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.