In-Class, Oct. 31st: WORKSHOP

WORKSHOP

Read your email: it contains the newest blog article, and sample versions of our best Abstracts, Lit Reviews, and Annotated Bibs!!!

Today, we'll have a workshop, where you can do the following:

1) repair and email out survey (last chance...)
2) finish the other two graphs and 5-7 sentence statements
3) repair Abstract, Lit Review, Annotated Bib
4) Develop your mini lesson, if you haven't held it yet
5) Prepare next blog summary
6) Prepare response to next blog article


The next blog summary is due on Monday, Nov. 3rd, by Colin Ott.
The responses are due Wednesday, Nov. 5th, at class time (otherwise, you won't be able to do the in-class activity).

Next Mini Lessons

Mini Lesson Order (that's all of them. If you weren't on this list and haven't held one yet, contact me as soon as possible!!!):

Friday, Oct. 31st:
Workshop on graphs, and corrections of Annotated Bibliographies and Lit Reviews


Monday, Nov. 3rd:
1) Stephanie Jacques (articles for ESL)
2) Jeffrey Ryden (topic of choice)
3) Brittany Lingle (not only, but also; neither, nor; either, or)


Friday, Nov. 7th:
1) Michaela Bazar (apostrophe)
2) Randi McFadden (tenses)
3) Abby Hoover (semi-colon and colon)


Monday, Nov. 10th:
1) Colin Ott (topic of choice)
2) Charlotte Jackanicz (topic of choice)
3) Charah Gates (if there; otherwise later) (subject-verb agreement)

Those with "topic of choice": Let me know your ideas; if you don't have any, come to my office hours and borrow one of my nice grammar books ;-)

In-Class, Wed. 29th: Workshop: Graphs

Change in schedule:
Today, Wednesday, Oct. 29th, we will hear ONE mini lesson: Jamie Wolf ("style")

Then, we'll have a workshop about graphs which will continue Friday, Oct. 31st.
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Workshop in-class on Wednesday, Oct. 29th:
GRAPHS

(If you miss this class, do the steps at home so you won't get left behind!)

Today, we are preparing the three graphs that go in the Research Essay under the Results section.

NOTE: Those will be the exact graphs we are going to use later - we will merely exchange the numbers. Today, we simply invent numbers, but the graphs will be the same - xls will update automatically when you modify the numbers in your xls table in two weeks, when the survey results are in.

WHICH QUESTIONS TO PICK FOR GRAPHS:

1) pick your first matrix

2) pick your second matrix

3) pick one other very important question to your topic

4) do NOT pick a demographic question!!! (gender, age, race, income, major, etc.)

You can have more than three graphs (maximum: 6), but the minimum is three.

TASKS:

1) open your survey, and minimize it

2) open xls

3) take your first matrix, and type the headline for your graph (= your survey question) into xls

4) create a table in xls with rows and colums for your matrix question

ATTENTION: Do NOT leave any blank fields, because this will mess up your graph!!!

5) Invent numbers (how many people would have said what. We'll replace those later.)

6) Highlight your whole xls table (WITHOUT your headline! Do NOT highlight any blank fields, for this will mess up your graph!), and then click on the symbol on the top of your xls screen which looks like this:

This symbol will create the graph for you automatically. You only need to choose which kind of graph you want. The first one we will create is a vertical bar diagram. Later, you can create a horizontal bar diagram, a column diagram, a pie diagram, a line diagram, etc. - anything that truly displays your findings, and makes sense.

EXAMPLE for xls table:

Teachers: How often and where do dyslexic students get diagnosed?

................................often....sometimes.....rarely.....never

first grade................10........23...................5..............2

second grade..........20.........44..................4...............7

third grade..............57.........29..................3...............9

fourth grade............78..........9...................7...............0

middle school..........60........20.................10..............2

early high school....70..........8...................0...............0

late high school ......30........40.................20..............9

college....................0.........0................70............30


And here is the graph that goes with your table (you just need to type the title above it):

7) Write a 5-7 sentences statement about the main results you can see from your graph, cumulating in a hypothesis/general statement:

Using the graph above, I would say that:

"According to the results, teachers say that students get often diagnosed with dyslexia in fourth grade (78%). With regard to third grade, 57% of the teachers say that students get often diagnosed, with regard to middle school 60%, and with regard to early high school, 70%. In college, according to teachers' experience, students get rarely (70%) or never (30%) diagnosed with dyslexia. In first and second grade, very few students get diagnosed; only 10% of the teachers think that first-graders get often diagnosed, and 20% of the teachers believe that second-graders get often diagnosed.

These findings suggest that according to teachers' experience, the best time to diagnose dyslexia in students is in fourth grade, and that first through third grade is too early to diagnose a reading disability such as dyslexia. It is further suggested that by the time they enter college, students are already diagnosed."

