Overview of Graduate Curriculum Development s3

Graduate Curriculum Committee Course Proposal Form for Courses Numbered 6000 and Higher

Note: Before completing this form, please carefully read the accompanying instructions.

GEOL 7008 12/11/2009 1. Course prefix and number: 2. Date: 3. Requested action: X New Course Revision of Active Course Revision & Unbanking of a Banked Course Renumbering of an Existing Course from from to

4. Justification (must cite accreditation and/or assessment by the graduate faculty) for new course or course revision or course renumbering: This course responds to recent changes in the CRM curriculum, comments from faculty in the CRM program and Department of Geological Sciences, and approval by the graduate faculty of Geological Sciences. CRM Ph.D. students must register for this course when the instructor is a member of the faculty from the Department of Geological Sciences. Finally, this course allows a student’s program of study to be especially tailored to meet her/his needs, those of their supervising faculty members, and the requirements of the individual research project.

5. Course description exactly as it should appear in the next catalog: GEOL 7008. Directed Studies in Geology (1,2,3) May be repeated for a maximum of 9 s.h. P: Consent of instructor. Independent study on selected topic. May include field work, lab work, directed readings, or some combination thereof.

6. If this is a course revision, briefly describe the requested change:

7. Graduate catalog page number from current graduate catalog: p. 85 8. Course credit: Lecture 1,2, Per Credit 1,2, Weekly OR s.h. Hours 3 Term Hours 3 Per Credit Lab 0 Weekly OR 0 s.h. Term Hours Per Credit Studio Weekly OR s.h. Term Hours Per Credit Practicum Weekly OR s.h. Term Hours Per Credit Internship Weekly OR s.h. Term Hours Other (e.g., independent study) Please explain. Doctoral Dissertation Research 1,2, Total Credit Hours s.h. 3

9. Anticipated annual student enrollment: 3 10. Affected degrees or academic programs: Degree(s)/Program(s) Current Catalog Page Changes in Degree Hours PhD Program in 51 0 Coastal Resources Management

11. Overlapping or duplication with affected units or programs: x Not Applicable Notification & response from affected units is attached

12. Council for Teacher Education (CTE) Approval (for courses affecting teacher education): x Not Applicable Applicable and CTE has given their approval.

13. Service-Learning Advisory Committee (SLAC) Approval x Not Applicable Applicable and SLAC has given their approval.

14. Statements of support: a. Staff x Current staff is adequate Additional Staff is needed (describe needs in the box below):

b. Facilities x Current facilities are adequate Additional Facilities are needed (describe needs in the box below): c. Library x Initial library resources are adequate Initial resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition of required initial resources):

d. Unit computer resources x Unit computer resources are adequate Additional unit computer resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition):

e. ITCS resources x ITCS Resources are not needed The following ITCS resources are needed (put a check beside each need): Mainframe computer system Statistical services Network connections Computer lab for students Software Approval from the Director of ITCS attached

15. Course information (see: Graduate Curriculum Development Manual for instructions): a. Textbook(s) and or readings: author(s), name, publication date, publisher, and city/state/country Jointly determined by supervising faculty and student to accomplish the objectives of the student, faculty, and project. b. Course objectives for the course (student – centered, behavioral focus) Although learning outcomes will differ for different faculty members and students, the student will be able to do things such as the following: 1) prepare the “Previous Studies” section of a research project, 2) plan a research project, 3) choose the most effective and appropriate methodologies or research techniques to address a particular coastal research problem, 4) evaluate the relevance, accuracy and completeness of data from the literature, 5) use GIS to analyze and display geo-referenced data, 6) choose appropriate statistical tools with which to evaluate a given data set, 7) recognize topics of research relevance in an emerging area of the geosciences, 8) and, in general, assemble the acquired skills towards the goal of developing an original research project. c. Course topic outline Topics will vary depending on the specific needs identified by the student and graduate faculty member directing the study.

Scenario for one (1) credit hour: A directed study of one-hour per week is designed to familiarize a student with a topic that is not sufficient for an in-depth course, but is of particular interest to the student. Interaction between instructor and student will typically consist of a discussion of assigned readings from the primary literature and texts. The goal is to provide the student with a strong, working knowledge of a particular topic or small set of topics that will be necessary for the student¹s thesis/dissertation work. Upon completion of a one credit direct study, the student should achieve an advanced knowledge of the topic of interest.

Scenario for two (2) credit hours: A directed study of two hours per week is designed to familiarize a student with multiple topics or particular research techniques that are vital to the student¹s successful completion of the degree. As with the one hour directed study, interaction between instructor and student may consist of a discussion of assigned readings from the primary literature and texts. If this is the case, more information will be imparted than in the one credit directed study and this information will be supplemented with some outside-the-classroom instruction. Thus, a two credit directed study may include laboratory or field instruction. A student may require training on a particular instrument that the instructor is proficient in using or that the student wishes to learn in order to complete the thesis/dissertation. Laboratory instruction typically requires more interaction and, therefore, more contact hours are required for the student to achieve proficiency on an instrument or with a technique.

Scenario for three (3) credit hours: A directed study of three hours per week is designed to accomplish similar goals as with a one or two credit directed study. Under this scenario, interaction time is increased to three hours. This may be necessary with skills that are difficult to learn and require more contact hours. For example, many instructors have access to rare equipment or techniques that are designed to accomplish a very narrow set of objectives. This equipment or technique, by nature, is not easily learned and therefore requires a more intensive directed study. The student and the instructor may agree on this level of interaction when it appears necessary to the student¹s successful completion of the graduate degree. d. List of course assignment, weighting of each assignment, and grading/evaluation system for determining a grade Papers, written examinations, or oral examinations of some form will result from Directed Studies courses. The assessment will be evaluated by the faculty member as to the quality of the student’s 1) analysis of data compiled or collected, 2) description of techniques employed, 3) understanding of the methods employed and problems associated with the type of data collected, 4) understanding of published literature containing analysis of similar data, 5) writing quality, etc. The grade on these assessments will constitute about 75% of the student’s grade for the course. The other 25% will consist of the faculty member’s assessment of how the student handled the project in terms of 1) degree to which student was self-motivated, 2) degree to which student required supervision, 3) quality of the data produced, 4) amount of data produced during the semester, 5) student’s approach to the project, etc.

Grade Structure 90-100% A 80-89% B 70-79% C 0-69% F