Soc.
3280 Group Project Requirements
SP
2011
All
assigned projects must be published within the class MyGateway site using the
the available Wikis found in the Group Areas section of the class MyGateway
site.
- Overview
- Group Member Responsibilities
-
- Project
1 (due Monday, January 31, end of day: 11:59 PM) 25 points.
- Project
2 (due Monday, February 7, end of day) 50 points.
- Project
3 (due Monday,
February 21 by beginning of class. Group presentations done on February 21,
23, and 28) 75 points.
- Project
4 (due Wednesday,
March 16 by beginning of class. Group presentations done on March 16, 21,
and 23) 75 points.
- Project
5 (due Monday, April 25 by beginning of class. Presentations
done on April 25, 27, May 2, and May 4) 100 points.
- Project
Grading Rubrics
- Presentations
can be done live (in-class or remotely via Wimba), recorded via Wimba (archived),
or prepared as a self-navigating online presentation using the wiki and Xplana.
- Wiki
tips and help
Overview
Project
Objectives:
- This project
entails an investigation the social reality of technology in (post)modern
society
- To become
familiar with core concepts, methods, and theories of sociology, and develop
a sociological analysis of technology as a socially constructed phenomena.
- To develop
critical thinking skills and produce an informed critique of theories of
technology and society.
- To learn accepted
social scientific writing styles and become familiar with (and critically
evaluate) online information resources.
- To develop
a competency in online communication and the use of wiki technology for
engaging in group projects.
- To explore
the features and use of Xplana as a
technology to enhance and extend online learning.
Be
sure to complete the "Email Feedback Consent." You can find the
email feedback consent "test" in the Group Areas section of MyGateway.
Until you give consent, you will have to visit Prof. Keel or a TA to receive
full feedback on the group project.
For
more information on what a wiki is, see the YouTube video: Wikis
in plain English
See
the examples of previous semesters' group wikis and a "practice wiki"
(a wiki to play with before you try out working in your group wiki) in the
"Wiki Help" folder located in the "Group Areas" page of
our class MyGateway site.
For
a walk through of the features of the wiki editor, see Prof. Keel's Wimba
archive (available in other formats, too) on "Creating a Personal Wiki
Page" in the same "Wiki Help" folder area of the class MyGateway
site's "Group Areas" page. See also: Wiki Help and Tips and the wiki help files at: http://support.learningobjects.com/help/campus_pack/2.9.1/wiki/wiki.htm.
Be sure to correctly cite all information
used from research resources (in-text citations and a list of references for
each page) using the ASA manuscript
submission guide (local copy
with web citation guidelines or a full version of the
ASA Style Guide). Additional assistance with referencing
online resources can be found here.
Also, remember we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain
from using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism,
and other non-academic practices. See
academic integrity statement and SafeAssign information.
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Group
member responsibilities:
- Collaborate
on the overall group contribution throughout the group process.
- Actively
communicate with other group members on a weekly basis via differing modes
of communication (e.g., student email, wiki comments).
- Submit individual
and group work in a timely manner to fellow group members and in accord
with course requirements.
- Complete
and submit all parts of the group project.
- Utilize
a variety of wiki features throughout varying stages of the group project
(see course TAs for assistance using wiki).
- Maintain
an atmosphere of civility and maturity throughout group member dialogue.
- Include
your name and the class you are taking within your message when you contact
the instructor or TAs via email or by phone.
- Adhere to
all other expectations and requirements outlined in the course syllabus
and group project page.
- Interaction
and collaboration (we'll use wiki stats, comments you leave on
other's pages, and what you document on your "group communication
page" to assess your engagement in the projects). Please explore
the features and use of Xplana as
a technology to enhance and extend online learning
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Evaluation
More
specific information regarding the grades for each part of the project is
found in the directions for that part. General information can be found here.
- Each
group must complete all parts of the project. Your work, individual
and group, should be presented in your group wiki as a series of inter-linked
web pages. The wiki allows members of the group to share information and
collaborate on the development of a "website."
