Posting Your VoiceThread to Your Blog

1. Go back to voicethread.unc.edu and click on the “My Voice” tab. Click on the VoiceThread you wish to post.

2. Click the menu icon at the top left of the screen then click “edit.” Click the button at the bottom of the screen that says “Playback Options” and enter 0 as the time to wait between slides and check the button that says “Start playing when opened.” Click the “Save” button.

3. Click the "Export" button at the bottom of the screen, then click the "export" button in the pop-up window.

4. You will need to wait for an email from VoiceThread saying that your video is ready to be downloaded. Once you receive this email, click the link and download the "HQ" version. It should save a Quicktime file to your computer.

5. Go to youtube.com and log in with your Google account. Click the upload button at the top of the screen.

6. Point it to the quicktime file you downloaded above and wait for the file to upload and process.

7. Once your video is available on Youtube, go to the video page, then click the button just below the video that says "share," then the button that says "embed." Copy the html code provided.

8. Log in to blogger.com and create a new post. Click the "HTML" button and paste in the code from the previous step. Click the "Compose" button and add your works cited list if necessary, then give your post a title and hit "Publish."

9. Make sure to check your blog to make sure everything posted correctly, and to watch your video to make sure there are no slides missing, in the wrong order, etc. 

10. Get through your finals and have a great summer!

Screencast: Assembling Your VoiceThread

Screencast: Splitting Your Audio into Multiple WAVs

Note: when exporting your files, choose "WAV" as the format rather than mp3.

Draft Workshop: Unit 3 Project Audio

This will be an entirely make-your-own workshop. Please give your partner at least 4 questions relevant to the issues you were working through as you composed. You can copy/paste questions from previous workshops or compose your own.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Draft Workshop: Unit 3 Project Script

1. Evaluate the author's introduction. Does it follow one of the strategies for effective introductions we talked about in class? Does it begin by telling the listener something s/he doesn't know?

2. Evaluate the author's thesis statement. Is it specific, i.e. does it focus on specific details of the artwork under analysis? Does it make a strong claim? Does it provide a road map for the rest of the script?

3. Does most of the author's script focus on the artwork at hand, or is too much time devoted to the contextual information?

Next, compose two additional questions that focus your reader's attention on issues that you have been dealing with as you composed this draft. You can copy/paste questions from previous workshops or compose your own.

4.

5.

Posting Your Unit 2 Project

Once you have uploaded the final version of your podcast to SoundCloud, click the "Share" button underneath the wave form, and copy the code in the box labeled "widget code." Next, log in to blogger.com and click the orange button to create a new post. Click the button labeled "HTML" and paste the code into the large box. Then, click the "Compose" button and add a works cited list or any other pertinent into below your podcast. If you run into any problems, both I and your group members are here to help you.

Collaborative Work on Unit 3

In your groups, each person should present their work on Unit 3 so far. Show the rest of the group an image of your piece from the Ackland as well as some of the contextual images you chose for Feeder 3.3. Tell them about your general impressions of the piece and listen to any feedback they might have about alternative ways to interpret the piece.

Once everyone has presented their feeder assignments, work collaboratively on your working thesis statements.

Sample VoiceThread

http://uncquartet.blogspot.com/2010/12/bruegel-protest-through-death.html

April 10: Full Podcast Audio Workshop

1. Does the podcast meet the assignment's length requirements? If it is too long or too short, suggest what material the author might add or subtract.

2. Do you zone out or does your attention stray at any point in the podcast? If so, how might the author fix this problem?

Now add at least two more questions of your own. You can re-use questions from previous workshops or you can ask the author to evaluate a specific issue or section of the podcast that you've been focusing on.

3.

4.

Draft Workshop: Results & Discussion Script

1. How has the author summarized the data that she or he collected in the experiment? Does this summary feel like an onslaught of numbers? Is it disorienting, or do can you process them all as the author is explaining them? How might he or she deal with this material more clearly?

2. Does the author restate clearly the original hypothesis and how the data proved or disproved that hypothesis? How could this information be better highlighted so that the listener will be sure not to miss it?

3. How does the podcast end? Is the ending effective? Why or why not?

4. How might the author interject another voice in a way that would make the podcast both clearer and more interesting?

5. What parts of the podcast do you think will be essential to highlight with music, sound effects, etc.? In other words, what are the most important transitional moments in the podcast? Does the author indicate how s/he will deal with these effectively? Suggest ways in which the use of music and sound effects might be improved.

Francis Bacon: Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion

Podcast Audio Workshop

Listen to your partner's podcast at least once without stopping, then answer the following questions in the Google Doc where that person kept his or her script.

1. Describe the author's implementation of the middle style. Is it a higher or lower take on the middle style? Does the author come off as a credible scientist? What aspects of the podcast contribute most to the author's voice? Be as specific as possible.

2. Do you zone out or become disoriented at any point in the podcast? At what point does the author lose your attention? Does s/he read too slowly or too quickly? Is the recording clear and easy to understand?

3. Describe how the author has implemented post-production techniques such as the addition of music, sound effects, etc. Do these help you to understand the content of the podcast or do they distract you from it?

