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Colloquium Assignments - Papers
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See ANGEL for the research paper scoring rubric
For Spring 2011 write paper 1 (below) for the second day of class and then pick one of the following 3 reserach papers:
Research Paper directions
The research paper is a minimum 2000 word reserach paper that presents and defends a thesis. An initial draft will be turned in (20%), and a final revised version will be submitted (15%) of the grade.
The paper is to be composed as a college-level essay, using APA citations and references. Do not, however, use cover sheets, running headings or excess margins and spacing. Use 1 or 1.5 spacing and small margins to save paper. Please print on both sides, or print on the back of a used sheet, also to save paper.
The first draft (due week 8) should be double-spaced for ease of providing feedback. Be sure to make a descriptive and creative title. The final research paper should be single-spaced. use headers to help guide the reader through the sections of your paper/
At least 10 references from the Colloquium Reader, State of the World (counts as one reference source), "The Earth Charter," and/or "Manatee Insasnity"are required for a grade of "C". More are acceptable, and other outside references are also acceptable (and required for an A grade), but you must use at least 10 of the readings/books required in this course. Any Internet sources must be properly cited (including URL and date accessed) and annotated with an evaluation of credibility. Don't forget that citations longer than 4 lines need to be in quotes, indented and single- spaced.
In yourreserach paper, address one of the following questions:
1) With respect to the challenge you investigated for your group presentation, summarize or describe the challenge, use examples to support your description. How does this challenge relate to sustainability in your life? at your work? at FGCU? How is this challenge exemplified in the other readings? Identify possible solutions or alternative ways of approaching the this challenge and indicate who espouses these options. Evaluate the alternatives that you summarized. Will the alternatives presented work in your life, your job, at FGCU? Are there any other solutions presented in the readings? Are there other alternatives not presented? Be sure to explain and defend your position to the reader using specific examples from the readings and your experience.
2) What is the relationship between people and the environment in the book "Manatee insanity"? How do the characters treat the land (select 3 characters with different relationships with the land to address this question)? How is this a reflection of what Louv is saying? of what Leopold is saying? of what Dewey is saying? Where does your worldview fit? Where does the restoration of the Everglades fit? How do our field trip locations reflect the worldview? How does the FGCU campus design reflect the worldview of the designers? How do the courses in your major reflect the worldview of the University? Use examples from the book, the readings and the assigned websites to support your thesis.
3) David Orr, in his book Ecological Literacy, claims “. . . all education is environmental education. By what is included or excluded, emphasized or ignored, students learn that they are a part of or apart from the natural world. Through all education we inculcate the ideas of careful stewardship or carelessness.” p. 90)
How does this compare with Dewey's concept of "experiential education"?What is the difference between stewardship, conservation, and sustainability? How do Leopold's ideas compare with Orr's? and Louv's? Where and how should ecological literacy and sustainability be taught? What is the role of environmental education in higher education? Where have you experienced it in your higher education? in your major? Does FGCU practice sustainability, conservation or stewardship? Use specific examples from the readings, websites, and your experience to defend your thesis.
THE ASSIGNMENTS BELOW ARE THE OLD TRADITIONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS FOR COLLOQUIUM.
SPRING 2011 SHOULD SELECT FROM THE ABOVE OPTIONS FOR YOUR RESEARCH PAPER
Paper 1
Experience and Education
Paper one is due by the beginning of class session two. Submit your paper as a double-spaced word document in the drop box on ANGEL. Refer to the rubrics for grading criteria.
This first paper gives you an opportunity to relate your experiences in education in light of
excerpts of the book EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION by John Dewey. Much of Colloquium is based on the teachings of John Dewey.
Pre-writing instructions:
You should read Dewey prior to writing the paper.
Additionally you can read about John Dewey at http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-dewey.htm
Additional preparation and journal suggestions: Go to both of the following websites and read the introductions:
http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/education/research/index.html
http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/religion
On the left panel of the previous website, click on and read the
“Introduction” section of any of the religions listed, preferably one to which you adhere.
Begin your Journal: write your conceptions about Colloquium-
expectations, feelings, what you have heard, etc.– be honest and
creative- use images as well as text!
Consider your educational experience in light of reading John Dewey:
Integrate Dewey’s principles with your experiences in an academic essay (introduction, body and conclusion) containing precise references to the readings. Connect his philosophical notions to examples from your experience by citing specific language. Be sure to use proper citation techniques.
This should be more than a recounting; it is an opportunity to consider your educational experiences in light of Dewey’s philosophy of experiential education. What does Dewey mean by “mis-educative”? Have you had such experiences in your education? How and why?
