Biology Practical and Term Project

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 1 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Independent Study External Degree Completion Program

Syllabus / Study Guide

http://extendedstudies.csupueblo.edu/ [email protected]

(800) 388-6154 – Toll Free (719) 549-2316 - Local (719) 549-2438 – Fax

BIO 121L- Environmental Conservation Lab Instructor: Robert McMullen, Ph.D. Health and Sciences Division Pikes Peak Community College 5675 South Academy Blvd. Colorado Springs, CO 80906 [email protected] or [email protected] (719) 502.3317 – Desk

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 2 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

V08082014

Table of Contents

Section 1 - Syllabus / Study Guide .............................................................................................. 3

Section 2- Course Requirements ................................................................................................ 4

Section 3- Environmental Awareness Experiences ..................................................................... 7

Section 4 - Writing Assignments ............................................................................................... 14

Section 5 – Term Project ........................................................................................................... 16

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 3 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Section 1 - Syllabus / Study Guide

BIO 121L- Environmental Conservation Lab Co-Requisite Requirement This “Laboratory” course (BIOL 121L) is designed to be taken concurrently with the “Lecture” course (BIOL 121) and they are co-requisites to one another (in other words they are not to be enrolled in separately). Exceptions to this requirement can be made only by request and approval from the Instructor for the Courses. Extended Studies Contact Information Colorado State University-Pueblo Extended Studies 2200 Bonforte Blvd. Pueblo, CO 81001 [email protected] (800) 388-6154 – Toll Free (719) 549-2316 - Local (719) 549-2438 - Fax Instructor Contact Information Robert McMullen, Ph.D. Health and Sciences Division Pikes Peak Community College 5675 So. Academy Blvd. Colorado Springs, CO 80906 [email protected] or [email protected] (719) 502.3317 – Desk (719) 502.3340 – Administrative Assistant (719) 502.3401 – fax (800) 456.6847 – Toll Free

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 4 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Resources

Math Learning Center Physics and Math 132

(719) 549-2189 Hours:

Monday 8:30-5:00 Tuesday 8:30-5:00

Wednesday 8:30-5:00 Thursday 8:30-5:00

Friday 8:30-3:00

General Education Tutoring

Center Library and Resource Center

251 719-549-2901

Hours: Monday-Friday 8am-5pm

Writing Room

Library and Resource Center 251

719-549-2901 Hours:

Monday-Friday 8am-5pm Online at

http://www.csupueblo.edu/ OWL

Course Overview Personal Reflective Journal (8 Environmental Awareness Experiences) 200 points Term Project 200 points TOTAL 400 points Course Goals To facilitate the development of personal awareness of the interrelatedness among human beings and the rest of the natural world and to experience applications of some of the principles of environmental science that underpin human use of our natural capital. Student Learning Outcomes Critical Thinking

Identify, analyze and evaluate arguments and sources of information to make informed and logical judgments, to arrive at reasoned and meaningful arguments and positions, and to formulate and apply ideas to new contexts.

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 5 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Section 2- Course Requirements

Environmental Awareness Experiences (EAEs)

You will record your data and personal reflections, in a Personal Reflective Learning Journal (see document entitled “Personal Reflective Learning Journal - Laboratory”), to eight (8) of (18) EAEs to choose from (see document entitled “Environmental Awareness Experiences”). Experiences 5 and 6 are mandatory. You will also complete and present as a PowerPoint to an audience of your choosing a Term Project (see document entitled “Term Project”). For students who cannot a computer please contact the instructor for further instructions.

The experiential learning activities (The 8 EAEs and the Term Project) will require considerable effort and time to complete prior to their presentation so an early start rather than procrastination is the best option to choose. Grading System

Each person will be graded on a point system and will have the opportunity to earn up to 400 points during the semester (see preceding “Evaluation” section). As my prerogative as the Instructor for this Course, I will use whole grades as opposed to fractionated grades. All work turned in will be graded on a 400 point scale: 360 to 400 points = A; 320 to 359 points = B; 270 to 319 points = C; 240 to 299 = D; and less than 240 points = F.

Incomplete grades (IN) will be granted only under extenuating circumstances over which the student has no control and by prior arrangement with the Instructor of Record.

