Red ink
It's that time of the semester, when the field trips are over, and the field trip essays start rolling in. These papers I assign are intended to be syntheses of the field trips I take my students on. I want them to interpret the landscape as a geologist would, and support each claim about geologic events in the past with supporting evidence observed or discussed on the trip.
I offer my students the opportunity to submit a rough draft of their field trip paper, and then I give them feedback about both content and formatting/writing style, so they have a chance to revise before submitting a final draft. Each semester, about a quarter of the students avail themselves of this opportunity for feedback before the "real" paper is due. Giving them quality feedback is a time-consuming process, but I feel it's important both to cement geologic concepts in their minds, and to guide them in developing their writing skills.
Accordingly, it's been a slow week for posting on this blog. I've been too busy with work. However, this morning it occurred to me that I could capitalize on my grading efforts by sharing a student essay with you all, edits and all. Why do I think you'll be interested in such a thing? (A) I think it gives some insight into the practice of teaching geology at the introductory college level, and (B) I think this is an excellent rough draft for an essay about Washington, DC's geologic history. The student's name, of course, has been redacted:
I offer my students the opportunity to submit a rough draft of their field trip paper, and then I give them feedback about both content and formatting/writing style, so they have a chance to revise before submitting a final draft. Each semester, about a quarter of the students avail themselves of this opportunity for feedback before the "real" paper is due. Giving them quality feedback is a time-consuming process, but I feel it's important both to cement geologic concepts in their minds, and to guide them in developing their writing skills.
Accordingly, it's been a slow week for posting on this blog. I've been too busy with work. However, this morning it occurred to me that I could capitalize on my grading efforts by sharing a student essay with you all, edits and all. Why do I think you'll be interested in such a thing? (A) I think it gives some insight into the practice of teaching geology at the introductory college level, and (B) I think this is an excellent rough draft for an essay about Washington, DC's geologic history. The student's name, of course, has been redacted:
Labels: cretaceous, dc, geology, nova, ordovician, teaching
5 Comments:
Is there a privacy issue with showing actual student work, even with the name removed? I don't know the legal issues, but I know that I don't show students copies of old papers unless I've got the original student's permission.
Yes there is a privcy issue. One should never share student work without the student's permission (and that of a parent or guardian if the student is under 18). It can and has led to legal action on occasion. In this case, approaching the student with "I thought your summary was examplary and I would like to share it," would almost assure you of that permission. I know I would have been flattered by such a compliment. But teachers (at all levels) are considered to have the same privileged access to private information as doctors, lawyers and priests, and can be held liable for breaches of confidentiality. Probably not a big deal, but I would ask the student for permission, if you haven't.
On a lighter note, that is very well done, and very interesting. Having spent limited time on the Atlantic coastal plain, I guess I didn't realize there was so much exposure and diversity in the DC area.
In that first paragraph, shouldn't Greenville(sic) Orogeny be Grenville Orogeny?
Hey guys,
Thanks for the concern. I do have the student's permission to post the work. Ethical issues like these are important to keep at the forefront of our minds as educators.
Lockwood, there's a BUNCH of cool stuff around here. I'm biased because I live here, but I seriously think that this area has geology on par with California's, just more poorly exposed.
Ron, you're right. Grenville, not Greenville. I missed that one.
CB
I figured you had that covered! Nice paper.
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