September 17, 2007
We will be taking our Module I quiz in class today, Monday. I usually mix it up, so having the quiz in class is not a big deal. Some quizzes you will take on your honor and others, like to today, will be proctored. It’s not a big deal. It’s just a quiz. Quizzes equal 10% of your final grade. If you don’t do well, you can always opt to take the final exam in the end. If you miss the quiz today in class, you must schedule a time to take the quiz in the Testing Center by the end of the day on Wednesday. There are no make-ups after Wednesday, so schedule your testing appointment now if you know you will not be in class today.
If you average 70% or better on all 5 module quizzes, you will be exempt from a final exam at the end of the semester. You may always choose to take the final exam regardless of your quiz scores. It’s your choice.
Instructions: This quiz will be available for 3 days only (Monday-Wednesday). You must finish the quiz once you begin. You will have 45 minutes. If you open the quiz and then stop, you will not be able to finish later. There are no make-ups or do overs.
Timed Assessment This Test has a 45 minute timer.The elapsed time appears at the bottom of the window.
A 1 minute warning will be displayed. [The timer does not appear when previewing this Test] Multiple Attempts Not allowed. This Test can only be taken once. Force Completion This Test must be completed now.
Posted in Info, Module I, Quiz 
September 10, 2007
Good morning Class,
I will not be in class today, as I am home recovering from a nasty cold I’ve had all weekend. Too much excitement these first three weeks I guess. I am slowly finishing up your first two assignments, and if you haven’t gotten yours back yet, you should see it by the end of today. Our next step is to write the first half of our position paper. Be sure to read the handout for position papers in the Week 4 folder. Here’s a list of what we will do this week:
- Chapter 8: Beginning a Research Project, pp. 296-303
- Chapter 14: Argument, pp. 490-509
- Handouts: Analyzing Context, Position Papers
- Paper 1: Defining the Issue (Context Analysis) (1-2 pages)- 75 pts
- Module I Quiz will be posted on Wednesday, and you will have until midnight Saturday to complete the quiz. There are no makeups for quizzes, so be sure that you take the quiz during the time it is available. Any missed quizzes will result in you having to come to school to take a final exam at the end of the summer session. The quiz password will be posted on Wednesday.
We write a position paper to:
- Organize and outline your viewpoint on an issue
- Formally inform others of your position as a foundation to build resolution to difficult problems
- Present a unique, though biased, position on a controversial issue
- Frame the discussion in order to define the “playing field.” This can put you in an advantageous position with those who may not be so well prepared as regards the issues behind their positions
- Establish your credibility. Here you are demonstrating that you have a command of the issues and the research behind them, and can present them clearlyLet your passion be demonstrated in the force of your argument rather than in the use of emotional terms
- Guide you in being consistent in maintaining your position in negotiation
Your first step is to do a context analysis of your issue. Write your answers down so that you can refer to them as you begin your essay. This however is not your essay. Use the provide outline to help you organize your paper. You will only do the first section of the outline: Define the Issue.
Position papers concern controversial issues, matters on which people disagree. The issue may arise from a particular occasion or be part of an ongoing debate. In either case, the writer must clearly explain the issue. In addition to establishing that the issue exists, a writer needs to define it for the writing purpose. Defining an issue means saying what kind of issue it is. For instance, Amitai Etzioni defines the issue of hate speech in terms of what is “civil,†rather than in terms of the right to free expression as many of his readers will. Sometimes, defining the issue also involves marking its boundaries. Jessica Statsky, for example, limits the organized team sports she is talking about to those sponsored by parents outside schools for children of certain ages.
Associate Professor Sam explains the paper in the following podcast:
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Posted in Module I, Papers, Podcast
August 30, 2007
If you didn’t notice the mentioning of the Bedford Bibliographer in the Week 2 folder this week, then you missed out on a very valuable tool that you will need this semester. BB is not required, but will be very helpful in helping you maintain a list of all of your sources during the research process. We call this your working bibliography. I created a screencast to show you how to register and how it works in case you choose to use this tool:
If you don’t want to use it, you can always maintain your working bibliography the old fashioned way - use your textbook.
Here is the information from Blackboard on Bedford Bibliographer:
One of the most difficult parts of the research process is recording and organizing information about sources. Now there’s help from the Bedford Bibliographer!
This easy-to-use Web-based application from the author of The Bedford Researcher assists students with the process of collecting sources, and generates bibliographies in MLA, APA, CSE, and Chicago Styles.
Using the Bedford Bibliographer, students create virtual source cards on which they can record bibliographic information, write annotations, evaluate sources, and even save text from electronic sources such as news articles that might be changed or removed.
You will need to register for this site: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/bbibliographer/bbib_frameset.htm
It’s free. Record your login and password for future use.
Read the Users Guide: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/bbibliographer/user_guide.aspx
Posted in Info, Screencast
August 29, 2007
Prepare: Read the textbook chapters and the two online presentations in Bb. Also read the information about del.icio.us and register for an account.
Search:
- Start with Google. Open a browser and type: http://www.google.com
- Type in different search terms relating to our discussion on personal freedoms. Remember the sky is the limit. We are only exploring, so try many different search terms.
Bookmark:
- Using the del.icio.us site, bookmark 10 websites that you found interesting.
- Tag the sites with terms that relate to the site, including the tag: personal+freedoms (don’t forget the plus sign +)
- Write a short summary of the website, so that others will have a good idea what the site offers before clicking the links. Summaries should be 2-3 sentences.
