Course Information and Registration

GLOBAL CHANGE SYLLABUS

Human activities are currently leading to changes in the global environment at virtually unprecedented rates, with potentially severe consequences for our future welfare...The problem of global environmental change is crucial and urgent.
U.S. Academy of Science, 1988


Meteorology/Agronomy/Env. Sci./Env. St. 404/504
Spring 2006

Instructor
Eugene S. Takle
gstakle@istate.edu
3013 Agronomy Hall
(515)294-9871 		Computer Specialist
Daryl Herzmann
akrherz@iastate.edu
3015 Agronomy Hall
(515) 294-5978

Course Objectives

  • To demonstrate the interconnectedness of the earth's environmental system and to explore the scientific evidence for changes in the global environment.
  • To instill in students the value of peer-reviewed literature on global-change issues.
  • To engage students, by means of the Internet, in dialog among themselves, with outside experts, and with students from other countries on the scientific, economic, social, political, and ethical implications of these global changes.
  • To develop skills, individually and collaboratively, for implementing the knowledge building process as an approach to problem solving.

Registration Information

Pre-requisites: 4 courses in Physical or Biological Sciences or Engineering

You may register for the Global Change course in any of six different ways:

Course
Agronomy 404
Meteorology 404
Environmental Studies 404
Environmental Science 404
Agronomy 504
Meteorology 504

If, as an undergraduate, you sign up for the 504 course, you will attend the same lectures as for 404,but you will do one extensive research paper instead of shorter ones. The 504 may count toward a graduate degree requirements if you continue on for graduate degree.

If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please make arrangements to meet with me soon. Please request that a Disability Resources staff send a SAAR form verifying your disability and specifying the accommodation you will need.

If, as a graduate student, you sign up for the 404 course, you are not required to submit a research paper. The 404 course will count toward credits required for a graduate degree if you sign up for the course outside your major. That is, if you are a graduate student in Agronomy, you will receive graduate credit if you sign up for Meteorology (or Environmental Studies) 404, but not if you sign up for Agronomy 404.

Class Meeting Times

Class Meetings for On Campus Students

The On-Campus Global Change course is scheduled to meet MWF 11 and will do so the first two weeks of classes(except for university holidays). Because most of the required activities in connection with the course are available on the web, there is reduced need to physically meet at all appointed times. On the basis of student Course Evaluations from previous semesters (student evaluations do matter!) and discussions with Environmental Science Program faculty advisors, we wil reduce the number of class meetings. Cancellation of class meetings will not be on a regular basis but will be announced at least two days in advance in the "Message of the Day" in your personal portfolio.

Despite the fact that the class will not be meeting on some days, the due dates for assignments listed in your personal electronic portfolio will be rigidly enforced (you will be electronically locked out from taking a quiz or posting an assignment after the assigned deadline). Also, assigned readings and quizzes will remain effective even if the campus is closed and classes are suspended due to weather conditions.

The face-to-face meetings will be devoted to discussion of the unit topics most recently completed and to current global change issues being reported in the scientific literature. Students may find this session to be complementary to online dialog (course evaluations suggest that some prefer face-to-face dialog) and may provide ideas for online dialog as well.

Distance Ed Students

Distance Education Students

Students taking Global Change completely over the internet and not residing on campus will complete the same requirements as on-campus students except the final examination will be on the internet.

Grading

Grading

The course is divided into three blocks. For each block:

Students registered for 404:

AssignmentValue each blockSub-total
Learning unit quizzes3/unit129
Internet discussion on unit topics59177
Self assessment of discussion on unit topics1030
Internet discussion of ethical issues1030
Sub-total366
Final exam100
Total for the course 466

Students registered for 504:

Grading will be same as for 404 except a research paper will be submitted at the end of the semester.

AssignmentValue each blockSub-total
Learning unit quizzes3/unit129
Internet discussion on unit topics 59177
Self assessment of discussion on unit topic1030
Research Paper*200
Web discussion of ethical issues1030
Sub-total566
Final exam100
Total for the course666

Information regarding performance standards on the above requirements is outlined in your portfolio.

Final Examination

A final examination will be administered for both on-campus students and distance education students. It will be a 2-hour exam covering material from the entire semester. Sample examinations are provided at Sample Exams. You will note that each unit has a link to exam questions from the past relating to that particular unit. See for example Carbon Sample Exams. Also see final exam preparation information at Sample Final Exam.

