Roxanne, first of all, and most important, like any activity, give them
the performance criteria in advance of the work. You might give them a
list of questions to address, such as
What are the close relatives of this plant species?
How are its useful characteristics related to its adaptation for
survival?
etc.
As you can probably see from those two examples, writing those questions
requires that you first give soem though to why you are assigning this
project, what you want them to learn from it, and how you want them to
demonstrate that they have learned it. You should also probably tell
them in advance how important the artistic quality and creativity, etc.
of their presentations will be, as compared to the scientific substance.
Since you are at Madison, I would also suggest that you consult with
Andrew Petto there about this, and ask him to explain to you the use of
assessment rubrics if you have not dealt with them before.
Good luck and have fun!
Jon Greenberg
Staff Biologist and Project Director
BSCS
