Tag: unit 3

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Crediting your sources

One of the challenges of writing in non-academic styles is that your academic citation skills might need to flex a bit–in-text parenthetical citations and footnotes simply aren’t appropriate to all genres, but you are still ethically bound to provide information about your sources to your readers.

So how do you do this??

This is one of the reasons I’ve asked you to look for sample texts in the genre you plan to write. In reviewing those samples, please pay attention to how the authors handle sources–do they provide a list of references at the end? (and perhaps numbered footnotes throughout?) do they hyperlink to other articles they’re working with? do they rely on in-text attribution (the sort of “according to X….” phrases)?

There are some formats (i.e. PowerPoint) where fairly traditional academic-style footnotes are still the order of the day. In most cases, though, in these non-academic genres, you’ll see embedded links and in-text attribution as the norm. You need to look closely at some samples to see how authors handle it in these media outlets, and then act accordingly.

Why is this so important?

Well, this is a research course, after all, so we need to approach the particulars of citing research carefully, but this isn’t just some check-off on an assignment. Research-based writing lives and breathes beyond the university, too, so you’ll need to have a variety of tools at your disposal to employ in these situations. You probably won’t be using MLA or APA-style forever, but you will be researching and sharing what you’ve learned for the rest of your career.

It’s also worth considering the ethical implications, which run in two directions. You have an obligation to the authors of the sources you are working with to provide credit where credit is due. Furthermore, you have an obligation to your readers, who need to have ready access to the sources you’ve been using for their own purposes. You’re part of a larger discussion around your issue, remember, and that means that you need to honor those whose work you’re building upon, as well as facilitate those who will want to do more with this topic once you’re done with it.

Note that (as indicated in the assignment rubric on the unit 3 assignment sheet) you have 2 responsibilities–to provide in-text attribution of sources that you are relying upon in building your argument and providing a separate complete bibliography for the sources that have helped to shape your thinking (even if you have not quoted, paraphrased, or cited them in your actual text).

Because this work of figuring out how to cite your sources matters so much, please be sure to integrate these credits into your draft, so that I can give you some feedback on how well it’s working and what adjustments you might need to make. If you have any questions as you’re working, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

 

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Project Proposal

For my project I would like to create a visual presentation tailored for companies and schools that could use improvement on their guidelines regarding minority students. So many environments lack the proper knowledge on how to elevate and incorporate the minority individuals and fail to make these communities supportive towards their success. With my presentation I would provide a list of ways to incorporate minority voices and use their backgrounds and individual skills as valuable assets. I would make them more aware of how to make each space more friendly and what actions should be taken when a minority feels misrepresented or undervalued in the workplace. In a school environment I would provide methods on how to forgo racial profiling and stereotypes against minority students. New methods should be laid out for recruiting minority students into the gifted programs and they should feel encouraged, not deterred from completing school.  Minority students should be challenged to succeed in school and they should have more resources for reaching out to individuals when they feel they are being discriminated against. I did some research on companies that provide learning opportunities to minorities with specific interests and I feel incorporating some of that into my project will provide establishments with organizations tailored towards minority success.

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Project Proposal

For my final project I will be creating a research paper that tackles the question: How common is bias in education, and does it have an effect on students learning outcomes? To do this effectively I am using sources that are vary from citations of books, journal entries (mostly from psychology related publications and education journals, and also trade journals that use the perspective of educators that are active in their profession). My goal is to help show the reader that while they may aware of racial, cultural, gender biases, to peel back the curtain and show them just how widespread this sort of behavior is.

My targeted audience consists of two main groups of people: The first would be educators and school administrators. The second would be university students (just like this class), people who are taking a course in diversity and inclusion studies. I would like this to be part of the canon of a course like this so that students can read this and want to go further with it and develop their own questions and answers about issues in diversity in education, and how it effects different populations of people.

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Discussion prompt for Week of 7/27

In this week’s discussion, you’ll focus on identifying one or more usable models for your own writing, recognizing that we can learn from and build on how others present their ideas. Much like we’ve been working with the templates in TSIS, such models can provide us with jumping-off points that will allow us to develop our own thinking.