Two different exams will be administered depending on whether you are enrolled as an on-campus student (404 or 504) or distance education student (404XW or 504XW). Undergraduate students and graduate students will take the same exam in each category (i.e., 404 students take the same exam as 504 students and 404XW students take the same exam as 504XW students). The two exams will be normalized by the instructor to be approximately the same level of difficulty. Both final examinations will consist mostly of short-answer questions.

On-campus students:
The final examination for on-campus students will be administered in the class meeting room at the time designated by the Registrar for this course. When this date/time is announce it will be posted on the website as the last unit in Block 3 on the Unit Topics page (Unit Topics). Approximately 25% of the final exam will come from in-class presentations. For this exam, no notes, books, or websites will be available during the examination period.

Distance education students:
Students taking the course at-a-distance will take a final examination different from that taken by on-campus students. The distance education exam will be made available electronically at the time the on-campus exam is administered, but a period of a day or two will be allowed for response. Material unique to in-class presentations will not be covered on the distance-education exam. Instead, other topics may be explored in more depth. Notes, books, and websites will be allowed as references for the distance-education exam.


Quizzes

Quizzes

Quizzes in this course are designed to promote critical thinking. They are not like the multiple choice quizzes you took in an introductory course that required looking up some fact from the required reading. In most cases you will not be able to answer the quiz questions by finding a phrase in the reading that is reproduced in the quiz. Research has shown that looking up facts contributes very little to long-term learning.

Completing Global Change quizzes generally requires some calculation or interpretation or analysis of reading, graphs or tables for that particular unit or one of the units preceding the unit for a particular quiz. So the quiz for Unit 2-3, for instance, may require some information or result from any unit in Block 1 or Unit 2-1 or 2-2. It will be expected that students have basic understanding of high school science and are able to think at the level of a university senior. So, for instance, if I ask a question about temperature in Australia in summer, you would be expected to use December-January-February temperatures and not June-July-August temperatures as a basis for your answer.

At the end of each quiz is a dialog box in which you can enter narrative on your reasoning if you want (not required). So if you disagree with my answers or can narrow the choices from 5 to 2 of the possible answers you can use the dialog box to explain your reasoning. This underscores the true purpose of the quiz - to encourage you to think deeply about the reading material and not simply to parrot back facts.

Because quizzes are designed to be challenging, scores typically are lower than most conscientious students expect to get, and this frequently causes anxiety. Mean quiz scores typically are about 2.0/3.0 but may be as low as 1.5/3.0. Some students will get 0.0/3/0. If this happens very often it may signal that your reasoning skills are not at the level required for the course. Every year there are students who score nearly 3.0/3.0, so the quizzes are not impossible or unfair as is sometimes asserted. If you are getting 0.0/0.0, the dialog box is your way of demonstrating that your reasoning skill is sufficient to understand, analyze, and diagnose the reading material.

You are not expected to take the quiz blind, i.e., without looking at the required reading, but you are expected to not discuss answers to the quiz questions with other students taking the course.

Electronic dialog

Electronic dialog

The electronic dialog allows the student to participate in a group-based knowledge-building process. This is not simply a chat session. The student is accountable for every comment posted. These will be evaluated for their contribution to the knowledge-building process.

The electronic discussion can be divided into 2 categories:

  • Web discussion of learning unit material. This discussion is designed to allow students an opportunity to ask questions, post information relevant to a particular lecture that they have found from other sources, call attention to new or related URLs, etc. See Electronic Dialog discussion requirements for information on required submissions.



  • Web discussion of ethical issues. Each block has an ethical issue that has been put up for discussion. Students are required to respond at least once to this issue during the period of the block.

Grading of Discussion

Grading of Online Discussion

  • Analysis of Electronic Dialog and grading of discussion for each student is based on the following elements:

    1. Total number of entries by made by the student

    2. Total number of responses the student makes to other student comments

    3. Total number of responses the student receives from other students

    4. Quality of the comments

  • For each Block, the requirements for full credit for the discussion are:

    1. submit at least 6 entries, at least 5 of which qualify as knowledge-building.

    2. respond to at least 3 other students' comments (these are counted as part of the required 6 entries)

    3. elicit at least 3 comments from other students

    4. submit at least one social comment (counted as part of the required 6 entries)

    5. provide high quality comments.

