Core Curriculum Assessment: Current Events in Science Presentation Objective addressed: 1. Communication skills, including effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through oral, visual, and written communication 2. Critical thinking skills, including creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information 3. Teamwork skills, including group analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information, as well as effective oral and visual presentation of that information. Student learning outcome: 1. For oral and visual communication, students will be able to evaluate and interpret geologic and environmental problems, and communicate their analysis effectively to others. 2. For critical thinking skills students will be able to effectively evaluate the topic and extract the most critical information to inform their peers through presentation. 3. For teamwork skill, students will learn group workflow management skills and cooperation skills in a team environment. Placement of activity within curriculum: This activity can be incorporated at any point in the curriculum. Students may be allowed to choose their own topics, or be assigned specific topics according to the instructor’s wishes. Assessment activity: In this activity, student work groups will be asked to research a current event in science. The topic(s) may be delineated by the instructor, or left to the students. Each group will then create a Powerpoint presentation in which they (1) give a brief summary presentation of the research and findings, and (2) discuss the implications these findings will have for society, based on their reading, their own experiences, and/or information they learned in class. The instructions for this assessment (to be given to students), as well as the rubric for grading are included here. Criterion for successfully meeting objective: At least 70% of students must demonstrate a proficiency of 3 or better on a scale of 1 to 5. In order to assess this objective, a rubric with this 5-point scale has been developed. Current Events in Science Group Presentation Purpose: Science is an ongoing and dynamic process. Scientific research and discovery are still occurring today, and in ways that are and will affect our everyday lives, potentially even altering the structure of our government, society, and/or culture as it does so. The purpose of this activity is to explore current events in science, and analyze how new scientific research is impacting or will impact our society, and knowledgeably communicate this information through a combined oral and visual presentation. Instructions: Choose a research topic that interests you and has relevance to your life. Some examples of the types of issues you may want to choose: Note that these are very large issues, and your presentation will NOT be able to address them in full. Rather, you will briefly summarize some of the current research, and prese.

1. Core Curriculum Assessment: Current Events in Science
Presentation
Objective addressed:
1. Communication skills, including effective development,
interpretation and expression of ideas through oral, visual, and
written communication
2. Critical thinking skills, including creative thinking,
innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of
information
3. Teamwork skills, including group analysis, evaluation, and
synthesis of information, as well as effective oral and visual
presentation of that information.
Student learning outcome:
1. For oral and visual communication, students will be able to
evaluate and interpret geologic and environmental problems,
and communicate their analysis effectively to others.
2. For critical thinking skills students will be able to effectively
evaluate the topic and extract the most critical information to
inform their peers through presentation.
3. For teamwork skill, students will learn group workflow
management skills and cooperation skills in a team
environment.
Placement of activity within curriculum:
This activity can be incorporated at any point in the curriculum.
Students may be allowed to choose their own topics, or be
assigned specific topics according to the instructor’s wishes.
Assessment activity:
In this activity, student work groups will be asked to research a
current event in science. The topic(s) may be delineated by the
instructor, or left to the students. Each group will then create a

2. Powerpoint presentation in which they (1) give a brief summary
presentation of the research and findings, and (2) discuss the
implications these findings will have for society, based on their
reading, their own experiences, and/or information they learned
in class.
The instructions for this assessment (to be given to students), as
well as the rubric for grading are included here.
Criterion for successfully meeting objective:
At least 70% of students must demonstrate a proficiency of
3 or better on a scale of 1 to 5. In order to assess this objective,
a rubric with this 5-point scale has been developed.
Current Events in Science Group Presentation
Purpose:
Science is an ongoing and dynamic process. Scientific research
and discovery are still occurring today, and in ways that are and
will affect our everyday lives, potentially even altering the
structure of our government, society, and/or culture as it does
so. The purpose of this activity is to explore current events in
science, and analyze how new scientific research is impacting
or will impact our society, and knowledgeably communicate this
information through a combined oral and visual presentation.
Instructions:
Choose a research topic that interests you and has relevance to

3. your life. Some examples of the types of issues you may want
to choose:
Note that these are very large issues, and your presentation will
NOT be able to address them in full. Rather, you will briefly
summarize some of the current research, and present the
application this research has in society, culture, and your life.
Each group will submit a Powerpoint presentation to the
instructor along with a set of notes outlining the talking points
of the presentation, and the resources used. Groups will be
randomly selected to present their research to an audience of
their peers, so each group should be adequately prepared to
present.
Group members may select one individual in the group to
present, or all members may take part in the oral presentation.
Length and Content:
The oral presentation must be no more or less than 10 minutes
with a 3-5 minute question and answer session at the end.
Approximately half of the presentation should be devoted to a
description of the research you are exploring, and the other half
should be your group analysis of the research, including the
impacts this research may have on society and your life, as well
as your own evaluation of the implications of this work and how
this research should continue in the future. A Powerpoint
presentation should accompany the oral presentation (estimate
one slide per 45 seconds to 1 minute of the oral presentation).
References:
Please use at least 3 sources, and cite them using MLA citation
format on the resources slide at the end of your visual
presentation. Additionally, cite EACH reference within the
slides when appropriate. Make sure that the website, or paper
resources for each diagram used in the visual presentation are

