Grades

Hi all,

I was able to soldier through and finish grading your final presentations early. I also graded the annotated bibliographies I received from students for whom an extra 5 or 10 points would change their final grade.

Tomorrow (Friday) will be the absolute last day that I will accept any work. Hopefully you have been keeping track of your grades, and if your number doesn't match mine, you need to contact me ASAP.

Please also take a moment to take the Post test if you haven't already. This is not graded and totally anonymous. I just want to get an idea of how you've all progressed from the beginning of the semester to now. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDd2Nnk1Y3RzZnZudGxlY3ExMkpQRmc6MA#gid=0


All best,
Jessica

Best of luck to you all!

Hi all,

Thank you for being such a lovely class this semester. I enjoyed working with each one of you, and I hope that you will all stay in touch.

I am aiming to have all of your grades entered in to CourseDen this weekend (everything should be up there except for the final). I'll try to post an update here when the grading is done. Remember that your total points are out of 700.

Let me know if you have any questions.

All best,
Jessica

LIBR 1101 Post Test

Hi all,

Once we finish our presentations today, you will take the LIBR 1101 post test (remember that pre test you took on the very first day?)

It is all the same questions as the first test and also like the first test you will not be graded on it. In fact, it will be completely anonymous!

Here is the link to access the Post Test: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDd2Nnk1Y3RzZnZudGxlY3ExMkpQRmc6MA#gid=0

All best,
Jessica

Send me your group's presentation BEFORE class tomorrow

Hi all,

A final reminder that our class meets tomorrow from 11am-1:30pm. If I do not have your presentation before class tomorrow, I will take points off.

Also remember that you will need to print out your research project outline and bring it to class tomorrow.

Best,
Jessisca

Final Presentations 11am on Wednesday, December 5th! (also, info on grades!)

Hi all,

Your final presentations will begin at 11am on Wednesday, December 5th. Make sure that one member of your group emails me a link to your powerpoint presentation before class that day.

On Wednesday, you will need to turn in to me:

--Your outline (you can find directions for this on the assignment instructions I passed out Monday)
--Your revised annotated bibliography (this offer is only good if you were in class on Wednesday.)

Your grades have been updated as well to reflect the annotated bibliography grade as well as your  class participate grade. The highest you can have for the latter is 25 points. These points come from being present on certain days, active in class and 5 points is for responding to my blog post a couple of months ago.

I'll update grades again on Sunday after you turn in your last blog post.

The most points you can have in class is now a 540.

Best,
Jessica

Directions for Final Panel Presentation

Hi all,

Here is a link to the directions for your final presentation. To do well on this assignment, you will need to review these directions very closely. You will give these presentations on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 11:00-1:30 pm .Here is a list of what you will need to turn in to me for the final presentation:

1. One member of your group will need to email a link to your revised slideshare powerpoint presentation BEFORE class on Dec 5th. Every group needed to revise things on their powerpoints--you will get points off if you just send me the same powerpoint you did before.

2. Each member of your group will do a peer review for the same group you reviewed previously. I will give you a similar sheet to fill out. Give this to me at the end of class on Dec 5th

3. In addition to the presentation, each member of your group will individually have to turn in an outline that will be the final product of your actual research; that is, it will demonstrate your findings, as opposed to your specific research methods.We will work on this in class on November 26th (look in the directions for the final presentation to get information on how to format this.) It will be due at the end of class on Dec 5th.

Review the directions for the assignment before you ask me questions, chances are the directions will answer your question.

Best,
Jessica

Final Blog Post due this week (Prompt is up!)

Hi all,

This blog post is due before 11:59 on Saturday. You do not need to worry about word counts, and you do not have to respond to a classmate this week. This is your last blog post, and many of you need these points so I encourage you to be thoughtful with this assignment:

Week 15:

Blog Post:  http://www.garrreynolds.com/Presentation/prep.html

After reviewing the website above and taking into account the feedback you've given and received, create a detailed grading rubric for your panel presentations. A grading rubric is a description of what is being graded and how many points each aspect of the assignment is worth. Review the assignment directions as you put your rubric together: Link to Final Presentation Directions

In your revised grading rubric, think about what makes a good presentation--what kind of presentations do you enjoy watching, and why?

Here is an example of a grading rubric--it is what I’m using to grade your annotated bibliographies:

Grading Rubric:

Overall document format (margins, spacing, heading, sources are alphabetized)	5 points
-formatted correctly in MLA or APA format -all required resources are present	10 points
-Chosen source is credible -Source is appropriate for the topic	15 points
-Annotations are at least four sentences: at least two sentences to summarize, with the summary being an accurate reflection of the source, and in the student’s own words at least two sentences to discuss how resources will be used, a thoughtful discussion of how the resource either confirms or challenges the student’s position. This discussion will not receive points if the student answers too simply, (something to the effect of, “This is a useful source because it will help me make my argument”--HOW specifically will it help you make your argument?)	20 points

Annotated Bibliographies now late

Hello all,

If I do not currently have your bibliography, it is now late. You will receive 10 points off for every day I do not have it (which means that it is now worth a maximum of 40 points.) Please email me this assignment as soon as possible.

