Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Unit 2 Data Sheet Workshop
What data you choose to collect and how you collect it is the backbone of your experiment; you won't be able to prove your hypothesis unless you collect your data in a way that is clear and consistent. Examine your partner’s outline closely and answer the following questions in the same Google Doc with the sheet:
Name:
10/25/12
1. Your hypothesis should have identified a relationship between an independent and a dependent variable. How does the author measure changes in the independent variable? What about the dependent variable? Is the scale sensitive enough to measure subtle changes? Is it flexible enough to track unexpected changes?
2. We noted in class that the biggest danger to experiments of this nature is the confounding variable. What confounding variables do you anticipate might get in the way of proving the author's hypothesis? Are these variables accounted for in the data sheet? How might the author use the data sheet to keep track of these confounding variables and prove definitively that they have not shaped the relationship between the independent and dependent variables?
3. What other kinds of data might it be useful for the author to collect? Suggest at least two piece of data that the author might consider adding to his or her data sheet.
4. Is the data collected on the sheet adequately quantified? While there might be some space devoted to more open-ended, narrative responses, is the data predominantly in the form of numbers that can be quickly and easily analyzed? If not, how might the author collect the data in a way that is more quantitative and less qualitative?
Intro to Podcasting Software
Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ and download the latest version of Audacity (note: you’re welcome to use another program like GarageBand or Adobe Premiere with the caveat that I can only provide limited technical support for these programs).
Audacity comes equipped with tools to record your voice, but you will also need to add music and sound effects to your podcast. The best site to find free and legal sound clips for your podcast is http://www.freesound.org/ (note: registration is required, but they will not spam you).
Spend some time playing with the technology and getting comfortable with it. Before we finish this activity, I would like each of you to practice:
- recording your voice
- importing a sound file from FreeSound or some other source
- moving an audio clip to a different spot on the timeline
- editing audio (i.e. cutting, copying, or pasting something from one part of the timeline to another)
- applying filters or effects to an audio clip (i.e. fade in/out, reverb, etc.)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Feeder 2.4 Example Data Sheets
Lucy Podcast Discussion
Answer the following questions in your groups. Place your answers in a new Google Doc titled "Lucy Podcast: Group Discussion" and don't forget to share it with me. Each group should create one Google Doc.
1. What kind of “hook” do they use to draw in the listener? (Note: ignore the plea for money that precedes the podcast.)
2. Estimate what proportion of the program is based on extempore speech and what seems to be read from a script. How can you tell?
3. Note any background music or sound effects that seem to have been added in post-production. Why were these things added? How do they make the podcast clearer or more interesting?
4. Note any terms or concepts that you learned about from listening to the podcast. How were these explained? How did the authors make these complex ideas and terms easy to understand?
1. What kind of “hook” do they use to draw in the listener? (Note: ignore the plea for money that precedes the podcast.)
2. Estimate what proportion of the program is based on extempore speech and what seems to be read from a script. How can you tell?
3. Note any background music or sound effects that seem to have been added in post-production. Why were these things added? How do they make the podcast clearer or more interesting?
4. Note any terms or concepts that you learned about from listening to the podcast. How were these explained? How did the authors make these complex ideas and terms easy to understand?
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Fall Break: RadioLab Assignment
We'll be working with the RadioLab podcast titled “Lucy.” You can hear it here:
or you can download the mp3 directly here:
As you are listening, compose a retrospective outline of the podcast. Post this outline in a new Google Doc titled "[your name]'s RadioLab assignment." Share this Google Doc with me. Your outline is due by class time on Tuesday, October 23.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Unit 2 Brainstorming / Pre-Writing
Hopefully all of you have had time to think about what behavior you will modify for your Unit 2 Project. Begin by sharing your behavior with your group members; let them know why you're choosing to change this behavior and why you think it will be appropriate for the assignment. (Note: you may want to look over the Unit 2 assignment sequence to make sure you've chosen a behavior that will work for this study.) Once everyone has talked about his or her behavior, create chart in a new Google Doc titled "[your name]'s Unit 2 Pre-Writing." After you create the Google Doc, click on "Table" and then "Create Table" and make a table containing 3 columns and 1 row. Please make sure to share the document with me.