Submit: To submit your 10 links for grading, all you have to do is add Professor Cooper to your network. My username is: dr.coop
To add a person to your network, you can type their username into the add box on the right side of your network page. Or, you can use the add username to your network link in the grey bar at the top of other people’s bookmarks pages:
View the following screencast for help: Setting Up Del.icio.us
Link to del.icio.us Grading Screencast: http://www.freshmancomp.com/screencasts/deliciousgrade/deliciousgrade.html
Posted in Assn.#2, Module I
August 29, 2007
del.icio.us Social Bookmarking
del.icio.us is a collection of favorites - yours and everyone else’s. You can use del.icio.us to:
- Keep links to your favorite articles, blogs, music, reviews, recipes, and more, and access them from any computer on the web.
- Share favorites with friends, family, coworkers, students and the del.icio.us community.
- Discover new things. Everything on del.icio.us is someone’s favorite — they’ve already done the work of finding it. So del.icio.us is full of bookmarks about technology, entertainment, useful information, and more. Explore and enjoy.
del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website — the primary use of del.icio.us is to store your bookmarks online, which allows you to access the same bookmarks from any computer and add bookmarks from anywhere, too. On del.icio.us, you can use tags to organize and remember your bookmarks, which is a much more flexible system than folders.
You can also use del.icio.us to see the interesting links that your friends and other people bookmark, and share links with them in return. You can even browse and search del.icio.us to discover the cool and useful bookmarks that everyone else has saved — which is made easy with tags.
All you need is a browser and an internet connection. Sound good? Here’s how to get started. If you’d like to find out more, click here.
Posted in Assn.#2, Info
August 27, 2007
We haven’t committed to a topic yet. We are still just exploring with the first two assignments we have this week in Module I. I posted two articles that I think will challenge you to think about our personal freedoms and how they are currently being affected. You will need to read those and then write short summaries for both. Read the online presentation about Writing Summaries to help you refresh your memory about summarizing. It’s really an easy assignment.
I talk more about these Module I assignments in today’s class. I also talk a little about argumentative essays and the BIG picture. There is also a podcasts.
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Direct Link to Podcast: http://www.freshmancomp.com/podcasts/ENG102Module1.3.mp3
This week’s assignments include:
- Assignment #1: Two Summaries
- Assignment #2: Preliminary Research Webpages/post to del.icio.us
We’ll work on Assn. #1 in class on Monday and Assn. #2 in class on Wednesday. Both assignments will be due on Sunday by midnight. Don’t forget your Week 1 reading:
- Chapter 2 Strategies for Reading
- Chapter 5 Summarizing
Posted in Assignments, Assn.#1, Assn.#2, Info, Module I, Podcast
August 23, 2007
Hello Everyone,
Blackboard seems to be up and running now. I recommend that you utilize one of the 3 weekend days on a regular basis to work on your ENG102 course. Here is a list of what needs to be done by Monday:
1. Reply to this email and send me your contact phone numbers. Also tell me something interesting about yourself.
2. Participate in the Group Discussion in Blackboard.
3. Read chapter 1.
That’s it. I will start posting more announcements to help keep you focused, so you’ll start to see these on a regular basis. Keep thinking about possible topics that we can explore. Pick something good.
Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you all on Monday.
Posted in Info, Module I
August 22, 2007
Welcome to the ENG102 Online. I designed this site to work with Blackboard to help you be successful in this course. This site is not designed to give you more work or more things to do. It is designed as a tool to assist you. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to use it. You can get everything you need right in Blackboard. With that said, let me introduce you to some of the features of this site.
First, if you need constant reminders to keep you motivated to get your work completed, you’ll find several ways to get those friendly reminders here. You can subscribe to the blog in an RSS reader and get updates delivered to your reader daily. If you don’t know what RSS is or have never even heard of a feed reader, don’t worry; I can either teach you or you can skip it all together.
How about email updates? You have email. You can subscribe to the blog via email, and when ever I update with important information, you’ll automatically get an email with all the information in it. Sign up once and you’re set for the whole semester. If you’re not good about checking your email, you can always subscribe for mini-updates on your cell phone. Subscribe and you’ll get daily updates in a text. Remember, text messages cost money, so make sure you have a good plan. You’ll only get at most, one text a day from me. So that is three ways to keep you up to date with all the important news for ENG102.
Later, I’ll be explaining some of the other features of this blog, like podcasts, screencasts, chat. ______________________________________________________________________
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Posted in Info
August 2, 2007
Module 5 Quiz has been posted in the Module 5, Day 4 folder. You will have until midnight tomorrow (Friday) to take the quiz. Now that you’ve spent a good amount of timing using the library and looking for sources and writing your argumentative essay using the MLA style of documentation, it’s time to test your general knowledge in this area. This quiz covers library sources, citations, and works cited pages for the MLA style of documentation. There are also a few open questions about this course that you can’t possibly get wrong. There are no wrong answers for these questions unless you don’t answer clearly.
I am also offering you the opportunity to make-up any one quiz that you either failed or missed because of technical difficulties. I’ve never seen a group of students have so much trouble with taking quizzes (Tom). 
This is how it works:
- Look at your grades to determine your lowest quiz score.
- Click on Assignments, and then the Quizzes folder
- Choose the quiz you want to retake (only one will be graded)
- Complete the quiz by midnight tomorrow (Friday)
That’s it! Good luck. I will not be around today to reset quizzes, so be sure you use a browser and a computer that you know works for sure.
Posted in Module V, Quiz
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