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 6 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty is any form of cheating which results in students giving or receiving unauthorized assistance in an academic exercise or receiving credit for work which is not their own. Any academic dishonesty is grounds for dismissal. Any student judged to be engaged in cheating may receive a failing grade for the course, or any other penalty, which the instructor finds appropriate. Academic dishonesty is a behavioral issue, not an issue of academic performance. As such, it is considered an act of misconduct and is also subject to the University disciplinary process as defined in the Student Code of Conduct.

Acts of Dishonesty Include:

• Cheating—intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. The term academic exercise includes all forms of work submitted for credit or hours.

• Fabrication—intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of information or citation in an academic exercise.

• Facilitating Academic Dishonesty—intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate a provision of the institutional code of academic integrity.

• Plagiarism—the deliberate adoption or reproduction of ideas, words, or statements of another person as one’s own without acknowledgement.

• Unauthorized Collaboration—intentionally sharing information or working together in an academic exercise when the course instructor does not approve such actions. (Source: CSU-Pueblo Catalog)

ADA Statement The University abides by the Americans with Disability Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which stipulates that no student shall be denied the benefits of an education “solely by reason of a handicap.” If you have a documented disability that may affect your work in this class and for which you may require accommodations, please contact the Disability Resource Coordinator as soon as possible to arrange accommodations. In order to receive accommodations, you must be registered with and provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Resource Office, which is located in the Psychology Building, Suite 232. The Disability Resource office will provide Extended Studies with documentation of the disability and any accommodations that are needed.

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 7 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Section 3- Environmental Awareness Experiences

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS EXPERIENCES The following series of Environmental Awareness Experiences (EAEs) have been designed to facilitate personal exploration and clarification of many unexamined feelings, assumptions, projections, attitudes, beliefs and values regarding the environment and the natural world. To be successful with these exercises you must focus on your inner zone of awareness; what I refer to as “self awareness”. Self awareness is not judgmental and looks like someone “looking inside at their emotions and thoughts” searching for meaning whereas "self consciousness" is judgmental and looks like someone “looking out the corners of their eyes” and wondering about what others are or may be thinking about them. Another ingredient for success is to touch into the curiosity and playfulness of your “natural child” in order to open yourself up to the experience. Your responses to Environmental Awareness Experiences are to be recorded and submitted as personal reflections as per “Personal Reflective Learning Journal - Laboratory”. You will complete any 8 of the 18 Environmental Awareness Experiences offered to complete one-half of the Course. Experiences 5 and 6 are mandatory. 1. Create an Environmental Collage

a. Obtain a piece of poster board or cardboard (more environmentally friendly) to be used as backing for your collage. Or use an electronic alternative such as “Collage Maker” software to create a Collage.

b. Select pictures and words in magazines, newspapers, etc. that capture how you feel and what you think about the environment. Arrange and paste them on the backing you have selected or complete your Collage digitally. When finished, share your Collage with two or more persons persons and interpret your work of art to them.

c. Take a digital photograph of your Collage to prepare to send to me by attachment along with your reflection on the experience including the thoughts of those with whom you shared your Collage. Or do likewise with you digitally created Collage.

2. Take a Blind Nature Walk a. Pick another person to have this experience with. b. Locate an area outdoors that has a high level of environmental diversity

(variety). c. One person in each pair is to be blindfolded for a period of 30 minutes while the

other person leads them (slowly and carefully) on a blind nature walk. d. After the 30-minute period is over, the two people change roles for another 30-

minute period. e. While leading the other person:

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 8 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

1. Do not talk the entire time (this is extremely important) 2. Move slowly and do not let go of the person. Be constantly aware that the

person you are leading cannot see and must trust you to see to it they are not injured by tripping or walking into something.

3. Introduce the person to as many things in the environment as you can think of. Sometimes just stop and let them feel the sun or wind on their face. Remember that you are helping them use their senses of touch, smell, sound and taste (don’t have them taste anything that you are not sure of being safe).

4. Never force the person to do anything that they resist strongly. f. While being led by the other person:

1. Do not talk the entire time (this is extremely important). 2. Trust the person leading you to see that you won’t be hurt. 3. Try not to guess or visualize what you are experiencing. Just touch, listen,

smell and taste the environment. g. After both people have completed the experience of leading and being led, sit down together and share you experience with each other.