Reflect upon your own education in both formal (schooling) and non-formal (scouting, church, family, adventures, television etc) settings as it relates to Dewey, and to your experiences to date.
Address the following:
What have been the most important influences in your education?
Who has shaped your education? How?
What are the important educational events and or ideas in your life:
Minimum of 3 pages
Additional Information about John Dewey
Select material about John Dewey:
a Wikipedia entry about Dewey
Center for Dewey Studies
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Paper 2
Present the global problem or challenge you read about from State of the World 2009.
Summarize the problem or challenge, consider the causes that created the problem or challenge.
In six or seven pages, typed and double-spaced, you should address the following:
1) With respect to the challenge you investigated for your group presentation, summarize or describe the problem or challenge; use examples to support your description. Provide a history of the challenge, and bring it up to date using other resources. Provide both a global and a local perspective on your challenge (Southwest Florida).
2) Please identify possible solutions or alternative ways of approaching the problem or problems that you have identified and identify who espouses these options.
3) Evaluate the alternative that you summarized in part 2 above, doing so on the basis of your personal convictions. Be sure to explain and defend your evaluation to the reader using specific examples from your experience.
4) Explain how your field of study influences your understanding and interpretation of the problem.
Select materials about Aldo Leopold:
Wikipedia entry about Leopold
The Aldo Leopold Foundation
The Land Ethic excerpt
Materials about the Worldwatch Institue
The Worldwatch Institute has been publishing the State of the World series since 1987.
State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Sustainable development is
"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." It was presented in Our Common Future. The World Commission on Environment and Development which was published in 1987. You can read the entire Bruntland report here (over 300 pages).
Here's a Wikipedia entry explaining Our Common Future.
Open University's Our Common future site
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Paper 3
The reading for this paper is a book about Florida. Please include a complete citation of the book, title, author, city of publication, publisher, and copyright year.
The assignment is designed to allow you the opportunity to make progress, in your own way, toward the course goal of enhancing your “sense of place.”
In this paper, you are to articulate a thesis regarding the relationship between people
(a person) and the environment in the book. The articulation of the thesis is the most important dimension of the essay. Be sure you have a clear thesis that you can defend. Report on the main ideas in the book by developing this thesis.
State and explain a brief thesis about the relationship between the Floridians in the book and their environment(s).
Include a brief background on the authors.
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Paper 4
Problems and Promise for Sustainability
In short, planning in higher education seldom reflects the central fact of our existence – that aware of it or not, we are part of an ecological community and that community is coming undone in no small measure because of the choices and actions of highly educated people. . . .
Future generations, the presumed beneficiaries of our strategic planning, will care not a lick for how we stacked up against the conventional indicators of institutional success. They will measure us, rather, by our foresight and for what we were willing to risk on their behalf.
David Orr
Speech at Florida Gulf Coast University
March 6, 1998
Reading:
For higher education re-read in Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World by David Orr.
Writing: Environmental Education
Short paper four is due by Class eleven. It is a 1000 word typed, double-spaced essay on environmental education. Your paper shall be evaluated according to the criteria presented by the assessment rubric. You should address the following concerns:
1) David Orr, in his essay “Ecological Literacy”, claims “. . . all education is environmental education. By what is included or excluded, emphasized or ignored, students learn that they are a part of or apart from the natural world. Through all education we inculcate the ideas of careful stewardship or carelessness.” (p. 90)
Since everyone experiences an environmental education, what indicators or characteristics would you suggest differentiate an educative from a mis-educative environmental education. In other words what, in your opinion, characterizes effective environmental education? (one or two pages)
2) In the essay, “The Liberal Arts, the Campus and the Biosphere . . .” David Orr writes “A genuinely liberal education will produce whole persons with intellectual breadth, able to think at right angles to their major field; practical persons able to act competently; and persons of deep commitment, willing to roll up their sleeves and join the struggle to build a humane and sustainable world. They will not be merely well read. Rather, they will be ecologically literate citizens able to distinguish health from its opposite and to live accordingly. Above all, they will make themselves relevant to the crisis of our age, which in its various manifestations is about the care, nurturing, and enhancement of life. And life is the only defensible foundation for a liberal education.” (p. 108)
What sort of environmental education or education for sustainability do you think is appropriate in general in higher education? (one or two pages)
3) Thinking of Florida Gulf Coast University, your own College, and your particular course of study and major, what suggestions would you make in order to meet the learning outcome of ecological literacy? (one to two pages)
Your paper shall be evaluated according to the criteria presented by the assessment rubric and by your instructor.
Additional Information about David Orr:
Select material about David Orr:
Orr's Profile from Oberlin
Ecological Literacy SUNY Press
What is Education for? essay excerpt
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