(This is JUST an example I invented; it's not true, of course!!!)

HOMEWORK for Friday, Oct. 31st, by class time:

Email me your one graph that you created in class today as an xls sheet attached to your email, also containing your table and your 5-7 sentences statement.

On Friday, Oct. 31st, we will have another WORKSHOP to create the remaining two graphs about your second matrix, and another important question from your survey of your choice (with invented numbers).

HOMEWORK for Monday, Nov. 3rd, by class time:

Email me your complete xls sheet with all three (different) graphs, three tables, and three 5-7 sentences statements!!! As soon as I have approved them, you can copy and paste the GRAPHS and the STATEMENTS into your RESULT section of your Word document. Do NOT insert the three TABLES in there; they are not needed any more, because they just served to create the graphs!

How to do the Lit Review

2. Today, we are having a workshop about how to create the title, keywords, abstract, and Literature Review.

The Literature Review is a major component of your research essay and talks about the status quo of current research about your topic - its achievement, and its shortcomings which you are trying to fill by adding your own research.

It is a SYNTHESIS of your 3 external sources, not a SUMMARY. Merge, contrast, and compare your sources to one another, and find their shortcomings that you are going to fill with your own research.

Read the following description of what the fourfold Literature Review is intended for. On this site, you will also find a link to the APA Style Manual which helps you create the citations for your Lit Review. Remember the rules: Quotes that are under 4 lines go in your text flow and have quotation marks, and you indicate your source in parentheses: (Miller 2008, 59). Quotes that are 4 lines and over are indented, have NO quotation marks, and also have the source indication in parentheses. (See example text below.)

Then, create your own Literature Review, and type it into the Word document with the 12 headlines we created together. Due date for the finished Lit Review is Wednesday, Oct. 29th, at class time.

LENGTH REQUIREMENT:
Below is a sample of a Literature Review I wrote for an education course:
(This is also the minimum length yours should be; if you have 3 external sources, write 2-3 pages (double-spaced; we'll single-space later, after I and your peers have edited your paper.)_______________________________________________________

A C.A.L.L. for Fresh Wind in Grammar Teaching: Computer Assisted Language Learning as Best Practice for Literacy Education

Literature Review

Who wants to learn grammar? Let’s put it another way: who wants to teach it? Given that this highly analytical topic with its morphology, etymology, and diagramming is one of the most unpopular curriculum components in English language arts both in the conception of students and teachers, there must be a best practice to convey it in an agreeable, content-immersed manner proper for our computer age. We notice that students in middle and high schools have a more and more limited knowledge of technical terms such as genitive or accusative, but skills in information technology exceeding those of the teachers. Instead of bemoaning the status quo, we should readily address those skills, for in 2012, technological literacy will become part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or the Nation's Report Card, which means that in addition to reading, writing, math, science, history, etc., the technology literacy of students will be measured nationwide.

This important milestone in educational history justifies a more intense integration of information technology into the classrooms, exposing students and teachers alike to new software products and corresponding skills. Why not try it in grammar teaching? It can be argued that instead of drilling the technicalities of Greek and Roman grammar – a language the modern student does not understand – it might make more sense for teachers to use an alternative approach to teaching grammar, such as by imitation strategy, conveying it in the form of computer-assisted instruction in order to address the needs of the modern student.

More and more constructivist teachers change their methodologies by addressing their tech-savvy young audiences in a motivating way. According to Dexter and Anderson (1999), teachers make use of computer technology along a continuum of instructional styles ranging from instruction to construction, exposing their students to either drill and practice, with computer technology as complementation, or, respectively, to active work for knowledge-building, with computers as a tool (Dexter & Anderson 1999, 2). They purport that teachers are not only constant decision-makers, but also learners who have to go with the change in the “nowness” of instruction, and reflect upon their own effectiveness to make their teaching fit modern standards (Dexter & Anderson 1999, 2). In their study about teachers’ use of computers in their instruction, and their perception of the changes thus introduced in existent classroom practices, Dexter and Anderson quote one teacher who exemplifies the general attitude of all teachers interviewed by stating that computers are not driving, but facilitating the changes she makes: “It is not like there is a written curriculum for the computer. We kind of put it together as we go along based on the needs of the students. Like I said, we try and connect it as much as possible to what is happening in the classroom.” (Dexter & Anderson 1999, 9)

Putting it together according to the needs of the students is also the aim of the present study about teaching grammar courses by using computer-assisted language learning (C.A.L.L.) in the form of WebQuests, blogs, online survey builders, etc. There are, however, characteristics of C.A.L.L. that Dexter and colleague do not mention – the immanent dangers, such as limited on-task supervision, the proneness to use Internet lingo in academic settings, plagiarism, and the leaving-behind of students who are less fortunate than the excelling tech geeks, such as the case study of an Amish student who had just learned what a computer was, but not yet how to use its higher functions. Kuang-wu Lee (2000) analyzes in detail the barriers of C.A.L.L., namely the financial obstacles, the availability of soft- and hardware, the technical and theoretical knowledge, and the acceptance of the technology. Despite all those adversaries, Lee concludes that what matters is not the technology, but how we use it, and states that

[c]omputers can/will never substitute teachers but they offer new opportunities for better language practice. They may actually make the process of language learning significantly richer and play a key role in the reform of a country's educational system. The next generation of students will feel a lot more confident with information technology than we do. As a result, they will also be able to use the Internet to communicate more effectively, practice language skills more thoroughly and solve language learning problems more easily. (Lee 2000, n.p.)

