Assessing the successes and the failures

about our desires to learn more and master some body of knowledge depends on being capable of informing our selves.

The purpose of a liberal education is to promote "the cultivation of human powers," according to Donald Levine, former Dean of the College at the University of Chicago.

Because such a call to knowing ever more about a changing world condition requires that we, you and I collaborate, finding out what you want to learn based on the skills you wish to practice or acquire is of utmost importance to me.

In order to see if your intentions and mine overlap to any constructive end, this survey below is a chance for use to begin a conversation about what we both need to know.

Welcome to an on-line  goal assessment exercise for any course I teach.

See the course syllabus for details unique to each course.

Exploring your interests and goals Dr. Siry A User's Guide to discovering your identity, place, and relation to others, society, and nature. This  is an inquiry about how we humans meet our basic needs for satisfying our curiosity, storytelling and bearing witness to events. DNA is a molecule that retains information.

My mission is | my question to you | my goals | compare and contrast our goals

What is your learning style?

Look here to see.

After reading the syllabus and the learning styles site please write to me about your intentions:

My intentions with respect to this class is that you are able to excel in the practice of inquiry and defending your own conceptual grasp of details.

Exploring our goals:

by Dr. J. Siry

Inspect my mission statement

My Goals are for you to:

• read critically a variety of sources to extract meaningful evidence.
• write about how we live and develop arguments for how we ought to live.
• think through problems and apply evidence from the textbooks and discussions.
• listen to one another and produce joint presentations.
• speak persuasively in a variety of ways to inform one another.
• express your understanding of the readings to each other.
• create a spirit of inquiry in and out of class that allows each person to contribute.
• learn from one another's studies, insights and experiences.
• design a means of living that minimizes our impact on the earth, land and other resources.
• redesign your initial ideas with respect to energy efficient structures, ecological designs and new products from reused materials.
• Critical thinking means to identify significant from unimportant evidence to support your arguments and to see how support for interpretations is built from careful analysis of the facts.

My mission is | my question to you | my goals | compare and contrast our goals

1. You must hand work in on time, late work is penalized, regardless of the excuse so plan ahead!
2. You may not walk out of class, arrive late or disturb other students.
3. We have rules because a classroom, field site or off campus location is a refuge for the mind where we learn from one another by respecting each other's ideas and needs.

My mission is | my question to you | my goals | compare and contrast our goals

What must I do to do well in this class?

1. Attendance

 Going every day, asking informed questions and being attentive to the questions you are asked based on the assigned readings.

2. Texts

Reading critically by taking notes on all of your books so you can discuss their author's ideas in class.
Always refer to the texts and their meaning in your discussion and essays!

3. Assignments Press here for the value of each activity.

• Completing these routine tasks: homework, notes on reading & questions
• Traditional papers
Going to the Library to get assistance!
• Journal, notebook, log, or day book
Keeping a daily record or diary about readings and thoughts.
• Traditional project
Designing an ecologically effective home.
• Untraditional project:
Going to the Keys, an inner city school, beach restoration work, or helping film a video for the web!

A project may be a useful exercise to someone else that connects your readings to the community through conducting interviews, drafting news releases, or constructing an on-line (WWW) resource, with adequate reflection from the class discussions and readings allowing others to better envision Americas or Rollins ecological situation.