Well that is good Marsha,
because sometimes we get what is considered passive aggressive behavior in that people will be having a hard time in the class and rather than ask for help will set off some surely unintended emotions by those who are struggling. Not everyone makes it through the course and so if the 'collective mind' in the course becomes 'this rotten class and this rotten instructor and this rotten school..." well it makes it even more difficult for those having a hard time with the class to direct their energies onto directions which would serve them best.
Sometimes I will see people post stories about how they realized something they had not but are now paying attention to because of what they are learning trying to be as positive and constructive as possible.
I normally do not even check the chat but sometimes I will have classes where people have come into the class with a background for which require a bit more structure and it at that point becomes an issue for which I pay much more attention to.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Reference your text
Many of you are just getting used to referencing your text. Know that for each course you take at AXIA/ Phoenix, the APA version of your hard cover text is always on page 3 of the Syllabus: See?
Berg & Hager (2007). Visualizing Environmental Science. Hoboken, N.J. John Wiley & Sons.
Notice the basic recipe. Author (year). Title. City/ State of publishing. Publisher.
For my classes, just using this reference will be fine. And rather than re typing this all the time, I just keep it in a word document that I keep a shortcut to on my desktop.
Have you noticed how having to include a citation and a reference requires you to read your assigned reading? Formatting is not just cosmetic, it requires you to research and include academic level input from individuals who have actually worked and published in the industry as recognized 'industry experts.'
Berg & Hager (2007). Visualizing Environmental Science. Hoboken, N.J. John Wiley & Sons.
Notice the basic recipe. Author (year). Title. City/ State of publishing. Publisher.
For my classes, just using this reference will be fine. And rather than re typing this all the time, I just keep it in a word document that I keep a shortcut to on my desktop.
Have you noticed how having to include a citation and a reference requires you to read your assigned reading? Formatting is not just cosmetic, it requires you to research and include academic level input from individuals who have actually worked and published in the industry as recognized 'industry experts.'
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Citing and Referencing Tutorial
Citing and Referencing Tutorial
Excellent- once we work through citing and referencing together, it becomes a habit, and you will love what it does to increase the substance and content of any work as it requires more research than just telling us only your opinion.
So our tutorial is old fashioned in that I have no fancy computer tutorial - it will just be us.
We are going to begin by doing your Week 6 checkpoint together. You need to choose 3 fresh water issues and 3 ocean water issues:
To select a freshwater issue read Chapter 10 Freshwater Resources and Water Pollution, page 249.
Type of Water Pollution Table 10.2 or from the following list: Flooding, Aquifer Depletion, Overdrawing surface water, Saltwater intrusion and salinization or eutrophication.
To select an ocean issue read Chapter 11 page 275, Figure 11.12, ( in your e book this is subsection 11.3) an overview of major threats to the ocean.
After you have selected your first freshwater issue, I want you to find one or a few sentences in your assigned reading that describe a freshwater issue and re type right here those collections of sentences that contain a fact that is ideally the result of a study or some statistic.
Give me those sentences as a response to this post. Use the page numbers above to help you find them.
Excellent- once we work through citing and referencing together, it becomes a habit, and you will love what it does to increase the substance and content of any work as it requires more research than just telling us only your opinion.
So our tutorial is old fashioned in that I have no fancy computer tutorial - it will just be us.
We are going to begin by doing your Week 6 checkpoint together. You need to choose 3 fresh water issues and 3 ocean water issues:
To select a freshwater issue read Chapter 10 Freshwater Resources and Water Pollution, page 249.
Type of Water Pollution Table 10.2 or from the following list: Flooding, Aquifer Depletion, Overdrawing surface water, Saltwater intrusion and salinization or eutrophication.
To select an ocean issue read Chapter 11 page 275, Figure 11.12, ( in your e book this is subsection 11.3) an overview of major threats to the ocean.
After you have selected your first freshwater issue, I want you to find one or a few sentences in your assigned reading that describe a freshwater issue and re type right here those collections of sentences that contain a fact that is ideally the result of a study or some statistic.
Give me those sentences as a response to this post. Use the page numbers above to help you find them.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Grades how can I do better
Hi Frank,
Good on you for working on ways on your end to bring those grades up. Another way to do this is to take one day and work ahead in order to turn work in early as a DRAFT. You must however type DRAFT in the subject line. When you do this, I will review your work before the deadline and you will then get the option to make adjustments to the work before you turn it in.
However, I do disclose pretty much how I am going to score work in advance by having made up grading rubrics. Students who review these as a careful 'packing or shopping list' before turning work in usually do pretty well in the class.
In this respect, you use the rubrics to grade your own work before you turn it in. The rubrics reflect years and years of what the 'A' students have done in their work to make them successful. When you pay close attention to these, you are in effect being given what it was those top students thought to include in their work given the same set of instructions in the Syllabus including paying attention to formatting, mechanics etc. for which I provide prompts/ or reminders for you to follow.
Working backwards by going back after the fact is strongly discouraged and I can give you no points back or extra credit per our contract. However, it is always prudent to read my line by line feedback and if you have any questions, copy and paste one item per post and we can review together.
Good on you for working on ways on your end to bring those grades up. Another way to do this is to take one day and work ahead in order to turn work in early as a DRAFT. You must however type DRAFT in the subject line. When you do this, I will review your work before the deadline and you will then get the option to make adjustments to the work before you turn it in.
However, I do disclose pretty much how I am going to score work in advance by having made up grading rubrics. Students who review these as a careful 'packing or shopping list' before turning work in usually do pretty well in the class.
In this respect, you use the rubrics to grade your own work before you turn it in. The rubrics reflect years and years of what the 'A' students have done in their work to make them successful. When you pay close attention to these, you are in effect being given what it was those top students thought to include in their work given the same set of instructions in the Syllabus including paying attention to formatting, mechanics etc. for which I provide prompts/ or reminders for you to follow.
Working backwards by going back after the fact is strongly discouraged and I can give you no points back or extra credit per our contract. However, it is always prudent to read my line by line feedback and if you have any questions, copy and paste one item per post and we can review together.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
ivory tower
Wow! Thx Amanda -
The ivory tower is a term used throughout history from which access was prevented to the world of the 'educated', often a term conflagrated for good reason with the term the elite and for which an entire millennia of class have reinforced. - That term implied an intentional prevention on the part of the privileged taking advantage of those who are otherwise allowed in for reasons other than those which are both intellectually honest as well as short sighted because our civilization is only as strong as our ability or willfulness to keep extending intellectual fruits to all.
Hopefully, the ivory tower, is not in effect at AXIA- in fact it would be better to believe those said instructors were simply not aware or not actively being asked to provide more accountability in the online environment for which in its infancy, is likely to perhaps for some time continue to promise the sensation of working in the dark until greater technology can be implemented!
The ivory tower is a term used throughout history from which access was prevented to the world of the 'educated', often a term conflagrated for good reason with the term the elite and for which an entire millennia of class have reinforced. - That term implied an intentional prevention on the part of the privileged taking advantage of those who are otherwise allowed in for reasons other than those which are both intellectually honest as well as short sighted because our civilization is only as strong as our ability or willfulness to keep extending intellectual fruits to all.
Hopefully, the ivory tower, is not in effect at AXIA- in fact it would be better to believe those said instructors were simply not aware or not actively being asked to provide more accountability in the online environment for which in its infancy, is likely to perhaps for some time continue to promise the sensation of working in the dark until greater technology can be implemented!
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