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HI, Thanks for the link. FYI, questionnaires 2 and 3 are identical. Elizabeth On Feb 6, 2008, at 11:17 AM, Scott Clark 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/. 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 [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: [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: [log in to unmask]] > [phone (517) 355-8369] > > > Elizabeth Shadman, Ph.D. Natural Sciences Division, E210D Pasadena City College 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91106 office: 626-585-3369 fax: 626-585-7960