Mandatory Conferences
Mandatory makes them sound like an unpleasant chore, but for me they have been delightful opportunities to chat with students I don’t often get to speak with one on one. Most of you remembered to return to the chart to leave me feedback and a record of the progress we made together on your Hypotheses.
Most of you clearly enjoyed the experience and left Notes to indicate that conferences were helpful, usually enlightening, even entertaining. All in all, I’m awarding us all high grades for the exercise.
Altogether, I have now met with 11 of you for your Mandatory first-half conferences. That leaves more than a few of you who have not made or kept an appointment.
Conferences are required for several reasons. 1) They’re entertaining for you and for me. 2) Early guidance on your Hypothesis is the surest way to get your research project on track before it’s too late. 3) The class does not wait for students to catch up. A week from now, you’ll be sharing your first 5 Sources in your White Paper. Without a strong, narrow Hypothesis, gathering sources is a waste of your time.
If we haven’t conferenced yet, you’re in a bit of trouble. Let’s fix that right now, please, before things get out of hand. I highly recommend you return to the Chart and make an appointment for TODAY, TOMORROW, OR FRI FEB 19.
One small problem with our signup system: Google does not alert me when you make an appointment, so unless I go looking for it, I can miss one, as I did with Casey Husted yesterday. Please remember to text me when you set yourself an appointment. The chart exists to avoid double-bookings.
If you’re REALLY lost, the access to the Professor Conference Chart begins under the Syllabus Plus menu.
Feedback Please
The one sad side-effect of spending so much time chatting with my beloved students is that I sometimes fall behind in Feedback Please requests. FP is still the quickest way to get me to provide you assistance on specific assignments, but I will need time to catch up on these responses, especially during weeks with heavy conferences.
Early Warnings about Hypotheses
Most of us have now chatted about your hypotheses, so this little section is directed at students who haven’t conferenced. For them, I offer some warnings about common Hypothesis warning signs.
A COMMON PROFESSOR OBJECTION
Your proposal for a hypothesis is risky, MyStudent, because OVERLY POPULAR topics like the one you propose pose three very real problems:
1. WORNOUT TOPIC. The arguments about them are so completely exhausted there is very little new another paper can add to the discourse.
2. PLAGIARISM RISK. The ready availability of research papers for sale create a very tempting situation for students who feel pressured to finish something original at the end of the semester.
3. RISK OF FAILURE. More than one of my students have failed the course by borrowing heavily from papers on marijuana legalization, violent video games, an end to abortion, capital punishment, and smart device addiction.
YOUR PROFESSOR’S GO-TO ADVICE
My approach to anyone interested in these broad topics is threefold.
1. I try strenuously to guide them away from the topic toward something fresh and untrodden.
2. If that fails, I help them craft a unique perspective on the topic that avoids most of what’s already been written and researched.
3. If that fails, I demand very strong, very early, and well-documented evidence of original research before the halfway point of the semester. Students who show they’re doing their own work before the end of the semester mitigate the appearance that they might be trying to copy their way to a finished product.
4. If those steps fail, so too, usually, does the student.
Research Tips
- Research Tips
- I Can’t Find Any Sources!
Writing Mechanics
In-class Task (or Take-Home Task if we don’t have time in class)
- Good Citation Mechanics
- DUE TODAY IN CLASS or by 11:59 pm today
The White Paper Task
BOY RECEIVING POLIO VACCINE DURING MASSIVE ONE-DAY VACCINATION DRIVE
- White Paper First Draft
- 5 New Sources
- Link to sources in your White Paper
- Sketch the Bibliographic data
- Purposefully Summarize New Sources
- Use Research Tips to find New Sources at Google Search or Rowan’s Campbell Library Database
DEADLINE: WED FEB 23 (11:59 TUE FEB 22)
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Counterintuitivity 
Your proposal for a hypothesis is risky, because overly popular topics can become stall real fast especially if you aren’t bringing anything new to the table
Apa format: Title and references are centered, use bibMe or citation machine for free Apa citations.
Gathering sources(research tips):
Not finding specific opinion matching you opinion can be a good sign.
Somebody would agree with me, which would prove my thesis(fail cause at that point all it shows is that someone else thought of it already)
instead of looking for exactly what you want in terms of research look for something that wasn’t connected to your idea before and make that connection (The celebrity endorsement/ WBC connection)
Google scholar( use to find scholarly sources for your article.
If you encounter a paywall for an potential article, remember we have the Rowan library data base that.
You could also use Wikipedia, not as a source, however you can use the sources they have for their article. So you could search for your topic there and once you find something scroll down to that articles sources and then start researching through those sources.
Talk about your topic and listen carefully for researchable topics not immediately named in my thesis.
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An exceptionally thorough list of “takeaways.”
