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Session 5 - Education.
Display session, Monday, January 13
Metropolitan Ballroom,

[5.06] An Innovative Astronomical Teaching Appproach using Writing Across-the-Curriculun

B. McNamara, C. Burnham, B. Bridges, M. French (NMSU)

We present the results of a NSF funded project to develop innovative teaching materials for college level introductory astronomy classes. The materials rely upon the strategy of Writing-Across-the-Curriculum or WAC. The primary themes of the materials are basic skills development and the evolution of a cosmological model that utilizes an increasing amount of information that is presented in student textbooks or in class lectures. The materials have been tested in the classroom with the result that student grades increased by 1/2 to 1 full grade compared to a class where the writing exercises were not used.


The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: bmcnamar@nmsu.edu

Program listing for Monday