In column 1, spend at least two minutes listing everything you think you know about your behavior. These things don't have to be verifiable scientific fact; for instance, if you're trying to drink more water, you might write down that being properly hydrated gives you more energy, even though you'd probably want to do research to verify this fact. In listing everything you know about your behavior, you want to consider what kinds of things trigger your behavior, what happens after you do your behavior, how it makes the people around you feel, etc. There are no boundaries here… just get as much down on the page as you can.
In column 2, spend at least five minutes listing everything you are wondering about your behavior. This is the place for unanswered questions: you might question some of the things you assumed in the first column, you might wonder about previous research into your behavior, you might think about the consequences of changing your behavior… you chose to modify this particular behavior for a reason, so hopefully you are curious about many different aspects of it.
In column 3, spend at lest five minutes write down (as specifically as possible) how you will find out the answers to the questions you are curious about in column 2. Do you expect that some of your questions will be answered in previous research? How will you find this research? Will you be able to answer some of the questions with your own study? If so, how will you design your experiment so that it gives you a definitive answer to your question?
If you finish before the end of class you can begin researching for your Feeder 2.2 assignment. If any new items for your 3 columns occur to you during your research, please return to this assignment.
In column 1, spend at least two minutes listing everything you think you know about your behavior. These things don't have to be verifiable scientific fact; for instance, if you're trying to drink more water, you might write down that being properly hydrated gives you more energy, even though you'd probably want to do research to verify this fact. In listing everything you know about your behavior, you want to consider what kinds of things trigger your behavior, what happens after you do your behavior, how it makes the people around you feel, etc. There are no boundaries here… just get as much down on the page as you can.
In column 2, spend at least five minutes listing everything you are wondering about your behavior. This is the place for unanswered questions: you might question some of the things you assumed in the first column, you might wonder about previous research into your behavior, you might think about the consequences of changing your behavior… you chose to modify this particular behavior for a reason, so hopefully you are curious about many different aspects of it.
In column 3, spend at lest five minutes write down (as specifically as possible) how you will find out the answers to the questions you are curious about in column 2. Do you expect that some of your questions will be answered in previous research? How will you find this research? Will you be able to answer some of the questions with your own study? If so, how will you design your experiment so that it gives you a definitive answer to your question?
If you finish before the end of class you can begin researching for your Feeder 2.2 assignment. If any new items for your 3 columns occur to you during your research, please return to this assignment.
Unit 1 Assessment
Take a moment to look back at the earliest drafts of your Unit 1 Project. Think about how you have grown as a writer over the past 8 weeks. Next, answer each of the following questions with a short paragraph of 3-4 sentences.
1. Which class lessons have had the most impact on your writing? Which ones have had the least? Why?
2. Have you found the draft workshops helpful? Why or why not? Do you have any suggestions about how the peer review process can be more efficient or productive?
3. Do you feel like the in-class assignments and draft workshops helped to move your writing through the conceptual, organizational, and surface-level stages? Did you get stuck at any one of these stages during any of the assignments? If so, explain why.
4. Do you think any of the concepts or lessons covered in the course so far need additional clarification? How will this clarification help?
When you're done please email your responses to me. Please place your responses in the body of the message rather than as an attachment.
1. Which class lessons have had the most impact on your writing? Which ones have had the least? Why?
2. Have you found the draft workshops helpful? Why or why not? Do you have any suggestions about how the peer review process can be more efficient or productive?
3. Do you feel like the in-class assignments and draft workshops helped to move your writing through the conceptual, organizational, and surface-level stages? Did you get stuck at any one of these stages during any of the assignments? If so, explain why.
4. Do you think any of the concepts or lessons covered in the course so far need additional clarification? How will this clarification help?
When you're done please email your responses to me. Please place your responses in the body of the message rather than as an attachment.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Unit 1 Wrap-Up
Read the following article:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2012/10/shinya_yamanaka_s_nobel_prize_he_saved_embryos_not_just_stem_cell_research_.html
For each of the following items, work together in your groups to rate the author’s performance as weak, proficient, or strong. For each item, explain your answer by noting, for instance, how the thesis statement provides a roadmap and makes the topic meaningful, which style of introduction the author chooses, or how the author cites sources. Each group should create one Google Doc.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2012/10/shinya_yamanaka_s_nobel_prize_he_saved_embryos_not_just_stem_cell_research_.html
For each of the following items, work together in your groups to rate the author’s performance as weak, proficient, or strong. For each item, explain your answer by noting, for instance, how the thesis statement provides a roadmap and makes the topic meaningful, which style of introduction the author chooses, or how the author cites sources. Each group should create one Google Doc.
