Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

The purpose of this assignment is to help you prepare for your research assignment by identifying the main concepts in your research topic and finding relevant and authoritative sources that will help you analyze your topic. 

Assignment addresses IL criteria- Determine the extent of information needed, access the needed information, evaluate information and its sources critically.

Instructions:

·      Write 1-2 sentences describing your research topic and identifying the key concepts in your research topic.

·      Find three relevant sources on your research topic.  Examples include:

o  print or electronic booksfound using the library catalog

o  scholarly articlesfound using one of the library databases

o  authoritative websitesor news articles

·      Cite each source using APA or MLA format. List your annotations in alphabetical order.

·      Create an annotation for each source that includes:

o  1-2 sentences explaining how you found your source. What keywords and search terms were useful? What was the best combination of terms? Why did you choose those words?  Where did you search for your source (which database, search engine, etc.) and why?

o  2-3 sentences summarizing the content of the resource. What are the main points?  Is your source a primary source or a secondary source? Scholarly or popular?  Based on fact or opinion?

o  2-3 sentences evaluating the author(s) and publisher. Who is the author? What are his/her credentials as an expert on this subject? Are they affiliated with a university or college? What are their degrees? Have they published other articles or books on this topic? Hint: do a web search for your author to find out more about them.   Who is the publisher?  What are their credentials?  Do they have a bias or agenda in publishing the information?

o  2-3 sentences describing the relevance of the resource to your research. How will you use it in your paper? Is the information in this resource general (like for background information) or specific, and how can you tell?  How does this source differ from the others you chose?  What perspectives or aspects of the topic does this source represent?

·      Has this assignment helped you prepare to write your research paper? Please explain why or why not.

Research Project

Freshman Seminar Research Project

Andrews

Research Question

How can the subject of your team’s activity (meditation, yoga, trail running) help deepen one’s connection with the natural world? Are there positive health benefits for humans? Are there positive benefits for the earth? You will explore these questions in your Freshman Seminar Research Project.

Components and Due Dates:

*  Annotated Bibliography – 25% of grade – due November 1

*  2-page Written Summary of Research, bullet form – 25% of grade – due November 6

*  Visual Display – 25% of grade – due November 8 or 13

*  Oral Presentation – 25% of grade – also due November 8 or 13

Component Details

Annotated Bibliography.Creating an Annotated Bibliography is a rigorous way to gather research about your topic, and is the first step in any serious research project. You will receive training from one of our librarians describing how to create this. The research sources you include in your Annotated Bibliography will form the foundation of your research for this project – therefore, these sources should all relate to your chosen research focus. 

Written Summary of Research.You will not write a formal paper on your research. But you willprepare a summary in bulleted form of the research relevant to your topic and focus. You must use different research sources than the other members of your team.Find an effective way to share your research sources with the other members of your team so you all have different sources.

Visual Display.Create a Visual Display that effectively introduces your activity and summarizes the results of your research.

Oral Presentation.Each student will make a formal Oral Presentation of their research results to the class. The Oral Presentation must include an experiential sharing of a short meditation, yoga or trail running/walking/plogging practice that helps your audience better understand your topic. A few of our Oral Presentations will be selected for re-presentation at our Freshman Research Conference on November 15. Students whose Oral Presentations are elevated to this level will receive extra points on their overall Research Project scores.

Midterm Reflection

Freshman Seminar – Andrews

2018

Midterm Reflection

Please answer the following questions… spend about 10 minutes on each + another 15 minutes revising before turning them in. When you are done, please email your responses to me at pandrews@ndnu.edu.

In the prompts below, “your practice” refers to the practice you have been developing with your team: yoga, meditation or plogging.

1) Describe the history and benefits of your practice.

2) Describe how you personally have been using your practice to deepen your connection with the natural world.

3) Describe the roles you and each of your team-mates have evolved as members of your team. What if any leadership or skill gaps still exist in your team and what can you do to fill them? Please describe your level of personal commitment to fixing any weaknesses in your team.

4) Do your team’s activities reflect the Hallmarks in any way? If not, could they? What would that look like?

5) What was most impactful to you about our visits to Shoreway Environmental Center, Bedwell Park and Ox Mountain Landfill on Call to Action Day?

6) Why is it important to compost organic materials, such as apple cores, rather than throwing them in the trash? What happens to them if they are thrown in the trash? What happens to them if they are fed to our worms?

Midterm Project

Freshman Seminar – Fall 2018

Midterm Project

Presentation & Reflection

Tuesday, October 16

Midterm Team Presentation

Please prepare a 20-minute team presentation in which you introduce and share the practice which your team has been developing. Assume your audience is our campus community (i.e. college students and/or people who work on our campus), and that your audience has no prior knowledge of the practice you are about to introduce and share. 