4. Has the author done everything required for both the Introduction and Methods and Materials sections? Is this information clearly highlighted? Does the author do a good job of explaining the experiment without summarizing the results? Does the podcast sound too much or not enough like a proper scientific research report? What changes might the author make in order to enhance his or her credibility or come off as more approachable? 

Now, read these questions and then listen to the podcast again, thinking about how you will answer each question. If you need to listen again, rewind and listen to part of the podcast again. When you're done, answer these questions:

1. How does the author attempt to grab the reader's attention? Do you think the reader will be "hooked" within 10-15 seconds? Can the author's attention-getter be described as one of the more or less effective introductions we talked about? Explain your answer.

2. At what point does the author transition from the Introduction section to the Methods and Materials section? Describe how this transition takes place and how the author signals to the reader that s/he should be listening for a new idea. Identify any other transitions that are unclear or confusing. 

3. Is the hypothesis highlighted clearly? Can the author be absolutely sure that even a casual listener will understand the experiment's hypothesis? How does the author highlight this information? How might it be highlighted more clearly?

After you have answered all of these questions in the Google Doc, take 5 minutes to converse with your author, explaining both your answers to the questions as well as any more general or specific comments that didn't come up in your written feedback. Also, feel free to share any tips for using the recording software that the author might find helpful.

Homework: upload draft of your audio to soundcloud

Once your draft is completed, in Audacity go to File > Export. Choose a location for your file and choose WAV for the format. Click "OK" through any other options (the defaults should be fine), and you should have an audio file of your draft saved in the location you chose.

Go to soundcloud.com and sign up for a free account. Once you're logged in, click the "upload" button at the top of the page, then the "choose files" button and point it toward the file you saved in the step above.

Once your draft is uploaded, submit a link to it via the "Turn in Assignments" link on the course blog. Your link should look something like http://www.soundcloud.com/YOUR_SOUNDCLOUD_USERNAME/THE_NAME_OF_YOUR_PODCAST

Agenda for Easter Weekend

Today: 

• decide who you will exchange drafts with for the Podcast Script Workshop and decide when you will exchange drafts
• review the feedback you received in the data sheet workshop and make any necessary revisions
• email me a link to your data sheet so that I can approve it before you begin your experiment

Next:

• begin your experiment once you have my approval on your data sheet
• write the script for your Introduction and Methods and Materials sections
• complete the Podcast Script Workshop

Before the next class meeting:

• turn in your script workshop using the "Turn in Assignments" form
• review the feedback you got in the script workshop and make any necessary revisions

Podcast Script Workshop #1

1. How does the author attempt to grab the reader's attention? Does the author follow one of the strategies for effective introductions that we talked about in class? It will be helpful to think not just about what the author is saying--i.e. the words s/he is using them--but HOW s/he says them. Will there be music? Sound effects? Will these methods work? If we assume that a potential listener is going to give us 10 seconds of devoted attention before making up his or her mind about whether to listen, do you think this author will have grabbed the listener by that time? Why or why not?

2. When we listened to the RadioLab podcast we talked a lot about the ratio of scripted vs. unscripted content. What do you think that ratio will be in your partner's podcast? Do you think that ratio is appropriate given the tenets of the middle style? How might the author work in more unscripted content? How might the author integrate different voices, sounds, and other effects that might add dynamism to the finished product?

3. How does the author explain the experiment in the Methods and Materials section? How does the author deal with the problem of representing quantitative data orally? Do you think the listener will be able to understand precisely how the experiment works? Do you think the listener could repeated the experiment precisely him or herself? Suggest ways in which the author might make this Methods and Materials section clearer.

4. The draft should contain at least two main sections: Introduction and Methods and Materials. How does the author signals the transition between those two sections (or any others the podcast might include)? Do you think these transitions will be effective? Why or why not?

5. How has the author attempted to establish and maintain his or her scientific credibility? There is a fine line between being accessible and losing one's credibility; where does the author's voice and content reside on this line? If the author were to shoot for a slightly "higher" take on the middle style, how might the script change? Conversely, how would it change if the author were to go "lower?" 

Example Podcast Scripts

https://docs.google.com/document/d/125yiArwhNXUKzrpxt8vw4O9QeHrRGIAgW4g3dq_Tt90/edit

Model Podcast

Listen to the following podcast: 

http://uncquartet.blogspot.com/2010/11/charlottes-feeder-22.html

As you listen, think about your answers to the following questions:

What signals the listener that the author is beginning a new section or introducing a new idea?

How does the author deal with the problem of representing charts, graphs, etc. in the audio format? Do you think she is successful?

Evaluate the author’s introduction and hypothesis statement. Are they effective? Why or why not?

How has the author used music and sound effects to make the podcast clearer? Are there any sections that might have used these tools more effectively?

Does the author achieve an appropriate level of scientific credibility? Why or why not?

Workshop: Unit 2 Data Sheets

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:

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?

Audacity 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.)

