1. Hot Topics in Global Warming An Information Literacy and Science Writing Project Elizabeth A. Johnson and Gerald L. Gill James Madison University johns2ea@jmu.edu

2. Why a course project? GGEOL115: Earth Systems & Climate Change Help students achieve two General Education objectives: –Find, evaluate, and use scientific resources. –Communicate information [about climate science] correctly and in an understandable, interesting way.

3. Why a course project? Allow students to develop their own interests in climate change Textbooks can’t keep up with new results

4. Project Goal Turn this…

5. Project Goal …Into a newsletter or blog article (audience = general public or JMU students)

6. Project Timeline Project instructions and librarian visit to class (Jan 31) Part 1: Find a scientific research article using IPCC report (Feb 28) Part 2: Peers edit and comment on article draft in class (April 8) Part 3: Final article due / present to group in class (April 22) Post to a Wiki

7. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007: Fourth Assessment Report Working Group II: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability http://www.ipcc- wg2.org/

8. Part 1: Pick an interesting topic and find a citation

9. Part 1: Locate and read the peer- reviewed journal article Complete citation Describe data collection or model construction methods Why choose this paper? Discourage procrastination Encourage thoughtful choices

10. Part 2: Edit draft in class Two other students read and make suggestions based on grading rubric Divide class into full draft, incomplete draft, outline only Peers don’t actually grade paper Discourage procrastination Improve writing

11. Part 3: Newsletter article Provide style examples from Geotimes Length guidelines Present findings informally in a group in class

12. Post to a Wiki…. Wetpaint http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/ PB wiki http://www.pbwiki.com/

13. Potential Hang-ups Pick “unreadable” paper in Part 1 –Review article –Look up more than one citation?!? Difficulty using library resources “Quoting parts of scientific paper to avoid interpretation” Peer review effective and helpful? Writing in a newsletter style difficult even with examples provided Do not ask for help

14. Adaptations Different course = different primary resource –i.e. Geology instead of IPCC Peer editing on Wiki before final article due –100+ students online? Focus on writing- you choose a set of articles for students