Make sure that each person on your team participates in your Team Presentation in a substantial way. If someone is absent and doesn’t make appropriate arrangements (e.g. recording his or her portion of the presentation and making sure someone on the team is prepared to show the recording) the overall grade for the Team Presentation will be lowered. Each member of the team will receive the same grade for their Team Presentation.

Your Team Presentation must include, at a minimum, the components listed below. 

Introduction (2-3 minutes) – What is your practice? What do you want people to know about it? What is its history? Very briefly, in just one sentence, in what way does your practice incorporate an emphasis on the natural world?

Benefits (3-4 minutes) – What are the documented benefits of the practice? Summarize the research that demonstrates benefits of this practice to both humans and the natural world.

Method (2-4 minutes) – Describe the practice as your team has been doing it. Do a demonstration if that would be helpful. You can have one person talk and another demonstrate if that is helpful.

Guided Practice (9-13 minutes) – Lead your audience through a mini session of your practice. 

Thursday, October 18

Midterm Reflection

Midterm questions will be posted to the class website by the beginning of class on Thursday, October 18. Working individually, please write thoughtful responses to those questions. Spend no less than 75 minutes responding to the questions. Submit your responses by email to pandrews@ndnu.eduby 6pm Thursday.

Schedule Midterm to Final

Schedule Midterm to Final

WEEK EIGHT

Midterms Week

October 16 & 18

October 16

Midterm Team Presentations – in situ – All 3 groups / 20 minutes each. See separate post on class website.

October 18

Midterm Project Reflection

WEEK NINE: Research Week + Week of the Social Justice Speaker Series

October 23 & 25

October 23

Midterm status review 1:1. Research begins… assign RP & complete initial worksheet. Discernment: Meaningful work. Come back to Berry’s “The Place of the Human.” Discuss Abrams on experiential moments in natural world / MAGIC; review of semester so far (include discussion of journals, laptops, co-curriculars & upcoming out of class activities).

DUE: Nothing – enjoy your midterm break! (unless you’re behind on your reading, in which case, take this opportunity to catch up)

October 25 – POD Day – meet in Library

Annotated Bibliography session with Librarian + intro to rubrics

DUE: Spend 1 hour using the library databases to find information about your research topic

AND… October 25 – 5:30-8:00pm in the Chapel

All students attend the Social Justice Speaker Series event. Our speaker this year will be Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Theology and Theological Aesthetics. Her talk will touch on topics such as how and why a person comes to be involved in human rights work, and what a person is willing to risk in order to do this work.

WEEK TEN

October 30 & November 1

October 30

Midterm status review 1:1. Research begins… assign RP & complete initial worksheet. Discernment: Meaningful work. Come back to Berry’s “The Place of the Human.” Discuss Abrams on experiential moments in natural world / MAGIC; check-in on journals, laptops, co-curriculars.

DUE: Nothing – enjoy your midterm break! (unless you’re behind, in which case, take this opportunity to catch up… as a reminder, STILL DUE: handout from Abrams Ecology of Magic

November 1

Oral Communication methods. Oral Comm rubric. 

DUE: Annotated Bibliography

WEEK ELEVEN

November 6 & 8

November 6

READING QUIZ. Scholarship relating to human relationship to the natural world: Berry, Abrams & Harding. Introducing your research in context of Berry, Abrams or Harding

DUE: 2-page Research Summary in bullet form Handout #1 from Harding, Animate Earth; Berry handout #2 (Anthropocene)

November 8

Research Presentations – half of class: Collin (P), X (P), Miguel (P), Jason (P), Kaeston Juan (P), Jasmin (P), Lysette (P), Aly (P), Sam (P)

DUE: Visual Research Display + Presentation

WEEK TWELVE

Week of the Research Conference

November 13 & 15

November 13

Research Presentations – other half of clas: Mia, Carmen (P), Raul, Isaac (P), Kaeston, Juan, Sam, Jake, Kameron, Frankie, Sarai, Angelina, Fabian, Nick

DUE: Visual Research Display + Presentation

November 15

Discernment readings; purposeful vocation

DUE: Read handouts: Quarter Life Crisis & Sacred Voice

And… November 15, 3:30-5:30, Freshman Research Conference.

WEEK THIRTEEN

Thanksgiving Week

November 20 – POD Day – meet in Chapel

As students prepare to return home for the Thanksgiving holiday, it’s a great time to begin to think on a more personal level about values and priorities, and how these are reflected in their personal, academic and professional aspirations. This POD meeting will revolve around these topics.

November 22 – No class, Thanksgiving Holiday

WEEK FOURTEEN

November 27 & 29

Shall we de-stress before finals and watch Wall-E?

WEEK FIFTEEN

LAST WEEK OF CLASSES

December 4 & 6

December 4

Course assessments and reflections; Rubric of Me

DUE: Mission, Values & Engagement Reflection

December 6

Final Exam

DUE: Rubric of Me

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ congratulations, you’re done! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~