GEP 373 Energy, Technology, and Society Syllabus

  • Instructor: Professor Daniel Soto
  • Office: Stevenson 3729
  • Email: sotod@sonoma.edu
  • Semester: Fall 2025
  • Meeting Time: M/W 3:00 pm -- 4:50 pm
  • Classroom: Salazar 1032
  • Units: 4

Office Hours (AMA) and Email

Signup is online and can be accessed through my website at danielrsoto.com. You can also access them through the GEP Department Website or directly through this link. Office hours are your opportunity to meet with me one-on-one for anything that helps your learning. Please meet with me during office hours for any grade checks or other issues that require individual attention.

When you send email, please put [GEP 373] in your subject line. This helps me identify and respond to student emails more quickly. It is my goal to respond to student emails within 48 working hours, please send a follow up if you have not received a reply in that time.

Course Catalog Description

A lecture/discussion course designed to assist students in understanding energy as a fundamental measure of organization, structure, and transformation in society. Principal topics include: energy history; thermodynamics; energy resources and conversion technologies; global issues and trends; environmental impacts; energy economics, institutions, and politics. Elementary quantitative analysis.

Course-level Learning Objectives

  • Development of critical thinking skills applied to global energy issues
  • Develop model thinking and quantitative estimation skills for energy use
  • Understanding of the multiple technical, social, and policy issues surrounding energy implementations

If you perform the work required for this class, you will be able to evaluate and improve parts of our energy system. You will be able to use mathematics, computational tools, physics, and social science to start understanding our complex energy system. Through developing your critical thinking skills as well as your quantitative abilities, you will also be able to suggest or evaluate new ideas in our energy system. After this course, you can be an important part of our energy transition.

Class Organization and Schedule

In the first part of the class you will learn a set of concepts and tools that empower you to make rough quantitative estimates of problems. We will then apply these to our energy system as it exists and look at the positive and negative outcomes from our energy system. Last, we will apply these ideas to our local energy system and suggest ways to improve it.

Class Topic Schedule

This course schedule posted here is subject to change.

  • Wed 20 Aug -- Mon 08 Sep: Context and Lenses
  • Wed 10 Sep -- Mon 22 Sep: Quantitative
  • Wed 24 Sep: Exam Day 1
  • Mon 29 Sep -- Wed 15 Oct: Energy Sources
  • Mon 20 Oct: Exam Day 2
  • Wed 22 Oct -- Mon 10 Nov: Society
  • Wed 12 Nov: Exam Day 3
  • Mon 17 Nov -- Wed 19 Nov: Case Studies
  • Mon 24 Nov: Exam Day 4
  • Wed 26 Nov: Thanksgiving holiday
  • Mon 01 Dec: Exam Day 5
  • Mon 03 Dec: Exam Day 6
  • Mon 08 Dec: Final Exam 3:30 pm -- 5:30 pm

Course Mode

This class is offered as an in-person class and is designed for you to learn from your classmates through frequent discussions and work in-person and at the same time (synchronous). Exams will be in-person. Ideally you will attend during class time, but there will be many things that make that difficult (work, family, pandemics) and there is no grade for attendance.

Attendance and Excused Absences

If you miss class due to an unexcused absence, you will will not receive credit for any work due in class that day. If you have an excused absence, we'll arrange an extension for those in-class assignments.

To submit a request for an excused absence, please fill out this Excused Absence Form. The form asks for a brief and compelling reason for the absence but you do not need to reveal any personal, sensitive, or medical information.

I may contact you over email if I think your attendance is affecting your learning. If you have difficulty meeting your educational goals this semester because of outside difficulties, please reach out as early as possible and we can look for solutions.

Homework

There are three types of assignments in this course: homework, exam questions, and project assignments.

Homework is usually to be completed before class in preparation for the class period and is awarded full credit if complete and on time. All homework has a one-day grace period where late work receives 90% credit. Any homework up to one week late receives 80% credit. Any homework turned in after one week late will receive 70% credit.

Exams

The course grade is mostly based on the credit/no-credit demonstration of specific skills listed in the course grading section. During the exams, the instructor will hand out exam questions focused on these specific skills for you to attempt. You will complete these questions and turn them in. The instructor will return the exam questions with a grade of completion or to reattempt. You may reattempt the skill without penalty in a future exam session, or in the current exam session if time permits.

