Core Curriculum Assessment: The 3rd Planet- Current Events in Science
Objective addressed:
1. Communication skills, including effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written communication
2. Critical thinking skills, including creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information
Student learning outcome:
1. For written communication, students will be able to describe geologic phenomena and/or environmental systems.
2. Students will be able to evaluate and interpret geologic and environmental problems, and communicate their analysis effectively to others.
Assessment activity:
In this activity, students will be asked to research a current event in science. The topic(s) may be delineated by the instructor, or left to the students. Students then will write a brief (250-750 word) paper, in which they (1) give a brief summary of the research and findings, and (2) discuss the implications these findings will have for society, based on their reading, their own experiences, and/or information they learned in class.