Best,
Jessica

Annotated Bibliographies due today

Hi all,

Make sure you email your annotated bibliographies to me by the end of the day.

Best,
Jessica

Link to OWL at Purdue

Also on CourseDen:

SAMPLE MLA works cited page: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/

Jessica

Grade updates

Hi all,

Your blog grades are updated. The highest grade you can now have on this assignment is an 80. 


I've made an executive decision based partly on the quality of your peer reviews for the last presentation to give everyone in class the final three points for blog responses. If you've been doing these responses every week, you'll notice that that puts you at an 11/10 for this assignment.


Your grades for your State of the Presentation Presentation are also now up in the grade book.

If you are keeping track of your grades (and I hope you are!) you'll see that the highest total grade that you can now have is a 480, which means that there are still 220 points up for grabs (there is a total of 700 points for the course)

I will give you a heads up that I will not be grading your annotated bibliography or your final panel presentations lightly, due in part to the fact that you have had an opportunity to practice and get feedback and that you'll have a fair amount of time to refine each both in- and out of class.

All best,
Jessica

Annotated Bibliographies

Hi all,

Please hold off with giving me your annotated bibliographies. As I mentioned in class several times, we are working on them in class today and you'll need to make changes based off the feedback you get on your preliminary bibliography. You will almost certainly be given more time this week to complete this assignment so it is perfect.

Jessica

Great feedback

Hi all,

Just wanted to pop my head in quickly and applaud you all on the feedback that you are giving your peers. I am really really impressed with how thoughtful, respectful, and constructive it is.

I'm going to give each group a summary of this feedback (so you will stay anonymous) in class on Wednesday!

Thanks again for supporting your classmates!

Best,
Jessica

This week's blog post

Hi all,

You have one blog post this week, due before class on Wednesday:

Visit the OWL at Purdue's website on Annotated Bibliographies here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

(While you are at the OWL website, read up on citations!)

In at least 200 words, discuss: 

What is an annotated bibliography? Why do you have to write one for this class?

At the end of class on Monday, you'll be given directions for your Annotated Bibliography, which is also due this week.

Best,
Jessica

Presentation Info--Read! (Due Dates)

Hi all,

We are starting our State of the Presentation presentations on Wednesday. Monday will be dedicated to working on said project and on the Research Portfolios that are due this week. Here's a schedule of when your stuff needs to turned in:

Research Portfolios (images AND websites) Before class on Wednesday, November 7. 
Preliminary Bibliography: Beginning of class on Wednesday, November 7
Presentation: Slideshare link emailed to me BEFORE class on Wednesday, November 7
Peer Review Sheet: At the end of class on the day you DO NOT present (so, either Wednesday, Nov 7 or Monday Nov 12)

You'll be delivering your presentations on the following days:

WED:
Nat, Zach, Megan, Candace
Kadarius, Sharifah, Collin
Michelle, Rashad, Bobby, Kayla

MON:
Tory, Paige, Dajane, Brittany
Amber, Kameron, A'Olyian, Chanel
Vann, Caleb, Justin, Michael

Other sources for your images

Hi all,

We'll touch on this on Monday, but the images you use for your research portfolio (and later presentation) will need to be photos that you in some way have the right to use, be it through creative (or some other kind of) commons, public domain, or something similar.

Dean showed you all flickr, which is a fantastic site for finding creative commons licensed images. You might also want to check out some of these:

Creative Commons search: http://search.creativecommons.org/

Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/
Geek Philosopher (free stock photos--you can also google "free stock photos" for more sites: http://www.geekphilosopher.com/GeekPhilosopher.com/photos/photos.aspx

All best,
Jessica

No Blog posts this week (2 research portfolios, though!)

Hi all,

Outside of the two research portfolios that you have to post on your blog this week before Presentations on Wednesday, you do not have any blog posts, nor do you have to respond to a classmate this week. Take that time to work on your presentations.

Best,
Jessica

Research Portfolio(s) (and quiz)

Hi all,

I'm going to give you some extra time to post your research portfolio from last week, and you'll need to update your research portfolio this coming week as well. Here are the two prompts:

1. Find at least one image that you would use in a presentation about your topic and cite it correctly. Also find an additional resource you’d use in your research project (it can be anything!) and include an annotation summarizing the article and how you plan to use it in your research project.

2. Monday, November 5th: Find at least two credible websites (so, you’ve evaluated them, using our CURRA evaluation criteria) and cite them. Include annotations for each website summarizing the content of the website and how you plan to use it in your research project.