  • For each block, a maximum of 59 points will be awarded for discussion as follows:

    1. 2 points for each entry for maximum of 12 points

    2. 3 points for each knowledge-building response to another student for maximum of 9 (note that these entries also count toward the minimum of 6 entries)

    3. 2 points for having at least one social comment (this entry also counts toward the minimum of 6 entries)

    4. 3 points for each response received from another student for maximum of 9

    5. 27 points for overall quality of entries

  • Note that comments characterized as not contributing to the knowledge-building process will not count in item B. In short, you need to supply 5 knowledge-building comments and at least one social comment per block.

  • Evaluation of the quality component online dialog (27 points) for Blocks 1 and 2 will explain reasons for less-than-expected performance with challenges to be met in future blocks. Grading of online dialog is done before I read your self assessment. Then I compare my assessment with your assessment of your performance and my recommendations for improvement with those you have identified. Failing to follow up on repairing your own acknowledged shortcomings will be justification for lowering your grade.

  • Evaluation of the quality component for Block 3 will be very terse and may consist of only a numerical score, since my expectations will be well articulated in Blocks 1 and 2.

  • In evaluating the quality component in all blocks, attention will be given to the timing of posts. Regular posts assure timely responses to other students' postings, allow time for response to your post, and generally contribute to the learning environment. All posts are time stamped, and failure to post comments regularly during the block (i.e., waiting until the end of the block to make all posts) undermines the value of ongoing dialog and will lead to reduction of the grade for quality of your dialog.

  • To be an effective contributor to the dialog, you should be participating throughout the block and not just near the deadline for submitting online discussion. Therefore, quality of comments for students who enter the majority of their comments near the very end may be graded lower.

  • Cutting and pasting sentences or paragraphs, without attribution, from a website or other source you did not create is plagiarism and will be penalized severely. Even if you give the reference, you should summarize the content in your own words. If you are quoting another person, put the exact words in quotes and give a complete citation.

  • Through this course we hope you will reflect over how you personally acquire knowledge and understanding of an issue. To help in that goal, you might find it interesting to explore the Seven Intelligences

Course Information and Registration

Dialog Quality

  • A Knowledge-Building Perspective

    A major part of the Global Change course grade comes from the discussion students enter on the web. It is expected, this being a senior-level course, that the discussion will be thoughtful and represent a knowledge-building process. Gerry Stahl has offered a valuable perspective on this issue in a recent conference:

    "Students more readily engage in discussion, responding spontaneously to existing notes without taking time to appropriate the ideas in new syntheses. True construction of knowledge involves distinct tasks including brainstorming, articulating, reacting, organizing, analyzing and generalizing." (Stahl, 1999)

  • Metaphor of a Committee Meeting

    I think of the discussion as a committee meeting or a task meeting in a work environment. This is the kind of experience that most students will face in employment situations. People are usually asked to come to a meeting because they bring some information, skill, or insight that the committee needs to complete its task. So participation by everyone is desirable. The committee functions well when each member responds, when appropriate, to another committee member. Good comments usually elicit responses from others and irrelevant comments usually lead to a change of topic. The committee also functions well when each participant offers relevant comments that contribute to the task.

    Additionally, committee participants should come to the meeting prepared, meaning they should not ask questions for which information was provided in advance unless it was unclear (discussion should not ask for a repeat of class material, but should include requests for clarification or implications).



  • Elements of Productive Committee Discussion

    1. Questions requesting clarification of ambiguous points

    2. New and relevant authoritative information that goes beyond what was provided

    3. Opinions, provided they are substantiated with logical arguments from accepted facts

    4. Synthesis of given information that suggests a new conclusion

    5. Hypotheses whose testing would lead to new information

    6. Calculations that lead to new conclusions or reveal new insights


  • Elements of a Committee Discussion that do NOT Contribute to Productivity

    1. Sweeping generalizations ("politicians have ruined our national forests")

    2. Impractical solutions ("we should stop global warming now by not burning fossil fuels")

    3. Unsubstantiated claims ("global warming will turn the US Midwest into a desert")

    4. Questions raised that are broad and reverse progress of the discussion ("why do we have global warming?")

    5. Degrading or impolite comments ("Donna, that's a dumb idea")

    *Electronic dialog containing these characteristics will be graded low.*


Building Knowledge

Building Knowledge

Stahl (1999) offers some characteristics of knowledge-building discussion. These knowledge-building "tools" are examples of use of critical thinking skills. The National Council of Teachers of English states that critical thinking is "a process which stresses an attitude of suspended judgment, incorporates logical inquiry and problem solving, and leads to an evaluative decision on action." A list of definitions of critical thinking has been compiled by Barbara Fowler.