4/3
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More advantages than disadvantages when meeting for “mandatory” conferences
The more unique of a topic you have, the less chance there is of being repetitive and less risk of plagiarism
No need to underline titles and reference pages
Stuck with citations? Use BibMe on reference sidebar
Westboro Baptist Church ended up creating a counterintuitive sympathy for the gay community
In order to garner as many sources as possible, it becomes necessary to broaden your topic in order to be able to link your thesis to more available sources
Google Scholar is a very useful way to gather sources relating your topic
Sources you may need to pay for on google scholar, you could find simply by using the Rowan Library database
A simple 5 minute conversation or conference with professor can resolve a brick wall for research
Wikipedia is actually very useful for research through crowd-sourcing
Good Citation Exercise conducted
White Paper sources due WED FEB 23 (Midnight Tuesday)
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Very nice work.
3/3
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2/17/21 Notes
BibMe for free APA citations make sure references section is correct for Stone Money essay.
It is inevitable that there will be difficulty in finding a source for something. Have to move ofrward, but finding sources is never impossible. Sometimes you have to stray your search from just the basic thoughts. If you find someone has already reached your thesis, or written your paper, thats failure, because someone else got there first. Instead, you should talk about your thesis in a way that connects in a completely different way.
Periods and commas ALWAYS go inside the quotation marks.
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Very nice.
3/3
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-start gathering 5 sources to put together hypothesis
-if we need help building citations, go to resources
-Some good sources are hard to find, do not get too hung up on looking for a specific thing
-find new ways to generate sources (reword your search)
-Some hypotheses can be really good ideas, but if there are no sources, it is not worth writing about
-Talking about your research helps you through the writing process
-google scholar and rowan university library are great for sources
-if someone has proved your thesis already, you can no longer write from that view
-do not pay for sources ever! they should be on rowan database
-talking helps you figure out what interests you in your topic
-use wikipedia references to find really good articles/sources
-find another way to rephrase what you’re looking for
-DONT think about source, write about it!!
-first white paper draft should have 5 sources, summaries, and bibliographical references
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I especially like this:
3/3
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In today’s class we first went over our conferences and how well they went. Personally I found mine very productive and I enjoyed it.
We were given useful tools on how to properly write a citation such as bibme and easybib.
We went over the topic of finding sources for our paper. What we should do is try to look at very similarly related topics. We also see that sometimes this is good not to find as many sources as we dont want to write something someone else has already written. Then as we said last class we need to go down the rabbit hole in order to find more sources. We want to write something different. The example we see is how the westboro baptist church is related to celebrity endorsements which are somehow very similar when looking at it, but there are not any examples already written.
The Rowan library database is a very good place to find articles we can use.
We should actually use wikipedia, not to use as a source but to find more sources.
We are doing an exercise in which we are fixing punctuation in three different sentences.
The white papers first draft we just need to find five sources, sketch data, and try to make purposeful summaries on each article. This will make it easy to find information later too.
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Nice work. Very thorough.
3/3
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-Easybib does not do free APA citations, but Chegg Citation Machine does.
-The Westboro Baptist church goes to military funerals and displays their “God Hates Fags” signs in order to protest the military’s decision to not condemn gays.
-If someone has already written a paper about your thesis, then there is no point in writing about it. Someone else got there first.
-If you run into a paywall for an article or source that you want to use from Google Scholar, you can paste the ISS number or the title into the search bar of the Rowan Database in order to get it for free.
-Don’t waste your time “thinking” about your topic. You should read about it or talk about it with someone instead.
-You don’t have to change your thesis if you don’t find articles that relate DIRECTLY to it.
-Our first White Paper draft will have 5 sources.
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Good advice this:
3/3
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2/17
*Majority of work should take place at the beginning of the semester
– When writing about a broad subject, try to find a unique perspective that hasn’t been explored yet.
– If work is missed, don’t let it affect future assignments
Side Notes:
– Titles should use the “Heading 2” option
– For citations, use the Bib links on the blog
– Find 5 sources for white paper; summarize and create bibliography
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Love your Research Tips section!
3/3
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2/17/21
We opened up class talking about the mandatory conferences we have. It’s a chance for us to have a one on one interaction with the teacher that we normally wouldn’t have in class.
Taught us how to properly head your essay and your references sheet in APA format.
No bold, no underline, centered,
He has put up resources for us to properly cite websites in APA
We discussed research tips
He used his old students and how it helped him better his research
He shifted what he was looking for. Instead of looking at the WBC he looked at superstar celebrities.
You don’t want to find something that agrees with your thesis. You won’t be able to show your real thesis.
Use “Google Scholar” to help you get better, more trustworthy articles on your topic.
You can also use the Rowan library database to find your source with key words
Don’t think about your topic
Talk about your topic, talk it out to everyone
We went over our white paper and what we have to do by next week.