These do not have word count requirements. You'll want to have both of these done before class on Wednesday, November 7th because you'll be using these research portfolios for your coming presentation. We'll be working on Monday's research portfolio in class.

We'll be working on your presentations in class on Monday as well, and i'll be happy to answer any questions you have.

I'm also keeping the quiz open a little bit longer, so make sure to take it before class on Monday. It is in CourseDen under "assessments" and also in the week 11-13 folder.

Best,
Jessica

Quiz #6

Hi all,

Quiz #6 will be an online (on CourseDen), open-book quiz. It will be a little different than the other quizzes in that anything we've talked about this semester is fair game. That said, it will almost certainly include using images, and the directions for the State of the Presentation presentations that you'll have to do soon. This quiz will be live on Wednesday, Oct 31 and due Saturday November 3rd by midnight.

Best,
Jessica

Blog Prompt 10/29 (and a few updates on the research portfolio. Please Read.)

Hi all,

I was sick last week so there were a few things that got by me. One was a blog post whose prompt I did not post here (but did post on CourseDen). This is my fault, and because of that I am going to give it to you as a freebie.

Here is your prompt for Monday, and it is the only blog you'll have this week:


Please listen to this episode of On the Media: "The Facebook Show": http://www.onthemedia.org/2012/feb/03/
As a citizen of the nation of Facebook (or "Facebookistan"), what are your rights and responsibilities? How does this podcast--and a larger discussion of social media, which includes using blogs--fit within this class?

I also forgot to mention that I pushed back your research portfolio entry. You'll have one this coming week (I'll post the prompt on Wednesday, October 31) and another the following week, Monday, November 5th which you will do in class.

Sorry about that! Let me know if you have any questions.

All best,
Jessica

Blog Prompt 10/22

Google and facebook are integral parts of many of our lives--many people in this class have expressed the idea that "Google has everything", and that is a popular belief.

Even though we count on these sites to provide us with information, we often don't understand how they actually function, or, for that matter, the ways they potentially manipulate us.

Watch this video about online "filter bubbles" and answer the questions below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s

--What is a filter bubble?
--What are the potential personal drawbacks of these filter bubbles?
--What are the potential problems these filter bubbles might cause for your academic research?
--What are some filter bubbles that you've noticed in your own life?

Grades Updated

Hi all--

Grades have been updated through last week (Week 9, which was Rhetoric/Plagiarism,etc). Here's the highest you can have:

Research Portfolio: 30 points (only 2 more!)
Blog Responses: 9 (There are 2 more here, but responses are worth 10 points in all. That means 1 is a freebie, or an opportunity to make up a missed point.)
Blog Posts: 65 (only 5 more blogs, or 25 points, left to go! There's a lot of you who need all of these points.)
In-Class: 80 (only 2 more! Make sure you are here!)

I hope you are all keeping track of your points. If you got points off, you probably didn't meet the word requirement and/or post your word count as directed. Let me know if your number is different than mine.

I encourage you all to make concerted efforts to get the remainder of points in this class, especially if you have missed blog posts or in-class assignments. Those points add up much quicker than you probably realize.

Best,
Jessica

More info on your upcoming presentations

Hi all,

In class today we discussed your upcoming presentation (which is a draft of what will become your final presentation.) These presentations will be held on November 7 and November 12.

You will have Monday, November 5 to work on these presentations in class. There is, however, a good chance that I will not be there that day so make sure to ask any questions you have sooner rather than later. This will not be an optional day--you'll have an in-class assignment that you have to complete.

Here are the directions for this assignment: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17dbC3f35wKSIfS-udkDh5bMESdH4N3sXrvBw68KyV_E/edit

Read them, and then read them again, and then ask questions.

Best,
Jessica

Wednesday Blog Post (10/17)

Hi all,

Here is the blog prompt for Wednesday:

Read the two articles (one from NPR, one from New York Times)  and scan through the website that discusses different kinds of plagiarism (these are all posted on CourseDen.) 

With all that in mind, discuss in your own words what you consider to be plagiarism. (If you take a direct definition from the source--cite it! If you don’t cite from here on out, you will not get any points on the offending assignment) You might want to include a discussion of the different kinds of plagiarism. What can you do to prevent plagiarism? Include in your discussion something from one of your readings that surprised you.

Best,
Jessica

Blog Prompt for Wednesday (10/17)

Hello all, 

Here is your blog prompt for Wednesday. Remember to respond to a classmate by Friday!: 

Read the two articles (one from NPR, one from New York Times) and scan through the website that discusses different kinds of plagiarism. With all that in mind, discuss in your own words what you consider to be plagiarism. (If you take a direct definition from the source--cite it! If you don’t from here on out, you will not get any points on that assignment) You might want to include a discussion of the different kinds of plagiarism. What can you do to prevent plagiarism? Include in your discussion something from one of your readings that surprised you.

