Instructors:    

Warren Gold                                  Rachel Vaughn

Time & Place: Wednesday 8:00 - 10:05 PM    UW1 070

 

 

CLASS SESSIONS

 

Dependable Strengths Training

A highlight of this course will be training in “Dependable Strengths”.  This work will help you to identify personal skills and attributes and relate these to various disciplines in the environmental arena that the speakers will highlight.  Rachel Vaughn has considerable expertise in providing such training for students. We will introduce the training on the first class day, spend considerable time with it the second day, and then it will be woven throughout the remainder of the course in short sessions after many speakers and workbook assignments. An additional 4-hour session on a Saturday (date to be determined) will also be required.

 

A small fee will be charged to offset the reproduction of the Dependable Strengths training materials.

 

Class Sessions with Speakers

You are responsible for attending each speaker’s presentation / discussion (note that often we will have more than one speaker at a time). You are also responsible for preparation, participation, and post-session analysis. These responsibilities are detailed below under “assignments”.

 

Each of the speakers has been given the following information to prepare them for the class:

Many of our UW Bothell / POE students are not traditional science students - they are often pursuing a broader type of training, with an emphasis in science and technology. Many of these students will not become scientists (though some will), but they will move into positions where they interact with scientists and others of various expertise in the environmental arena. Some likely areas that many students will pursue include: public policy, planning, health & safety, environmental law, environmental education, etc.  A small subset of these students will likely pursue more hard science training (e.g., graduate or technical school).

 

The class meets from 8-10 PM every Wednesday evening in our NEW campus near downtown Bothell. I ask speakers to come for the first 1-1.5 hours and consider it informal. I would like speakers to carry on a dialogue with the students about:

 

1. What is your organization? What do you do in general and what do you really do day-to-day (i.e., what is it really like to be      a ...)?

 

2. How does this job relate to at least one current environmental issue in this region? What other kinds of disciplines do you        work with in addressing these issues?

 

3. What kind of education, training, career path have you had that led you to you job?

 

4. Now that you're doing it, what kind of education, training, skills, etc. would be important for success in your field?

 

We will start the quarter with some training in "Dependable Strengths". This is a program that helps folks see their skills in relation to career options and we hope this will help to focus their questions in the career arena for the speakers.

 

 

ASSIGNMENTS

 

1. Pre-Speaker Readings

You will be given a reading in advance of each speaker(s) that relates an important environmental issue to the work that the speaker does.  Based upon this reading, you are required to hand in a one-page (single-spaced) document at the start of class when the speaker is scheduled. Your document should contain two parts:

(1)   A half page summary of the article you read, in either normal text or bullet point form. You should summarize the most important points rather than all of the issues.

(2)   The other half of the page should be devoted to a list of at least 3 questions that you could ask the speaker during her / his presentation.

Be sure to make a second copy of this for yourself to keep during the presentation (so your questions are in front of you to ask).

 

2. Participation

You are expected to actively participate in the class sessions. When speakers come everyone is expected to ask at least two questions of the speaker. You may use your prepared questions (from #1 above) in this regard.

 

3. Post-Speaker Analysis

Following each speaker’s presentation / discussion you are required to write a one-page paper (single-spaced) that connects what you learned about your “dependable strengths” so far in the quarter to what the speaker presented concerning their discipline. You should keep this in mind and be sure to query the speaker about useful skills and personal characteristics in regard to their job so that you can write about it later. You should include in the paper:

(a) What skills / strengths are important for success in the speakers’ discipline and why?

(b) How do your skills / strengths relate to (a)?

(c) Do you find this discipline of personal interest? Why or why not?

            (d) Given your answers to a, b and c above, would you consider this field for your future? Why or why not?

This paper is due at the start of class following the speakers’ presentation.

 

4. Dependable Strengths Exercises

You will have a workbook exercise for analysis of your dependable strengths most weeks. This will be described at the end of the class period (after the speakers) and will be due at the start of the next class period.

 

Writing Assignments

All writing assignments must be single-spaced with 1-inch margins and in a minimum 12-point type size on an 8.5 by 11 inch paper. Clarity, spelling and grammar will be secondary to content, but points will be subtracted for problems in those areas! Points will also be subtracted for late submissions.

 

Grading

Grading will be based upon the assignments described above and an in-class wrap up assignment on December 6. Details on points and percentages will be available at this page.

An honest attitude is critical to real learning and progress in all academic endeavors. Being an honest learner and scholar requires a commitment to abide by and foster academic honesty in all its aspects. As UW Bothell students, you are expected to uphold the highest standards of honest academic conduct. You are expected to have a thorough appreciation of what is meant by academic honesty, and to have made a firm commitment to embody these standards with regard to your own learning. A new version of the detailed Academic Integrity pamphlet is available from the UWB student government office. In this class, you should be particularly aware that instances of cheating on the exam or plagiarism in writing will be dealt with very seriously. The exams will be held in the classroom without the aid of any outside material (books, notes, etc.). All work on the exams should be strictly your own. Plagiarism is defined in the UW Bothell catalog as (I have placed a section in bold and underlined it for emphasis):

"Plagiarism is the use of the creations, ideas or words of someone else without formally acknowledging the author or source through appropriate use of quotation marks, references, and the like. Plagiarizing is stealing someone’s work and presenting it as one’s own original work or thought. Student work in which plagiarism occurs will not ordinarily be accepted as satisfactory by the instructor, and may lead to disciplinary action against the student submitting it. Any student who is uncertain whether his or her use of the work of others constitutes plagiarism should consult the course instructor for guidance before formally submitting the course work involved."

There are a number of instances in this class where working together with other students will be beneficial or mandatory.  In papers and presentations, please use and acknowledge the work of others to help develop your thinking, including work with your peers in this class. We all rely on the work of the academic community to progress -- the key is to do so in a manner that honestly represents our own contributions and those of others.