- Each
individual must complete all individual assignments, and contribute to all
group work. It is not necessary that for every member to contribute
to every group report. However, each individual must contribute to group
work during all three parts, or they will be penalized. Partial work will
receive partial credit.
- You
are responsible for adhering to the university's technological use policies,
and treating all group members with respect. Disputes or problems within
groups should be brought to the attention of the TA or Prof. Keel.
- Pay
careful attention to all directions. Each group member is responsible
for ensuring that all group work, and his/her individual work, adheres to
the directions. You will not be eligible for full credit if this standard
is not met.
- Use
appropriate sources and academic procedures. Certain assignments in
the group project will require you to find newspaper or mass media sources;
do not use academic sources for these assignments. Other assignments will
require the use of academic sources: studies, articles, books, or websites
that meet the criteria for reputable
work (or here
); do not use inappropriate sources for these assignments. Be sure to correctly
cite all information used from research resources (in-text citations and
a list of references for each page) using the ASA manuscript
submission guide (local copy
with web citation guidelines or a full version of the
ASA Style Guide).
Additional assistance with referencing online resources can be found here.
Remember, we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain from
using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism,
and other non-academic practices in your own work. See the academic
integrity statement and SafeAssign
information.
- Grading:
Each part of the activity is graded according to:
- Individual
Contributions: This refers to each individual group member's work
in the wiki for the project. Individual contributions are graded
according to the quality and quantity of work performed for the group,
as well as the presentation of their work.
- Group
Presentation: This refers to the final wiki presentation (style, spelling,
grammar, images, links to other resources, and overall quality of the
presentation) and the content of your presentation (use of course
materials, demonstration of sociological imaginations, and application
of course concepts, theories, and other relevant materials).
- Interaction
and collaboration (we'll use wiki stats, comments you leave on
other's pages, and what you document on your "group communication
page" to assess this).
1.
Project 1: Group Wiki Site Set-up: (due
Monday, January 31, end of day: 11:59 PM).
- Students will
be assigned to groups, and will have access to their specific "group
areas." Each group will have a variety of tools at its disposal: discussion
forum and a wiki site. The requirements for this project is for each group
to get their area set-up, work on wiki construction for the group and individuals
in the group, use your group communication page to organize your group and
decide on individual assignments for projects 2, 3, 4, and 5.
- Introduce
yourself to the group and organize the group.
- Find your group and open the group pages.
- Be
sure to document all your discussions on your group communication page in
your group wiki (this will have to be one of the first pages you create in
your wiki--see these instructions and the tutorials for
working in a wiki in the "Wiki Help" folder on the "Group Areas"
page of the class MyGateway site).
- Set up specific meeting dates for work throughout
the semester--either face-to-face or online (all communications must be documented
on the group communications page to receive credit for ‘documented contributions’).
Work together as a group! Leave
comments on your group members' page to provide help and assistance and point
out minor edits you've done for them, etc. Explore the features and
use of Xplana as a technology to enhance
and extend your collaboration and research.
- Interaction
and collaboration (we'll use wiki stats, comments you leave on other's
pages, and what you document on your "group communication page"
to assess your engagement in the projects).
- Access the group
wiki, and each group member must create their own wiki page providing
a bit of information about yourselves and other interests you might have.
Experiment with the different features of the wiki--add external links, internal
links (link back to your "home page") add an image or two--especially
a picture of yourself. Update this page throughout the semester--adding links
to your individual contributions to the project your group chooses.
- You will also
need to create a page to document your project choices and the "Home"
page (first page you come to). This page should have links to other
pages your group creates (i.e., a page for each part of the project), and have
list of group members with links to their individual pages
- Group
Set-up Grading Rubric
- 25 points
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2.
Project
2: Web Essay 1: 24 Hours with Technology: (due
Monday, February 7, end of day)
- This is a short
(approximately 500--750 word) essay intended to help you depict depict the
intimate and omnipresent character of our social relationship with technology.