Sample Data Sheets

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wtFqAdeVDpFB6-Un6a3uZA6yGEOmhqPnOLuLf0RUnZw/edit?hl=en_US

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LhEdfvSMNl76jckOUPyheqcLnjF1sfSzI29MyRA0AgU/edit?hl=en_US

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z2i3A0CRM_6t74NvN9xX8PiR4150BArsjJFpl6BwfSo/edit?hl=en_US

Lucy Podcast Discussion

Discuss the following questions in your groups. Write down your answers in a Google Doc (1 document per group) and submit it to me via the "Turn in Assignments" form. You may find it necessary to re-listen to parts of the podcast in order to answer some of these questions.

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?

Spring Break: RadioLab Assignment

We'll be working with the RadioLab podcast titled “Lucy.” You can listen to it here:

http://www.radiolab.org/2010/feb/19/

Note: the full podcast is about an hour long; some of the links will take you to an abbreviated, 20-minute version, but you should listen to the whole thing.

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 and when you are finished, turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link on the right-hand side of the page. The assignment is due by class time on Monday, March 18.

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.

• 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.

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?

When you are finished brainstorming, please turn in the Google Doc using the "Turn in Assignments" link.

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 Self-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.

Posting 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: 

• 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. Remember, these formatting issues are as big a part of your grade as your spelling and grammar! Your post will be considered submitted at the end of the class period.

Lesson: 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.

Sample draft:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BhDJ-E-atm0D7c1CIVOSytQneYSJA533EOgphD8cMhc/edit?usp=sharing

Draft Workshop: Style

Name:
2/20/13

1. All of your drafts are probably aiming for a middle style. Go through your partner's draft and highlight any words, sentences, or passages in which you think the essay deviates from a middle style (either by being too formal or too informal). If you have time, suggest ways in which the author might revise these sections in order to achieve a more appropriate tone for the assignment.

2. Since writing in the middle style is targeted at a fairly wide audience, unfamiliar terms and concepts need to be defined. Examine the essay and point out any terms that aren't defined that probably should be. For the terms that are defined, are these definitions clear and concise? Does the reader understand everything s/he needs to in order to understand the author's point?

3. Another aspect of the middle style is that it employs concrete nouns (rather than abstract nouns) and action verbs (rather than "to be" verbs). In general, does this essay feel concrete (that is, grounded in things you can see and touch) or abstract (that is, in the world of ideas) to you? Do you think the essay's level of abstraction is appropriate given the audience and the topic? Point out any specific passages in which you think the paper gets too abstract. If you have trouble locating these passages, try searching for "to be" verbs; they often cluster around these types of passages.

4. Did you notice any examples of contentious terms or insensitive language in the draft? If so, point them out and suggest how the writer might replace this with more sensitive language.

Draft Workshop: Organizational Concerns

Name:
2/18/12

1. In what order does the author present his or her supporting evidence (e.g. chronological, process order, cause-and-effect, etc.)? Is this the most appropriate order given the audience's level of understanding? Suggest at least one alternative way in which the essay might be organized.

2. Is there a sense of balance to my essay? Do I spend too long on any single point, or do I seem to rush through important parts? Does any section feel either redundant or underdeveloped?

3. Does each paragraph have a clear topic sentence? Does each topic sentence relate clearly back to the thesis? Does each paragraph deal with one idea and one idea only? Point out any points in the essay at which the paragraphing seems weak or confusing.

4. Does the essay have transitions that move the reader clearly from idea to the next? Does the writer make the relationship between the ideas clear with words that emphasize the essay's organization scheme (e.g. time-related words of the essay is organized chronologically, etc.)?

5. Does each paragraph fully explain its main idea? Do any paragraphs feel thin or under-developed? Point them out.

Draft Workshop: Retrospective Outline

Compose a retrospective outline of your partner's paper. Examine the outline for coherence, repetition, overall logic and transitions, and whether you answered the prompt. Write your notes and/or suggestions below the outline.

Second, assess whether the author's primary focus at this point should be conceptual concerns, organizational concerns, or surface-level concerns. Explain your answer with evidence from the draft.

Draft Workshop: Intro and Thesis Statement

Name:
Date:

1. Summarize, as briefly as possible, the author's main claim. Is it substantive? Could another person reasonably challenge or oppose it?

2. Which of the categories we talked about on Tuesday does the author's introduction fit into? Is it one of the more effective or less effective introductions? If it is one of the less effective introductions, suggest ways that the author might use one of the more effective introduction strategies.

3. A strong introduction should be concise; it should use one of the effective introduction strategies, then transition as quickly as possible to the thesis statement. Are there any sentences in the draft that are extraneous? Could the line between the introduction and the thesis statement be any straighter? If necessary, copy and paste the introduction paragraph below, deleting any sentences you find extraneous.

4. Scan the draft for any sentences that seem wordy or difficult to understand. Paste these sentences below and attempt to revise them, trying your best to use simple sentence forms in which a subject, strong action verb, and direct object come in that order.

5. Compose a list of TWO things that the author should do to improve his or her draft.

Intro to Draft Workshops

Read through the following draft:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IWWW1IZcjfHSAIKnodo1FGaNmlANp2oj-GydgpryrV0/edit

Next, discuss your answers to the following questions aloud in your groups. You do not need to write down your answers.

