Instructor Insights

Instructor Insights pages are part of the OCW Educator initiative, which seeks to enhance the value of OCW for educators.

Instructor Insights

The course encourages students to connect with the ideas expressed by other writers and then to pursue their own ideas.

—Cynthia Taft

Below, Cynthia Taft describes various aspects of how she taught 21W.775 Writing about Nature and Environmental Issues.

 

Curriculum Information

Prerequisites

None

Requirements Satisfied

  • CI-H
  • HASS-H

Offered

Every few years

The Classroom

  • A classroom with a blackboard in the front, windows on the left, long tables pushed together to form desks and moveable chairs.

    Room 1 of 1

    Seminar

    All class sessions were held in a small classroom with sliding chalkboards, an overhead projector, long tables with connections for laptops and moveable chairs.

 

Assessment

The students' grades were based on the following activities:

The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by Essay 1. 20% Essay 1
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by Essay 2. 30% Essay 2
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by Essay 3. 40% Essay 3
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by Participation. 10% Participation
 

Student Information

Fewer than 10 students enrolled in this course during the Spring 2017 term.

Breakdown by Year

A range of undergraduate students

Breakdown by Major

Mostly science and engineering

Typical Student Background

Most students were actively interested in environmental issues before they signed up for the course, but only two had extensive background in environmental studies (MIT does not have such a major). Several students were serious hikers.

 

How Student Time Was Spent

During an average week, students were expected to spend 12 hours on the course, roughly divided as follows:

In Class

3 hours per week
  • Met 2 times per week for 1.5 hours per session; 27 sessions total; mandatory attendance.
  • Class time was split into two sessions: one that focused on the student's most recent writing assignment and one that focused on their most recent readings.
  • Several class sessions included impromptu workshops where students exchanged short papers or exercises and considered a single question about that exercise.
  • For full drafts, workshops were more formalized and students shared papers and exchanged written detailed comments in response to the instructor's guidelines.
 

Out of Class

9 hours per week
  • Completing assigned readings.
  • Conducting background research.
  • Completing short assignments.
  • Writing and revising three essays.
  • Preparing for class discussions and peer feedback workshops.
 

Semester Breakdown

WEEK M T W Th F
1 No classes throughout MIT. Lecture session. No session scheduled. Lecture session. No session scheduled.
2 No session scheduled. Lecture session. No session scheduled. Lecture session and due date. No session scheduled.
3 No classes throughout MIT. No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Workshop and due date. No session scheduled.
4 No session scheduled. Workshop. No session scheduled. Lecture session and essay revision due date. No session scheduled.
5 No session scheduled. Lecture session. No session scheduled. Lecture session. No session scheduled.
6 No session scheduled. Lecture session. No session scheduled. Lecture session. No session scheduled.
7 No session scheduled. Lecture session and due date. No session scheduled. Lecture session and due date. No session scheduled.
8 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
9 No session scheduled. Lecture session and due date. No session scheduled. Workshop. No session scheduled.
10 No session scheduled. Lecture session and essay revision due date. No session scheduled. Lecture session. No session scheduled.
11 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No session scheduled. Lecture session. No session scheduled.
12 No session scheduled. Lecture session with class presentations and a due date. No session scheduled. Lecture session with class presentations. No session scheduled.
13 No session scheduled. Lecture session with clas presentations and a due date. No session scheduled. Lecture session and due date. No session scheduled.
14 No session scheduled. Lecture session and due date. No session scheduled. Workshop. No session scheduled.
15 No session scheduled. Workshop and essay revision due date. No session scheduled. Lecture session and exam revision due date. No classes throughout MIT.
16 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
Displays the color and pattern used on the preceding table to indicate dates when classes are not held at MIT. No classes throughout MIT
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when lecture sessions are held. Lecture session
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when students presentations are held. Student presentations
Displays the symbol used on the preceding table to indicate dates when assignments are due. Assignment due date
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when no class session is scheduled. No class session scheduled
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when workshop sessions are held. Workshop
Displays the symbol used on the preceding table to indicate dates when essay revisions are due. Essay revision due date