Lecture 29: Business E-mails

Today Biba will guide you through some dos and don't of writing a business e-mail!

For fun, read this article by Ms. Mentor: "Don't E-Mail Me This Way"

Lecture 28 2012 Email Etiquette

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Science Article Assignment: Questions Answered

A number of students have come forward noting the differing information they have been receiving about the Science Article Assignment and how this new information does not correspond with the assignment I have given you. Let me clarify, PLEASE follow the assignment guidelines!

1. Each option requires that you write your answer in a memo style. Even Option 4 if you are "translating" your academic paper into a more general paper - follow the memo style and include headings (for examples of headings see Option 1 which has a list) OR for Option 4 you might just be including a poster translation. Remember to SINGLE space your work BUT double space between headings.
2. Have a look here for a great example of how a memo looks. NOTE this is just to give you an IDEA of how a memo looks. I am not asking you to follow all the ideas, but the basic structure is correct. You do NOT have to bold the first sentence (but you can if you prefer) AND see the last paragraph that talks about citation, it suggests to do what your professor asks...and that is to include an APA style reference list!
3. Another question that has come up: students have asked whether they need to address all the prompter questions I have included in some of the Options. No, of course not. I have included lots to get you thinking. I am looking for a strong analysis of a few ideas (demonstrating your critical thinking) RATHER than a superficial summary of a lot of ideas.

Lecture 28: E-Mail Etiquette

Today we have Marie-Claude showering us with another great presentation.

Mc lecture 27

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Lecture 26: Wiki Work

During today's lecture you'll have MC and Erin in class, ready to answer any questions you might have about the intricacies of creating a Wikipedia article.


As a reminder:

Write a Good Article
Our goal is to produce a Good Article that will be of service to the general Wikipedia community. We need to have a sense of what more needs to be done, and an overall plan for the article. I suggest looking at examples and guidelines (e.g. Manual of Style or the Guide for nominating good articles), as well as reminding yourself of the criteria for a Good Article. I suggest finding an example of a Good Article related to your stub, and follow its structure including its section headings.
Remember:
This Wikipedia article forms part of the e-portfolio which means when you write your blog post ABOUT the writing of your article:

1. Include at least one image
2. Include at least one external link (somewhere out in the WWW – probably to your article)
3. Include at least one reference to a fellow student’s blog post (you must link to the post, i.e. internal link)
4. Be on topic (i.e. related to our class work).
5. Each blog post should be at least two paragraphs but no more than four.

Suggestions and hints

• You will be writing an encyclopedic article that is neutral and verifiable by established facts. You will not be collecting data, analyzing it, or writing about your experiences. You will not be writing an essay with personal opinions or judgments.
• One of the exciting aspects of Wikipedia is its dynamic and communal nature. You are free (and encouraged) to use Wikiepdia's Peer Review to provide feedback on your article before submitting the final copy. It is likely that you will receive messages from editors. Be polite in replying, and don't hesitate to ask them to explain something.
• Avoid simply copying text from a reference. Isolated quotations are okay, but most of time, it is better to use a summary or paraphrase of the quotation that flows better with the rest of your article. See Wikipedia policies on copying and quoting sources.
• Here is a useful Wikipedia page giving general advice for writing good articles.
• Have a read of this Wikipedia Cheatsheet that tells you all the wiki code you need to insert images or bold text etc.: http://webtrends.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=webtrends&cdn=compute&tm=15&f=20&su=p284.12.336.ip_p504.1.336.ip_&tt=7&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia%3ACheatsheet

Note: When you register with Wikipedia, it is a good idea to use EITHER your twitter alias or your real name (if you choose) so that the professor and the TAs can track your contributions.

Note on Quality of E-Portfolio and Wikipedia Article Content:

Rating	Characteristics
4	Exceptional. The blog entry is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations or analysis. The entry demonstrates awareness of its own limitations or implications, and it considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with the topic and demonstrates interaction and engagement with lecture content. Appropriate references are included to support arguments. Submitted on time. Wiki: Length: For the purposes of this assignment, a reasonable article will contain 300-600 words, which correspond to 1.5-3 pages of standard double-space text. Content: Neutral and verifiable Uses quotations Uses twitter alias or real name for revision history/marking purposes
3	Satisfactory. The blog entry is reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The entry reflects moderate engagement with the topic and lecture content. Some references are included. Wiki: Length: follows the recommended standard Content: Neutral and verifiable Uses quotations or paraphrases where appropriate Uses twitter alias or real name for revision history/marking purposes
2	Underdeveloped. The blog entry is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. The entry reflects passing engagement with the topic and lectures. Few references are included. Wiki article most copies with a few paraphrases little to no referencing/citations length is insufficient Not a recognisable name/twitter alias
1	Limited. The blog entry is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic or lectures. Insufficient references to support content. Wiki simply copies text from elsewhere, no references, incorrect length
0	No Credit. The blog entry is missing or consists of one or two disconnected sentences. No referencing. Submitted after the deadline. Wiki - does not follow any of the recommendations for content or length

Students Tweeting

By this evening I have received over 20 tweets from students asking me to share this video. We won't have time in class to watch it in its entirety but I shall include it in our class blog to show how engaged #ALES204 students are in current events and new media communication tools!


Thanks to all theses that shared the video with me.



KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Lecture 18: Writing and Reading Academic Articles

During today's lecture we will review how to read an academic article. It is quite different from reading something (a book, a magazine, tweets) for fun. Now we're reading for a distinct purpose.

The article I will ask you to read is this one:

Journal of Cleaner Production

Volume 19, Issue 16, November 2011, Pages 1876–1883

Promoting Transformation towards Sustainable Consumption and Production in a Resource and Energy Intensive Economy - the Case of Finland

The link is here:
 http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/article/pii/S0959652611001569

You will need your University of Alberta login to access this via the library (the above link). You can also read the article here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzsIVysTrCWkYTA2UkZod1BSZk9tQk1EdkxtYlhGQQ


After five minutes of reading, you will be asked to stop reading and fill in this reading questionnaire:





You can read the Harvard Report here.


Another in class activity we will do uses information found here; Pivotal Words handout via the Dartmouth Academic Skills Centre.

Remember, during labs you will have further opportunity to review the Science Article Assignment. You will also let your TA (and I) know which option you will be choosing. You will do this by sending us an e-mail. You can review the assignment and rubric here.

Lecture 18: Reading and Writing for an Academic Purpose

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Wikipedia Improves Student Writing

I thought you #ALES204 students would be interested in this given our upcoming Wikipedia assignment:

Wikipedia improves students' work

Students become much more concerned with accuracy when their research is posted online

FREDERICTON, May 30 /CNW/ - A student writing an essay for their teacher may be tempted to plagiarize or leave facts unchecked. A new study shows that if you ask that same student to write something that will be posted on Wikipedia, he or she suddenly becomes determined to make the work as accurate as possible, and may actually do better research.

Brenna Gray, Image from Douglas College. 

Brenna Gray, an instructor at Douglas College in New Westminster, B.C., was presenting the results of the study at the 2011 Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.

She became interested in why students seem to adopt some technological innovations (Wikipedia, for example) and reject things their schools would like them to use, such as the student-teacher interface Blackboard. Gray says it's easy to criticize Wikipedia because of the unstructured way it is set up.

She says despite its faults, it does promote solid values for its writers, including precise citations, accurate research, editing and revision.

"Those ideals are the ones we espouse as English instructors," she said.

She decided to get first-year students in an English class to write short biographies of Canadian writers that would then be posted on Wikipedia.

What she found was that the moment the students realized their work was going public in a forum over which they had no control, they took the work a lot more seriously. They became concerned, for example, with the accuracy of facts.

Gray says it's not only the fact that their work was going public that stimulated the students, it was the realization that in producing the Wikipedia entries they were acquiring skills that were transferable to other parts of their lives.

Survey Responses from Lecture 12

Remember that survey I asked you to complete during Lecture 12 - about your favourite fonts etc...? Well, 108 of you responded to it - that's almost all of you. A big thank you to those of you who participated - excellent and keep up the good work.

I have created a spreadsheet with all the responses. It is quite interesting! Many of you like Times New Roman. Have a look here at the results.

Calling Human Ecology Students :: Practise your Professional Communication and Win a Prize

You can read more over at the SHEA blog.