Below are listed Stahl's knowledge building characteristics with some hypothetical examples of each. In some cases a post may be classified in more than one category. In such cases, choose the one you think is closest.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is the introducing of new ideas that relate to the topic or task of the committee and offer a perspective not previously considered. If the idea is pretty "far out", it needs to be explained in sufficient detail to justify its plausibility. Some anchor in factual information is required.

Examples

"I read that plant life in tropical oceans away from coasts is limited, not because of lack of sunshine for photosynthesis, but due to lack of nutrients. Evidently there isn't very much vertical mixing in tropical oceans so there is no way nutrients can be brought up from deeper levels where they are abundant. Would it be possible to fertilize tropical oceans to get massive plant growth to absorb atmospheric CO2 or put windmills on moored buoys in the tropical ocean that would pump deep water rich in nutrients to the surface for enhanced plant growth..."

"We have too much ozone in the atmosphere in major cities where the pressure is about 1000 mb and too little in the stratosphere where the pressure is about 100 mb, so why don't we run a pipe from street level in Los Angeles to the stratosphere and let the natural pressure difference drive ozone to the stratosphere..."

Articulating

Articulating

Articulating means explaining complex or difficult concepts. This could include explaining course material that may be difficult to understand, entering and explaining new material from other sources (personal experiences that add to the knowledge base fit this category (see second example), or amplifying on comments of other students that seem incomplete and need further explanation.

Examples

"The unit summary on carbon cycle and methane mentioned that ruminant animals are a source of methane but didn't mention why this is so, or why other animals were not sources. From a course I took in Animal Science I learned that..."

"Josh, I found your calculation of carbon put into the atmosphere from burning Brazilian forests interesting. And your suggestion for reforestation is a good one. However, I spent a month in Brazil, and from my discussions with students there, I learned that to accomplish this goal the Brazilian government must first..."


Analysis

Analysis

Analysis is a powerful knowledge-building characteristic that includes comparing or contrasting previously articulated views. It also could include new calculations from existing data that shed new light on the issue under consideration. Comparing and contrasting comes under this category (see third example).

Examples

"I found a website (http...) that gives the volume of the Greenland ice as ... I calculated that if this whole mass melted it would raise global sea level by ..."

"Iowa has 56,000 square miles. I assumed that 60% of this was agricultural land and that farmers were able to increase soil carbon by 2% per year by minimum tillage practices. This amount of carbon sequestered by farmers would recapture % of the carbon released by all the fossil fuels burned in the state in a single year in the state of Iowa (1995 data)."

"I looked over the units on global climate models and regional climate models, and the advantages and disadvantages of each are as follows: ..."

The Power of Estimation

One skill to be acquired in the Global Change course is the ability to gain insight on particular global change issues by use of estimation. When we are faced with problem-solving on issues having magnitudes beyond our normal range of experiences (e.g., global emissions of carbon to the atmosphere of 6 gigatons per year; volume of ice on Antarctica of 29.3 x 106 km3) we often fail to recognize whether a particular result is significant or of such magnitude that it might be totally irrelevant. Failure to make such estimates can allow us to be led astray by groups stretching the truth to promote a particular agenda. Estimation is a powerful analytical tool (analysis as a knowledge-building characteristic or critical-thinking skill) for use in Global Change and in everyday life.

A marvelous advantage of the internet is that we have ready access to so much factual information that making estimates of global quantities is easy in many cases. Search engines and online datasets allow for very interesting and timely analysis and organization of factual information into knowledge.

Estimation is a good skill for everyday problems in life: I use estimation every time I get in a long line to determine how long it will take me to get through (e.g., number ahead of me divided by processing time per individual, such as going through airport security).

Use the dialog requirements of Global Change to sharpen your skills of estimation and get credit for it by exercising your analysis critical thinking skill.