Assigned Topic: Your understanding of the technology you experience throughout
the 24 hours of a given day: What is technology? What forms does it take?
What are the social dimensions of technology? How does technology enhance
or limit human interaction and identity?
- Students must
post their own "page" on the assigned topic in their group wiki
and comment on at least two other student's postings. Do
not attach Word documents and the like--do your work on the wiki page, use
the wiki to display your ideas and your research work--write your essays as
wiki pages.
- Explore the
features and use of Xplana as a technology
to enhance and extend your research and group collaboration.
- There should
be a separate page in your group wiki that provides a brief introduction to
this assignment and links to the work of the individual group members. Individuals
should also link to their essay from their personal wiki page.
- Explore the
work of other students and submit at least four, approximately 100-125 word
comments on other student's work. (2.5 points per comment)
- Comments
are due within one week of the contribution due date.
- Students
must email Prof. Keel with the names of the students
on whose work they commented and include the text of the comments in the
email (no attachments). If email notification is not made, comments
may not be evaluated.
- See the grading
rubric and information
on resources, writing guides, and templates for analyzing articles in the
"Assignments/GROUP PROJECTS: WIKI WORK" and the "Groups Areas"
area of Mygateway.
- Be sure to correctly cite all information
used from research resources (in-text citations and a list of references for
each page) using the ASA manuscript
submission guide (local copy
with web citation guidelines or a full version of the
ASA Style Guide). Additional assistance with referencing
online resources can be found here.
Also, remember we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain
from using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism,
and other non-academic practices. See
academic integrity statement and SafeAssign information.
- 24
Hours with Technology Grading Rubric
- 32 points for
individual essay, 8 points for group presentation, 10 points for comments:
50 points total
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3.
Project
3 and 4: Group Wiki Presentations.
- Project
3 presentations (due
Monday, February 21 by beginning of class. Group presentations
done on February 21, 23, and 28). These reports
are based on the assigned articles/chapters from Society and Technological
Change by Rudi Volti, 6th edition, Worth Publishing, 2010.
- Project
4 presentations
(due Wednesday,
March 16 by beginning of class. Group presentations done on March 16, 21,
and 23). These reports are based
on the assigned articles/chapters from The Social Shaping of Technology,
2nd edition, Donald MacKenzie and Judy Wajcman, Open University Press, Philadelphia,
1999. (or other related contemporary articles and analyses)
- Presentations
(10-15 minutes) will be done live (in-class or remotely via Wimba), recorded
via Wimba (archived), a digital video, or prepared as a self-navigating
online presentation using the wiki and Xplana.
- These are more
formal, approximately 5-6 pages (2 pages per student, plus 1-2 for the group
presentation) review presentations of the assigned readings,
intended to reflect your understanding of the theoretical understandings of
the relationship between technology and socio-cultural reality we have developed
in our class discussions. Do not attach Word documents
and the like--do your work on the wiki page, use the wiki to display your
ideas and your research work--write your essays as wiki pages.
- You will use
the wiki site available in the individual group areas in MyGateway, but explore
the features and use of Xplana as a technology
to enhance and extend your collaboration and research.
- You are expected
to create something more than just an "essay," and certainly more
than a series of individual essays. Use the web (wiki) space to your advantage
and create a hypertext presentation.
- Each of you
will also need to include at 1-2 recent sociological articles
your group determines to be of value in presenting the core ideas and perspectives.
Rather than relying simply on websites to provide supplementary information
and documentation for your presentations (and discussions), please make use
of the wonderful academic databases available online through the UMSL library.
You might need to work on your search terms, etc (and don't neglect the advanced
search features of many of the databases). Here's the link to the library's
database page: http://www.umsl.edu/services/library/databases/databases.html.
Some of the databases to check out: "JSTOR," Journals@ovid full
text, "Sociological Abstracts," and "EconLit," and a variety
of others (check under the subject heading--history, social science, etc).
