SOCL 526: Writing in the Social Sciences

So we’ve already completed 1/4 of the course. Hard to believe, isn’t it?  This week the focus will be on techniques to locate scholarly sources and how to properly document sources in your writing.  Since I’ve never taught or taken an on-line course before, I’d like you to give me some feedback on how it’s going from your perspective.  How is the work load?  Is it too much, too little (somehow I doubt you’ll say this ) or about right?  How is the content delivery?  Do you feel you are getting the content of the course presented in a format that is easily accessible and interesting?  Are there things you’d like to see improved in the course?  Feel free to either e-mail me or blog any feedback about the course.  I’m not asking you to do a “course evaluation,” and anything you say “will not be held against you in a court of law” (seriously, I won’t take critical feedback in a negative way); I simply would like to know, before we get much further in the course, if there are things you would like to see improved.  I’m happy to make changes to facilitate your learning.

We’re almost to the end of our first week of class.  It looks like everyone has their blog set up and is remembering to tag the posts so that they feed to this class page.  Great!  You all caught on a whole lot faster than I did to this whole blogging concept. 

I’ve read each of your topics and responded to each. If you haven’t responded to your classmates’ blog please do so.  Tori, Keith and I are having trouble posting comments to your blog. I only can post to your first blog, so I posted my comments on your research topic to your first blog. I can’t find a comment button for your second blog.  All of you are doing a great job refining your topics.

Grammar is our topic for this last part of week 1.  I hope you’re having fun with that.  Remember to proofread your blog posts for spelling and punctuation errors.  It’s important to practice good writing in the blogs so that it becomes habit. 

Next week we will be working on locating sources for your papers and discussing plagiarism.  Our librarian for this course is monitoring our blog posts and will be making comments to your posts as well, especially once you begin the literature searches.  She’s the expert on helping you locate sources.  So if you see a post from Tatiana, don’t be surprised.  Also, remember she’s available at the library M-F from 4-5 and you can chat with her on the meebo then or call or e-mail her.

Welcome to SOCL 526:  Writing in the Social Sciences.  If you have taken an on-line course before, you know that usually the “class discussion” part of the course is often handled through the discussion board on Blackboard.  For this course, I thought we would experiment with using a blog to handle the course discussion.  The first step is having each of you set up your own blog.  In fact, the first assignment in the class is having you set up the blog.  You will find those instructions under “Assignments” in Blackboard, as well as under the assignment tab here on the blog.  After you set up your blog, send me the link to it so I can post it on this page. 

There is a learning curve with any new technology, so it may take you a little bit to figure out the blog. However, the Instructional Design Librarian, Tatiana Pashkova-Balkenhol, will be able to assist you with questions and technical problems.  If the blog technology becomes too frustrating or stressful for you, please let me know. I thought the blog space would facilitate discussion easier than the Discussion Board on Blackboard. However, if the blog interferes with the learning process and your enjoyment of the on-line course experience, we will abandon it and use the Discussion Board. 

Any time you want to post your blog responses to the blog assignments, be sure to scroll down below the “post” space and type “socl” (not in quotation marks) in the “Tags” space, then click on Add.  All of your posts need to have the “socl” tag on them for them to be fed to my blog. 

Once your blog is set up and you’ve sent me the link, send your opening post (found under the first assignment) and we can get to know each other.  If you have a photo of yourself, please upload it to your blog. 

The first two days of the course are going to be devoted to getting everyone set up on the blog.  Be sure you have ordered the e-textbook and be sure to read the first reading assignment. 

So let’s get started and see how this works!