Welcome to Live
Seminar
Unit 4
Understanding Your
Place in History
Agenda
Unit 3 Review
Unit 4 Overview
Unit 4 Assignments
Conclusion/Questions
General Announcements
√Grades
√ Unit 2 Project
√ Learning Journal
√ Pending Late Work
√ DQ Post
√ Seminar Option 2
Sources for Final Project:
Total 8
 3 scholarly journals (Academic Search
Premier)
 2 books
 3 other
 Reference Page (not Bibliography)
 APA Format (see unit 3 readings/APA
Quick Reference)
Analyzing Sources
Four tips for making choices as you go…
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Keep in mind what you are trying to accomplish in your research. Does the
source have relevance to the question you are trying to answer?
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Consider the audience for your research, as well as the audience for which
the article you are reading was intended. If your research is of a scholarly
nature and you can't understand a word of it, it won't help you.
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Analyze, at every step of the evaluation process. A source that seemed
good at the beginning of your research may not be useful to you once
your topic has become more focused.
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Practice, practice, practice — "the more you analyze, the easier it gets."
Source: http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit09/
Qualitative Data
vs.
Quantitative Data
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Qualitative Data
Qualitative → Quality
Quantitative Data
Quantitative → Quantity
Unit 3 Review
Historical Context
What is a “historical context?”
 History of the event
 Implications--how did it affect society
 Traditions/Values, habits, communication
 Personal/Professional Effects
 Diversity--cultural, gender, religious, socioeconomic
 Other
Creating a Historical Context
of the Event
In order to better understand something in history, we
must look at its context--those things which surround it
in time and place and which give it its meaning.
In this way, we can gain, among other things, a sense of
how unique or ordinary an event or idea seems to be in
comparison to other events and ideas.
Historical context is the political, social, cultural, and
economic setting for a particular idea or event.
Source: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_definition_for_historical_context
Historical Context
When did the event occur?
What was society like at that time?
How did this event come about?
What impact did the event have?
What changes has this event created?
How does the event affect society, traditions, values,
habits, communication, professional and personal lives.
 What factors (culture, gender, etc.) affected in the
event.
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Your Personal Historical Context
Understanding Your Place in History
Compare the “historical context” with your
“personal historical context”
Why can different people look at the same
event, read the same book, watch the
same movie but have different
responses?
How does your race/ethnicity, gender,
religion, political affiliation, socioeconomic status, education level, etc.
influence your response?
Factors that affect your views of
events…
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Past experiences
Prior Knowledge of the event
Differences in culture
Gender
Age
Religious Upbringing
Social economic status
Political Affiliation
Education Level
What’s your perception?
Your time to share your ideas, views and
opinions on the topic…
Academic qualifications give a person the best
chance of success in life.
How did these factors affect your
views?
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Past experiences
Prior Knowledge of the event
Differences in culture
Gender
Age
Religious Upbringing
Social economic status
Political Affiliation
Education Level
Arguments
Pro’s
Academic qualifications ensure you have the
basics in learning.
The essentials for success cannot be learned
without professional help – in schools and
colleges.
And even for those few high-profile people who
have made it without academic
qualifications, let’s ask a simple question - if
you look at a global directory of successful
people you might find a few hundred like Bill
Gates, but what about those millions of
doctors, engineers, IT professionals, lawyers,
and advocates who rely upon their formal
education?
Success is about making the most of your talents
and abilities, and that requires dedication
and study in academic institutions that will
stretch you intellectually.
Academic qualifications may not be enough on
their own to ensure success, but they
indicate that their possessor has got what it
takes.
Con’s
Success never depends upon grades.
Success is not getting a grade or a degree, if that
was it then why aren't all the graduates from
Harvard, Oxford or Cambridge uniformly
successful?
The rule of success is hard work and destiny of
course. If a student of engineering gets good
grades but he is not practically effective in
relationship-buildings and solving crises or
proper planning, even though he may be
successful in getting a job but it will not lead
him far.
There may be a few people like Bill Gates and
others who have made it, in spite of their
drop-out background and lack of academic
qualifications, but can this be generalized?
If you look into a directory of successful people
who are doctors, engineers and IT
professionals, then you will notice that many
of them dream to be employed by people like
Bill Gates or Richard Branson, who are
prosperous despite not having college
degrees.
What’s your perception?
Your time to share your ideas, views and
opinions on the topic…
All school students should be made to
learn at least one foreign language…
How did these factors affect your
views?
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Past experiences
Prior Knowledge of the event
Differences in culture
Gender
Age
Religious Upbringing
Social economic status
Political Affiliation
Education Level
Arguments
Pro’s
Foreign languages are important for the
economy.
The more languages someone can speak,
the more places they can work.
Foreign language skills help companies do
business with other countries.
Employers value people who are able to
speak more than one language.
Learning a language will therefore help
students get good jobs when they are
older. It will also increase their
understanding of other cultures.
A student may have a hidden talent for
languages. If languages are not
compulsory, they would never find this
hidden talent.
Con’s
Other skills are more important to the
economy.
Many young people are hardly able to do
simple sums or read and write in their
own language.
More time should be spent on these basic
skills, not foreign languages.
Not all workers need to know foreign
languages. There is therefore no point
in making everyone learn them.
It should be up to the individual to decide
what is useful for them to study.
There is currently a shortage of language
teachers in many countries. If foreign
languages were compulsory, even
more language teachers would be
needed.
BrainstormingUnit 4 Learning Journal
Personal Historical Context Issues
Your time to share…
• What are some personal historical context
issues to explore related to your topic?
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How does the topic affect your family,
community, education, opportunities,
goals, personal/professional life?
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Does your family history, education level,
gender, culture/religion, ethnicity, age
affect your reaction to the technological
event?
Unit 4 Assignments
Reading 1: Communicating in the 21st Century
(addresses aspects of historical context such as culture, gender, personal experiences, age)
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Discussion Thread (1): personal historical context
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Learning Journal: personal historical context
 Copy the 5 questions into your learning journal.
 Respond with a thoughtful paragraph to each one
Learning Journal
Learning Journal assignments are for your own thought and reflection to help you get
ready to draft your paper. You will use the Learning Journal tool in the Dropbox area to
create your journal entries. For Unit 4, use your Learning Journal to reflect on the
following. You should end up with 500-1000 words.
1. The impact of your technology sub-topic on your family and how this knowledge can
contribute to personal and professional success.
2. The impact of your technology sub-topic on your community and how this knowledge can
contribute to professional and personal success.
3. The impact of your technology sub-topic on your education and how this knowledge can
enhance professional and personal success.
4. The impact of your technology sub-topic on your opportunities and how this knowledge
can enhance professional and personal success.
5. The impact of your technology sub-topic on your goals or desires and how this
knowledge can enhance professional and personal success.
Pacing Yourself—
1/3 of the way to the Final Project!
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You should be continuing your
research and taking notes
You should be starting to focus
on a possible thesis/research
questions to explore
Keep track of your resources
(scholarly journals, books,
other)
Next week: Outlining—you
should have a fairly good idea of
the major aspects of your paper
Questions
Keep on Going!
You are Getting There!
You’ll be graduating before
you know it!