1. Summarize, as briefly as possible, the author's main claim. Is it substantive? Could another person reasonably challenge or oppose it?

2. Which of the categories we talked about on Tuesday does the author's introduction fit into? Is it one of the more effective or less effective introductions? If it is one of the less effective introductions, suggest ways that the author might use one of the more effective introduction strategies.

3. A strong introduction should be concise; it should use one of the effective introduction strategies, then transition as quickly as possible to the thesis statement. Are there any sentences in the draft that are extraneous? Could the line between the introduction and the thesis statement be any straighter? If necessary, copy and paste the introduction paragraph below, deleting any sentences you find extraneous.

4. Scan the draft for any sentences that seem wordy or difficult to understand. Paste these sentences below and attempt to revise them, trying your best to use simple sentence forms in which a subject, strong action verb, and direct object come in that order.

5. Compose a list of TWO things that the author should do to improve his or her draft.

Activity: Appeals

Read the following article from slate.com:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2010/09/the_privilege_of_prejudice.single.html

This article contains appeals of all three types: ethos, pathos, and logos. Work in your groups to identity at least one of each type of appeal in the article. Which of these appeals is most persuasive to you? Why do you think that is the case? In which order does the author present these appeals? Why do you think he chose that order?

Thesis Statements Activity

Read the following article:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2010/09/the_privilege_of_prejudice.single.html

Work together with your group members to paraphrase a strong thesis statement for this article. Your thesis statement should do each of the three things a good thesis statement should do.

Lesson: Citation Conventions

Go to the library's tutorial on citations and read the "Introduction" and "Why We Cite" sections:

http://www.lib.unc.edu/instruct/citations/index.html?page=why

STOP WHEN YOU GET TO SECTION ON APA

Good citations accomplish the following goals:

• They allow you to show how your argument is built upon the ideas of others. 
• They allow you to indicate which ideas are taken from others, and from whom those ideas were taken; in other words, to give credit where it's due. 
• They allow the interested reader to follow your argument and confirm its logic by investigating the ideas on which the argument is built, or to further explore those ideas on their own.

Activity: Your Blog's Citation Conventions

Using the formal APA, MLA, and Chicago styles (refer to the relevant sections on the Library's Citation Tutorial (http://www.lib.unc.edu/instruct/citations/) for details), work with your group members to draft a rationale for how and why you will cite your sources on your blog. Compose a short, 2-3 paragraph essay that explains:

1. Why your group thinks that citing sources is important.

2. How citations will be implemented on your blog. This should take the form of a rough style guide like this one for MLA format: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/. You need only explain the format for the types of references you anticipate using most on your blog.

3. A short rationale for how and why you chose the citation style you agreed upon.

Post this essay to your blog by class time on Wednesday, February 6.

Grading Rubrics

Rubric for in-class assignments 

0: The assignment was not completed or barely attempted.

1: The assignment was only partially completed; OR, the assignment was completed with only minimal effort and attention.

2: The assignment was completed satisfactorily, though the student may misunderstand one or more of the key concepts that the activity is meant to reinforce.

3: The assignment was completed satisfactorily. All tasks have been completed with thought, care, and attention to detail.

4: The assignment was completed in an exemplary fashion. The student has gone above and beyond the teacher’s expectations by devoting extraordinary time and effort to the assignment and/or producing innovative and thought-provoking work.

Rubric for workshops and feeders

0: The workshop was not completed.

2: The workshop was only partially completed; OR, the workshop was completed with only minimal effort and attention. The workshop partner has not received substantial information that will help him or her to improve the essay.

4: The workshop was completed with less than satisfactory effort. Answers to one or more draft workshop form questions are minimal or dismissive, and there is little evidence that the author has engaged seriously with the draft. The feedback provided will allow the workshop partner to make only surface-level or localized revisions.

6: The workshop was completed satisfactorily. The author has provided thoughtful answers to all draft workshop questions, and these questions should allow his or her workshop partner to make substantive and helpful revisions.

8: The workshop was completed with particular care and diligence. All answers to workshop questions are thoughtful, detailed, and well developed. Inline comments may also appear, pointing out issues not highlighted by the draft workshop form. The workshop partner can use this information to improve his or her essay substantially.

10: The workshop was completed in an exemplary fashion. All draft workshop questions have comprehensive, detailed answers that show not only attention to detail, but also a creative and innovative engagement with the workshop. Inline comments may also provide helpful feedback not related to the workshop questions. The workshop partner can use this information to drastically improve his or her essay.

Accessing Nature

Click here for instructions on how to access Nature through UNC’s Library web site:

http://engl1022010.blogspot.com/2010/01/instructions-for-accessing-nature.html

Take a few minutes to browse the editorials in recent issues. If you find an article you might consider using for your Feeder 1.1 assignment, write down the title, author, and issue number so that you can find it again later. Feel free to discuss articles with your group members as you find them.

If you find an article that you feel confident will work for your Unit 1 Project, you can go ahead and get started with Feeder 1.1.

