Transcript THE BACKWARD DESIGN OF A LARGE

THE BACKWARD DESIGN OF A LARGE-SECTION
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY CORE COURSE:
OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING
AND APPRECIATE ROCKS
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT DAY
RIDER UNIVERSITY
MAY 19, 2005
SESSION C
JONATHAN M. HUSCH
SOME COURSE BACKGROUND
• Course evolved from ISP projects
• Expanded ISP projects into a course fulfilling the
non-lab science core requirement
• Replaced a very inappropriate core course, The
Earth
• Course demographics: Until recently has been
dominantly sophomore and above; majority are
liberal arts and business majors fulfilling their
non-lab science core requirement
COURSE PURPOSES AND GOALS 1
• Based on the premise that “society exists by
geological consent, subject to change without
notice”
• Want students to appreciate how connected they
are to the natural world and how most everything
in their lives is based on geology
• Want to expand student horizons to the national,
global, and even cosmic
• Want students to appreciate the immensity of
geologic time and what that implies
COURSE PURPOSES AND GOALS II
• Want students to appreciate that many “natural”
disasters are caused by us; we often control whether a
geologic process becomes a hazard and risk
• The course is NOT meant to make students expert in
the field of environmental geology
• Course success measured by getting students interested
in the subject and by having them apply what they’ve
learned to their everyday lives
• Want course to be meaningful, enjoyable, and positive
WHAT I DID 1
• Systematically implemented course strategies in
2003-04 as part of my BRIDGE project
• Used IF-AT exam format; allows for learning to
take place during the exam
• Used 1-2 minute extra credit “pop quizzes”
• Held review sessions before each exam and
required students to have already reviewed the
material and formulate questions
• Created a course e-mail list for communicating
with class and responding to individual students
WHAT I DID II
• Most significantly, I posted my course lecture notes
on the web. Students access the notes and other
course material, including exam sample questions
(and answers) and textbook web site, by clicking on
links in the course’s interactive syllabus
SOME QUALITATIVE RESULTS 1
• Despite initial concerns to the contrary, posting
course lecture notes makes students more engaged
and involved; they focus less on writing down
every word I say and more on what I’m saying
• Class absences have less impact on performance
because of access to accurate lecture notes;
attendance policy reduces possible absenteeism
• E-mail list acts as a class forum moderated by me
• Students use e-mail list to create virtual study
groups, an unintended, but positive consequence
SOME QUALITATIVE RESULTS II
• Although not originally intended as such, the
review sessions act similarly to the “muddiest
point” Classroom Assessment Technique (CAT) of
Angelo and Cross (1993)
• Again, although not originally intended as such,
the extra-credit pop quizzes act similarly to the
“minute paper” CAT of Angelo and Cross (1993)
• Pop quizzes also provide students with a “no
penalty” red flag for what they may not know, but
need to
SOME QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
85
84.4
84
84
84.3
83
82
81
80.6
80
AVG EXAM
GRADES
79
78
S99-F00 F01-F02 F03-F04 F03-S04
(4)
(3)
(3)
(2)*
•Values in parentheses give the number of semesters over which the average is
calculated
• *F04 semester had ~50% freshmen enrolled and the lowest exam average
since F00 when the IF-AT exam format was adopted; F03-S04 exam averages,
when lecture notes were available, are almost identical to the F01-F02 average,
when the lecture notes were not posted on the web
• Only significant change in exam average due to switch to IF-AT exam format,
starting with the F01 semester
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
• Original course purposes and goals, for the most part,
have been successfully met; students get it
• Student satisfaction with the course appears high;
average grade (B) is not out of line with Rider average
• Course withdrawal rates are low, as are the number of
D and F grades (there are always students who work
very hard at doing very poorly)
• For 2005 Summer Development Fellowship, I will be
applying many of the same techniques and strategies to
Introduction to Environmental Sciences (ENV100)
ROCK ON!