- Group assignments
will be made early in the semester
- We'll discuss
these assignments in class, and groups will have the opportunity to select
their own topical areas.
- Specific
group assignments will be posted in MyGateway.
- Each group will
be responsible for presenting the material from a particular
set of articles.
- Each individual
student must explore the work of other groups and submit at least four, 125
word comments on other groups' work, for each project. (2.5 points per comment)
- Comments
are due within one week of the contribution due date.
- Students
must email Prof. Keel with the names of the students
on whose work they commented and include the text of the comments in the
email (no attachments). If email notification is not made, comments
may not be evaluated.
- Groups must
also submit 4 multiple choice questions concerning their work. See format
for question submission in the "Assignments/GROUP PROJECTS: WIKI WORK"
and the "Groups Areas" area of Mygateway). 2.5 points per question.
- See the grading
rubric and information
on resources, writing guides, and templates for analyzing articles in the
"Assignments/GROUP PROJECTS: WIKI WORK" and the "Groups Areas"
area of Mygateway.
- Interaction
and collaboration (we'll use wiki stats, comments you leave on other's
pages, and what you document on your "group communication page"
to assess your engagement in the projects).
- Be sure to correctly cite all information
used from research resources (in-text citations and a list of references for
each page) using the ASA manuscript
submission guide (local copy
with web citation guidelines or a full version of the
ASA Style Guide). Additional assistance with referencing
online resources can be found here.
Also, remember we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain
from using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism,
and other non-academic practices. See
academic integrity statement and SafeAssign information.
- Projects
3 and 4 Grading Rubric
- Scoring: 25
points for individual work, 25 points for group presentation, 5 points for
definitions, 10 points for questions, and 10 points for comments: 75 points
total per project.
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4.
Group Project 5: Technology, Social Change, and Social Structure.
(due
Monday, April 25 by beginning of class. Presentations done on April 25, 27,
May 2, and May 4)
- Final Project
subjects must be approved by April 9.
- This formal
project (equivalent of a 5 page paper, per student) is intended to reflect
your understanding of the impact of the relationship between technology, social
change, and the structure of human relationships. Appropriate topics
include: a historical analysis of the development of particular technics and
their relationship to social structural elements, the shape of modern information
technology and its relationship to ongoing social change, an analysis of the
social forces which shape and direct technological change, etc.
- Do
not attach Word documents and the like--do your work on the wiki page, use
the wiki to display your ideas and your research work--write your essays as
wiki pages.
- You will also
need to include at least 4 recent sociological articles you
determine to be of value in presenting the core ideas and perspectives. Rather
than relying simply on websites to provide supplementary information and documentation
for your presentations (and discussions), please make use of the wonderful
academic databases available online through the UMSL library. You might need
to work on your search terms, etc (and don't neglect the advanced search features
of many of the databases). Here's the link to the library's database page:
http://www.umsl.edu/services/library/databases/databases.html.
Some of the databases to check out: "JSTOR," Journals@ovid full
text, "Sociological Abstracts," and "EconLit," and a variety
of others (check under the subject heading--history, social science, etc).
- See the information
on resources, writing guides, and templates for analyzing articles in the
"Assignments" area of Mygateway.
- Explore the
features and use of Xplana as a technology
to enhance and extend your collaboration and research.
- See the grading
rubric and information on
resources, writing guides, and templates for analyzing articles in the "Assignments/GROUP
PROJECTS: WIKI WORK" and the "Groups Areas" area of Mygateway.
- Groups/individuals
must also submit 4 multiple choice questions concerning their work. See format
for question submission in the "Assignments/GROUP PROJECTS: WIKI WORK"
and the "Groups Areas" area of Mygateway). 2.5 points per question.
- Each individual
student must explore the work of other groups and submit at least four, 125
word comments on other groups' work, for each project. (2.5 points per comment)
- Comments
are due within one week of the contribution due date.