While Lee – who tackles the subject from the point of view of foreign language learning – discusses computer technology in general, Zheng and colleagues (2004) go more into detail by describing the perceptions of WebQuests by higher-education learners. After a definition of the role of WebQuests and quotes of what they ought not to be, such as “a panacea for all manner of educational ills,” and “merely worksheets with URLs” (quoted in Zheng et al. 2004, 41), the researchers mention the key features of WebQuests: a) critical thinking, b) knowledge application,c) social skills, d) scaffolded learning. Their survey of the perceptions of males and females of their WebQuest learning led to the results that males and females both have equal opportunities to learn from scaffolding (including the components of content comprehension, learning, and goal attainment) as embedded in WebQuests without any gender preferences, and can perform equally well in cooperative learning. Although the researchers stress the difference between the old construct of WebQuests focusing on knowledge application and critical thinking versus the new one of constructivist problem solving, they underline that there cannot be uniform standards for WebQuests established, since they display a wide range of quality and design (Zheng et al. 2004, 48). The present study is going to analyze university students’ perception of their grammar learning through WebQuests and other computer-assisted functionalities, hopefully coming to some general statements where this C.A.L.L. in literacy will lead us in the future.

In-Class Mon., 27: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Lit Review

today: WORKSHOP
(If you're not in class today, do these steps at home, so you're not getting left behind!)

Wednesday, 29th: 1 mini lesson (Jamie), workshop about graphs

HOMEWORK for Wed., 29th, class time: email me your Word document containing title, abstract (unfinished), keywords, Lit Review

________________________________________________________

Today, we will need our Word document with the 12 headings.

Our Research Papers are growing substantially. We've finished the Annotated Bibliography, which you can copy and paste into your Word doc as soon as you got them back from me with my remarks. Note: The 10 max. points you get for your Annotated Bibliography have nothing to do with the grade you'll get for your final Research Paper. They simply mean you've done your homework. I've marked format, academic voice, and spelling errors, and whether the homework was submitted on time; I didn't check the content. We will have a peer-editing session in the end, where your peers will evaluate the content of your paper components.

We will also do a readability exercise with our finished research essays to establish our personal readability levels - at what grade level we write. For an academic paper, it should be 16+. If your readability level is lower, you need to change your sentence structure by incorporating more commas and semicolons, and elevated vocabulary. If your Annotated Bibliography in the section of "personal statement" contains a sentence such as "This article was very helpful to me because it helped me to...," this is obviously corresponding to grade level 4 or so, and needs to be reworded to "according to the results, it can be suggested that prospective teachers employ the delineated strategies to improve...."

Now, we are continuing with our Lit Reviews which are due this Wednesday, Oct. 29th, at class time.

But we will also deal with some other headings: the title, the abstract, the keywords. The more you read in your secondary sources, the more keywords will pop up, so type them directly in the space under the abstract reserved for them. It is obvious that we can merely BEGIN with these steps, and will finish them within the next four weeks, since we do not have any results yet, and do not even know the actual number of our "participants." (NOTE: We will only count as "participants of the study" the people who actually answered the survey, NOT all the people we have asked to take the survey!!!)

Today, we will

1) invent a catchy title that foreshadows your topic (keep academic voice, but still make it attention-catching). Also add your name and institution, and the two black lines above and below the abstract. NOTE: You can have a one-sentence title (like "How much Grammar do College Freshmen Know?"), or a double-sentence title with a colon or a dash in between (like "Shakespeare Turning in His Grave - The Decline of Language in High School Students"). Don't make your title too long.

2) Begin the abstract. The word limit is 175 words - no more!!! Keep the readability very high, because your abstract will decide whether or not other researchers are going to read your whole paper.

3) list some keywords (all nouns!)

4) finish up your Lit Review that we began in last Friday's workshop. The easiest way is to print out the 3 external sources (research papers), underline the important findings, and highlight the quotes you want to use with differently-colored markers. NOTE: When you submit your final Research Papers, you will submit them in a folder that also contains your 3 sources. You can give me your high-lighted, annotated sources - in fact, I'd prefer to see that you've worked with your sources, rather than receiving clean paper that looks unread.