You will complete these questions and briefly present them to the instructor. The instructor will look over the work, ask any clarifying questions, and assign a grade of complete or not-yet. You may reattempt the work without penalty during the current or future exam sessions.

Project Assignments

You are asked to complete a project that applies our quantitative and social analysis tools to a current energy topic relevant to Sonoma County.

The project will be broken into parts that will be graded like the exam questions (credit/no-credit with multiple attempts). Different than the exam questions is that you pick the topic and you can work on these at home.

Course Grading

To earn a A grade:

  • Complete all skills for B, C, and D grades
  • Use the energy and power relationship to perform estimates
  • Estimate the carbon emissions from global combustion of a fossil fuel
  • Estimate the carbon emissions reduction from a policy proposal
  • Describe the impacts of a policy through two perspectives
  • Summarize the important aspects of an energy issue for policy makers
  • Earn a score of at least 90% on homework

To earn a B grade:

  • Complete all skills for C and D grades
  • Estimate carbon emissions from energy usage
  • Describe an energy source through at least two lenses
  • Estimate an energy reduction from a new energy service technology
  • Describe an alternate to an energy service through at least two perspectives
  • Describe stakeholders and perspectives for signature assignment
  • Earn a score of at least 80% on homework

To earn a C grade:

  • Complete all skills for D grade
  • Perform a multi-step unit conversion
  • Estimate fuel volumes at a global scale
  • Identify the relevant quantities for an energy estimation
  • Create a time-series graph of a global energy quantity
  • Complete a spreadsheet estimation for signature assignment
  • Earn a score of at least 70% on homework

To earn a D grade:

  • Perform a single-step unit conversion
  • Distinguish between primary and secondary energy sources
  • Recognize energy services and the sources they use
  • Complete and submit all signature assignment components
  • Complete and submit all signature assignment reflection components
  • Earn a score of at least 60% on homework

Final Exam

Our final exam period is Mon. Dec 8th from 3:30 pm -- 5:30 pm. You can verify this on the Sonoma State final exam schedule.

Class Texts

You are not required to purchase any texts for this class. All course readings will be made available online.

Classroom Technology

I will announce when you need to bring a laptop to class to work on assignments. For every class, please bring a device that will allow you to access the internet and Google Docs and Sheets. If you don't have access to devices, I can point you to campus resources.

Class Norms and Agreements

Late work

Students often have circumstances beyond their control that interfere with their studies. If you believe you have a compelling case for turning in an assignment late for full credit, make an office hours appointment with me and we can discuss it.

Respectful tone in classroom

Each of us is responsible for creating a class environment where all of us can reach our highest potential. Attendance and meaningful class participation supports this goal. Civility is required from all students during discussions and interactions. In general, I expect students to be completely supportive of each others learning goals.

Willingness to take risks and experiment

I frequently try new approaches to teaching and learning. These are always with the intention of making this class as beneficial to you as possible and are usually evidence-based.

Academic Integrity

There are many resources and technologies available that could be used to complete the work in this class: online solutions like Chegg, large language models like ChatGPT, and online calculators.

You may use any of these tools in ways that support your learning, but you must be able to explain any work that you turn in and cite any work that is not your own. If you cannot clearly explain the work you have turned in you will not receive credit.

University Policies

There are important University policies that you should be aware of, such as the add/drop policy; cheating and plagiarism policy, grade appeal procedures; accommodations for students with disabilities and the diversity vision statement. Go to this URL to find them. http://www.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/policies/studentinfo.shtml

Also important are the policies around withdrawals or incompletes and your options if you find yourself unable to complete the course.

Health Concerns

In the event that your life or our class is directly or indirectly disrupted by a communicable disease outbreak, let me know and we'll construct a plan. If there is an interruption in classes, all deadlines will be postponed. After we return, I will post the new deadlines after consulting with students.

Natural Disasters

If the campus is closed, any assignments or work that were due during the closure will be postponed. When the campus is reopened, we will discuss a new schedule and new assignment due dates. If you are personally affected by a natural disaster but the campus isn't closed, you will be granted extensions on any work.

Basic Needs

Any student who believes their performance in the course may be affected by their access to sufficient food, stable housing, or their citizenship status is encouraged to seek out assistance from Sonoma State. If you are comfortable with it, please notify me as well so I can help direct you to any available resources.