Examples

Could you prove that both the following statements are false (which they are) by use of estimation:

"If everyone in Iowa planted a tree in their backyard we would not be contributing to global increases in atmospheric CO2."

"If all manure from all hogs currently raised in Iowa were properly applied to Iowa farm ground, we could reduce our input of nitrogen fertilizer by half."

Organization

Organization

Occasionally, organization of existing thoughts or perspectives helps to clarify the flow of discussion (e.g., identifying that there are really only two lines of thinking in the dialog despite numerous comments in seemingly different directions). Frequently it is possible to take two quite different pieces of information and show that theya re a part of one larger picture (see first example). Sometimes reassembling data in different ways reveals deeper meaning (see second example).

Examples

"When I reviewed Units 3-5 (Forests and Deforestation), 3-6 (Land Use Issues), and 3-7 (Desertification), I found that all relate to landscape management. In all cases, individuals (large numbers) and/or corporations are primarily responsible. Another common thread is that lack of effective or informed or enforced government policy usually allows this to happen. This supports the statement in 3-11 (Sustainable Development) that good government is a key to sustainability."

"The tables given in the unit summary broke down human population by country and showed fertility rates for each country. I was interested in the impact of religion on fertility rates, so I combined data from six predominantly Roman Catholic countries (identified from the website http..), and compared with data from six Muslim countries and six nations having no dominant religion, and I found that ..."

Course Information

Synthesis

Synthesis brings data or concepts from two or more topics together and creates a new concept or numerical result.

Examples

"I am concerned about the impact of wind-power turbines on migratory birds, so I found a US map (http ...) showing regions on high wind-power potential and another showing major routes for migratory birds (http..). If you compare these you will find that the worst place to put wind turbines is ..."

"I am a fanatical gardener, and when I graduate I am going to take a job somewhere that I can stay put for the next 50 years and develop a fantastic garden, including fruit and nut trees. I also want to pass this on to my children and grandchildren. However, climate change will shift the "hardiness zones" that determine optimum regions for different perennials, bushes, and trees. Therefore, I took the present map of hardiness zones and compared it with present climate winter temperature maps because hardiness is mainly related to winter temperature. Then I found projected winter temperature maps from the NCAR climate model for the decade 2070-2080. I used these to determine where the hardiness zones will be in 70 years. From this I will now look for a job in ..."

Generalization

Generalization

Generalization is another powerful characteristic that takes comments or data already presented and extracts new information or knowledge that applies to a broader set of conditions. Even though such generalizations must be carefully tested for their truth, they do offer a positive step in the knowledge-building process. Generalizations are very thought provoking because they immediately challenge the reader to search for counter-examples. .

Examples

"China has a population of 1.3 billion people. If every Chinese family (approximately 20 million families) had an SUV and drove it 10,000 miles per year, I calculated that the global consumption of gasoline would increase by ..."

"I read (http...) that fruit trees in one county in Michigan are, on average, flowering 10 days earlier than they did 100 years ago and that lakes are becoming ice free 15 days earlier. From a chart of average daily temperatures (http...) I estimated that this means spring temperatures have increased by about 4 degrees F in the last 100 years in this county. But I also read that the average temperature across the US has increased by only about 1 degree F in the last 100 years. Can anyone help me reconcile this generalization?"


Course Information

Building Community

A pleasant and collegial environment promotes productive discussion that leads to knowledge-building. Social comments help create such a pleasant environment and can play a significant role in the success of the dialog. Social comments can include:

Social Comment

Social Commments

Social comments may include:

  • compliments to a fellow student for an interesting or informative post pieces of humor that adds spice to the discussion

  • encouragement to a fellow student to add further information to an already interesting post

  • comments that might only be tangentially related to the course material but that create interest in the dialog (see third example below)

  • a personal experience that is at least tangentially related but that may not satisfy one of the knowledge-building criteria (see fourth example)

Examples


"Cindy, thanks for your explanation of the statistical and dynamical downscaling of global climate model results. Your explanation made a lot more sense to me than the reading material."

"Robert, you raised a legitimate concern on the effect of wind turbines on migratory birds. I am wondering if in your research you found evidence that there is a high migratory bird mortality rate in regions having operating wind turbines."

"One unit talked about extreme weather events increasing with global warming. I heard that Iowa State University became the home of the Cyclones instead of the home of the Cardinals in the late 1800s because of some extreme weather events. Can any of the meteorology students tell me what those events were?"

