary Geology	4 - 4
To:
Course Prefix & Number	Descriptive Title	Credits/Hours
ES 493	Sedimentary Geology	4 -

Abbreviation for Class Schedule(20 spaces) SedGeol

Current Course Description: ES 392 Sedimentary Geology (4) Description and interpretation of sedimentary lithology, textures and structures, primarily at the hand sample and outcrop scale; the principles of transport/depositional processes; sedimentary environments; and facies models. Four hours of lecture and active learning. Two required field trips, one during the academic week, and one weekend trip. Prerequisites: ES 203, ES 450 or consent of instructor. Should be taken during the student¿s senior year and requires a significant preexisting geological knowledge base.

New Course Description: ES 493 Sedimentary Geology (4) Description and interpretation of sedimentary lithology, textures, and structures at the thin section, hand sample, and outcrop scale; the principles of transport/depositional processes; techniques of sedimentary analysis; sedimentary environments and facies models. Four hours of lecture and active learning. Required field trips. Prerequisites: ES 431/531 or ES 491/591 and ES 450, or consent of instructor. Should be taken during the student¿s senior year and requires a significant preexisting geological knowledge base.

Justification for changing the course (e.g. alignment with other institutions, program revision, etc.): ES 392 is the capstone course in the sedimentary geology/Earth history sequence at WOU. The 300 designation of this course leads to confusion because more general courses in the sedimentary geology/Earth history sequence are listed at the 400 level. ES 392 requires senior-level geological thinking skills and approaches. Students are expected to be familiar with techniques of optical mineralogy and to have a thorough knowledge of petrographic problem solving. These are skills honed in ES 301 and ES 450. ES 491 and ES 431 are far more general courses than ES 392. Both of these courses are general interest courses that are also designed to provide ES majors with critical background skills in the description, analysis, and interpretation of sedimentary environments and ancient ecosystems. The approaches, skills and tools acquired in both of these courses are important prerequisites for the higher level analysis of sedimentary rocks and systems in ES 392. My ability to teach ES 392 at the level that is appropriate for the course is severely hampered because these courses are currently not prerequisites, and the change would be greatly in the best interest of our students. Geology minors are currently required to take ES 392, although they are not required to take ES 491 or ES 431. With some additional background these students should be able to continue to be successful in ES 392 ¿ since the course content and expectations will not substantially change ¿ although these students will not be able to appreciate the richness of the subject that ES majors do. If this is perceived as a problem (which I don¿t believe that it is), one solution might be to remove ES 392 from the Geology minor requirements

Students/Program affected: ES majors and Geology minors.

Approval Queue C02528

Attached Files: