Instructions & Notes for CrCrTh 692 (on requirements & expectations, etc.)

use this link to report glitches in online materials, thanks

Contents

and additional details in green for asynchronous online students (if there are any).

General Instructions

Instructions for Participation Items are given below, but Instructions for written assignments are given at the start of your personal assignment checklist and through links on it (replica). These links go to pages describing the tool or process involved, where the pages are duplicated in the Taking Yourself Seriously text. Choose for yourself whether to consult the text or follow the online links.
Written assignments are due by the time of class. Submit as pdf by email with 692assignment as the subject line. Instructor will distribute the assignment to a peer reviewer, upload the pdf to your checklist wikipage, and provide comments there within a week.
See rationale for the assessment system. Ask for clarification if needed to get clear and comfortable with this system.

Accommodating various kinds of students
Substitutions for assignments are possible--read what follows, then consult with the instructor. This course aims to accommodate students of various skills and experience, so you need to assess what kind of student you are and let the instructor know how you plan to approach class activities and assignments. Be prepared to revise your assessment and plan as the semester unfolds.
If you are experienced in extended research projects, adjust the sequence and make-up of assignments to suit your project and your style of research and writing. Use the course as an opportunity to make sense of what you have done (or regret not having done) and to practice teaching others during class. Provisos: Keep instructor informed about what you're doing; take note of the goals of the phases (e.g., many people are able to compile a bibliography, but an annotated bibliography is different—it disciplines your to check that the readings relate to your Governing Question), experiment with new tools, and be open to surprises.
If you are experienced in term paper research projects and confident about extending that to semester-long project without cramming in work at the end of the semester, the explicit phases/goals should help you meet the challenge of not cramming work in at the end of the semester. Consult with instructor about adjusting the sequence and make-up of assignments to suit your project and style of research and writing.
If you are experienced in term paper research projects, but liable in a semester-long project to cram work in at the end of the semester, take the role this semester of someone looking for more experience, structure and tools re: research, writing, and forms of engagement.

Notes on participation and contribution to the class process


Ongoing development of the course
Through the mid-semester self-assessment and the support survey, students are encouraged to approach this course as a work-in-progress. Instead of harboring criticisms to submit after the course is over, we can find opportunities to affirm what is working well and suggest directions for further development. Throughout the semester please make suggestions about changes and additions to the course activities and materials. Also email the instructor addresses of valuable websites with a brief explanation (1-2 sentences) of their value. Support the instructors as they experiment in developing this course.


a. Building learning community (see also f & g.)
Prepared participation in class sessions is expected. One item fulfilled for each class you participate in (except not if you are unprepared). For face2face students participation includes being punctual and not letting your cellphone ring or taking calls.
For asynchronous online students participation means that you listen to the audio recordings and join in the live sessions. (You are making a mistake if you think taking an online course allows you to skip or skim the class materials.) If you cannot attend a live session, you should view/listen to the recording of the meeting in light of the makeup instructions (on the makeup page) and submit the makeup notes to the instructor for uploading into the session participation box on your personal 692checklist page. If no makeup notes are specified, identify one point from the start, another from the middle, and one from the end that was new to you, or that was unclear to you, and explain what you thought about it, or what you need to understand to get clear about the point.
Allowance is made for other priorities in your life. You are not required to give excuses for absence, lateness, or lack of preparation (altho' don't expect to get a participation item). Simply make up the 80% of participation items in other ways (b-j).
See also: pointers on class preparation and participation and good etiquette for email.

b. Syllabus quiz or treasure-hunt
This is an important exercise. It helps neither you as the student nor the instructor if you find yourself confused in week 10 about where to find instructions. Especially if you haven't spent time to systematically get acquainted with the course materials and/or haven't asked questions to help you -- and probably others -- clarify things.
Q: Why not spend time in class going over the materials? A: It is more effective for each student to do this at their own pace and then we can spend the precious class time on specific, focused questions.


c. Conferences
in-office or phone, for discussion of comments on assignments (see Dialogue around written work), the overall direction of your project, your workbook and research organization, and the course as a whole. They are important to ensure timely resolution of misunderstandings, and a chance to open up significant issues about one's relationship to audience and influencing others. If you are falling behind, conferences are especially important for checking in, taking stock, and getting a recharge. Minimum of two conferences--one before session 5; the other before session 11.

d. Research workbook and organization
e.g., Journal/workbook, organized system to store handouts and loose research materials, copy of system of folders/files from your computer, system for backup.
This will be perused during conference before session 5 and again during session 12 or 13, checking for changes made in response to early- and mid-semester comments.

e. Mid-semester self-assessment of the gap between where you are and where you'd like to be in three regards, with respect to your

f. Peer commentaries on other students' assignments. Five times during the semester. The instructor will forward an assignment to you for peer review after you submit your own assignment. Send comments within a week to the student with cc to the instructor. Make sure subject line remains 692assignment.
In any week, if you won't be able to review an assignment sent to you, immediately reply to the instructor so the assignment can get sent to a different student.
One component of taking initiative in or through relationships is sharing one's work at the same time as defining the kinds of response you need at that point. Keep Elbow, Writing with Power, chapters 3 & 13 and Varieties of responses in mind when you decide what approaches to commenting you ask for as a writer and what to use as a commentator. You may be used to making lots of specific suggestions for clarification and change in the margins, but such suggestions do not often lead students to go beyond touching up into re-thinking and revising their ideas and writing. This said, all writers value comments that reassure them that they have been listened to and their voice, however uncertain, has been heard.

g. Support survey
An open question, that is, one always worth discussing is: By what means can the group function as a support & coaching structure to get most students to finish their reports by the end of the semester? Complete the survey, which provides material for a practical vision cardstorming process on this question (item j).

h. Extra, optional item: Briefing on topics about the process or mechanics of research and engagement
For this item select a topic on which to prepare a summary (2-4 pages) in written form that gives other students in this and future classes a quick start when they face that topic. These briefings are intended to provide or point to key resources = key concepts, issues and debates, lesson plans, web sites and bibliographic references, annotations on and quotes or paraphrases from those references, informants/contacts on and off campus, relevant workshops, etc. Imagine as your audience peers who you can interest in your topic, but who do not want to start from scratch in finding key resources on this topic and learning how to think about it. To begin preparing their briefings, students view previous versions linked to course website ( http://www.faculty.umb.edu/peter_taylor/briefings-TOC.html) or meet with instructor to get initial suggested resources. It's OK to revise/refresh/update a previous briefing.
The briefing assignment addresses the goal of students becoming better able to fulfill the needs of your school, community or organization, address the information explosion, adapt to social changes, and collaborate with others to these ends. (Draft due by session 7)

i. Extra, optional item: Volunteering to have your work discussed in front of session for certain assignments, session 4, 6, 9, or 11. See sign-up sheet.

j. Extra, optional item: Participating in a small group "cardstorming" session at a time TBA to digest the responses to the support survey (see item g).

k. Assignment checklist, recorded throughout semester, then submitted as pdf in session 14 (unless you record everything directly into the checklist wikipage during the semester).
By keeping track of your own progress, interaction with the instructor can focus on dialogue around written work.