You can also open the online source and use two windows on your screen next to one other, so you can type the quotes from the source directly into your Word document. What doesn't work is to copy and paste the quotes, since this is not possible with pdf files (unless you have special software).

NOTE: Be careful when copying your quotes! If the original quote you are using contains a SPELLING MISTAKE, you have to misspell it, too - indicate that it was the mistake of the original author by putting square brackets with the Latin word "sic" (= "so" / "thus it was said") behind the misspelled word or punctuation sign. Example:

"This tree is gorgous [sic]" (Miller 2006, 87).



Below are the guidelines for how to write an effective ABSTRACT (taken from this source). I have made some annotations in maroon.

An abstract contains the following:

• Motivation:
  Why do we care about the problem and the results? If the problem isn't obviously "interesting" it might be better to put motivation first; but if your work is incremental progress on a problem that is widely recognized as important, then it is probably better to put the problem statement first to indicate which piece of the larger problem you are breaking off to work on. This section should include the importance of your work, the difficulty of the area, and the impact it might have if successful. (This is your attention-catcher; here, you introduce your topic by mentioning why it is so important in our times. You can also mention the shortcomings of existing literature (your external sources), and the importance of your own study.)
  

• Problem statement:
  What problem are you trying to solve? What is the scope of your work (a generalized approach, or for a specific situation)? Be careful not to use too much jargon. In some cases it is appropriate to put the problem statement before the motivation, but usually this only works if most readers already understand why the problem is important. (This is where your research question goes - what did you want to find out?)
  

• Approach:
  How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? Did you use simulation, analytic models, prototype construction, or analysis of field data for an actual product? What was the extent of your work (did you look at one application program or a hundred programs in twenty different programming languages?) What important variables did you control, ignore, or measure? (This is where you briefly describe your participants and methods. Leave out the number and demographics of your participants, since we don't know yet who will actually take your surveys.)
  

• Results:
  What's the answer? Specifically, most good computer architecture papers conclude that something is so many percent faster, cheaper, smaller, or otherwise better than something else. Put the result there, in numbers. Avoid vague, hand-waving results such as "very", "small", or "significant." If you must be vague, you are only given license to do so when you can talk about orders-of-magnitude improvement. There is a tension here in that you should not provide numbers that can be easily misinterpreted, but on the other hand you don't have room for all the caveats. (This is the part you leave blank for now; we'll fill it in when we have analyzed our SurveyMonkey results.)
  

• Conclusions:
  What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a significant "win", be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is a waste of time (all of the previous results are useful). Are your results general, potentially generalizable, or specific to a particular case? (This is what you are going to write in the end, when the paper is completed. Contains your implications and limitations.)
  

If there are any questions, ask during the workshop in class, or take a look at last semester's sample essays again.

Click here for a list of rules for pronunciation of Esperanto.

Click here for a sentence translator.

HOMEWORK: For the following sentences written in Esperanto, identify the subject and verb. You can do this by copying the sentence to a word document. Highlight the subject in red and the verb in yellow. E-mail this document to Dr. Voss with your name in the document title. (Hint: the sentence translator works both ways!)

Try to identify the subject and verb before you look up the translation, but check your work when you are done. Don’t worry, they are easy!

1. La knabo kuroj rapide.
2. Mi volas lerni Esperanton.
3. Li ŝtelis mian taco!
4. Ŝi piediris hejmon de lernejo.
5. Li hundo peco mi sur mia pugo.

Also: Describe what you thought of this lesson or of Esperanto. Provide English and Esperanto translations as well as a pronunciation guide and attach it to this blog entry as a comment. You can write a short sentence if you like.

Dankon! Havas belan semajnfinon!

In-Class, Oct. 24th: LiveText Presentation

for MONDAY, Oct. 27th: topic = LITERATURE REVIEW

bring your 3 articles printed out; we're going to work with them.
Also, bring differently-colored markers!!!
_________________________________________________


Today, we will hear Jeffrey's presentation on LiveText.

For this, you will all receive a password to log in, so you can follow the presentation on your screens.


At the beginning of the lessons, I will distribute the surveys I've graded already. Please make the corresponding changes at home. If your survey says "approved after corrections," you had only minor spelling mistakes and can email it out after correction if your intro letter was approved also.

If your survey says "submit again," you had major button mistakes or missing matrices, and must email me your link by Saturday, Oct. 25th, midnight, so I can check your repaired survey and bring it to class on Monday for you to email out.

Before you email it to your audience, make sure 1) that you cleared out the fake responses of your peers, 2) that you got the right URL (email it to yourself first to check if it really works; some people just sent me URLs connecting me to SurveyMonkey). Remember to put me in the cc: line!!!

I'll bring the other graded surveys on Monday, Oct. 27th, and we'll email them out in class.