Kindle Article

http://www.slate.com/id/2263787/

Activity: Slate 9/11 Memorial Article

http://www.slate.com/id/2302983/

Work together in groups of 4 or 5 to answer the following questions about this article: 

• What is the article's main claim? 
• What are the author's most important reasons presented in support of that claim? Identify at least 3. 
• Does the author offer any qualifications of his claim? 
• Can you identify any assumptions (stated or unstated) that a reader might disagree with? 
• Is the author's argument convincing? Why or why not? 

Write your answers collaboratively in a Google Doc and share it with my gmail address. Once you have completed the assignment, have one member of your group submit it via the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents.

Drafting General Introduction

In addition to your personal introductions, your blog should also include a general introduction in which you explain the overall goals of your blog, its target audience, and its subject matter. This blog should orient your readers, much like the introduction page of a book. Work together to brainstorm what your introduction should include and start working on the first draft in the Google Doc so everyone can see and edit it.

Draft Workshop: Introductory Post Assignment

After everyone has pasted their intros successfully, read each of them and then re-read your own introduction. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do all of the posts follow the same format? Are they of comparable lengths? Do they employ a similar authorial voice?

2. Are all of the posts consistent with the blog identity you talked about on Tuesday? Why or why not?

3. Did you notice any grammatical, spelling, or formatting errors in your or any of your groupmates' drafts?

Based on your answers to these questions, take 5 minutes or so to revise your introduction on the Google Doc.

Drafting Your Personal Introduction

As you know, your Introductory Post Assignment requires you to introduce each of the group members writing for your blog. Your homework this weekend is to compose a draft of your personal introduction. The length of the draft should be 1 substantial paragraph (probably around 5-7 sentences), and it should follow the rough plan for your blog that you and your group members decided on in class last week.

Once you have completed the draft, create a new Google Doc and make sure that it is shared with dlupton79@gmail.com (click the blue "share" button in the upper-right corner of Google Docs). Next, submit a link to the assignment using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents on the right-hand side of the course blog.

This assignment is due by the start of class on Wednesday, January 23.

Brainstorming Ideas for Your Blog

In your groups, start the conversation about what you want your blogs to look like. Please brainstorm on a new Google Doc shared with me and with all of your group members… it helps get ideas out without judging them. Here are some places you might start:

Who are you as authors? What do you and your group-mates have in common that might give the blog a coherent identity?

Who do you want to write to? What is this population like? What background information do they have? What assumptions or biases will they have?

How will you establish your credibility? Why should your audience trust you as authors? How will you convey this to your audience?

Another Science Blog: Superbug

Take a few minutes to check out the Superbug blog here:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/superbug

Think about how this blog presents itself differently than ScienceBlog.com, which we looked at last class. With your group, discuss any difference in how the author presents herself, the author’s target audience, and the main features and conventions of the text. We’ll discuss your findings as a class.

Facebook Activity

Get into groups of 2 or 3 within your regular workshop groups. Help one other person in your group find your Facebook profile. You can either friend the person so they can see all of your information, or you can leave them with only the information that non-friends can see. Once you have looked at one of your group members’ profiles, answer the following questions

Write at least four adjectives that describe this person based solely on their Facebook profile.

For each adjective, explain which parts of the profile led you to use the adjective you did.

Consider you are the administrator for a Study Abroad program trying to determine whether to admit the student. How would viewing their Facebook profile affect your decision? In this professional / academic context, do you view the student more or less favorably?

Type the answers to your questions in a new Google Doc and share it with me and the person whose profile you looked at. Title this document “Facebook Activity: [your name]” and post a link to it on the Sakai forum "12.01.16 - Facebook Activity."

Activity: Online Self-Presentation

Though you have only begun thinking about what your blogs will look like this semester, it’s never too early to begin thinking about self-presentation. Take 3-4 minutes to jot down thoughts about how you want to come across on your author page. Try to use the same kind of adjectives we used to describe the author of the blog we just talked about. If you get stuck, consider these questions. What kind of text are you writing? Who are your readers? Your answers to these questions (even if they change in the coming weeks) will help determine how you want to present yourself as an author. 

Once you come up with at least 4 or 5 adjectives, brainstorm a list of 2 or 3 ways in which you can create this impression in your readers. Post your work in a comment on this post.

Lesson: Online Self-Presentation

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/author/brandon9keim/

Discussion: Sciene Blog

http://www.scienceblog.com

Spend 5 minutes or so looking over the blog (you might read a few posts in full and scan through several) then discuss you answers to the following questions in your groups:

1.What were your first impressions when you clicked on the blog? Were you drawn in? Were you pushed away? Explain your answers.

2.What is the ratio of text to images and multimedia content on the blog’s front page? Do you think the blog has too much of one or the other? Why or why not?

3.What kind of audience is this blog for? Give me a quick character sketch of the blog’s prototypical reader… what are his or her other interests? What kind of background, etc.? Would you be friends with this person? How do you know this blog is for that person?

4.What do you think of the blog’s layout? Does it look up-to-date or does it look old? What do you think the web designer’s goals were? Do you think the site achieves these goals?

5.How would you characterize the tone of the writing on the site? Is it easy or difficult to understand? What age group or education level does the author seem to be writing for?