Best,
Jessica

Blog Prompt for 10/15 (Monday)

Hi all, 

Here is your blog prompt for Monday, October 15th. I'll quickly note here that if you haven't been doing these blogs regularly, you might want to start. Those missing points add up faster than you'd think. Also note that if you turn in a post after I grade on Sunday (and I could grade them at any time!) They will not be counted.


PROMPT: Watch or listen to at least 30 minutes of a news show or something similar--or better yet, of the presidential debate on Tuesday!--and find at least one example of the use of a rhetorical device (choose from the list on your handout.) Discuss how the device was used and what you believe it was trying to do (what was it trying to convince you of?)

If you are having trouble finding something on your news show, feel free to analyze commercials! Anything that is trying to in some way persuade you of something should have rhetorical tricks a plenty.
If you don’t have a tv, use some of your newfound searching skills and find a radio program or podcast or tv show that is online. 

If you lose your handout, you can find these rhetorical devices (also called "logical fallacies" here: http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
 

Best,
Jessica

Great job, all!

Hi class,

I just wanted to poke my head in quickly and say that I'm looking through your blogs from this week and many of you are doing a really nice job of finding new database resources, thinking critically about the experience, and employing the concepts we've been working on in class. I also meant to complement you all last class about how well you did on the last quiz--most of you hit it out of the park!

Now, I say this not having yet graded your quizzes from yesterday, but regardless of how that shakes out, you deserve kudos for good work. Keep it up!!

Best,
Jessica

Research Portfolio (10/10)

Hi All, 

Your research portfolio entry this week is as follows: 

Now that you’ve done some research, the focus of your research question might have changed. Post your research question here as well as a summary of what your argument is going to be. You have books and articles so far, so also discuss what other kinds of information you need to make your argument. Aim for at least 200 words on this one.

More more info on the research portfolio, go here: Research Portfolio Directions 

Blog Prompt (10/8)

Hi all,

Here is the blog prompt for today. You will have a research portfolio entry on Wednesday. Remember to post your word count and respond to a classmate by Friday. 

Find your major discipline in GALILEO (or a discipline that you are interested in) and search that subject page for a database you’ve never worked in before. Do a search in that database. What do you think of the results you got? What is the difference between searching in a subject specific database and in Discovery (the tool that searches a bunch of databases at once)? When do you think you’d want to use one over the other?

Best,
Jessica

Research Portfolio (10/3)

Hi all, 

Today we'll be working on our research portfolio. Here are the directions for today's entry: 

Post at least two articles (one scholarly, one popular) related to your topic. Including a citation in either MLA or APA and an annotation summarizing each article (1-2 sentences) and how you plan to use it in your research project (2-3 sentences.)

It would be useful to you down the road to include summaries that are in your own words. You will not be able to use summaries that are copied from the resource itself in your annotated bibliography.

Best,
Jessica

Blog Post (Monday 10/1)

Hi all, 

Here is the prompt for your blog post this week: 

Review the video on GALILEO that is in CourseDen. (You can also view it here) In your own words, what is GALILEO and how does it organize information? What is a database and how does it organize information? 

I will grade these posts on Sunday, so make sure your post is in by then. If you turn your post in after I grade, it is too late.

Make sure you include a word count, and that you respond to a classmate by Friday.

Best,
Jessica

Updated Grades (and info about your next quiz!)

Hi all,

Your grades have been updated in the Gradebook. Please take note:

The highest Blog grade you can now have is a 45
The highest blog responses grade you can now have is a 6. 
The highest extra credit grade you can have is a 10. If you have less than that, it is because, more than likely, you summarized the arguments each side made instead of analyzing how they used research to make those arguments.
The highest research portfolio grade you can have is a 10. If you have less than that and you turned in the assignment, chances are you did not include citations, you included resources that weren't books, or you didn't include enough books.
The highest participation grade you can now have is a 5. If you don't have a 5 and you submitted the email assignment, it might be because you submitted the incorrect words or because you submitted to the incorrect email address--part of this assignment was how well you read and followed directions. 


Let me know if the numbers for your grades don't match up with mine.

Your quiz this week will be online and open book. It will be open tomorrow on CourseDen and closed on Tuesday evening.

Best,
Jessica

A note about class

Hi all,

I am a little concerned that you all are not reading the assignment instructions or blogs that I post. I am certainly always happy to answer any questions if you are confused--please do not hesitate to ask them--but do make an effort to keep up with your assignments and readings in class. When I explain things, make a concerted effort to listen, and to ask for clarification in the moment.

Remember that I have office hours Monday and Wednesday right before class (and at other times by appointment) if you need help.

In terms of due dates, you all should know by now that I am not unreasonable here. My concern is not necessarily WHEN you learn something but THAT you learn something. Almost everything we do in class is due the day of class so that you are processing information when it is fresh in your mind, and also to make sure that you do not wait until the last minute to do things. That said, your blogs and your research portfolio entries are more or less due before Sunday, because that is when I grade them. Anything posted after I grade Sunday, though, won't be counted. I have to have these dates for logistical, fairness, and personal sanity-related reasons.

