Return to Unit Two:MWF

Class Plan -- Unit Two, Day 29

• Discuss class topic further by way of two readings (opposing positions) students read in Unit II.
• Discuss specific issues raised so far within the topic area.
• Speculate on other issues that could be argued about in this topic area.
• Brief intro to research and to the materials in the research packet.

YOU WILL WANT TO TYPE UP THE FOLLOWING SHORT LIBRARY ASSIGNMENT INTO A HANDOUT TO GIVE TO YOUR STUDENTS, SINCE THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE COMPLICATED.

Assignment for Day 30

Reading - In PHG, 409-420.

Research -

1. Go to Morgan library (or use your computer at home), get onto one of the computers with internet access, then go directly to the library home page. [THIS PAGE IS BOOKMARKED IN THE LIBRARY, BUT THE URL (ADDRESS) CAN BE FOUND ON THE FIRST PAGE OF THE RESEARCH PACKET.] Once you get to the library home page, choose "databases" or "full text online" and try out two or three of the databases referred to on the first page of your research packet.
2. As you search these databases, record the search terms you type in, and list the different issues that seem to come up in the titles (and perhaps abstracts or full articles) that result from each search term. Try several search terms related to our course topic area, particularly ones that you think might be of interest to you.
3. Find one article (either in the Current Periodicals Room or in one of the Full Text Online databases) about an issue which you find particularly interesting. Try to find an article from an academic journal or a magazine/newspaper which you would consider "reputable."
4. On the first page of the article, write down all of the essential bibliographical information that you will need later (journal name, author, title of article, volume, number, date, page numbers, and (where appropriate) all relevant internet information. (See research packet.)
5. Make sure you have two copies of this article, one to keep and one to contribute to the class topic area packet which I will put on reserve in the library.
6. Come to class next time prepared to talk informally to the class about the issue the article is concerned with, the position the author takes (if any), and the other issues you encountered as you searched the databases.

Activities:

Daily. Have students return to two of the articles they used in the text analysis section (texts with opposing viewpoints). Write a prompt which asks them to identify in each article 1) the position taken by the author and 2) some of the reasons offered to support this position. Then you might ask them where their sympathies lie in this debate.

Discussion of one issue relevant to the class topic, using two articles which take different positions. You could begin this discussion by discussing two of the articles you used for text analysis AS arguments. To do this, you might return to student responses to the "topic/position" segment of the two analyses. You will also want to prepare discussion questions specific to the articles you are using. The discussion should serve the basic purposes of articulating the competing positions in the two essays and delving more deeply into the class topic area by examining one issue closely.

OR

You could actually conduct this discussion in a debate format if you wanted, having students group up according to the essay or position they prefer, discuss position and reasons in groups, then argue the case for their side of the issue (using points from the text) in class.

HOWEVER, YOU MIGHT NEED TO ALLOW MORE TIME FOR THIS DEBATE OPTION, AND THE DISCUSSION NEEDS TO BE SHORT ENOUGH TO ALLOW FOR THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION OF DEBATABLE ISSUES AND RESEARCH.

Daily - Write a daily prompt which asks students to jot down as many issues as they can think of which are relevant to the class topic and which are debatable. [You will probably want to go ahead and explain that "debatable" in this context means that it is possible to take more than one position on the issue.]

Discussion of Issues - Take a few minutes to list on the board or OH student responses to the daily. The point of listing these issues is to give them some choices to consider as they begin their own research in the next few days. As you list issues, be sure to get students to name those you have read about so far and to speculate on other possibilities.

Explain Research Packet quickly and give homework assignment - Hand out the research packet (See Appendix 22) and explain to students the general purpose of the packet (providing them with resources and necessary items for their research process). Also remind your students that they should hang onto this, as they will be asked to use many of the materials in the packet. One of the ones they should start using immediately is the Search Log (which will need to be completed as part of their Proposal Packet). Explain to them how they are to use the Search Log and what purpose it serves (keeping track of the search terms they used and the details of their searches so that they can get back to useful sources of information if they need to). You will be explaining the research packet (and what is required of students in their research process) in more detail in a few days. Then go on to explain their library assignment and how it will contribute to next class's discussion of possible research topics. It would also be a good idea to discuss as a group search terms that students might use in finding their articles.