Reminders for Class #9

Salvador Dali's take on deadline anxiety

Believe it or not, we are fast approaching the final class meeting of the semester! All the stockings proposals are hung by the chimney with care, etc. etc. 

Super Important Changing-My-Mind Announcement: The people have spoken, and the final class meeting has been moved back to its originally scheduled time and place, which is Krug Hall 5 at 4:30 on Monday 12/5. We will likely dismiss at 6:30.

And-What-Will-Happen-in-this-Final-Class Cliffhanger: Surveys, polls, and evaluations galore. An edifying visit with the Sentence Doctor, the Paragraph Transitions Doctor, and the Citation Doctor. Informal and ungraded state of the project speeches. Tidings of comfort and joy.

How-Do-I-Make-the-Acquaintance-of-These-Doctors Clarification: Send me your patients for diagnosis anytime before the final class. (You can email individual sentences/paragraphs or point me to a particular section of your documents.)

Call for Help: If anyone has suggestions about a good place to have our after-class party on Wednesday 12/7, please advise. It will be somewhere close by the campus in Fairfax starting at 9:30. 

Hey-Wait-A-Minute-What-Is-the-Synopsis-Section Clarification: The synopsis section is a brief closing section of 3-6 sentences. I try not to use the word "conclusion" because you can hardly conclude things about a project that you haven't started yet. So what you are doing is re-capping what has been said in the proposal itself. This is your opportunity to get the last word in to convince the committee that this is going to be a great 490 project. 

The Last Booth Reading (this semester): Chapters 14-16

The Last Research Log: The 9th and final research log is designated by the syllabus as a reflection on: "what you learned in this course, the progress you feel you’ve made in framing your topic as a concise research problem, the effort you’ve put into the class and the assignments, and/or the areas that need further work once you begin your actual project." Check out this website for a Jeannie-recommended explanation of what is meant by "reflection." Post in the comments here.

If You Missed Today's Class Exercise: On the final pages of your printed 390 course syllabus, or alternatively here you will find the rubric that the BIS program uses to assess/approve the proposals for continuation to 490. We took a classmate's proposal and evaluated it according to those 7 categories, rating more than satisfactory / satisfactory / less than satisfactory / unsatisfactory for each. Additionally... For 1, highlight elements of your partner's proposal that pertain to the interdisciplinary statement in blue. Or show where they might go if they are absent. For 2, highlight the problem statement, etc. in red. For 3, rephrase your partner's thesis into a brief they say / I say statement. (Your partner is "I.") For 4, rephrase your partner's methods and objectives into a brief statement ("Suzy will do XYZ..."). For 5, highlight two effective uses of supporting information in yellow and two ineffective/lacking uses of supporting information in yellow. Indicate somehow which is which; perhaps use plus/minus or smile/frown. For 6, highlight two effective paragraph transitions in green and two ineffective/lacking paragraph transitions in green. Indicate which is which. For 7, highlight the two best written sentences in pink and the two sentences most in need of rewriting in pink. Indicate which is which. You do not need to complete the "overall score" part. Let me know if you need me to pair you with a partner.

An Interesting Opportunity: The GMU Review publishes student research, and even makes prize money available. 

reminder: Monday's class

Hey everyone, I hope it's been a nice Thanksgiving holiday for you.

This is a reminder that, after a long delay, we will finally have a full class meeting again. See you at the regular time (Monday 4:30) in the computer lab we've been meeting in (Enterprise 420).

Also... because most of you are pretty far along with your project, I would like to devote much of the class session to peer editing of the proposals. This will help your classmates, obviously, but also help you because it will be an opportunity to reflect on the standards that BIS uses to approve the proposals.

This means you need to have your full proposal available, in its most recent stage of completion. (Whatever that is.) Preferably in Google Docs or another electronic format since we will be in the lab.

Other possible topic for the class will conclusions and bibliographies. See you soon!