Ask for help before you let yourself get frustrated or lost, and take responsibility for your part in this learning process by reading through class material and reflecting on it. This responsibility is a part of your overall class participation grade. With that in mind...

Please do the following:
-Reread the instructions for the research portfolio. Find the sentence that begins with "Each entry into your research portfolio...". What are the last four words of that sentence? Email them to me at
at jcritten@westga.edu by 11:59 Friday 9/28. To be clear, you are finishing the sentence from the Research Portfolio Instructions, and emailing those four words to me at the listed email address. Completing this assignment will be worth 5 of your class participation points. I will not be flexible with this due date.

I hope you all have a good weekend. Remember to get your research portfolio entry posted soon, as well as your blog post and response to a classmate.


Best,
Jessica

Week 6--Class info (Important! Please read!)

Hi all,

Hope you had a nice weekend! I've had a lot to catch up on, I was in Savannah for a few days presenting at a conference (similar to what you'll all have to do for your final project). A few important things:

--I've updated the class schedule to reflect the assignment that we'll start this week, the research portfolio. This class schedule also has quiz dates updated as well--our next quiz will be on Oct 1.

Updated Class Schedule 

--Instead of your usual blog post this Wednesday, you will have to do your first Research Portfolio entry. Here is more info about those research portfolio posts:

Research Portfolio Instructions

--Your grades have been updated to reflect the last two in-class assignments (so the highest grade you can now have for that is 30) and your most recent quiz. I will update the blog grades on the gradebook next weekend.

--Remember to add word counts to your blog posts, you will get points off for leaving them out.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Best,
Jessica

Monday's (9/24) Blog Post

Hi all,

Here's the blog prompt for Monday:

We’ve talked about scholarly information in class (mostly by way of scholarly articles and books.) Most scholarly information has to go through a peer-review process to be published
After reading the relevant articles in this week's folder, and keeping in mind the discussion we’ve had in class about scholarly information, describe the peer-review process. In your response, answer the following questions:
-Why is peer-review important?
-What are some ways that you can tell if an article is peer-reviewed, or scholarly?
-When do you want to use peer-reviewed research in your work?
-Also think about in what ways YOU engage in informal and/or formal peer-review in your personal and researching life

Remember to add a word count!

Best,
Jessica

Class Business--Please Read!

Hi all,

I hope you had a good weekend. I am about to sit down and grade blogs, but I thought I'd touch bases with you all first:

• If you completed the extra credit assignment, please submit that to your blog by 11:59 Monday evening. 
• Be advised that you have a quiz tomorrow. Make sure you study up on research questions! 
• Your blog prompt for Monday is now posted. You'll note that you only have the one blog post this week! Make it count! 
•  Finally--and this is important--please start putting a word count on your posts. I'll mention this in class too, but be advised that I will start taking off points if the word count is not on future blog posts.

This week we'll be talking about information sources. I've posted a powerpoint online as well as some videos for you to review if you need some extra help!

Looking forward to seeing you all on Monday!

Best,
Jessica

Blog Prompt--Monday (9/17)

 (Remember that you'll need to respond to a classmate by Friday!)

MONDAY:

Discuss how you would use each of the types of information we discussed in class today (scholarly books, popular magazines, newspapers, government documents, encyclopedia, and scholarly journal articles) in the research project you are working on in our class.

To get full credit for this blog post, your discussion will need to reflect that you have an understanding of what kind of information is contained with each type of source

Wednesday's Blog Prompt (9/12)

Blog Prompt: 


Did you change your research question since Monday? How? (DId you narrow it? Did you make it broader?) Why did you decide to change it this way?
Also, start brainstorming the kinds of resources you might need to answer this research question (books, interviews, statistics, photos, etc)

Remember to respond to a classmate by Friday

No Quiz Today

Hi all,

There is a quiz scheduled today, but we are going to move it to next Monday. I want to make sure we have this extra day to work with and really understand what a research question is and what it does.

The quiz next Monday will cover basic class information, developing a topic, and research questions. It will be the same format--short answer--as the first quiz.

Best,
Jessica

Extra Credit Opportunity

Hi all,

This Wednesday (9/12), The UWG Debate team will host Clark Atlanta University in the Campus Center Ballroom at 7:30 pm in a public debate on the topic: "African-American Students Should Atttend HBCUs"

For 10 points extra credit, attend this debate and do a write up on your blog of no fewer than 250 words on how each side of this debate is building its argument. Analyze what kind of evidence each side presents, and document anything in specific that you find interesting and relevant to the course.

