Geosciences Assignments in Writing Across the Curriculum
Oral Session Part of
Thursday A: Recruiting, Retaining and Graduating our Students & Broadening Participation: Focusing on Student Development
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Writing and critical thinking are essential for student success in college and beyond. "Writing Across the Curriculum" assumes that writing should be an integral part of the learning experience throughout a student's education, not only in writing courses but in all courses. Manageable writing assignments that improve student learning in Geosciences classes will be described. Examples include graphic organizers in which students reflect and brainstorm about what they already understand about a topic, develop questions about what they want to learn before the learning experience, and review what they have learned after it. A written analysis of scientific data for a variety of audiences and a peer-review process for student-written scientific papers will also be considered.