3. The Word is not the Thing

a. Go outside and locate a tree and sit down about 50 feet away from it. At this distance, write as complete a description of the tree as possible. When you have finished, move up to 10 feet away from the tree. b. Examine the tree carefully again and add to your description anything else you become aware of. When you finish, move right up to and touch the tree. c. Now look very closely at the tree, feel the tree, smell the tree, taste the tree and listen to the tree. Add to you description anything else you become aware of. d. Now read what you have written about the tree. Have you written all you can write about the tree? Is there still more to the tree than what you have written? How do you know? e. Now reverse roles with the tree. Become the tree and through free association, complete the following phrases: I am the tree, I am_____; I am the tree, I wonder _____; I am the tree, I was _____; I am the tree, I will _____; I am the tree, I want _____; I am the tree, I have _____; I am the tree, I feel _____; I am the tree, I think _____. f. Sit down and reflect upon the following: “The Word is not the Thing”. g. Record some of your thought about the theme "The Word is not the Thing".

4. Diary of a Polluter

a. You are the polluter in this experience. b. Keep a daily log (one day) of the types and amounts (if knowable) of pollution

you are personally responsible for. c. Remember that after you stand up from bed in the morning almost every

activity of your day is going to produce some kind of pollution. Personal

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 9 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

pollution could include: water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution, heat pollution, solid waste pollution, hazardous waste pollution, etc.

d. Sit down and reflect back over the log you created and what it means to you. 5. Energy Audit of Living Quarters

a. Locate the electric meter that records energy use in your living quarters. Take a 24-hour reading (difference between original reading and the reading 24 hours later). Note the day/s of the week measured. This will be your baseline value.

b. Make a list of all the electrical appliances that are used frequently and where they are located. Choose some of the electrical appliances you consider to be unnecessary and that you would be willing to not use for a 24 hour period. Don’t use them on the day of your experiment. Select a time (should be same day/s of the week you when your established your baseline value) you can go without using the chosen appliances and then don’t use them for a 24 hour period. Be sure to take a reading of the electric meter when you begin the period of nonuse and 24 hours later. Compare the first 24 hour reading (with normal use) and the 24 hour reading (period of non use). Compute the energy savings between the two periods. Interpret the results.

c. Locate all the incandescent light bulbs in your living quarters and note their wattage. Create a plan to replace them all with equivalent wattage compact fluorescent light bulbs and compute the amount of electricity (in Watts) per bulb you could save if you made the switch. Add the amounts of the individual bulb replacements (in Watts) to get a grand total of energy savings for a year if you made the switch.

d. Find out the cost being charged the homeowner or renter for electricity in cents per kilowatt hour. Calculate the amount of money you would save if you didn’t use the electrical appliances you frequently use in one year.

e. If you switched all the incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, how much money would you save in one year?

f. What are your reasons for not wanting to make some of the savings that you discovered? What are some of the changes you will consider some day?

6. Water Conservation Experience

a. Locate a dripping water faucet (or set a faucet to drip). Collect the water that drips from the faucet over a selected period of time (in a container sufficient to hold the water). Calculate the amount of water (in gallons) lost per unit time. Calculate how much water would be lost in one year from this drip.

b. Determine the cost of water per thousand gallons of water (from local water board or a water bill). Calculate the cost of the drip per year from the information you have.

c. A variation is to determine the amount and cost of the water you use in taking your shower regularly. You will need to set the shower faucet as you normally do; record the time in minutes it takes you to shower; determine the amount

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 10 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

of water used (by catching it and measuring it somehow) in one minute; and then calculate the savings per year using the procedure outlined above for the dripping faucet.

d. Another variation is to measure the amount of water used by taking your regular shower and comparing it with the amount of water consumed in taking a “military shower” (alternately turn the water off and on to save as much water as you can). Calculate the cost of water for one year to take your regular shower versus a military shower.

7. Letter to the Editor or a Legislator

a. Pick an environmental topic or environmental legislation under consideration and formulate a rationale for a personal opinion about the topic or proposed legislation.

b. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper expressing your opinion and persuading others or legislators to accept your ideas.

c. Write your response to reading you letter to the editor in the newspaper and whatever you receive back from readers or the editor..

