I've assigned the same geography project for a few years on land forms. I haven't been successful with it in terms of successful student results even when I've edited the project to be as clear as possible and I've shown examples and non-examples. The project has students draw their own island with several land forms. (That's the project in a nutshell, the actual one has specifics, of course.) Anyway, I've had little success and so I was wondering if anyone out there has a geography land forms project in which they've received student success and the project focuses on the application of what they've learned. :help:
So out of my element... Could you supply them wth a topological map, and have them describe the land forms on it? Possibly explain what the geography had to do with the location of, or lack of, cities and such?
What about adding a three-dimensional element to the project so that students can actually visualize the landforms? In my experience, it is very difficult for students to see how a landform impacts an area when they are only viewing it in two dimensions.
What are you students struggling with? Are they struggling with adding the landforms, understanding what a landform is, making something neat and presentable?
...All of the above? Like I said, I've adjusted the directions, explained them multiple times, explained the expectations and grading rubric multiple times, given them class time to work to see how they're doing, shown examples and non-examples, front-loaded information, given visuals of land forms, etc. I even Googled the same project concept (directions from other teachers) to see what else I could do differently. I'm at a loss. Given the time constraint of pacing and the need to get to other content standards, I really can't spend much more time on the project than I already give... Thanks everyone for the previous suggestions, though not quite sure its what I'm looking for. I just hate assigning the same project (with adjustments) and having poor results from the students. Maybe I'll get lucky this year? :unsure:
Out of curiosity, why do you stay with the same project every year if you say it is not working? Maybe its time for a change!
I would very much like a change. However, the department wants to stick with the project despite the concerns I've expressed. I've told them the average grade of the project (about a D), and last year I showed them many poor examples which they agreed were poor, but they are very insistent on this project because of the 'application' aspect of it (what they told me). I've only been at my site for a short while in comparison to the other teachers in the department and am not even on a probationary contract (temporary year-to-year hire) and I don't want to rock the boat too much especially in the beginning of the school year. Despite this, I'm still taking suggestions! Maybe I would be able to use them down the line.