I’ve given you a few pieces to get you started. You’ll find a folder of sample texts from different genres in the Unit 3 folder of Assigned Readings on Blackboard. Look through these to take in some of the many possibilities for what research-based writing can look like, and then browse around the web for some more examples. Locate a text that looks/works kind of like what you envision for your own project–something in that same genre (i.e. a magazine article, a memo from an HR department, a PowerPoint delivered to a professional audience, etc.). It doesn’t have to be on the same or even a related topic–you’re just looking for an example of a genre (or type of writing) that you’re going to be writing in.

For your post, once you’ve located an example, please share it with us by linking it to your post, and then talk about what you think of this text as an example of that genre–what are some of the unique or distinctive features of this type of writing? how well does this particular sample work? what do you like about it? are there ways in which you think it is less than successful? what lessons will you take from this to use in crafting your own project? (Bear in mind that we can learn both lessons in the positive–I really like how they did this, and I’m going to try to do something similar–and lessons in the negative–I don’t think they did a good job with X, so I want to make sure to do better).

Your post should be >150 words and must include an embedded link to or a picture of the sample you’re discussing. Please categorize your post as “Discussions/Homework,” and tag it with “week of 7/27,” “genre,” “unit 3,” and [your name]. Posts are due by Wednesday.

Then, for your response work this week, please read through 2 classmates’ drafts (which will be up by the end of the day on Friday). In order to ensure that everybody gets feedback, please go to the list of posts on the blog dashboard. Click “All Posts,” find the post with your draft, and then read the 2 immediately below that. In your comments (>100 words each), please highlight what you think is working well, what you’d like more explanation of, any questions that you have about the content, and any suggestions you have about how best to reach the audience this person is targeting. Your feedback is due by the end of the day Sunday, 8/2 (note this is an extension from the original due date).

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Overview of Week of 7/27

As we head into the final stretch of the course, your focus will be on developing your Unit 3 project. That will unfold through a few different steps. this week. Please read on for more about what you’ll be doing (and how, when, and why).

Make sure you take the time to review comments from me and from your classmates on the blog, as well as the feedback you received from me on your research portfolio, project proposal, and project plan. I’m looking forward to seeing how these projects take shape in the coming days.

As you’re doing that work, some things to keep in mind about genre. As we’ve been discussing (see below), genre is not simply a template, but rather a response to the demands of the subject matter/author’s purpose and the needs of the audience. (This might sound familiar–this is how Graff and Birkenstein talk about their They Say/I Say templates, as starting points for organic work, rather than as static cookie-cutter patterns. Those TSIS techniques may come in quite handy as you are working to orchestrate a complex conversation among you and your sources!)

For that reason, it’s essential that you head into this drafting work with a very clear picture of your audience and a clearly articulated objective. You have free license here to invent the parameters of your rhetorical situation, and in fact you’ll need to provide a brief statement of that situation with your draft. Tell us who you’re writing for (as precisely as possible), and explain the circumstances under which that audience will receive your text (i.e. browsing through social media, sitting at a professional conference, visiting their company’s Human Resources Department or their university’s Career Services Office, etc.).

As you see from the rubric for this project (below), your project will be evaluated based upon both content and approach–how well you work with your sources to develop and communicate your ideas AND how effectively you convey that material to your given audience within the situation you have constructed. Make sure you consult the criteria listed in the rubric as you are drafting and revising.

Content
Has clear research focus/question /2
Provides appropriately detailed examination of research focus/question /2
Provides background/examples appropriate for target readers /2
Includes discussion of/implications for workplace culture(s) /2
Utilizes and appropriately references source materials /2
Subtotal /10

 

Presentation of information
Clear visual organization of ideas/information—constructed for easy comprehension by readers in the situation you have outlined /1
Makes effective use of visuals (graphics, images, pull-quotes, white space/background, other) to enhance reader understanding and interest /1
Text is not marred by proofreading errors /1
Language is clear, engaging, and audience-appropriate /2
Subtotal /5
TOTAL:  /15

Your draft (with brief accompanying statement explaining the rhetorical situation for your text) is due by the end of the day on Friday, 7/31. Please post this to the blog. You’ll each read and respond to at least two of your classmates’ drafts by the end of the day on Saturday, and will begin revising your drafts based upon their feedback, even as you are waiting for additional feedback from me.  See this post for the particulars regarding your posts:

If you would like to talk with me about your draft-in-progress or any of your other work in the course, please email me directly, and we can communicate that way or set up a time to talk by phone. 

