Project Sisyphus
Project Sisyphus

  1. About Project Sisyphus

  2. About the Sisyphus Panel

  3. Question I -- What do you do in the first week to capture the attention of your students? Is there a particular scenario or example or resource or exercise that you have "perfected" to accomplish this objective? Suggestions from the Sisyphus Panel.

    Responses To Question I

  4. Question II -- To what extent are we, as teachers, continuing to rely on textbook reading as the primary source of information for introductory level students? My experience has been that students increasingly come to college with poorly developed reading skills, which means they want to concentrate on memorization of facts as the key process in learning. Yet many of us say we are focusing more on the development of cognitive and critical thinking skills within a geological context as the goal of an introductory course. How do we reconcile these two trends? Suggestions from the Sisyphyus Panel

    Responses To Question II

  5. Question III -- Until there is some common assessment method for similar classes it will be difficult to determine if student learning improves in different teaching environments. Physics has a national mechanics test that has been used by some authors to monitor learning improvements in introductory courses. Could the same principle be applied to geology? Would it be useful to create a series of introductory geology exam questions that would provide a consistent measure of student achievement in a variety of courses? Suggestions from the Sisyphyus Panel

    Responses to Question III

June 1, 1999

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