Smell that? It's spring. Well, it's the spring semester, anyway, and I'm almost certain that there will be one giant snowstorm before spring really begins. My point is, that it's a new year (2012), a new semester, and a new chance to be an awesome teacher. It's also a chance to re-teach a class I taught last semester, working out the problematic pieces and making it a stronger course on science writing.
You, my dear students, have the benefit of taking a class on its second iteration. While it was pretty good last semester--I had fun teaching it, at least--I am excited for the opportunity to teach it again to improve and refine my lessons. So my first goal for this semester is to build on what I learned from teaching last semester and develop a strong course that I can teach again and again.
Since I'm also an academic (and that means I have to publish things), I also plan to submit this course to a journal for publication. That's my second goal: now that I've worked out some of the problematic bits an have refined the course, I hope to get the ideas published so that others want to teach science writing.
But my primary goal remains the same from last semester: help you, my students, learn how to write as scientists, understand how language is vital to scientific activity, and give you an opportunity to explore, research, and write about a topic that interests you. The overall goal is to contribute to your growth as writers, to set you on the path to being skilled users of language in whatever setting you encounter. It's going to be a great semester!
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