So here are this week’s tasks:

Reading

  • genre samples on Blackboard–check out the Genre Samples folder in the Unit 3 readings folder to see some of the various forms that researched writing can take
  • sample(s) you locate on your own of the type of text you’d like to develop–thinking about your target audience and your intended purpose, look for texts that seek to reach a similar objective

Writing

  • draft of your Unit 3 research project (post to blog as link or attachment by Friday, 7/31)
  • revision worksheet–considering and reconsidering your own draft as you await feedback from me and from your classmates (due by Sunday, 8/2)
  • discussion work as outlined in the post below:

    Discussion prompt for Week of 7/27

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Project Proposal – Mike

As I hinted to in my Week of 7/20 Discussion post, I’m going to create a PowerPoint presentation about the power of consumer activism.

Having sat through countless web-conferences and meetings filled with mind-numbing PowerPoint slide decks, I feel I have a good sense of what not to do. My biggest pet peeve is when the presenter simply reads the text directly off of the slides. I could do that myself! Why am I having to sit here and listen to you read it to me? Tell me what you want me to take away from this information. Why did you think it was important to include? What do you want me to do with what you’ve shared?

To that end, I did some Google searching. Using the term “powerful powerpoint presentations”, I came across an article from SlideModel.com called “23 PowerPoint Presentation Tips for Creating Engaging and Interactive Presentations”. I felt immediately vindicated when, about three paragraphs in, I saw the following sentence highlighted in bold: “The key thing to remember is your presentation is there to compliment your speech, not be the focus of it.”

With all of this in mind, what I’ll end up sharing with everyone is not only the slide deck itself, but also my speaker’s notes. As I mentioned earlier this week, my intended audience is a company or organization’s executives. The deck will be no more than ten slides and will feature graphics which support the text and vice versa. My speaker’s notes will expand on the concepts presented on the slides, include some additional details or perhaps a quote from one of my resources. This is to help add context to what I’m presenting, and to increase the likelihood that my message is being understood by my audience.

So, what do I hope to achieve with this presentation?

I’m going into this “meeting” with the intent of highlighting the changing habits of consumers, focusing on the shift away from direct involvement in the political process to engagement via their pocketbooks. Once I’ve set the scene, I’ll demonstrate examples of successful companies who are attracting and retaining customers and creating loyalty because of actions and initiatives they’ve taken to be socially and environmentally conscious. Combining the two, I’m hopeful the executives will recognize the value and potential positive return on investment to be had by taking such steps.

Thanks to the research I did in Unit 2, I have plenty of material from which to draw. The key will be picking the right ones to resonate with the audience. I have a feeling Jessica Stewart’s essay from Shopping For Change will be particularly powerful. In comparing consumer attitudes toward Wal-Mart and Target, Stewart points out that both businesses are nearly identical in how they’re run, with a few key distinctions which have affected public opinion of the two for years.

I recognize I’ve got my work cut out here. With Arsenal in the FA Cup Final next Saturday, and my birthday the following day, I’ll want to have my draft finished well before next weekend! Seems like a busy week is in store!