Activity: Finding a Blog

Go to google.com/blogsearch and find a blog post that you like. Try to search for specific things to find recent posts… so instead of searching for “Carolina Basketball” maybe search for “Carolina Clemson” to find analysis of last night’s game. To find a more recent post click “last day” or “last week” on the left hand side of the page.

Look at a bunch of different posts and blogs and try to find one that you would consider returning to regularly. Once you have decided on a post, copy and paste the following questions into the comment window on this post and answer them with a sentence or two each:

Name:

Link to your blog post: 

1.What did you search for to find this post?

2.What made you choose this post rather than others you looked at?

3.What kind of introduction does the post have? How does the writer try to hook his or her reader?

4.What do you think of the blog’s layout? Is it inviting or intimidating?

5.How does the blogger conceive of his or her audience? Is it for insiders or outsiders? What kinds of knowledge does the author assume of his or her reader? Are these assumptions true of you?

Diagnostic Writing Assignment

For your first assignment for this course, I would like you to write a short, impromptu essay about your personal history as a writer and your goals for this course. 

Begin by reading the following questions and thinking about them for at least a minute or two. Take your time both thinking about the questions and composing your response. You have until the end of the class period to finish your essay, but this should only take most of you around 10 minutes or so.  

• What role does writing play in your life? Do you write daily? Just for school? 

• Do you consider yourself a strong writer? What are your personal strengths and weaknesses? 

• How do you think writing is important to your long-term academic goals? 

• What writing courses have you taken? What did they teach you? What do you wish they taught you?

I will use these essays to place you into workgroups. You will remain in these workgroups for the entire semester and work with the other students to build and complete your blogs and workshop one another's writings. I do my best to create groups whose members share common interests, backgrounds, and goals, so the more you can tell me about your personal history and goals as a writer the more likely that you will be placed in a group that will help you to achieve these goals.

Unit 3 Assignments

As I mentioned in the Unit 1 assignment sequence, the humanities are often viewed as a set of disciplines based on personal opinion rather than fact. In this unit we will test this assumption, using the argumentative strategies we developed in units 1 and 2 to determine if there are such things as "proof" and "facts" in the humanities. You will present these arguments using software called VoiceThread, which will allow you to build on your podcasting skills by adding images to the mix.

Feeder 3.1: Gathering First Impressions

For your first feeder assignment, visit the Ackland Museum on campus and choose a piece of art that strikes you. Note that the Ackland Museum has strange hours, so consult their web page (http://www.ackland.org/Visit/index.htm) to make sure the museum will be open. You may want to choose a piece from the museum’s permanent collection, since digital images and other information is often unavailable for pieces in the temporary exhibits. 

After you choose a piece, spend at least five minutes or so studying the piece. Try just looking at it without taking notes; as you spend time with the piece, you will probably notice many details that did not strike you at first glance.

Next, spend a few minutes free-writing about your impressions of the piece. Write down anything that occurs to you... feelings that the piece evokes, details that you might not understand, connections to topics you already know about, etc. Fill at least one typed page with your thoughts. You don’t need to shape this into a coherent essay, just a list of notes or impressions that occur to you while you’re looking at the piece.

Place your final document in a Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents.

Feeder 3.2: Background Research / Exploring Contexts

For your Unit 3 Project you will be asked to make an argument about how your piece fits into a particular artistic, social, historical, or cultural context. For Feeder 3.2, you will begin exploring these contexts in much the same way you did in Feeder 1.1. Begin by brainstorming a list of at least 4 key terms that will allow you to explore the artwork’s various contexts. These might include:

• the artist’s wider body of work
• movements or schools with which the artist is associated
• significant buildings, people, or characters depicted in the piece
• significant cultural events occurring as the piece was being created or in the time period it depicts

For each term, write a concise, one-paragraph explanation of the term and its significance in clear, straightforward language and include a list of at least two links to reliable sources that explain the topic further, along with a short, 1-2 sentence explanation of the source and its significance. These should be formatted similarly to your Feeder 1.1 assignments.

Place your final document in a Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents.

Feeder 3.3: Collecting Visual Contexts

In Unit 3 we are working with visual art, so we must go beyond just finding written contexts. For this assignment find at least 5 images that relate to the contexts you explored in Feeder 3.2. For each image, write a concise, one-paragraph explanation of its significance in clear, straightforward language, including an explanation of how the image relates to the piece of art you chose in Feeder 3.1.

Paste these images and your explanations in a Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents.

Feeder 3.4: Working Thesis Statement

Next, review the research you collected in the earlier feeder assignments and begin brainstorming claims you might make about the relationship between your artwork and a specific social, cultural, historical, or artistic context. Think about how the artist is attempting to have an impact on the world: who is he or she talking two, what is s/he trying to say, and how is s/he saying it? Once you have decided on a claim, shape it into a working thesis statement. As we talked about in Unit 1, a strong thesis statement should:

• Introduce your essay’s central claim
• Provide a road map for how your argument will unfold
• Describe the stakes of your argument, i.e. why it matters to your readers

As we also noted in class, your thesis statement may be composed of more than one sentence, but it should be as concise as possible.