8. My Favorite Place

a. Locate and go to a place outdoors where there is high diversity (variety) and away from human development.

b. Ask a friend to accompany you who will participate in the experience. c. Each person is to wander around in the area chosen for at least one hour

looking for his or her “favorite place”. d. Once you have each decided what your favorite place is, return to it and record

in writing what it is about this place that causes you to consider it your favorite place. Notice what your see (up close and in the distance), feel, smell and hear to help you generate ideas.

e. Now get together with your partner and take turns introducing each other to your favorite places.

9. A Litter Experience Goes A Long Way

a. You may enlist the services of others to complete this experience. b. Locate a one-half mile stretch of roadway and pick up (use heavy plastic bags)

all the litter you and your friends can find along one side of the roadway. c. Once you have picked up all of the trash along the roadway chosen, lay it out

and put it into the following categories: 1) plastic, 2) paper, 3) aluminum, 4) glass (these are recyclable) 5) non-recyclable.

d. Now estimate the percentage of the total for each category of litter (by weight or volume).

e. Did you find anything that you could use if you wanted to? What was it and what use could it be put to?

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 11 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

10. Centering a. Choose a technology that consumes energy (automobile, television, CD player,

computer, radio, etc.), a food (meat, soda, beer, candy, etc.) or a hobby that you use almost daily.

b. Do without what you have chosen for a period of seven days. Makes notes each day of what it is like to do without what you have chosen.

c. Make a list of what was gained and what was lost during your experience. Discuss how this experience may change your life.

11. So You Want To Have A Baby?

a. Set up two columns on a piece of paper. Entitle one column “gains” and the other column “losses”.

b. Now think of all the gains and all the losses you can think of for having a baby and list them in the appropriate column.

c. Now weigh the gains against the losses and decide whether or not you would want to have a baby at this time.

d. Once you have decided whether or not you would like to have a baby at this time, write a letter to an “imaginary baby” informing the “baby” of your decision. Convince the “baby” that your decision is the right one at this time.

e. Reflect upon what you have learned from this experience. Respond to the following statement: “Every baby should be a wanted baby”.

12. Environmental Book Critique

a. Select a book from the environmental genre that you would like to read a critique (you must get prior approval to use this book from Dr. Seilheimer – email okay).

b. Read the book. While reading the book, listen to yourself (what you are thinking and feeling). What surprised you? What did you agree/disagree with? What are the reasons for your agreement/disagreement? What did you learn that might change the way you look at the world?

c. What meanings did you make for yourself as you read the book? Would you recommend the book to another person and why? Or why not?

13. Interview Of A Professional Working In An Environmental Field

a. Choose an environmental topic that concerns you. Read up on it a little (or check out the Internet) to inform yourself on the topic.

b. Select a government agency professional, a business professional, a professor, a local environmentalist or a legislator who deals with some aspect of your topic and set up an interview with them to discuss your concerns.

c. Write up your experience of the interview. What did you learn? What did you think of they way the person interviewed for you? What did you agree/disagree with? Why?

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 12 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

14. Attend An Environmental Meeting a. Watch the news media (local newspapers, Today Newspaper, etc.)

announcements for meetings of environmental groups or call them to find out about their regular meeting times (Arkansas Valley Audubon Society, Sangre de Cristo Group of the Sierra Club, El Pueblo Chapter of the Colorado Mountain Club, USC’s COPIRG Chapter, Pueblo Chapter of Trout Unlimited, etc.).

b. Attend one of their meetings and keep notes of what environmental topics and concerns are covered. Interview some of the members to see why they belong to the group. Find out what other activities the group engages in (field trips, environmental activism, etc.).

c. Find out how you could be involved with this group if you wanted to? d. Discuss what you learned from this experience.

15. Tour An Environmental Facility

a. Look through the telephone book for government (local, state and federal) agencies and businesses that have an environmental mission and a facility that you can tour (City/County Health Department – Environmental Health Division, Colorado Division of Wildlife – Fish Hatchery, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation – Pueblo Dam, Pueblo Water Board – Water Treatment Facility, Pueblo Water Sanitation Department – Sewage Treatment Plant, Zupan Enterprises - Local Landfill, Waste Management of Pueblo – Local Waste Collector, Chemway – Local Lawn Control, Terminix – Local Pest Control, etc.).

b. Set up (several students can do this experience together, but responses should be individual) your tour.

c. Write up what you learned from this experience. What impressed you? What did you learn that was new or different? Do you think their practices are sustainable? Why or why not? What other impressions did you form?

