11 2 Class- Read Only if you missed it....

There are additional hand outs. (They will not upload properly to this site.)
Please make sure you go to the "G"drive and down load them for your use, as your rough draft is due in Tuesday's class.

Descriptive Essay Checklist

Checklist for the Descriptive Essay

                                                                                                                                   

My check	Instruc-tor’s check	To do in the Descriptive Essay:
		The format and section headings of my pages follow the samples illustrated in the handout, “wk9_descriptive_essay_format.”
		The essay is 6 – 7 pages in length. The margins are 1 inch, the lines are double-spaced, the font is Times Roman, and the size is 12.
		I provide an Introduction and a Conclusion.
		I include primary section headings for 4 – 5 categories with details about my preferred career specialization. I describe facts under categories of job characteristics, such as --  Duties & Tasks; Skills & Training Needed; Work Style & Conditions; Advancement & Promotion; Employment & Wage Outlook; & Lifelong Learning (Continuing Education).
		I provide in-text citations in APA style to 4 different Web sites at the places in my essay where I draw information from the sources.
		Each of the Web sites in my References has a different domain. For example, I cite only one web site with the domain of bls.gov, or onetcenter.org. At least two of my sources are among those listed in the handout, “wk8_descriptive_essay_content.”
		Fair Use and avoiding plagiarism -- I do not copy-and-paste and/or quote more than one sentence from each Web site. I avoid copying an entire list of items from a Web site, and take only 2 – 3 items from a list. If I use the exact phrase or sentence from a source, I quote it. I paraphrase and cite the remainder of the content that I use from a source.
		At the end of the Descriptive Essay I list alphabetically in APA style the References to the 4 Web sources from which I obtain the job characteristics mentioned in my essay.
		I provide a brief annotation under each of the four References, which evaluates the Internet source cited in the Reference.
		In each annotation for a source I evaluate the source with at least two of the objective criteria: Accuracy, Authoritativeness, Coverage, Currency, and Objectivity.
		I saved my essay in the LIBS100 folder on the S-drive with a file-name like “descriptive_essay.” I saved the file to my storage device, if I intend to work on the essay at home.

Annotation How Tos

So, what is an annotation?

In the Narrative essay you will be providing an APA Reference for each of 4 career-related Internet sources. For each Reference you will need to write an annotation, which is where you show how you have evaluated the sources that you are using.

1.      An annotation is a single paragraph of several (4) sentences . The annotation summarizes briefly the content of the source.

2.      In each annotation, you will choose from any (at least) two of the following criteria to help you evaluate it.

(1)    Accuracy (2) Authoritativeness (3) Objectivity (4) Coverage (5) Currency

3.      In one sentence: your annotation summarizes the central theme (what’s the whole point?) of the article.

4.      In one sentence: your annotation describes the scope, or what the article actually covers.

5.      In one to two sentences: (a)evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work backs up or supports your topic.

The following example uses the APA format for the journal citation.

Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion

of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51 (4), 541-554.

Here is a good annotation.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

1.       Authoritativeness: who are they? What makes them an authority? Are they experts? The credentials of the Web site’s author and his/her affiliation are identified. Or the backgrounds of members of a sponsoring organization are provided. Or the expertise of the sponsoring organization is acknowledged easily by looking at other sites. The Web domain of the source shows one of the following: .gov for a government publication;  .org for a professional association or organization; or .edu for an educational institution. (In the example above, these are university based researchers using government data. You can likely trust them.)

2.       Objectivity: does the site use good, believeable data? Is it FAIR? Do they have anything to gain by writing it? The purpose of the site is stated, as well as any bias. The content consists mostly of facts and descriptions, or an argument is presented with a fair representation of different points of view. No advertising and commercial sponsors are associated with a Web site in a way that could influence the content. (In the example above, these are university based researchers using government data. They are probably going to be fair. They are using good data for their facts.)

3.       Accuracy: Can one or more individual authors (exclude webmasters) and a sponsor can be identified and contacted? Are references, citations, or other documentation of evidence made available so a reader can verify claims made in a source? When I check  independent sources, such as database articles, are the claims and facts made by the site backed up? Do the independent sources support what my site says? (In the example above, these are university based researchers using government data. You can likely contact them or their department.)

4.       Currency:  The source shows a recent copyright and/or revision date. Is it up to date? Be careful. Just because a site was recently updated doesn’t mean the information is up to date, or for that matter, accurate.  (In the example above, this is an old study. Do you think the data is still valid? Do you really want to use this source after all? Remember, you are graded on the quality of your sources, too.)

5.       Coverage: The scope of the discussed topic is adequate in regard to the site’s purpose. The links cross-reference a variety of sources for additional information. The source does not restrict access through fee requirements, copyright restrictions, or special registration and affiliation. (In the example above, there are no links because it is too old. But, does it charge? Do you have to be a member of anything? If so, what exactly do you have to be a member of, and does that affect how biased the information is?)