Place your final document in a Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents.

Feeder 3.5: Outline / Script for Your VoiceThread

Now that you have a working thesis statement, it’s time to begin constructing an outline/script for your VoiceThread. This document will be constructed in much the same way as your Feeder 2.5 assignment, but rather than following the format for a scientific research report, you will be following the format of an argumentative essay. As with your Unit 2 podcast, your VoiceThread should contain a strong introduction, a mix of scripted/extemporaneous speaking, and transitional music / sound effects to orient the viewer, but you are not required to use other voices for this assignment.

Place your final document in a Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents. Since your VoiceThread will be 4-6 minutes long, your outline should be about 3-4 pages in length.

Feeder 3.6: Recording Audio

For the next feeder assignment you will record the audio for your VoiceThread. Record the audio using the same tools and skills you used to record your podcast for Unit 2, and I will explain in class how to export the audio and construct your VoiceThread.

Unit 3 Project

For your Unit 3 Project you will create a 4-6-minute VoiceThread video presentation in which you make and support a claim that, in the piece you selected, the artist has attempted to make a statement about a particular social, historical, cultural, or aesthetic context. In addition to historical, biographical, or other contextual information, your VoiceThread should contain a sustained analysis of the piece's formal qualities. At least 40-50% of your VoiceThread should be devoted to analyzing the artwork directly.

A successful VoiceThread will (in order of importance):

1. be focused around a sophisticated, surprising thesis about the author's political, social or aesthetic motivations.

2. include thoughtful, sustained analysis of the chosen piece of art.

3. include background information and other research that helps the viewer understand this context more fully

4. contain a strong introduction that follows one of the patterns for strong introductions that we discussed in class

5. be delivered in a lively, engaging and authoritative style

6. Be free of errors in spelling and grammar as well as visual formatting

Unit 2 Assignments

In unit 2 you will be using the research methods of behavioral psychology to perform a case study with yourself as the subject. After performing this experiment on yourself, you will shape your findings into a podcast that tracks your progress and tests your original hypothesis.

Feeder 2.1: Establishing a baseline

For your first feeder assignment, you will choose a behavior that you would like to modify and begin thinking critically about what role this behavior plays in your life. First, choose a behavior that you would like to increase or decrease in frequency or duration. Though many people choose to modify a behavior that will improve their health or productivity, you can modify your behavior in any way that is not harmful to yourself or others. 

Next, you will begin thinking critically about your behavior by keeping a journal documenting that behavior and establishing a rough baseline. Choose a three-day period in which you will begin tracking your behavior, and each evening at roughly the same time answer the following questions:

• Roughly how many times or for how long did you do the behavior?
• When were you likely (or not likely) to display the behavior?
• What benefits (socially, psychologically, etc.) did you get from displaying the behavior?

You should answer each of the three questions three times, once for each day. At the end of the three-day period, you should begin thinking about how you will change your behavior. In order to start this process, answer the following questions:

• What activities, people, or treats might motivate you to change your behavior?
• What kinds of rewards are you able to offer yourself for changing your behavior? (brainstorm at least of at least 4)
• What kinds of rewards are you able to deny yourself? (brainstorm a list of at least 4)

Place your final document in a Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents.

Feeder 2.2: Researching Your Behavior

For your next feeder assignment, you will compose an annotated bibliography of at least four credible sources related to your behavior. Since the behaviors each of you will modify will be very different, your sources will be as well. If you choose to modify a conventional behavior such as dieting, exercise, or studying you will find a wealth of material that relate to these topics directly; if you choose a different kind of behavior, your sources may be more unconventional. Unlike your annotated bibliography from Unit 1, all of your sources do not have to be argumentative, but all of them must be credible and they must relate to your topic in some way (such as the topic of behavior modification in general, background sources about your behavior and its effects, etc.).

For each entry in your annotated bibliography, begin by constructing an MLA citation of the source. Underneath this citation, write a short (4-5 sentence) analysis of the source, including its main claim (if it has one), its most important evidence, and its relevance to your topic.

Place your final document in a Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents.

Feeder 2.3: Formulating a Hypothesis

After you have completed the first two feeder assignments it’s time to begin thinking about your experiment. The first step is to come up with a working hypothesis statement. Much like a thesis statement, a hypothesis statement will introduce the topic of your study, provide a roadmap for how it will unfold, and explain the significance of your experiment to your target audience. However, whereas a thesis statement introduces a central claim about your topic, your hypothesis statement will include a prediction about what will happen in your study. More specifically, this prediction will posit a relationship between your independent and dependent variables. We will talk more about what this means in class.

Place your final document in a Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents.

Feeder 2.4: Designing Your Experiment

Now that you have a working hypothesis and a deeper understanding of your behavior (both through primary observation and consultation of secondary sources), it’s time to begin designing your experiment. We will talk extensively in class about how to conduct a valid scientific experiment, and it is expected that you will follow all of these guidelines in your own study.