16. Attend A Meeting Of City/County Governing Body

a. Call the City or County government office (telephone book) and find out when the City Council or County Commissioners hold their regular public meetings.

b. When a meeting nears that you can attend, call again and ask what will be on the agenda. If there are matters being discussed that have environmental content, attend and keep notes of what transpires.

c. Write up what you learned from this experience. What surprised you? What did you think of the way matters were discussed? What did you think of the ideas expressed? What other impressions did you form?

17. Write A Science Fiction Catastrophe

a. Choose an environmental problem (overpopulation, global warming, urban sprawl, extinction of species, depletion of oil, etc.) from the textbook. Look at the trend of the problem over time and project what the problem might look

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 13 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

like 50 years into the future if the trend was not changed. b. Write a science fiction catastrophe cast 50 years into the future as an article in

the newspaper. One page, single-spaced will be sufficient.

c. Identify what was not done to reverse the trend. What behaviors were not changed? What technologies were not invented? What practices were not changed? What policies were not created? What laws were not passed?

18. Go On A Nature Scavenger Hunt

Form a group of three or more individuals go outside. Find everything on the Scavenger Hunt List as a group. The group must stay together during the hunt and everyone in the group must agree that whatever is found fits the description. Remember that the items on the list must be real (observable).

List

1. Find something round, something triangular and something square in shape. 1. Find something blue, something yellow and something red in color. 2. Find something that cannot be counted and estimate how many there are. 3. Find something that is changing all the time. 4. Find something that cannot be seen. 5. Find something that makes a sound and describe the sound. 6. Find something that sounds soothing and something that sounds unpleasant. 7. Find something that cannot be photographed. 8. Find something that is increasing in number and something that is decreasing in

number. 9. Find something that is getting larger in size and something that is getting smaller in

size. 10. Find something that is getting larger in size and something that is getting smaller in

size. 11. Find something you love, something you hate and something you are indifferent about. 12. Find something that feels smooth and something that feels rough. 13. Find something that smells pleasant and something that smells unpleasant. 14. Find the favorite environmental object you encountered during this scavenger hunt and

share it with another person

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 14 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Section 4 - Writing Assignments PERSONAL REFLECTIVE LEARNING JOURNAL

Reflective Journal Writing: Reflective journal writing has been recognized by educators for many years as an effective

strategy to promote reflective thinking and learning. It is by making connections between ourselves and our experiences that we create meaning and internalize our learning. Human beings, by their nature, are “connection makers” and “meaning makers”. Our experience always consists of “what happens” and then “what we make of what happens”. There is “what is and is not” (what can be directly observed or experienced) and then there is what we change by adding, deleting, distorting and generalizing. Although we may seek to be “objective” and describe what we can actually “observe”, being “objective” is just one way we organize our “subjective” experience. Reflective learning journals enable us to create a record of the connections and meanings we are making as we engage in learning experiences. They are very personal and no two people will have exactly the same response to any one experience. If done conscientiously, your reflections in your Personal Reflective Learning Journal - Lab will be among the most important things you will have learned when the Course comes to closure. A Reflective Learning Journal is required in this course to facilitate your introspection (thought and feelings) and to enrich your critical thinking and learning. Each person’s Journal is unique and there is no correct or incorrect response expected. You will be graded on the evidence of reflective thought given and the quality of your response, not the quantity. There is an expectation on my part that your Journal will demonstrate that you expanded upon your initial experience and observation of events to include more than simply recording an event. Remember that there is an event you participate in AND what you make of the event. The latter is what I expect to see in your Journal. Some Helpful Hints and Suggestions for Generating Journal Responses: Begin asking yourself these questions: “what?” (past), “so what? (present)”, and “now what? (future)” value or meaning does this have for me? Focus on your internal dialog. Listen as your mind makes connections and yields meaning. Make a few notes during an activity by capturing a few thoughts that otherwise go fleeting across your mind as you witness or observe the event. This is very important! Note the name of the event, the date and the time of each entry to provide a sense of continuity and a reference point. The best time to reflect and write an entry in your Journal is as soon as possible after an event takes place. Be sure you have a sufficient number of notes to recall an event, especially if there will be a long time lapse before you make an

