More Research Discussion

Announcements

• Patricia Hill Collins
  March 30th at 7:00pm
  McKnight Hall--Cone Center

Backing Up

Last class we forgot to get back to the last few visuals from our introduction to information design class on March 21st. Let's go to the Visual Rhetoric page and finish up our discussion.

Returning Your I, Robot Essays

I have your I, Robot essays to return to you today. I enjoyed reading them and hope you enjoyed writing them and reading the novel. I don’t see it as a departure from technical communication activities; instead, I see the ideas brought up in the novel as vital to understanding the discourse surrounding technologies and social constructions of technologies. Also, writing essays for class isn’t about having a completed product that stands the test of time. We (professors) ask students to write essays in order to help you think about a topic. Writing as a mode of thinking is an essential practice for higher learning; the writing you do becomes a map of your thoughts.

Of course, I’ve commented on the presentation of ideas in your essays to get you to think deeper on a point you attempt to make. An essay is a presentation of an argument, and sometimes our arguments get out before we fully explain them and/or provide proof. I realize four pages isn’t a lot of space to engage most arguments thoroughly, so I’ve asked you to engage a small argument closer than to bring up many different ideas that you can only consider on a surface level. Whether you got an ‘A’ or an ‘F,’ you can always improve upon your writing. The only time a conversation is over is when you choose not to think about it any longer.

More Research Discussion

Let's consider your specific disciplines today. I'm going to ask you to do a Library Hunt assignment, but we should look at a couple library databases first.

Thinking Critically about Research

Check out our Research Page for a review of last class in order to see how to approach the research for your annotated bibliography and presentation. Your assignments page has links to the types of projects you could do.

Final Project Proposals

Check out your proposal requirements for your final projects.

Oral Presentation information and Visual Requirements are now up on the Oral Presentation Page.