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Writing for Assessment and Learning in the Natural and Mathematical Sciences
 Why WALS?
Every discipline contains critical concepts that present challenges for students. The frustration for faculty members is that the results they hope to see following delivery of content are often elusive. WALS provides an opportunity for faculty to:
- Consider specific challenges encountered by students in their courses.
- Design and construct assignments to emphasize key concepts.
- Increase student engagement with challenging critical content.
- WALS as a Professional Growth Opportunity
WALS will increase your interaction with colleagues facing similar challenges related to critical content in the disciplines. It will also provide a tool for engaging students in writing about science and math without increasing your grading load.
WALS provides an opportunity for reflection on both content and process in the disciplines. As a participant you will identify issues that are critical to content mastery and consider whether these challenges constitute interesting questions for scholarly research and publishing.
Participants Agree to
- Attend the WALS CPR Summer Workshop to learn more about the project and how to use the CPR software.
- Author and implement a minimum of three assignments during the year. These will eventually be included in the institutional assignment library on the TAMU CPR server where faculty peers can access them.
- Participate in WALS research activities. These include videotaping/reflecting on a typical day in the classroom, reflective analysis of assignments, and identification of a research question for investigation related to content challenges in the discipline and the use of CPR to address them
Participants Receive
Research Team Will
- Provide technical support for CPR.
- Identify students to help "test" assignments prior to course posting.
- Assist with investigation of research questions.
- Engage participants in preparation of project research reports.
Funding
Funding for WALS is provided by The National Science Foundation. |