The first step will be to decide on the rewards and/or punishments that you will use to reinforce your behavior. You began thinking about this in Feeder 2.1, and now it’s time to decide which rewards and/or punishments are most likely to motivate a change in behavior. Finalize your system of rewards and punishments and decide how they will be implemented. Write a paragraph describing your system and place it in the Google Doc with your other Unit 2 feeder assignments.

Next, you will design the form that you will use to collect your data during your experiment. A few things to consider here:

• your data sheet must contain a significant quantitative component; we will talk about the differences between quantitative and qualitative data in class. You will probably also want to include a qualitative component as well, though this is not required
• you must fill out your data sheet at least once per day during the experiment; for frequently recurring behaviors, you may design a data sheet that requires you to fill it out more than once per day
• the data you collect must be targeted toward directly proving or disproving your hypothesis; there are likely many interesting aspects of your behavior that you may wish to track, but you must ensure that you collect data that directly relates to your hypothesis
• your data sheet must also include information about your rewards and/or punishments, including if and how they were administered; you may also want to collect data about whether and how these incentives motivated you
• We will workshop your data sheets extensively in class, but each data sheet must be approved by me before you begin your experiment. I can approve data sheets either during class time or via email. Failure to get approval for your data sheet will negatively affect your Unit 2 grade.
• Upload your data sheet to Google Docs and title your document “[your name]’s Unit 2 data sheet.” Make sure that the document is shared with my correct email address.
• After your data sheet is approved and you have completed Feeder 2.1-2.4 you may conduct your experiment. You must collect data for at least 6 consecutive days.

Feeder 2.5: Beginning to Construct Your Podcast

As we will discuss in detail in class, a standard scientific research report has four parts:

• Introduction
• Methods & Materials
• Results
• Conclusion

Your Unit 2 Project podcast will contain all four of these sections as well, though they may be formatted somewhat differently given the different medium (i.e. podcasting) and the specific target audience you have identified for your blog. As you are conducting your experiment you can get get started on the first two sections of the podcast. After your experiment has been completed you can begin work on the other two sections.

For your Feeder 2.5 assignment, you will compose an outline / script for your Unit 2 Project podcast. For guidelines on what should be included in each section, consult your notes from my two presentations on writing a scientific research report. Some things to consider as you compose:

• Your introduction should follow all of the guidelines for strong introductions that we have already discussed in class
• Some parts of your podcast will be strictly scripted, while others will require you to speak extemporaneously; in your outline/script, you should work toward writing out exactly what you will say for the scripted sections (important / detailed information such as the explanation of your hypothesis, your introduction, and your results section), while impromptu sections will only be a rough outline
• You should be careful how you explain / relate the quantitative information in your podcasts; long lists of numbers are difficult to process without visual aids, so consider carefully how you will convey this information in a way that the reader can understand
• In your conclusion section, you should confirm or deny whether your hypothesis was supported (avoid overly strong language such as stating that your hypothesis was “proven”), as well as a re-evaluation / re-formulation of your hypothesis if necessary
• You will want to include markers / descriptions for transitional music, sound effects, and other audio effects that will make your podcast easier to understand and more exciting to listen to

Place your finished outline / script in the Google Doc, share it with my gmail address, and when you have completed the assignment turn it in using the "Turn in Assignments" link under Course Documents. Since your Podcast will be 4-6 minutes long, your outline should be about 3-4 pages in length.

Feeder 2.6: Adding Other Voices

As we noted at several points in class, listening to the same voice for several minutes in a row can be quite boring. Brainstorm ways that you might include other voices besides your own. Some ideas include giving your podcast a co-host, interviewing a friend who is directly affected by your behavior, or interviewing an expert on your behavior or on behavior modification in general. Your podcast must contain at least one voice that is not your own.

After deciding how you will introduce other voices into your podcast, revise your outline/script to indicate where these other voices will appear and, if necessary, conduct the interviews themselves and record the audio using your computer or smartphone. You do not need to submit anything for this assignment, but you will be assigned a grade for Feeder 2.6 based on how well you integrated others’ voices into your podcast.

Unit 2 Project: Behavior Modification Study Podcast

After you have completed the feeder assignments it’s time to begin constructing your podcast. The final version should be 6-10 minutes long and should contain each of the four standard sections for a scientific research report (all clearly demarcated), at least one voice other than your own, and transitional music and/or sound effects to help orient your listener. 

A successful podcast will (in order of importance):

1. contain a clear, original and interesting hypothesis that posits a clear relationship between the independent and dependent variables

2. contain each of the four sections of a standard scientific research report, each of them clearly demarcated; each section will contain the proper information as discussed in class

3. be designed in a manner that adequately confirms or denies the study’s hypothesis

4. contain a strong introduction that adheres to one of the strategies for effective introductions that we outlined in class

5. include background information / research about the topic that helps the listener understand the topic better and establishes the author’s credibility

6. convey the experiment’s results in a clear, digestible manner

7. honestly assess the strengths and weaknesses of the study and re-evaluate the hypothesis if necessary

8. make use of at least two different voices in a way that makes the podcast both more exciting and easier to understand

9. make effective use of sound effects and transitional music to orient the listener

10. be delivered in a clear speaking manner that is appropriate to the blog's target audience.