I too have tried many different variants of the hoary old "term paper" over
the years, partly to liven things up for myself and for the students, but
also where the specific subject matter seems to call for something else.
In one course I currently contribute to we do ask students to write a
research proposal on a development-related topic for a fictitious UN body.
They have to write it to the standard sort of "real world" funding body
template, and I must say that it really does stretch them -- particularly
the part where one is supposed to define the specific aims and objectives of
their projects. Not infrequently we get statements like "I will begin by
reviewing the success (or failure) of development projects around the world"
Whew!
A couple of times over the past few years I have set a group assignment for
students organised like an activist campaign or (more mundanely) a
consultancy. One year a group of 40 students broke up into working groups
of 4-5 to research and prepare "chapters" in a larger report on migrant
labour. We then brought all the papers together in a half-day symposium
with invited participants from outside. This worked pretty well, and the
students got sufficiently involved over the 10 weeks of the assignment to
more or less forget about the "free rider" issue. It was also an issue that
was very much in the public eye at that time and so people got rather
passionate about it, which helped. If I was in a position to do this sort
of assignment again now that I am here in England I would really want to
look at the issue of "asylum seekers" with students.
The GEES stuff is pretty good and worth having a look at for some fresh
ideas about assessment. There is also a good web database of materials on
pedagogy organised by the geographers at University of Gloucestershire.
Yours,
Chad Staddon
----- Original Message -----
From: "KENNETH LYNCH" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 9:56 AM
Subject: Re: class assignments/pedagogy/tyranny of grading
> Nick
>
> The two previous postings are helpful, but I agree particularly with
Wiliam
> Bragg when he says it depends what you are trying to achieve. If you ar
> looking for inspiration, I would recommend the Resource Database managed
> by the Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Subject Support Centre
> in Plymouth University.
>
> http://www.tellus.ac.uk/
>
> It has a very wide range of learning initatives described that I have used
> several times when trying to revitalise some old coures or designing new
> options.
>
> Kenny Lynch
>
> > I'm trying to re-work one of my undergrad courses, and the age-old
problem (for
> > me) of class projects has come up. I set the conventional assignments -
a term
> > paper/essay and a final exam. While these have their uses, including
teaching
> > students to research and write, I wonder whether they're there simply
because
> > they are what is expected, and because they allow me to come up with
nice
> > numerical scores to plug into grading spread-sheets.
> >
> > I wonder if people have some creative alternatives? For example, I've
noticed
> > that one of the biggest challenges that people seem to face (myself
included) is
> > defining a research project. The execution is often fairly
straightforward.
> > Could the former be an assignment? Group projects are also something
I've
> > experimented with, but while these can be productive, I know some
students find
> > them challenging.
> >
> > Nick Blomley
> >
> >
> >
> > Nicholas Blomley,
> > Professor,
> > Department of Geography,
> > Simon Fraser University,
> > Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, CANADA
> > 604-291-3713
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
http://www.sfu.ca/geography/people/faculty/Faculty_sites/NickBlomley/index.ht m
> >
>
>
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