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Hi Scott, Oops, I just sent you an email, then as I got farther down the email I'm catching up on and I found this one....I check out the demongraphics and questionnaire online..... --Dave At 11:17 AM 2/6/2008, you wrote: >Dear Colleagues: > >Many of you received an email soliciting comments to and participation in >our research project that will look at how plate tectonics figures are >interpreted by students. (The original email is provided, below.) Two >issues have been brought to our attention regarding our initial request >for your assistance: > >1) I've received a few inquires asking for clarifications regarding who >can participate in this phase of the project. For example, can high school >students, university students, or international students participate? We >are unable to include any participants other than those currently approved >in our Institutional Review Board (IRB) application. That is, at this >stage, we can only include adult students at our campus and professionals >in the community (such as anyone on the GEOED-RESEARCH mailing list). We >are planning to broaden our scope to include national and international >students during the next phase. > >2) The attachments to the original email caused it to be kicked back from >some people's in-boxes - I apologize for sending such a large attachment. >The questionnaires and demographic survey are now available on-line. They >can be downloaded from Julie Libarkin's web page: ><http://www.msu.edu/~libarkin/>http://www.msu.edu/~libarkin/. Please send >me an email if you have any questions. > >Thanks for all of the early interest! > >Sincerely, > >Scott > > >original email - > >Dear Colleague: > >We are interested in studying how well plate tectonic figures commonly >used in geology courses communicate the main concepts of plate tectonics >to novices. We would like to investigate if students can identify where >melting occurs, appreciate the pseudo-steady-state conditions inherent to >many plate tectonic illustrations, and reason through how the image would >look in the past and in the future. We will compare responses of >non-majors who have been exposed to the theory of plate tectonics, Earth >Science majors, graduate students, college faculty, high school teachers, >and other experts along an expert - novice continuum. > >To help us validate our questionnaire, we are sending this email to ask >for reviews and comments as to the appropriateness and effectiveness of >our questions at addressing student understanding. We are also looking for >college faculty, high school teachers, or other experts who would be >interested in completing the questionnaires as participants in our study. > >All comments can be emailed to <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] > >If you would like to participate in the study, please print out and >complete the demographic survey and one of the three questionnaires. You >will need to mail your completed questionnaire and survey to Scott Clark at: > >Scott Clark >206 Natural Sciences Bldg. >Department of Geological Sciences >Michigan State University >East Lansing, MI 48824 > >All participation will be kept strictly confidential, and all responses >will remain anonymous. By completing the questionnaire, you are agreeing >that your responses can be used in publications and presentations related >to this research. To facilitate anonymity and encourage participation, >responses will be de-identified by a staff member of the Center for >Research on College Science Teaching and Learning (CRCSTL) at Michigan >State University before the research team views the results. We estimate >that the questionnaire will take about 15 minutes to complete. This >project has received IRB approval for use of human subjects in research. > >Please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions for this >project. We look forward to working with you and appreciate your assistance! > >Sincerely, > >Scott Clark, Research Associate >Department of Geological Sciences >Michigan State University >East Lansing, MI 48824 >[EMAIL: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]] >[phone (517) 353-4524] > >Julie Libarkin, Assistant Professor >Department of Geological Sciences & Division of Science and Mathematics >Education >Michigan State University >[EMAIL: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]] >[phone (517) 355-8369] > > David L. Kimbrough, PhD RG Undergraduate Advisior Department of Geological Sciences 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego State University, San Diego CA 92182-1020 phone: (619) 594-1385, fax: (619) 594-4372 [log in to unmask] http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~dkimbrou/