- Post has a strong thesis statement that makes a substantial claim about the topic, lays out a roadmap for the essay, and makes the topic meaningful for the blog’s audience
- Post is logically organized with a strong paragraph structure
- Post has a strong introduction that grabs the reader’s attention, introduces the topic, and transitions quickly to the main argument.
- Post successfully employs outside research to support the main claim
- Post successfully achieves a middle style tone appropriate for the blog’s audience
- Post achieves a strong, active voice by avoiding the over-use of “to be” verbs and prepositions
- Post cites sources appropriately
- Post is well-formatted and free of obvious errors in grammar, punctuation, etc.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Posting Your Unit 1 Project
It’s finally time to post your unit project to your blog! Before you post, exchange your draft with someone in your group and have them proofread it (i.e. checking for mistakes in spelling, grammar, etc.). Feel free to ask me if you have any grammar questions. Once your post is proofed and ready to go, log in to blogger.com and post it! Don’t forget to:
After your post is live, have another member of your group look it over, making one more check for spelling and grammatical mistakes and also checking for formatting problems and inconsistencies. Your post will be considered submitted at the end of the class period.
Turning in Your Other Assignments
Just to make sure that I have all of the work that you have completed for this unit, I want you to email me a list of links to the assignments you have completed on Google Docs. Here are the assignments I’m expecting:
First, make sure that each of your Google Docs is shared with my correct email address. Next, email me (at my gmail address) links to each of the documents where you completed the assignments. Since multiple assignments will be in some Google Docs, your list might be formatted like this:
http://www.google.com/drive/link#1
- begin by pasting in your text, selecting all of it, then clicking the remove formatting button (the T with the X over it). If you don’t complete this step you will almost certainly run into trouble formatting your post.
- give your post a substantive title (i.e. not “Unit 1 Project” or something similar)
- include your works cited list (formatted according to the style sheet your group created earlier this semester)
- credit any pictures or other multimedia content if their creative commons license requires attribution
After your post is live, have another member of your group look it over, making one more check for spelling and grammatical mistakes and also checking for formatting problems and inconsistencies. Your post will be considered submitted at the end of the class period.
Turning in Your Other Assignments
Just to make sure that I have all of the work that you have completed for this unit, I want you to email me a list of links to the assignments you have completed on Google Docs. Here are the assignments I’m expecting:
- Feeder 1.1
- Feeder 1.2
- Feeder 1.3
- Feeder 1.4
- Activity: Argument (analysis of 9/11 memorial article)
- Introduction to Draft Workshops (your group’s comments on the sample draft)
- Draft Workshop #1: Introduction (completed using the sample workshop questions above)
- Draft Workshop #2: Organization (retrospective outline)
- Draft Workshop #3: (these questions: http://lupton105032.blogspot.com/2012/09/draft-workshop-2-unit-1-project.html)
- Draft Workshop #4: Style (these questions: http://lupton105032.blogspot.com/2012/09/draft-workshop-style.html)
- Draft Workshop #5: Editing (rewriting the intro paragraph using the Paramedic Method)
First, make sure that each of your Google Docs is shared with my correct email address. Next, email me (at my gmail address) links to each of the documents where you completed the assignments. Since multiple assignments will be in some Google Docs, your list might be formatted like this:
http://www.google.com/drive/link#1
- Feeder 1.1
- Feeder 1.2
- Feeder 1.3
- Feeder 1.4
- Draft Workshop #1: Introduction (completed using the sample workshop questions above)
- Draft Workshop #2: Organization (retrospective outline)
etc.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Editing: The Paramedic Method
1. Circle the prepositions (of, in, about, for, onto, into)
2. Draw a box around the "is" verb forms
3. Ask, "Where's the action?"
4. Change the "action" into a simple verb
5. Move the doer into the subject (Who's kicking whom?)
6. Eliminate any unnecessary slow wind-ups
7. Eliminate any redundancies.
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