Keep adding more thoughts on to your whote paper so you can always have your thoughts in one place
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Mostly fine. I don’t understand this:
3/3
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References must be in APA format. To cite sources, use CitationMachine or Bibme. It puts the citation in APA format and it is free. Your search will generate results for sources. Google Scholar and the Rowan Library are useful sources. A former student created a thesis that said that the church inadvertently supports the gay community. The student tried to find sources for the Westboro Baptist Church but had trouble doing so. The student was looking at the wrong place so he provided an example of the effect of celebrity endorsers. He began searching sources based on that example. Worst outcomes: Someone agrees with you, someone wrote the idea already, I would succeed by replicated someone’s thesis. The student used Google Scholar to search for his sources and ran into a paywall. Instead of Google Scholar, use the Rowan library to get the source for free. Finding the analogy in your Hypothesis can lead to new angles to write about and can introduce new sources. Wikipedia can list sources that the information came from. From there, you can build your sources only by searching once. In-class or take-home task, fix errors in citations and write your own. Due by midnight tonight, 2/17. Examples of citations. All commas and periods are inside quotation marks. 100% of the time. White Paper first draft due next Wed 2/24, Midnight Tues, 2/23. It is a bibliography. Find 5 sources about your topic. Write Purposeful Summaries for each. Start to type notes about your sources. Already developing a new language. Creates Synthesis, language is yours. All of this is done as long as you credit your sources. Smaller topics for smaller papers will be topics that you will come across while researching your topic
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Very thorough. And this is an excellent “takeaway”:
4/3
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2-17-21
– Go to syllabus plus then go to the mandatory conferences
– Go to advice on researching the topic we further research
– Went over who completed the Stone Money assignment
– Research tips and that you need to use the Rowan University Library Database to research your topic more
– Looked at the Westboro Baptist church and how they were saying hate speech to the fallen warriors
– The claim is a process that used in five sentences that shrink the your research topic
– Looked at examples of how to write good citation and corrected the punctuation and then wrote our own
– Looked at the white paper and that we need five sources for next Wednesday and that we need Link to sources in your White Paper, Sketch the Bibliographic data, Purposefully Summarize New Sources, Use Research Tips to find New Sources at Google Search or Rowan’s Campbell Library Database
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This is more of an outline than a set of lessons learned, C.
2/3
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Professor talked about who completed essays on time and what those who didn’t need to do.
References must be in APA format.
Research tips use Google Scholar and Library database.
Our first white paper will have 5 sources.
Stop thinking about your sources and start writing.
We worked on a citation assignment
Westboro Church hat speech.
How they had “God hates f***” on t-shirts
They used their kids to spread message
They thought gay people shouldn’t be in the military.
Good sources are hard to find
White paper due Feb 23
White paper will need 5 sources
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Not much here, KB.
This may be your only actual content Note:
It’s a good one!
2/3
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Start off class by talking about scheduling meetings on the google form because Professor Hodges doesn’t get an alert when a meeting is made. So we need to make sure to text him that we have scheduled a meeting
Went over how to properly head our writing, which should bold and center our header. With references, we should center it.
We also found places in the sidebar that we can go to help us make our citation in APA form.
Talking about research, we are looking at a student that was trying to find research for his hypothesis and he seemed to keep landing on the same sources.
By finding research that makes you question your hypothesis then you are doing the right kind of research.
Using google scholar and the Campbell library database are the best resources for you when doing our research because it can pull up more topics from the question we put in the search bar
The inclass assignment, we did with citation, was to help us work on making the proper kind of citations
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This is a very fine observation, Iced:
Do you mind if I edit it to remove the confusing bits of language that obscure its meaning?
3/3
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Stay on target early, try not to fall behind, take the week and then get back on track
Early Warnings About Hypotheses
-plagiarism risk, your topic isn’t heavily researched so the risk is low but still be careful
Research Tips
-look at notes taken during your zoom meeting
-use google scholar
-for building citations, go down to resources in the sidebar
-if you can’t find what you’re looking for keep moving forward
-talk about your thesis until you can raise questions that can be researched by something other than your topic
-read about the positive and negative
White Paper
-find 5 sources and create APA references, write about the importance of them
-purposefully summarize those sources
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This sounds so familiar:
3/3
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-Must schedule a mandatory conference
-Learning about how to find sources
-Goal is to find five sources
-You want a compelling and interesting hypothesis
-The end of the semester is where we will finish rewrites
-Should always text instead of email, will get a guaranteed response that way
-Come up with something original to research
-Try to stay away from broad subjects
-Title-top center
-Citation machine
-Use APA
-Sources are sometimes a challenge, finding them and citing them
-Talks about the Westboro Baptist church and gay marriage
-You don’t want to find a source where you believe in the exact same things
-You should talk about your thesis with someone else and get feedback
-Use google scholar
-Put it in quotes to find the exact phrase
-Talks about the the effects of negative information transference in the celebrity endorsement relationship
-Don’t bother thinking about your topic, talk about it with someone else
-You can find a new angle in your hypothesis that you’ve never thought about before
-You can use wikipedia
-Complete today’s activity on sources
-You can quote pieces of information from sources but you need to give them credit
-The first draft consists of finding five sources and writing a purposeful summary
-Check out the Rowan database
-Notes can be sloppy but make sure the ideas are there and it works for you
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Better than average Notes, RR.
4/3
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