"Over spring break I went with a group of Agronomy students to Costa Rica, and we discussed deforestation with some University of Costa Rica students one night at a party. They consider people in the US to be very hypocritical for criticizing tropical countries for deforestation while driving gas-guzzling SUVs."

Raising Questions

Raising Questions

Raising questions usually leads to learning, particularly if multiple exchanges (including the original questioner) ensue as a result of the question. Online dialog is different from face to face dialog, however, in that the person asking the original question may not even log back in to see the answer. There have been abuses in the past where a student "satisfied" the dialog requirements by simply logging on and asking a series of questions without having done any outside reading, called it brainstorming, and did not participate further. They had evidently spent about 5 minutes on the whole process, which suggests that little learning took place. If a person truly is interested enough to ask a question, he/she is expected to participate in the ensuing dialog. To prevent such abuses, the grading scheme will not accept a question as contributing to the knowledge-building process unless it is framed in context that demonstrates the questioner has done some research and has uncovered something that is ambiguous or needs further explanation. In other words, the context itself given for the question must demonstrate one of the knowledge-building characteristics. And the person asking the question will be expected to participate in the dialog that results.

Example of a question where learning is evident:

"I read a report on water quality on the Iowa Great Lakes which stated that a large number of wetlands have been restored in the area to help capture nitrates and other chemicals before they reach the lakes. These natural wetlands are re-established breaking the tile lines that were installed originally to drain them. The chemicals are processed within the wetlands, and presumably water of higher purity will then enter the lake. The problem is that the quality of the water in the lake has not improved after all this work. The report did not discuss input to the lake by either atmospheric deposition or from runoff from lawns and other activities right at the shore. Does anyone have information on either of these two possible sources of chemical contamination where wetlands would be of no help?"

This posting shows the author had done some reading and came up with a question as a result of the reading. The narrative preceding the question qualifies as articulation, and the question further allows the posting to qualify as brainstorming. Categorizing as either one is acceptable.

Example of a question where learning is not evident:

"How much nitrate gets into Saylorville reservoir due to atmospheric deposition?"

Certainly, someone else would learn something by digging out some information to answer the question, but the original query does not give evidence of learning. And it is possible that the question could stimulate a lively discussion in which significant learning takes place. But the original questioner would have to join the dialog to get credit for contributing to learning.

Ethical Questions

Ethical Questions

Not all global change issues are scientific that can be addressed by uncovering new facts. Some questions that arise are value judgements that depend on cultural, religious, and ethical considerations. It is important to recognize the difference between scientific and ethical questions so that we have clear expectations about the outcome of discussion on each. Some ethical questions that arise in the study of global change include:

  • the value of maintaining a high degree of biodiversity
  • the need for and mechanisms for controlling human population
  • use of genetically modified plant and animal materials for meeting food needs of an increasing global population
  • intergenerational equity: preserving natural resources so our children and grandchildren have the same opportunity as us to lead comfortable and fulfilling lives.

One ethical question is posed during each block, and all students are required to submit thoughts on this issue. A minimum of one response is required. The primary criterion for evaluating responses to ethical questions is participation, although errors in fact or logic and lack of original thought are grounds for reduction in scores.

Please do not comment on whether the ethical question is practical, scientifically or economically sound, or whether it would be accepted by current US (or other cultural) society. Your comment should focus on whether the proposal statement is the right thing to do.

Grading of the Ethical Question (EQ) for Block 1 and 2 will provide reasons for less-than-expected performance, with challenges for improvement on subsequent blocks. Grading for the EQ for Block 3 will be simply a numerical score.

Self Assessment

Self Assessment of Discussion on Unit Topics

At the end of each block, each student is asked to assess how her/his comments have added to the knowledge base of the course and have contributed to the learning environment for classmates. You are encouraged to use the criteria of knowledge-building discussion to self-evaluate your own contributions to the electronic dialog on the unit topics. In other words, each student is asked to demonstrate how he/she has used brainstorming, articulating, reacting, organizing, analyzing and/or generalizing to contribute to the discussion during that particular block.

Self assessment is a good way to learn from your successes and failures. You are encouraged to be frank and open with your self assessment. Acknowledge your shortcomings and identify areas of improvement for the next block. Honest and constructive self-criticism will get you a high mark on your self assessment even if your postings were mediocre.