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Week of 7/20 – Discussion

  1. One reading I’m choosing to focus on is on Mollie West’s “How To Create a Culture Manifesto (And Why It’s a Good Idea).” As the title already begins to suggest, the author is giving the reader/ audience a direction of where her blog post will lead. It’s an effective way of attracting an audience that may be skeptical or may just want simple and direct answers. Throughout the entire reading, I see West realize this and use it so that her message can easily reach large audiences in a short amount of time. From the beginning paragraph, which defines and explains the context of the article, to the end, which offers a do it yourself (DIY) template to approaching a manifesto, West is strategically tailoring an audience platform in mind.  Its a very linear reading structured with a brief general intro, main headlines, and bullet-listed points. She strengthens her position on “Why It’s a Good Idea” by giving real-world examples of companies (she lists a diverse pool of companies too) who have applied this approach and succeeded. Similarly, she’s choosing to highlight these companies’ evolution with time (i.e. Warby Parker) which aligns with the trends we see in today’s workforce “to increasingly value meaning work.” All this considered, West’s article serves to push/ employ an audience that can take direct actions for creating organizations that have a good workplace culture and environment.
  2. The second reading we were assigned this week on ethical culture really inspired me to want to include clean/ graphics-oriented supporting evidence. Given this text was lengthier and intended more for a different audience (i.e. a HR manager looking at detailed case studies or alternative data methods for improving their workplace culture), I still liked the way the authors structured the text having easy to read diagrams (like the Pyramid figure chart) followed up with statistics and discussions on the latter end. With respect to what I’d like to discuss on language diversity in the workplace, I could see myself readopting this kind of approach but in a sort of reduced magazine format. It wouldn’t be as long of a written publication/ research issue as the article we were given presents, but rather a platform that introduces users to a field they may not be aware of. My reasoning behind this would be to quickly engage a reader with the topic, reflect on their own experiences, and channel them to open a conversation with friends, family, colleagues, etc. Since most researchers and authors on studying language diversity stress that there is not enough attention on the issues it can potentially create, including short-read text blurbs summarized with graphic diagrams would be a good place to start. It’d look to have the same purpose Mollie West does in her article for raising awareness and pushing her audience to look further into a specified subject.
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Discussion Week 7/20

  1. I decided to focus on “How to create a culture manifesto for your organization” article by Mollie West for the prompt. It was easy to identify how author Mollie West turned what she had learned about creating culture manifesto and turning it into something the reader can learn as well. Throughout the article she values and product breakdown of notable companies Etsy and Warby Parker as they were prime examples to display this culture manifesto she had learned. The audience, from my own understanding, is most likely individuals who are involved with business promotion or working to promote other non-profit organizations. The author is able to subsection each business and then target her understanding of how the said business was able to create their own culture manifesto. Providing evidence and bullet pointing key values and principles makes it easy for the audience to identify what draws consumers and the public in. I think the author made the article as organized as she did so the audience can then go back and easily be drawn to reread the values and reasons why the businesses Etsy and Warby Parker were able to develop and use these said values to bring in a consumer base. The organization of the article is extremely helpful, in my opinion, to guide the audience through each of the tactics the companies use to target and build their consumer base, without this organization of the process it takes to create this culture manifesto, it would be much harder to pull away from the reading the key factors as to what brought each company success.
  2. After focusing primarily on the LGBTQ community, I think it would be best to focus my research writing on the topic as well in regards to organizational culture. My target audience would be those who associate with the LGBTQ community and others who are advocates for them as well. This would involve educating not only the LGBTQ community members on the research I have learned, but also turning the research to implicate what others who do not identify as such should learn. The purpose of my research would be to advocate for lessening the heterosexual norm within the office, as it is stereotypically thought of as a straight male working in these environments. Promoting gender diversity would encompass not only women but others who identify as transgender, non-binary, etc. I think there are plenty of options when it comes to how I would encourage gender diversity in the workplace and this can range from individual work to group work, and even so with whole organization work. Most of the texts I want to look for are those who feel targeted or vulnerable in the workplace and what they have experienced. I am a strong believer of learning from past mistakes and taking those moments of ignorance and turning them into a learning lesson, this is primarily what I would try to do with these stories I find. I think what would be interesting is looking into social media outlets, and seeing what influencers or the public have shared with their own experience being a minority in the workplace. I want to get into a good amount of detail, really trying to elaborate and paint a picture for the reader so they can place themselves within these stories. I would prefer the texts not to be too long, but powerful enough that the reader remembers the detailed account read. My writing style I would aim for a casual conversation, because through so many articles authors demand a change but I think that this instead should be an ongoing conversation that implements the reader as well. My purpose is to educate the reader, inform them of what others experiences in a day to day setting in the workplace, it wouldn’t be a “blame game” per say where the reader or anyone who is heterosexual is at fault because this gender discrimination is not experienced by everyone. My citations would be quoted such as “ – John Doe, 20, non-binary” so then the reader can better understand who is telling this story and where do they fall in terms of in the LGBTQ community.
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Discussion Posts Week of 7/20