General summaries of this event will not receive any credit, nor will partial credit be offered for insufficient word count. Again--to get credit, you will need to the prompt above. Take this as an opportunity to consider the context of the assignment--I want you to address this specific prompt with at least as much depth at 250 words requires. More, if you are so inspired.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Jessica

On your grades

Hi all--

A quick note:

I have updated the gradebook on CourseDen with your blog grades and in-class assignment grades. You'll see that those grades are out of a much larger number--I"ll be updating that number throughout the semester. The highest grade you can have on your blog posts is 25. your responses is 3, and on your in-class assignments is 10.

If my numbers don't match up with yours, let me know!

Best,
Jessica

Monday's Blog Post (9/10)

Hi all,

Here's your blog post prompt for Monday:

Monday: What is your research question (as of now) and why do you think it is a good research question? What knowledge did you gain about your topic as a result of the research you’ve conducted so far? What specific aspect of your topic do you want to research further?

Best,
Jessica

Semester Long Research Project

Hi all,

Thought I'd take a second to recap what these semester long research projects are going to be in case any of you are confused.

1. On Wednesday, your groups picked a broad topic that they pulled from a news story. I had you all do the assignment this way because you all will have to learn how to extrapolate a topic from a text. In other words, you'll need to know how to read or watch something and then analyze it to think about what the major issues are relating to that book, movie, article, etc. That is the backbone of research!

2. Each member of your group is narrowing this broad topic in a different way, and your individual approaches to this topic will serve as the topic (and later research question) for the project that you'll research all semester and present on at the end of the semester. So, if my group's topic was "eating disorders" one person might look at how media influences eating disorders, another person might look at social stigma of eating disorders for males, etc etc. Your group can change topics down the road, but the earlier you can find a topic that you all like and can work with, the better.

3. In class on Monday, we'll begin to talk about turning your topics into research questions. Research questions are, believe it or not, the questions you want to answer in your research! Like your topics, you'll want refine these so they aren't too narrow or broad. You'll also want to make sure they they aren't subjective or too easily answerable.

4. As we move through the rest of the class, we'll be digging more deeply into the mechanics of research-finding books, articles, etc. You'll be using your individual topic to look for things in class, so you should have almost all the resources you'll need for your final project before any of your final project-related materials are due.

Please do not hesitate to ask any questions if there is an aspect of this that you are unclear about!

All best,
Jessica

Week 3 Info

Hi all,

We've got only one day this week, so it is going to be pretty jam packed. A few things:

--You'll get your quizzes back today, and the grades should also be on CourseDen
--Your Library Ethnography responses are due today (Wednesday) by 11:59 pm. Make sure they are thoughtful, thorough, and constructive.
--Your blog prompt is up, and that post is due this evening by 11:59 pm.


As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,,
Jessica

Blog Prompt (9/3)

Hi all,

Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! Here is your blog prompt for this week, due Wednesday by 11:59:

What topic did your group choose? Why do you think I had you choose a topic this way (pulling from news sources)? After doing some presearching, what aspect of this topic is most interesting to you? 

Remember to respond to classmate by Friday. 

As always, let me know if you have any questions!

Best,

Jessica

Library Ethnography--Extension!

Hi all,

You've all been working hard on these projects, and I know some of you have been struggling to work out the kinks of this new technology. Because of this, I'm going to give you until the end of the week to tweak your Library Ethnographies--they are now due on Friday, August 31. If you already have yours done and in a state that you like, then you are good to go!

As you finish these projects up, remember:

• You need to have some kind of clear and thoughtful narration or annotation of your project--so if you did a powerpoint with pictures, make sure you have descriptions for each picture of what you did and why you did it. 
• You also need to have a self-evaluation posted on your blog with a description of what you specifically did in the project. This is to make sure that you get credit for the work you've done. If there is someone in your group who did not pull their own weight, let me know and I will handle it. Honestly, I can tell pretty easily if someone did not participate, so you may get contacted by me whether or not someone in your group said anything to me at all. 
• By next Wednesday you'll need to post a response to a classmate's project. That means make sure you post your project as soon as it is done so your classmates can review is and give you feedback. Do not wait until the last minute.  

If you are having issues uploading your project to your blog, here are some tips:

•  If you have a powerpoint, you should upload it to slideshare.net and then get the embed code (it is a little link on the top right of your presentation.) When you go to post the embed code in your blog, click the 'options' button on your right under 'post settings' and make sure it says "interpret typed HTML" 
• If you can't figure out the embed code, you can also just upload it to slideshare.net and post the link to your presentation in the body of a post. 
• If you posted a video, you can upload it to youtube, and then click the button that says "Insert a Video" at the top (It looks like the little board they snap in movies.) and upload it that way. You can also just link to it in your blog if the uploading doesn't work. 

I'll be in my office tomorrow (Thursday) if you have any follow up questions about how to upload your materials!

All best,
Jessica

Wednesday (8/29) Blog Prompt

Hi All,

Sorry this is up late, you might have noticed that we've had a few issues with internet on campus this morning.

