GS-3800: Sedimentology
University of Missouri -- Spring 2009

WRITING INTENSIVE ASSIGNMENTS

Goals

The philosophical purpose of the WI (Writing Intensive) program is to encourage all students at the University of Missouri to apply and/or improve their English skills within the context of some other discipline (in this case, sedimentology). The prerequisite for all WI courses is a grade of C- or higher in English 1000 (Exposition and Argumentation). All students at MU must complete at least one WI course within their major field as part of the campus-wide General Education Architecture. Within the B.S. degree program for Geological Sciences, the WI requirement has been distributed among four courses: Structural Geology, Sedimentology, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, and Plate Tectonics.

Grading and Teaching Assistants

The WI assignments in Sedimentology will be graded by Professor Underwood with assistance from a department-funded (OTS) Teaching Assistant. The TA will review each assignment and flag certain areas and/or make comments on aspects of writing mechanics. Half of the credit for each exercise will be assigned to writing mechanics. Professor Underwood will be responsible for a second stage of review with comments on scientific content, which counts for the other 50% of the score.

Associated Instruction in Scientific Writing

As part of the entire sequence of WI courses in Geological Sciences, each student will be required to attend a sequence of four lectures on "Scientific Writing" presented by Dr. Bauer. These lectures will be offered each semester, but students will be required to attend the lectures only during the first semester that they take any one of the WI courses (with attendance optional but encouraged in subsequent semesters). To supplement the lectures of Professor Bauer, the students will have assigned readings from a required text The Craft of Scientific Writing by Michael Alley. The links below provide students with access to Dr. Bauer's notes for the purposes of review.

WRITING INTENSIVE ASSIGNMENTS

Links to Individual Writing Assignments