- Students
must email Prof. Keel with the names of the students
on whose work they commented and include the text of the comments in the
email (no attachments). If email notification is not made, comments
may not be evaluated.
- Interaction
and collaboration (we'll use wiki stats, comments you leave on other's
pages, and what you document on your "group communication page"
to assess your engagement in the projects).
- Be sure to correctly cite all information
used from research resources (in-text citations and a list of references for
each page) using the ASA manuscript
submission guide (local copy
with web citation guidelines or a full version of the
ASA Style Guide). Additional assistance with referencing
online resources can be found here.
Also, remember we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain
from using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism,
and other non-academic practices. See
academic integrity statement and SafeAssign information.
- Presentations
(5-10 minutes) can be done live (in-class or remotely via Wimba), recorded via
Wimba (archived), a digital video, or prepared as a self-navigating online
presentation using the wiki and Xplana
and are to be presented to the class during the last two weeks of the semester.
- Project
5 Grading Rubric
- 100 points
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Here are some guidelines for using the wikis:
Here's a link with detailed instructions for using the wiki:
http://community.learningobjects.com/Groups/Campus_Pack_3.0/Users_Guide_for_Campus_Pack/Teams_LX. You can access this link from your group's wiki by clicking
on the "?" button in the upper right-hand corner.
Basic tips:
- For help creating a personal wiki page, see Prof. Keel's Panopto tutorial, "Creating
a Personal Wiki Page" in the Wiki Help folder of the class MyGateway
site--Group Areas page.
- The first page
you come to when you open your wiki is the "home page." Don't use
this page for a personal page of anything other than the wiki's "home."
- Do not edit any other student's page without discussing
such edits in advance. Wikis are collaborative tools, but use them to
collaborate, not dominate. Pay attention to "where" you are when
you do your editing.
- Avoid
attaching Word documents and the like--do your work on the wiki page, use
the wiki to display your ideas and your research work--write your essays as
wiki pages.
- Always
insure you link together the pages you and your group create--use your "home
page" to provide access to sub-pages for the various parts of the project
as well as to group member personal pages and a communication page. Use the
sub-pages for the parts to provide links to the various elements and individual
essays for each part.
- Interaction
and collaboration (we'll use wiki stats, comments you leave on other's
pages, and what you document on your "group communication page"
to assess your engagement in the projects).
- Create
and use a "Group Communication Page" to document discussions you
have and the work/additions/edits you do in the wiki. Preface each entry on
this page with your name and the date/time.
- Be sure to correctly cite all information
used from research resources (in-text citations and a list of references for
each page) using the ASA manuscript
submission guide (local copy
with web citation guidelines or a full version of the
ASA Style Guide). Additional assistance with referencing
online resources can be found here.
Also, remember we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain
from using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism,
and other non-academic practices. See
academic integrity statement and SafeAssign information.
To Create (or edit) a page:
- From any page in the wiki, click on "New" (or
"Edit" if you have already created it and are returning to edit).
- Give your page
a name. Format: Your last name, Your first name: short page title.
- You'll see a
variety of "tools" to help you edit your page--you can choose different
fonts, and font sizes, format your text, and add tables. You can also add
images and links to other web pages (internal to this wiki, as well as to
outside web pages). Click the Image or Link buttons, and follow the simple
instructions).
- There's no spell check in the wiki, so I recommend typing
your essay in MS Word and saving it. Then, copy the text. Once you've copied
text from a Word, come back to your wiki page (make sure you are in the "edit"
frame), click to place your mouse cursor in the page, and then use the
"Paste from Word" button.
- If you know html, you'll find a button that allows you to
edit the source code.
- Be sure to click the "Save" button when you are
done!
- You'll be evaluated for content, style, and presentation.
- One member is responsible for editing the 'home' page (first
page you access when you enter the wiki), and to go through and link all of
the other pages together.
Contact the class TA or Mr. Keel if you have any questions.
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URL:
http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/crittech.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated:
Monday, April 11, 2011 8:09