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 15 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

entry. Try “flow writing” – writing rapidly following your intuition. Don’t stop to judge or censor what you have written just write “whatever comes to your mind”. Periodically reread some of your Journal entries. They will provide even more to connect with in your reflections. Be creative, imaginative and descriptive. Write artistically if you want to. Use color if you wish. What To Include In Your Journal Minimally, you are to include at least one reflective response (“C” grade level) to each of those items listed below. Write at least one reflection for each of the activities described below. What if I’m not satisfied with earning a "C" for my Journal? “B” level = at least two responses to each of the below described. “A” level = at least three responses to each of the below described. - Each of the 8 Environmental Awareness Experience you complete. - Your Term Project and its presentation - Ten things you learned from these activities that you would like to remember

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 16 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Section 5 – Term Project Each student is responsible individually responsible for designing and completing a Term Project presented as a PowerPoint to an audience that you put together. You may enlist the help of other persons if they are needed to completing your Term Project. Presentations will take the form of a Power Point and should last from 5 to 10 minutes. Creating the Project The Term Project must result in making a contribution to “making my world a better place to be” and it must be “environmental” in nature. Procedure: look around your world for something that isn’t working, is missing or could be improved for ideas for your Term Project. Be sure your Term Project can be completed and presented within the time allotted and get started right away.

OR

You can complete an “environmental improvement project” at any non-profit (501 C-3) institution or organization; a City, County, State or Federal agency or a private foundation. If you choose volunteering, you need to contribute at least ten hours of your time to complete the environmental improvement project that is identified and overseen by the agency, institution or organization for which you are volunteering. Creating the Term Project or finding an organization to volunteer for is an important part of the learning associated with the requirement so do not ask the instructor to think of a project or find an organization for you. Once the Term Project is identified, you need to create a written plan and design (with timelines) to execute it. Your plans must be firmed up and given or sent to me for feedback and approval early enough to give yourself the time necessary to complete and present it.

Completing the Project: You may enlist people to assist you in completing the project if you so choose. Attribution is expected if you enlist or are assisted by others. Receiving assistance will not lower your grade. You are to take a series of digital photographs to record the “before”, “during” and “after” of completing your Project. Err on the side of taking too many pictures instead of not having enough. These visualizations will serve to document your Project and to enhance your Power Point presentation. Be sure to include at least one picture showing each person working on the Project. PowerPoints lacking photographs of you and /or your group engaged in completing the Term Project will receive a considerably lower grade than those with said photographs.

Oral Presentation of the Project:

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 17 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

Term Project presentations will take the form of a Power Point presentation to an audience you create toward the end of the Term. Presentations should last from 5 to 10 minutes in length.

Evaluation and Grading of the Project: I will grade each Term Project on a scale of 200 points according to the criteria and percentages below:

Evaluation of Oral Presentation of PowerPoints

Environmental impact and evidence of knowledge and learning gained (50%). Organization and quality of the oral presentation made (10%). Clarity of presentation of the oral presentation made (10%). Originality and creativity evidenced by the project (10%). Accuracy and neatness of oral and written presentations made (10%). Spelling and grammar of oral and written presentation modes (10%).

C olorad o S tate Un ive rs i ty - Pu eb lo

CSU - Pueblo Extended Studies Page 18 Independent Study and External Degree Completion Program

CSU-Pueblo needs student feedback!

Student opinions and comments about the quality of instruction are appreciated and valued by the instructors and the University. Instructors and the University will take the student opinions into consideration in efforts to insure that the best possible instruction is provided.

Approximately 30 days after you register for a course, you will receive an E-mail message in your CSU-Pueblo mailbox reminding you about the University’s Online Faculty Evaluation Process.

IT’S EASY! Just login to your CSU-Pueblo PAWS account at https://aisweb.csupueblo.edu/login.asp

and select the Online Course Evaluation service to complete your feedback form. For login help, please call the Information Technology Helpdesk, at (719) 549-2002.

IT’S CONFIDENTAL! The evaluation process is easy, fast, accurate, and confidential. Responses are simply recorded and reported electronically by an independent third-party, who will provide data results to instructors in a completely anonymous format after all grades have been posted.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns regarding the online course evaluations. (800) 338-6154.

Log on to your PAWS account at: User Name: Your 6-Digit CSU-Pueblo PID Number Password: If this is your first time accessing your PAWS Account your initial PIN is your birth

date. The format is MMDDYYYY.

For assistance logging on your PAWS account contact the University Computer Helpdesk at (719)549-2002