Core Curriculum Assessment: Current Events in Science Presentation

Objective addressed:

1. Communication skills, including effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through oral, visual, and writtencommunication

2. Critical thinking skills, including creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information

3. Teamwork skills, including group analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information, as well as effective oral and visual presentation of that information.

Student learning outcome:

1. For oral and visual communication, students will be able to evaluate and interpret geologic and environmental problems, and communicate their analysis effectively to others.

2. For critical thinking skills students will be able to effectively evaluate the topic and extract the most critical information to inform their peers through presentation.

3. For teamwork skill, students will learn group workflow management skills and cooperation skills in a team environment.

Placement of activity within curriculum:

This activity can be incorporated at any point in the curriculum.  Students may be allowed to choose their own topics, or be assigned specific topics according to the instructor's wishes.

Assessment activity:

In this activity, student work groups will be asked to research a current event in science.  The topic(s) may be delineated by the instructor, or left to the students. Each group will then create a Powerpoint presentation in which they (1) give a brief summary presentation 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.

The instructions for this assessment (to be given to students), as well as the rubric for grading are included here.