11 9 2010 Agenda

Agenda 11 9 2010

Your Descriptive Essay is to due on FRIDAY NOV. 19th. Complete a rough draft of the Descriptive Essay before the next class, and bring it to class. Be smart, submit it to Smarthinking before Nov.16^th next class.

1.     Attendance

2. Plagiarism –

Let’s talk about plagiarism. Think about this. If you can cut and paste it, than I can too, and guess what comes up when I Google?

The challenge facing many students in writing a paper and using Internet sources, is to avoid plagiarism. The Internet lends itself to quick copy/paste jobs that plagiarize. The use of the facts, statistics, and ideas from a source without proper acknowledgement in a citation is penalized substantially in the essay. It can and will cause your paper to fail.

The use of the exact phrase or sentence from a source without quotation marks is also penalized substantially.

3.     Overview of paper coming up:

The Descriptive Essay is at least 6 pages long, and uses the APA page format like the Narrative Essay, and it has at least four sections for different types of job characteristics.

You do the following different things in the Descriptive Essay :

(1) You will describe 4 - 5 types of facts and details about one career specialization ;

(2) The content will come from sources other than yourself, and so you will be doing more research than you did for the Narrative     Essay;

(3) You will cite sources on the Internet in the References; and

(3) You will evaluate sources used for the Descriptive Essay inside an “annotation” below each Reference.

4.     What is an annotation?

5.     Labwork (activities)

Free Quiz!

Hi everyone--

Missing a class? Pretty sure you missed a quiz? Want to make up for a less than perfect quiz score? Then this is for you. TILT Mod 2.
Do this, email your score (cutting and pasting), it to me by class next week (Tuesday 630pm) and get that score. Yay! Whatever you get will replace your lowest score.

Have a great week.
See you Tuesday.

October 26 Agenda

October 26 Agenda

1.       Attendance:

I have received homework TILT Scores from these people: Dasheen/ Teresa C. / Lisa B. / Kiamesha /Alfred. Not on the list? Sure you sent it? Find the email you sent and forward it to me by tomorrow night 9pm. You will not lose credit as long as you resend the original.

2.       Welcome to the Internet Presentation

3.       Break

4.       What is Google, anyway?

Papers: Questions?

APA How to's

Stuck- this can help?

APA How to:

http://www.apastyle.org/manual/related/sample-experiment-paper-1.pdf

Checklist for the Narrative Essay

Checklist for the Narrative Essay

  

Reading:	In Research Strategies, see pp.152 – 154, & 168 for help with citations and References. In B&S College APA Style Guide (pdf version), see pp. 3 – 6 for basic rules, p. 10 for articles from databases, and pp. 19 – 24 for a sample essay. Bring textbooks to class as an aide for a quiz question.
Assignment name:	wks5-6_checklist

Due Date for the Narrative Essay is

6 PM FRIDAY, October 22, 2010

Use  this checklist to improve your  score on the essay. Look also at the rubric from last week for evaluating the essay. (The rubric is on the course Web page and in the COMM150 folder on the data-file drive of the campus network, as well as the BLOG.)

Checklist for the Narrative Essay

My check	To do in the Narrative Essay:
	Each sheet has a running head in the upper Left corner, and a page number in the upper Right corner. The title page contains the information, which is similar to the illustrated title page on page 5 of the handout. I repeated  the essay’s title at the top of page two, which follows the title page.
	The margins are 1 inch, all lines are double-spaced, including the space between sections. The font is Times Roman (the instructor accepts Arial font, too). The font size is 12. The essay, including the title page and the page with References, is 5 – 6 pages long.
	Headings -- I used boldface, centered, primary section headings in order to organize and focus my paragraphs. The essay includes a short Introduction and Conclusion. I use boldface, secondary section headings, along the Left margin to identify further the topic of the paragraphs.
	1st section of the essay has a primary heading, such as -- Two Specializations.      I explain why I am interested in 2 possible career specializations by discussing topics like the following ones -- Why do I choose these two specializations rather than other possibilities? How did I become interested in the two possible jobs? Why does it matter which specialization I select? Why are professionals in my preferred careers important for society?
	2nd section of the essay has a primary heading, such as -- Two Important Competencies     I provide my own reasons for selecting two workplace competencies as most important for the two jobs in which I am most interested.      I summarize also the ideas of authors of two articles from trade magazines or peer-reviewed journals in regard to the exercise of two workplace competencies. (Most articles will not describe the exercise of a competency in exactly your preferred specializations or workplace.) I explain the possible relevance of what the authors say about the competencies to a workplace for which I am training.
	I quote no more than 1 sentence per source. I paraphrase remaining content to be taken from an author. In both cases I credit the author.
	I use in-text citations in proper APA format at the places in the essay at which I use information from my two sources.
	I provide an alphabetical list of at least two References in APA style. The references cite two articles (not book reviews) about the competencies.
	I saved my essay in compatibility mode inside the COMM150 folder on my S-drive with a file-name like “Narrative Essay.” I saved the file also to portable storage, if I intend to work on it at home.
	I used SmarThinking and I gave the Smarthinking people the grading rubric , I attached my original draft and the feedback from SmarThinking to my final draft.