Course Syllabus

Catalog Description:

In this online class you’ll gain a basic understanding of the benefits and the challenges that natural materials provide. You’ll learn how to evaluate the environmental impact of various material choices and also consider the technical and economic implications of these options. To do this, we’ll compare wood with other biorenewable resources and work our way through the complexity of measurement tools to determine costs and benefits. You’ll leave this course with the skills needed to make informed personal, career, and public decisions for today’s global world.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify and describe present biorenewable resource use, trends, and impacts.
2. Understand the fundamental scientific and engineering knowledge to control the structure, properties, processing and performance of biorenewable resources.
3. Apply basic computation and analytical techniques (e.g. moisture content, specific gravity, dimensional change, etc.) to problems in processing and using biorenewable products.
4. Assess the social, economic, and environmental issues influencing or influenced by the utilization of biorenewable resources.
5. Identify and contrast the impacts of using individual biorenewable and non‐renewable resources as raw materials for specific technologies or products.
6. Realize the economic and environmental impacts of biorenewable resources and consider the job opportunities that are and will exist.

Course Format:

This course is completely online, providing student flexibility with their schedules. Each of the 28 lessons are available approximately one week before the lesson due date and closed on the date stated in the lesson.

Credit Hours and Time Commitment (3 credits):

Based on University of Minnesota guidance, each course credit requires about 45 hours of student effort per semester. A 3 credits class would be 135 hours per semester or about 9 hours per week. This requirement is fulfilled through 28 online lectures and required readings for each lesson followed by a corresponding quiz and writing assignment. In addition, there are two short papers, and a final exam. We anticipate 10 hours on each paper and 3 hours on the final exam.

Prerequisites:  None

Course Schedule

• Completely online
• Offered Spring and Fall Terms
• Two lessons per week with due dates on Wednesday and Sunday
• Also, a final Exam and two writing assignments
• For more specifics on assignments see grading breakdown

Course Instructors:

• David Schmidt, M.S., P.E. Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, Phone: 612-625-4262, Email: schmi071@umn.edu
• Austin Yantes
• William Tze (On Sabbatical Fall 18, Spring 19)

Instructor Contact Information:

Please email bbe1002@umn.edu for any course communication between you and the course instruction team. This email is monitored and responded to regularly throughout the day and evening with typical response times of 2 hours or less during business hours and 12 hours on weekends and evenings.

Office Hours:

There are no official office hours, since communication for this online course is largely through email. However, instructors are happy to meet with you if needed. Just contact them via email or phone to set up a time/date to meet.

Required Text and Readings:

• Irresponsible Pursuit of Paradise. Second Edition. Jim Bowyer (U bookstore or elsewhere)
• Robin R.C. and T.R. Brown/ Biorenewable Resources: Engineering New Products from Agriculture. Second Edition (free eBook through UMN Library)

Software Requirements:

Chrome and Firefox are the browsers that work best with Canvas. Safari is acceptable also. Do not use Windows Internet Explorer as it generally does not work well for many course features. In addition, you must be able to open the following file formats:  .pptx, .ppts, .docx, .pdf files, .mov, and other video files.

Course Topics:

• Unit 1: Background
• Unit 2: Biomass Basics
• Unit 3 Woody Biomass
• Unit 4: Herbaceous Biomass
• Unit 5: Trends and Global Perspectives

Grading Breakdown:

Item	Description	Percent of Total Grade	Maximum Total Points Possible
Participation	Many lessons will include participation points. This will typically be quick questions that are ungraded - just to get you thinking about the topic.	10	100
Quizzes	Each lesson will include at least one quiz with questions from presented material.	28	280
Short Writing	Each lesson will include a short writing assignment. You will be asked to dig more deeply into a topic or synthesis information from other sources.	32	320
Paper 1	~1000 word factsheet	10	100
Paper 2	~1000 word research paper	10	100
	We are replacing the second paper with 100 points of other assessments. (Update 09/30/18)
Final Exam	Comprehensive, open-notes exam	10	100
TOTAL		100	1000

 

Late Coursework:

Late work is accepted, but we deduct 10% for each day late. You don't need an excuse.

Grading Scale:

This course offers both A–F and S/N grading options. If you are taking this course S/N, you must earn a C– or better (70%) to achieve a grade of S. If you are taking this course A–F, your grade is determined as follows:

Grading Scale:

This course offers both A–F and S/N grading options. If you are taking this course S/N, you must earn a C– or better (70%) to achieve a grade of S. If you are taking this course A–F, your grade is determined as follows:

Percentage of Total Points	Letter Grade
93.00-100.00	A
90.00-92.99	A–
87.00-89.99	B+
83.00-86.99	B
80.00-82.99	B–
77.00-79.99	C+
73.00-76.99	C
70.00-72.99	C–
67.00-69.99	D+
60.00-66.99	D
0.00-59.99	F

 

Technology Support:

Canvas Help Desk (bottom left red bar on canvas page) or UMN Canvas Support at (canvas@umn.edu)

Attendance, Participation, and Disability Policy:

This course is completely online. This allows students to access the lectures and complete their assignments when it is most convenient. The pace of the class is organized with lessons made available as the semester or summer term progresses with set deadlines and due dates for completion. There are no face-to-face requirements for the course.

To make-up work due to long-term absence or illness, you MUST have a justified, excused letter from the doctor to receive an extension for lesson deadlines missed. To secure an excused absence, you must, to the best of your ability, contact the instructor before missing lesson deadlines to explain why you will be absent, request an excused absence, and have a legitimate reason for absence as defined by the University of Minnesota.  You must provide written documentation as soon as is reasonably possible. According to UMN policy, legitimate absences are for:

• Verified illness
• Participation in athletic events or other group activities sponsored by the University
• Serious family emergencies
• Subpoenas
• Jury duty
• Military service
• Religious observances

Disability Statement

The University of Minnesota is committed to providing all students equal access to learning opportunities. Disability Services (DS) is the campus office that works with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable accommodations.

Students who have, or think they may have, a disability (e.g. mental health, attention, learning, vision, hearing, physical or systemic), are invited to contact DS to arrange a confidential discussion at 612- 626-1333 (V/TTY) or ds@umn.edu.

• Students registered with DS, who have a letter requesting accommodations, are encouraged to contact the instructor early in the semester to discuss accommodations outlined in their letter.
• Additional information is available at the DS website http://ds.umn.edu.

As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce your ability to participate in daily activities. University of Minnesota services are available to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. You can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus via www.mentalhealth.umn.edu.