Here's is your prompt for today:

 Brainstorm possible topics for your group project (This is an individual assignment). Find 3 news stories and post the links to your blog. For each story, identify the Who? What? When? Where? Why? Remember the evaluation criteria we came up with in the Evaluation Carousel in class. Also remember the list of forbidden topics below (this list is also posted in CourseDen).

--

LIBR 1101

Forbidden Topics

Good research requires scholars to think out of the box. Students should come up with topics that interest them and fall beyond the scope of the generic controversial topic. To that end, students may not choose any of the following subjects for their assignments.

Abortion
Animal Cruelty
Cloning/ stem cell research
Death penalty or capital punishment
Global warming, pollution, climate change, etc.
Gun control/ zero tolerance in schools
Homosexuals in the military
Piracy
Poverty/ homelessness
Product Placement
Same sex marriage
School prayer
Steroids and/or drug abuse
Underage drinking
War on terror, Invasion of Iraq, etc.

Your Group Evaluation Acronyms

Hi all,

Here are the evaluation acronyms you all came up with--fabulous job, all of you! Make sure you read through these, because we'll be voting on which one we want to be the class acronym in class on Wednesday (I know yours is the best, but no, you can't vote for your own!.) The winning group might get a treat! If I remember!

We have......drum roll please....

Relevance
Experience
Audience
Current
Trustworthy
--
Sponsor
Credentials
Author
Reliability
Factual
--
Trustworthiness
Reliability
Accurate
Point of View
--
Authority
Sponsor
Audience
Point of View
--
Credibility
Unbiased
Relevancy
References
Accuracy
--
Relevance
Authority
Trustworthy
--
Reliability
Authority
Date

Which one do you think is best?

Jessica

Class Evaluation Criteria

Hi all,

Here is the list of evaluation criteria we came up with in class today. Feel free to use this to inform your group Evaluation Acronym:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eXDBU-3LwLd7vt17cOE09A0DJQjUgT8HDUxt5FICu1c/edit

I know we didn't have a whole lot of time to talk about your library ethnography projects, so if you have any questions, let me know soon. If you run into a problem tomorrow night, there is probably not a whole lot I can do to help you.

I also didn't get a chance to remind you of your quiz on Wednesday, so make sure to read up on class policies, library basics, and evaluation before then!

Remember that you have until tomorrow night at 11:59 to redo (or do!) your blog posts from last week! 

All best,
Jessica

That's how I (blog)roll!

Hi all,

I hope that as the semester goes along, you'll start to explore different things you can do to customize your blog. You can see that I've added a blogroll--a list of all the blogs I follow (yours!). Feel free to use this to follow your other classmates if that is easier for you.

You should also notice that I've added tags to my blog posts. This will allow you to find other posts similar to the one you are currently reading. You can add tags to your blog post with the 'labels' function (you'll see it to your right when you are writing a post) This is especially useful for blog prompts!

Best,
Jessica

Monday (8/27) Blog Prompt

Hi all,

Here is the blog prompt for Monday, August 27th. This post does not need to be 200 words, just be mindful that you address all of the required parts of the prompt.

Post your group’s new evaluation acronym using some of the criteria we came up with in class. Make sure you discuss what you mean by each one of your words--you won’t get credit for just listing the words.

Looking Ahead to Week 2!

Hi all,

I hope you had a great weekend. I've been reading through your blogs, and I hope that you all with follow up with me about anything you continue to be confused about throughout the semester.


A few things:

--Unless I tell you otherwise, each of your blog posts need to be 200 words. You will get points off they are not. Your responses need to be at least 50 words. Many of you were under this mark for your Wednesday responses.  

--Please also be aware of due dates. Your blog responses are due by 11:59 on Monday and Wednesday, unless otherwise noted. You will get points off for missing these due dates as well. 

--Remember that your Library Ethnography Project is due on Wednesday. You will also have to respond to a classmate's project by the follow Wednesday (Sept 5). Please feel free to visit me during my office hours on Monday (11-1) if you have any questions about the library ethnography project.

--If you are keeping up with the syllabus, you will have noticed that our first quiz is Wednesday as well. This will mainly cover introductory things about the library, the syllabus, and what we'll introduce on Monday (Evaluation.) All quizzes are short answer and given in-class.

--I have updated the class schedule to reflect days that you will not have a blog post for homework, so make sure to review that.

Here is the link to the class schedule Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1skjT7ToBya25seL0Ju-yg2GMRWau1hH9YesCwSkIwms/edit

--One of your classmates has made a very helpful suggestion that you all might want to start titling your blog posts and labels (you can see it on the right under "Post Settings" when you write your posts) to make it easy to find and organize your posts. 

As always, let me know if you have any questions!

Best,
Jessica

Today's Blog Prompt/Getting adjusted!

