Requirements:
Web Site Evaluation Project
10%
Class hypertext project (small groups)
20%
Quizzes, class participation
30%
20%
Final exam (Dec. 16, 1:05PM- 3:05PM)
20%
Plagiarism is a violation of the Tech Honor Code and, more to the point, a violation of intellectual integrity. Such violations will be subject to the severest academic penalties. DON'T DO IT! If you don't understand what plagiarism is, be sure to visit the link at the head of this paragraph. If you still have questions, or have questions at anytime during the semester, ASK BEFORE YOU TURN IN YOUR WORK.
The Web Site Evaluation project is intended to provide you with experience in evaluating the source(s), content(s), authority, and quality of a given web site, in this case one having to do with the Medieval period.
The end product should consist of the name of the site you have chosen to evaluate, the site's URL, a statement of the criteria you used for your evaluation, and the results of the evaluation. Aim for a minimum of 250 words, a maximum of 500 (1-2 pages). By midnight on Monday, September 9, send the finished product (as an e-mail attachment) to me (dmosser@vt.edu). I will compile them and make them available on the class web site for our use during the semester. Grammar, mechanics, organization, and style will enter into of my grading of this project. Here's an example by midnight of October 21. You will have several class periods to work on this project in the CIC. The aims of this project are:
To encourage students to ask and answer questions about the text (there should be many: these texts come from a different time, place, and culture) and to make these questions and answers available to others.To explore the medieval practice of "glossing": an act of interpretation, explanation, and codification (we'll try not to emulate those glossing practices that are intended to mislead and obfuscate)
To learn about the construction of "hypertext" and the kinds of hierarchical and associative thinking this encourages
To learn to work together, to share responsibility, and to deal with the politics of "small groups"
For the hypertext project, I would like you to work in small groups of 3-5 people. Select a work or passage of at least 500 words from one of our texts and do the following: find an electronic text or convert the passage into computer format. Using Claris Home Page or an HTML editor of your choice, format the text appropriately. Once you have the text selected and "digitized," begin to locate information that will allow you to gloss these passages, including definitions, commentaries, supplemental information, pictures, maps, and so on.
Previous classes have worked extensively on Mandeville's Travels. You might find some useful ideas by perusing previous efforts (ask for password information).
BE SURE TO RECORD ALL OF THE ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION FOR THESE ITEMS. Information on how to do this can be found on the Search Tools page; a version of the MLA Style Sheet can be found online here. A guide to documenting online resources is available here.
If possible, bring the original images (maps, etc.) to the CIC and we will scan them there. Otherwise, either make a photocopy, or see if someone in the New Media Center in the Torgersen can help you make a scan there. Save a copy of any material that you enter into computer format in my courses folder. We'll work through that process in class.
Please use lower case in naming all of your project files and use the extension ".html" or ".htm" for text file name extensions. You may store files--images, text, etc.--in the "3014.2002" folder in the "Mosser" folder in the "Courses" volume mounted on the CIC computers' desktops. Create--or ask me to--a folder for your group's material in order to keep track of it. If you work on a non-Macintosh computer at home or elsewhere, save your material to disk (Macs can read DOS/Windows disks) and bring it to class. The Mac can translate most kinds of word-processing formats, but you can always save the file as "TEXT" if you are unsure. That should be enough to get you started.
Although you will be able to find much useful material on the World Wide Web, it is still no substitute for the Library.
If you are unsure of the way in which your project will be evaluated, you can find a useful discussion of the relationship between hypertext/multimedia projects and traditional critical/expository essay projects here. This will also give you an idea of the kinds of things I will be evaluating. Grammar, mechanics, organization, and style will enter into of my grading of this project.
Please post the page numbers and topic of your passages to the class list so that we consolidate or avoid duplications. Since there are two sections of this class, we may have to negotiate duplicated requests...
For the individual research project, as I have already noted, you may do more of the same, in either electronic or hardcopy format, or you may explore another topic, from another text. This project, also, should have a VERY NARROW, SPECIFIC FOCUS. If you were to opt to fulfill this requirement by writing a "traditional" essay, aim for 5-8 pages of well-written (proof-read), unpadded, thoughtful prose, using the MLA Style Sheet as a documentation guide. Other kinds of projects should be equivalent to this in quality and quantity, but we will probably have to negotiate just what that means on an individual basis (better to do this earlier rather than later). An example of a student project on Female Mystics from a previous class is online at http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/exper/mosser/classes/mystics/misty.html (this is password-protected; I will send you the secret code via e-mail).
Grammar, mechanics, organization, and style will enter into of my grading of this project.