Writing Focused

My BIO 160 students often have difficulty identifying and locating peer reviewed resources for a disease research paper. I have worked with the EMCC librarians to show students databases, citation tools, and a discussion of peer revied versus popular articles. At this time the students used the library website and found two potential resources. To improve this process, Jennifer Wong has created a screencast that shows how to use the library website to locate resources.

The goal of these assessments was to engage students in hands on experiments similiar to a science lab.   Students always ask why differential equations is so important in STEM fields.  So, two labs were done in my differential equations class.  One was using thermometers and checking their accuracy (how long does it take for the thermometer to get back to body temperature after drinking cold water, doing jumping jacks, and chewing gum (placebo)).  The 2nd one was to verify that a mass spring system follows a 2nd order differential equation.

This assessment is intended as an alternative to the syllabus quiz. It is primarily for use in online and hybrid courses, but could be used in face-to-face classes that utilize Canvas. Students are required to preview each module of the course in the first week of classes. Students open each module and preview each assignment, activity and due dates within each assignment. Students then write a summary of what is required for each module. This gives students a clear picture of what will be required of them throughout the semester and first hand experience negotiating Canvas.

Since Spring 2013, I have required students to submit their drafts to the Online writng center for feedback.  Over the past several semesters, I have seen their average scores go from 43 out of 60 on increase to 52 out of 60 on the short essay and from 62 out of 80 on the long essay to 70 out of 80 on the long essay.  I have made some revisions using submission links to canvas and hope to close the loop at the end of the semester for RDG 095, RDG 091, CRE 101 and RDG 081.

Discussions are a prime way to enrich online and hybrid classes as well as engage students. In my spring 2014 classes, many of my students waited until the last 24 hours to post their initial answer to the Discussion prompt. This procrastination averaged 75% of the students. Since I require of my students a three response minimum to other students’ posts, there was often not enough time for meaningful exchanges. Despite my urgings, this procrastination continued.

In my EDU222 class, we are analyzing Special Education models.   Last term I presented on three models, set up in-class discussions, and had students write a research-based essay analyzing the 3.  This semester, I modified the cycle to include a  variety of formative assessments and ended with an in-class debate and essay. Students were much more analytical in their approach and were much better able to form their own conclusions as to what Special Education Model is most effective and why.

Sociology Through Film was piloted in Spring 2015 and then taught again in Spring 2016. Each week there are three assignments to sociologically analyze a film (see attached sample). The last assignment during finals week is to sociologically analyze a Disney children's movie by focusing on the 16 weeks of sociological analysis of film. This last assignment assesses whether the students understand the social issues, in addition to applying them to social change.

After attending a Gen Ed presentation by Erin Blomstrand, I created a finals week assignment on the connection of course material in SOC 212(Gender & Society) to lives outside of Sociology. The assignment was: "How will each of the following topics impact you once you leave this course? Think about your future and the people around you. Are you concerned on how the gender issues will impact you personally and/or others?" Students participated in Spring 2014. Based on results, I created a plan to improve.

After a student plagiarized a“how to paraphrase” assignment, I was dismayed with student correspondence that I received due its tone and the student’s continued misunderstanding of why it was plagiarism. Because students often avoid paraphrasing, and instead choose to repeatedly use direct quotations, I created a student-instructor role play assignment for ENG 102. See attached assignment for details.

Science faculty are constantly hearing from their students, "This isn't math! I didn't learn this in my math class". Many students are not able to transfer what they learned in math into their science courses.  Most of the concepts in MAT091 are crucial to success in science.  Throughout the semester, I met with 6 science faculty to discuss HOW students see these topics in science classes.

As a way of studying design principles related to composition I have my students complete an exercise that evaluates the compositional strategy employed in a great work of painting from art history.  The students create two diagrams that chart the way the artist uses design principles like scale, line, color, rhythm, unity, emphasis and balance to control the way the eye moves, additionally they map they way the artist uses value (light and dark) to create emphasis and illusions of depth.

In the online ENG 081 Basic Writing Skills, students participate in peer review.  However, in my first attempt, I found that students purposely skipped the assignment, even stating that they were skipping because they were "too nervous," or "didn't trust what their classmates would say and just wanted my feedback instead." In Spring 2014, my goal was to increase participation and to help students to have a positive experience. I added two discussion board posts.

I assign a Career Exploration Project (attached) for my engineering students to learn about engineering disciplines, careers, and professional societies. They do research, write a report, and present their findings to the class.  They capture the basics of the field and information about the professional societies, but I feel there is room for improvement, especially with professional societies and their benefits.

Using unobtrusive and obtrusive assessment throughout linked ENG101/102 courses, I hope to learn whether an emphasis on learning about types of writing (analysis, cause and effect, etc.) in the ENG101 course will carry over to help students as they work on more complex papers in ENG102.