Geosciences Assignments in Writing Across the Curriculum

1. Geosciences Assignments inWriting Across the Curriculum Beth Laliberte, Senior Lecturer URI Geosciences Department

2. Writing Across the Curriculum • Writing is an integral part of the learning experience for all classes • Critical thinking and writing skills are essential for success in college and beyond

3. Misconceptions about WAC • Writing will take time away from content • Students learn material at a deeper level • Not suitable for my class • Different types of “writing assignments” • I am not knowledgeable enough about writing and grammar to help students • Focus on ideas and development • I will be buried in grading • Instructor does not have to grade all assignments From: Bean (2011) Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking and Active Learning in the Classroom, San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

4. K-W-L Chart K What you know W What you want to know L Learned Geologists can use optical mineralogy to identify minerals in a rock sample. Why are some diamonds are blue? Minerals are solids.

5. Writing About Data • March 2010 Rainfall Events in Rhode Island • March 13-15 – 4.1 inches of rain • March 22-23 – 4.1 inches of rain • March 29-30 – 9.0 inches of rain Warwick Mall 4/1/10 (AP Photo, Charles Krupa)

6. Writing About Data • 28 National Estuarine Research Reserves in the US • System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) • Data loggers or sondes automatically collect measurements every 15 minutes https://coast.noaa.gov/swmp/#/index

7. Writing About DataPart 1: Lined Note Card • Describe the impact of significant rain to Narragansett Bay for readers of the Providence Journal (a Rhode Island newspaper) 2010

8. The top and bottom figures are the same data with different scales. 2010

9. Part 1: Example Student Response • The impact of the significant rainfall during the dates March 14th to March 30th was severe. Over 17 inches of rain fell into the Narragansett Bay and surrounding areas. Due to this rain the salinity decreased. This is because the rain was freshwater therefore diluting the sea. When the salinity decreased the turbidity spiked because there was much less salt percentage, allowing someone to see through the water better.

10. Part 2: Unlined Note Card • Discuss your description with a classmate. • Write your revised description on the other side of the notecard. 2010

11. Part 2: Revised Student Response • The turbidity spiked due to the amount of erosion and dirt that entered, therefore you could not see as deep in the water. The salinity went down due to the large amount of freshwater rainfall.

12. Project for GEO 204-Problem Solving in Earth HistoryWhen did the Anthropocene start? • Class divided into 4 groups (3-4 students/group) • Each group was given a scientific journal article with a different proposed date to read (individually) and present to the rest of the class (as a group) • Each student wrote a paper about their proposed start date for the Anthropocene • Version 1 – peer review within group • Version 2 – instructor review (40% of final paper grade) • Version 3 – instructor review (60% of final paper grade) • Paper rubric: Format 20%, Language 30%, Content 40%, Revisions 10% • Student evaluation of contribution for each member of their group

13. Questions, Discussion • Thank you • Josh Caulkins, Eric Kaldor • High Impact Teaching Seminar Facilitators from the URI Office of Advancement of Teaching and Learning • Nedra Reynolds • Writing Across the Curriculum Seminar Facilitator from the URI Department of Writing and Rhetoric • David Fastovsky • GEO 204 Instructor from the URI Geosciences Department