Assessment Overview: Journal Assignment & Rubric

Assessment Overview: Reflection Goal & Rubric
Weeks 3-12

Goal: To demonstrate your individual growth in ESS knowledge, systems thinking, ESS classroom applications, and the cooperative learning process.

The Role of Individual Reflection
Think of your reflections as a demonstration of your knowledge construction--a window into what you are learning. But equally important, think of this space as an archive of how you are learning --since the course design is a model of constructivist learning.

At the Beginning of a Module
Submit your initial thoughts, theories, or questions before doing anything else. At the beginning of the course, your reflection will focus on what you think, “I have a theory about how the hydrosphere is affected by a volcano….” and what you want to know, “How is the fallout affected by the heat released in a volcano?” Write about the reasons for your questions and theories, as well as how strongly you feel about them.

You may make submissions at any time to capture the story of your knowledge building. Use these reflection assignments to clearly show your growth over the time of the course.

At the End of a Module
At the end of the module, your reflections might read, “What I didn’t realize….” And “I figured out….When James made that entry about the remote sensing data that…”

At the End of the Course
At the end of the course, you will be asked to formally reflect on what you have learned about Earth System Science and how to learn it.

Reflection Grading
In addition to your team products that are co-developed and judged for accuracy and thoroughness against a standard, your individual reflections will be assessed in terms of your personal growth in knowledge, skills, and the thoroughness of your reflection on when, how, and why that growth occurs.

What you believe or wonder about, "I think..." or "I wonder ..."

4 Rating:
A clear summary and powerful questions about the event and the Earth's systems.
3 Rating:
A summary statement of what you think, and some follow up questions.

2 Rating:
A description of ideas you have.
1 Rating:
A list of some ideas.

Supported by Reasons, "Because..."

4 Rating:
Your thinking process is clearly visible through the reasons you give. 3 Rating:
Your thinking is supported through the reasons you give. 2 Rating:
Your reasons give the context for what you think. 1 Rating:
Some reasons are given for how you know what you think you know.

Ideas and questions are assessed from different perspectives, "This makes sense in terms of..." or "I feel strongly about this because..." or "This idea has merit because... but would be stronger if...."

4 Rating:
Ideas and questions are modified as a result of assessment from multiple perspectives. 3 Rating:
Ideas are questioned as a result of considering their worth. 2 Rating:
Ideas are assessed according to logic or experience. 1 Rating:
Ideas are discussed in terms of their importance.