Hi all,

I hope you are all adjusting well to your classes (especially this one!) I know we did a fair amount of logistics stuff on Monday (and we'll do some in class on Wednesday as well) but it is important to make sure the rest of the semester runs smoothly.

This is very important: If you have not posted your gmail email address and your blog web address to our class gmail directory, do so now!  Make sure when you post your information that you post your blog web address correctly.

I am going to make every effort to finish responding to your blog posts by the time class starts today. I am enjoying getting to know you all a little better!

Please note that I've updated your CourseDen with a list of the groups you'll be working in this semester. I more or less put these groups together randomly, and assigned each group a color name. Feel free to change the name of your group to something more exciting and fun.

I've also posted the directions for your first class project (Library Ethnography) on CourseDen as well. Make sure to read these directions thoroughly.

As you might have noticed, my instructor blog is going to be one of the main ways I communicate with you all as a group, so make sure to check this space regularly for reminders and other important class information.


Here is today's blog post prompt, to be completed in no fewer than 200 words after today's class:

What are you still confused about regarding the library space and/or library services? What, if anything, are you still confused about regarding the course? What are you most excited to do or learn this semester? 

--

Remember that you also need to respond to a classmate by 11:59pm on Friday.

Let me know if you have any questions!

All best,
Jessica

Your First Blog Post

Hi all,

Once you've gotten your blog account set up, post a brief introduction so we can all get to know a little more about you.

Tell us:

Where you're from
What's your major (if you have one--if not, what is your favorite academic subject?)
Why are you taking this class?
What is something you wish you knew more about? This could be anything--why people like watching scary movies, your family history, How you make french toast, etc
A fun fact about you!

Also, post a picture if you have one!

I'll start:

I'm from Tallahassee, FL. I moved to GA about a year ago. I went to Florida State for...well, let's just say a long time. I'm a huge Seminole football fan.

I have a Bachelors in English and Humanities, a Masters in Humanities and a Masters in Library Science

I'm teaching this class because I love teaching, and I love making research fun (it's possible, I promise!)

I wish I knew more about computers--programming, web design, etc. It's all Greek to me!

A fun fact about me is that before I got into librarianship, I used to study horror movies. I even got to teach a class on horror movies for a few semesters at Florida State!

Your turn!

Jessica

Welcome to LIBR 1101!

Hi all,

Welcome to LIBR 1101: Academic Research and the Library. My name is Jessica Critten (call me Jessica!) and I look forward to working with you all throughout the semester!

First, class business: 

If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you have already set up your blog. If you haven't, you soon will! You'll use your blogs this semester to reflect on things we discuss in class, and also as a way to prepare for upcoming topics and exercises.

I will be using my blog to send you announcements, to post relevant and important information, and also to post the prompts that you'll be responding to in your individual blogs. It is important that you check this blog regularly so you don't miss anything.

 I will also try to post as much information as I can on the CourseDen site, but we will use that less in this class than, perhaps, in your other classes. This means that I will probably rarely if ever check the email in CourseDen. If you want to email me, use my westga.edu account (or post a comment to my blog!) jcritten@westga.edu

A few important items: 

• Remember that this class meets in the 3rd floor classroom. We will be working on laptops this semester, so the earlier you can get to class and set those up, the better! 
• We have a lot of logistical things to work out in this first week. So make sure that you've: 
• Set up your Gmail account
• Set up your class blog 
• Post your Gmail address to the class Gmail directory (This is linked on CourseDen as well)
• Once everyone has posted their blog info on the Gmail directory, make sure to add all of your classmates (and me!) so you can comment on their blog

Second, deep thoughts about class: 

Take a second and think about why you decided to take this class....



...done? What did you come up with? You want to do better research? Or maybe someone just signed you up for it and you really don't know what you are doing here? Both are perfectly fine places to start!

Whatever the reason, I'm sure you want to make good grades in your other classes, right? I promise you that if you put the effort into this class, you are going to finish this semester better equipped to manage all of the classes you'll ever have. Think of LIBR 1101 as a foundation: we'll give you the tools you need to write papers, to think critically, and to find the information that you need. This is not just going to be useful in college--these are skills that you'll need to be a productive citizen of the world!

Just remember: in this class--like with most everything you'll experience in life--you will get out what you put in. In other words, if you make the effort and pay attention you will learn a lot. If you do the minimum, you'll get a minimum grade.

Most important:  I am on your team. I want you to succeed, but you have to want to succeed too. Let me know how I can help you, and let me know if you are falling behind. I can't help if I don't know that you need it.

Here's to a fun and productive semester! See you soon!

Best,
Jessica

LIBR 1101 Pretest

Hi all:

Our first class assignment is to take this Pretest (try to contain your excitement!)

You will NOT be graded on this Pretest--do not stress out about this! This is anonymous, and meant to give me an idea of what you as a class know (and don't know.)

Because of this, you are not yet expected to know all the right answers here--just do the best that you can.

Best,
Jessica