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Home  Fall 2005 Roel Lopez wins teaching award
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Roel Lopez wins teaching award |
Class lessons are real in 'Writing in the Woods'
Lopez teaches his students about wildlife's natural habitats,
which become the backdrop for his students' writing projects. To illustrate
the value of writing, he issues grades in dollar amounts rather than point values.
Lopez’s course on wildlife and habitat management seamlessly integrates
writing and course content and gets students personally invested in
their learning. Lopez notes that he’s always made writing part of his
courses but intensified that focus in response to the W course
initiative.
“Writing in our profession, as in other professions,” Lopez says, “is a
critical component.” That’s why Lopez always evaluates both a student’s
ideas and the expression of those ideas and why he has high standards
for both.
Lopez’s W course includes a number of short writing assignments, called
“Writing in the Woods,” that challenge students to put concepts learned
in class to use as they make observations during field trips to local
wildlife habitats. Each assignment comes with a grading rubric, so
students know Lopez’s expectations.
For the major course project, Lopez requires students to develop a
wildlife management plan for a local landowner. This is no mere
role-playing exercise; the students meet personally with the landowners
to develop a multi-layered plan specifically aimed at the landowner’s
real-world needs. At the end of the semester, the students present
their written plan to their classmates. Officials from the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department and the local landowners attend the
presentation and ask tough questions about the students’
recommendations.
Lopez expects students to turn in assignments using the format of a
professional journal in the discipline. He also expects students to
comment on their classmates’ work. They then receive extensive written
comments from Lopez on each phase of the assignment, as well as grades
rendered in dollar amounts to further enforce the idea that in the
professional arena quality written work brings tangible rewards.
According to Sarah Bednarz, a member of the award selection committee
and an associate professor of geography, “What the committee especially
liked about Lopez’s approach to writing is its tight connection to
thinking in the major. We also recognized that he had designed an
exciting writing course in a major that does not have a tradition of
being writing-intensive. Aggies in every major need to write well.”
The award’s selection process was coordinated by the Center for
Teaching Excellence. Additional $3,000 awards will be given annually
for the next four years with nominations for the 2006 teaching award
being accepted in the spring. |
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Tidbits
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I write to discover what I think. After all, the bars aren’t open that early.
--Daniel J. Boorstin
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