  1. The article I chose to focus on is the article titled ““How to create a culture manifesto for your organization (and why its a good idea).” The author does a great job at conveying her message to the reader. With the use of subheadings, West is able to highlight key companies that had mission statements, but would not necessarily follow them. West begins by explaining how mission statements have been guiding non-profit organizations for a while now. However, instead of focusing on internal ways of working, they often focus on the. external goals. A manifesto is meant to create a a better working environment and create a place where everyone is equal and no one is discriminated against. This article is really informative and people who are in a position of power in the workplace, as well as people who work everyday, will benefit from reading this article. The questions she raises under the subheading “how to create a manifesto,” are questions everyone should ask themselves when going into work. This article is a great addition to the conversation on organizational culture. West does a great job at using certain strategies to appeal to certain audiences to convey her point of view.
  2. For my own research piece, I would like to continue my conversation on the screening process in schools by creating a news article. Websites and news articles, along with scholarly articles, have been at the forefront of my research. I found the most information there and I am going to continue to use those to show why diversity and inclusion is so important in education. I’m going to continue to look at scholarly articles done by professionals in the field as well as websites and news sources as a. format for my own research piece. I feel that there are many audiences that can benefit from this kind of writing. First and foremost students and parents who are going through this process and experiencing some kind of discrimination. In addition, faculty and staff at schools who are the ones admitting and declining students. The News article would be a good way to get this information across because it would be easy to read, yet still showing the importance and the problem with screening. I can incorporate quotes from some of the research I have done before and even add pictures that can be relevant to the topic.
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Thinking some more about genre

In our discussion work this week and next, I’m asking you to think about genre and what shape your final project will take. You’ve got a lot of latitude here to decide that shape, and it’s worth thinking some more about how genre connects to audience and purpose as you do so.

First off, while it’s useful to think of genres as different types or categories (such as we use for sorting movies or music into meaningful ‘buckets’ or groups), genres are not static. Rather, genres are adaptive and organic. The pop music of today does not sound like the pop music of the 1960s. The circumstances, expectations, and preferences have shifted, and what is popular now is different from what was popular then.

Secondly, while genres have conventions and expectations (people come to a particular genre of movies expecting them to follow certain ‘rules,’ for example), these genre conventions aren’t written in stone. Users challenge them all the time, bending these notions to come up with something new. Think about the film Get Out–it was a comedy right? or was it horror? or was it something else altogether?

When it comes to writing, I think it’s helpful to think of genres as usable responses to recurring writing situations. Need to apply for a job? A cover letter gets the job done. It’s not fancy or exciting, but it contains the elements that a hiring manager would want to know, and in a pretty usable way that lets the reader go about their work efficiently. That didn’t just happen–the genre evolved as this situation (people applying for jobs) kept happening, and people kept responding in pretty consistent ways. Over time, this type of text took on a pretty predictable form. Now, people know what to expect from it (the writers and the readers), and that makes it pretty functional for the readers.

It’s important for writers to consider their readers’ needs as they write. This is all the more true outside of a classroom setting. A teacher reader has to read students’ texts–that’s literally their job–but outside of the classroom, readers seldom have that same requirement. Instead, we make choices about what, whether, and how well we read. When we bump into texts that don’t seem to meet our needs and interests, we often just don’t read them. Or we only skim them.

In your project proposal (due Sunday), your task is to settle upon an objective that you think matters–you’ve learned information that you really want to share with people whom you think need it, and if you’re going to accomplish that goal of information delivery, then you need to think carefully about what your reader will expect, value, and want in a text. That’s why you’ve got so much latitude to determine the genre you use, and it’s why you’ll need to think carefully about it.

As you’re settling on a genre, it’s really valuable to look for examples of that type of text that you think work really well, and then to read them closely, paying attention to things like

  • what kind of tone does this author use
  • how long is this text
  • how does the writer talk about/point to evidence
  • what role do graphics play here
  • what kinds of style and syntax does the writer employ
  • how formal is the voice
  • what level of detail does the text provide
  • what sorts of word choices does the writer make

So start poking around to look at some of your options. For next week’s readings, you’ll be looking at sample texts in a variety of different genres, but I’d like you to keep looking for models, as well, so that you can see the above considerations in action and be able to draw lessons for yourself. Next week’s discussion work will ask you to share something you’ve found, so start looking now.