Week 11 - Posting 11

Way back in week one I asked you folks to discuss a paper you had written for a previous class and your writing process. Now, in week eleven, I'd like to hear about your writing process again. Has your writing process changed since we started this course? If so, how? Did any particular assignments give you trouble (both in terms of the type of assignment and how it might have conflicted with your specific writing process)? Were any assignments unexpectedly easy? And now, the million dollar (somewhat philosophical) question: Why do you write (aside from it's a requirement of this class and higher education in general)? What role does writing play in your life? What role do you think writing will play in your future (in terms of a career, family, etc.)?

Presentations

Students,

The presentations from Thursday, March 26th are posted on Blackboard under "Course Documents."

D.

Group Multimodal Mini-Project

Students,

Just to reiterate some points during class:

You and your group members are required to compose a collaborative multimodal document (one which incorporates any combination of words, images, videos, multimedia, etc.) for the purpose of generating discussion and instructing the class on how to formulate a research question and how to write a literature review. You can choose to emphasize either the research question or the literature review...it's up to you and your group (Don't forget, we also had this reading for formulating a research question: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/researchroom/question/).

Again, I realize I'm giving you a very short amount of time to do this, so I'm not expecting anything dazzling here, but you should try to make your creation presentable. Some possible multimodal documents include, but are not limited to:

• A PowerPoint presentation
• A digital poster (http://www.glogster.com/)
• A digital newsletter (http://letterpop.com/)
• A small webpage (http://www.weebly.com)
• A short video

By giving you folks the opportunity to work together and teach the class, I think that you will learn more about what is required for your Research Proposal (plus, it's more fun than just hearing me talk). We will spend most (if not all) of Thursday's class finishing up these little projects and presenting them to each other. Finally, if you don't get to the other readings assigned in the textbook, that's okay (just try to catch-up on them over the weekend).

I'm looking forward to seeing that you folks come up with!

D.

Week 10 - Posting 10

THIS POSTING IS NOT DUE UNTIL FRIDAY, MARCH 27TH BY 11:59 P.M.

Although I know we are still concentrating on the research proposal assignment, now might be a good time to begin thinking about the shape or structure of your mini-ethnography. So, what structure do you plan on using for your mini-ethnography? How do you plan to begin? Will you start by profiling a specific informant? Will you talk about your interest in the subculture or your place within it? How might you proceed through the paper? Will you take the reader chronologically through your research process? Will you create sections based on themes, focal points, observations, etc? How do you think you might conclude the piece? Finally, why do you think that the particular structure you've chosen (or might choose) will be the best for what you want to do?

THIS POSTING IS NOT DUE UNTIL FRIDAY, MARCH 27TH BY 11:59 P.M.

Links to Literature Review Pages

Two great websites that provide of wealth of information courtesy of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the University of Toronto:

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html

http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html

Link to Research Question Handout

Here is a fantastic handout about how to formulate research questions courtesy of The Writing Studio at Vanderbilt University:

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/writing/resources/Formulating%20Your%20Research%20Question.pdf

In-class (3/19/09): Clips from the documentary American Tongues

Today we will be watching clips from the 1986 PBS documentary American Tongues. As you watch the clips, answer the following questions:

(Question 1): This research project was done in the 1986. If you were to re-do this project today, at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, what might you as a researcher do differently? What would you do the same?

(Question 2): What are some of the flaws with the study? Are there any groups that are under-represented? Over-represented? How might you make the study more appealing to an audience (visually, instructionally, etc?)

(Question 3): In your opinion (and based on some of the things discussed in the clips), how important is language in terms of how we perceive others? What is revealed (or others think is revealed) about us when we talk?

Week 9 - Posting 9

This week I want you to take a step back from your research and do a reflection on the research process thus far. What has been the hardest thing? What has been the easiest? If you could start over again, what would you do differently? How has keeping a blog helped you track your research process? How do you think it will help you in preparing your mini-ethnography?

Week 8 - Posting 8

For this week I want you to answer the following questions: What is the main theme you see through your research? In talking with some members of your community, does that theme seem to run through the fieldsite as well? As of today, eight weeks into this project, what is your place in the subculture? Is it similar or different to where you were eight weeks ago? What changed?