4. properly referenced below each diagram. If you have questions
about references, please let your instructor know.
References CAN be from:
· Magazines (e.g., Discover, Scientific American, National
Geographic)
· Newspapers, particularly to find how science relates to our
area
· Academic websites (e.g., professors describing their research,
or university-generated educational materials)
· Government websites (e.g., NOAA, NASA, EPA…)
· Books (particularly for historical data, or comparing how
current technology/research/methods compares to those in the
past)
References CANNOT be from:
· Wikipedia
· Blog sites
· Reference websites, e.g. geology.com
Using 3 different sources does NOT mean you have to read 3
different articles that say the same thing. In fact, this should
not happen. Instead, you may use your three different sources
to get different perspectives on the same issue, different
viewpoints on the impact this research will have, OR to explore
ideas you have come up with based on your reading.
Rubric
Each presentation will be graded based on a 5-point scale. This
scale takes into account:
· Grammatical correctness, spelling, and organization
· How well the research is understood and described in the oral
presentation.
· Whether new ideas/implications are introduced in the
presentation.

5. · The proper use of visual aids to support the oral presentation.
· Proper citation of sources in the visual presentation (diagrams,
sources slide at end, etc.)
· The group’s ability to knowledgeably answer questions about
the subject material posed by the audience at the end of the
presentation.
Please note that each of these 5 sections is weighted equally!
Each section will be graded out of 4 points, and the scores
averaged together to give a final score. Note that scores of
“3.5” or other numbers not shown on the rubric table can be
awarded. To convert your score to a %, divide your averaged
total score by 4 and multiply by 100.
Performance Area
Rating = 4
Rating = 3
Rating = 2
Rating = 1
Score
Organization
Presenter follows logical sequence and provides explanations/
elaboration.
Presenter follows logical sequence, but fails to elaborate.

6. Presenter does not follow logical sequence (jumps around in
presentation).
There is no logical sequence of information.
Eye Contact
Presenter seldom returns to notes, maintaining eye contact with
audience throughout the presentation.
Presenter maintains eye contact with audience most of the time,
but frequently returns to notes.
Presenter reads most of report, but occasionally makes eye
contact with audience.
Presenter reads entire report, making no eye contact with
audience.
Delivery
Presenter speaks clearly and loud enough for all in audience to
hear, makes no grammatical errors, and pronounces all terms
correctly and precisely.
Presenter speaks clearly and loud enough to be heard by most in
audience, makes relatively few grammatical errors, and
pronounces most terms correctly.
Presenter’s voice is relatively clear, but too low to be heard by
those in the back of the room. Presenter makes several major
grammatical errors, and mispronounces some terms.
Presenter mumbles, mispronounces terms, and makes serious
and persistent grammatical errors throughout presentation.
Presenter speaks too quietly to be heard by many in audience.
Visual Presentation
Visual presentation is clean and concise with no misspellings.
Slides use bullet points and diagrams to support information
being delivered versus entire paragraphs. Resources for all
diagrams are documented, and a works sited slide is included

7. with proper resources
Presentation has a few misspellings, or grammatical errors,
slides could be more concise or less wordy. Slides support the
oral information being delivered. Diagrams used could support
the oral presentation to a higher degree. Some diagrams are
missing references, works sited slide is included with proper
resources
Presentation is relatively clear, but uses few diagrams, is
wordy, and contains several grammatical errors or misspellings.
The visual presentation does not correlate well to the oral
presentation. Many diagrams are missing resources, and the
works sited slide has references that are questionable, or not
formatted properly.
Presentation is poorly organized, slides are cluttered with major
misspellings or grammatical errors, few to no diagrams, and
does not support or correlate well to the oral presentation. Most
diagrams are missing references, no works sited slide is
included.
Comprehension of Data Presented
The presenting group was completely and knowledgeably able
to answer questions posed by the audience about the topic
presented.
The presenting group was able to knowledgeably able to answer
questions with minor stumbling points.
The presenting group’s answers to audience questions was not
clear and concise, showed a minor lack of understanding of
portions of the topic.
The presenting group’s answers were not clear at all, and
demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge and understanding
of the topic.

8. Total
Overall Score = ((Total/5)/4)*100)