You should note that all electronic entries carry a time stamp, so making all your entries at the block deadline and then failing to recognize why you get no responses will not generate sympathy.

Example of Good Self assessment for Block 1

"For my first post, I used brainstorming when I asked the question about using windmills in the tropical ocean to pump nutrients to the surface to promote plant growth and sequester carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. My second entry was a social comment commending and thanking Michele for her interesting post on the atmosphere of Mars. My third post was a calculation I did to see how much sea level would rise if all the ice on Greenland melted. When I posted it I labeled it as articulation, but probably should have been labeled as analysis. In my next post I reacted to John?s comment on feedback by raising the possibility that more methane would be released. This was my best post and created some good discussion. My fifth post was a question about how nitrates get into Saylorville Reservoir. This wasn't a very good post and really bombed since I didn't do any research ahead of time. My last post was a social comment to give Mike a pat on the back. Overall, I think my posts were pretty good except for the disaster on Saylorville. I didn't generate much discussion with my posts (except for the one on methane) so in the next block will be try to solicit more comments from others."

Example of Poor Self Assessment for Block 1

"My first post commented on the use of hydrogen cars. In the second post I praised Tricia for her carbon cycle post and in the third post I raised a question about carbon dioxide on Mars. A fourth post gave a response to Robert on the hydrogen car topic. For my last two posts I summarized web sites from NASA on satellite observations of vegetation. My posts were pretty good this block."
This SA merely summarizes the topics of comments posted. It contains no analysis of how they related to class material, how they contributed to the knowledge base of the course, or how they contributed to the learning environment for classmates. No assessment is given of strengths and weaknesses of the contributions to the dialog of Block 1.

Grading of the Self Assessment (SA) for Blocks 1 and 2 will provide reasons for less-than-expected performance, with challenges for improvement on subsequent blocks. I will look for your own acknowledged shortcomings and will affirm yours and maybe add to the list. These goals will be a basis for evaluating dialog and the SA in the following blocks. Grading of the SA for Block 3 will be simply a numerical score.

Course Information and Registration

504 Research Papers

Students enrolled for graduate credit will submit a research paper relating their area of specialization to global change. This could be a part of a future thesis or dissertation but packaged for this course. It also could consist of a research prospectus (e.g., outline of proposed thesis or dissertation research) or research proposal (e.g., proposal to be submitted to NASA, Oak Ridge Graduate Fellowship Program, Iowa Academy of Science, Iowa Space Grant College Consortium, ISU research grants program, etc.).

For the 504 papers, emphasis is on independent research. Students who simply summarize results of others with no new data analysis, interpretation, or extension of existing research information can expect to have up to 20 points (of total of 200) deducted. Students are strongly encouraged to explore and use, where possible, global datasets available over the Internet.

The paper will be written in the standard form of a research paper (e.g., abstract, introduction, main body with appropriate headings, summary of conclusions, acknowledgments (if appropriate), and references). Referencing style will be that of leading journals closest to the discipline of the paper. Paper will be judged on originality, depth of understanding, and clarity of expression. Faculty members close to the discipline of the paper may be asked to help judge these attributes.

Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

The academic work of all students in the Global Change course must comply with all University policies on academic honesty. Violations of the Student Conduct Code are subject to disciplinary sanctions by the University. Examples of academic misconduct include:

Specifically for the Global Change course, this includes:

Academic honesty policies are included in the Policy on Academic Honesty, Policies and Procedures on Academic Misconduct Investigations, and Code of Computer Ethics. These policies are contained in the Student Information Handbook, which is available from the Dean of Students Website.

Grading of Discussion

Reference

Stahl, Gerry, 1999: Reflections on WebGuide: Seven issues for the next generation of collaborative knowledge-building environments. Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning. Palo Alto, December 1999, pp. 600-610

Eugene S. Takle
Department of Agronomy
Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011 USA

Elsebeth K. Sorensen
Department of Communication
Aalborg University
DK-9220 Aalborg Oest, DENMARK



Syllabus | Class Meetings | Distance Ed Students | Grading | Quizzes | Electronic Dialog
Dialog Quality | Netiquette for eLearners | Discussion Grading | Building Knowledge
Building Community | Ethical Questions | Self Assessment | 504 Research Paper
Academic Integrity | Reference | Print Format