Syllabus and Calendar
Spring 2013: ENGH 302, B03/Distance Learning
ADVANCED COMPOSITION, Business
Instructor: Dr. DeFazio
E-mail: adefazio@gmu.edu
Contact: primary contact is through “Ask the Professor/Class” on the Discussion board of Blackboard.
Mailbox: Robinson A487
Virtual Office Hours: I will monitor “Ask the Professor/Class” on our Blackboard Discussion Board most weekdays
days from 9 am—2 pm.
Course Description
ENGH 302 is a required general education course designed to build on the writing and research skills that you have
learned in ENGH 101 and other courses and to introduce you to advanced problem-solving strategies for academic and
post academic writing. Because ENGH 302 is disciple-specific, the course aims to expose students to domains of thought
and methods of inquiry specific to the business major. ENGH 302B focuses on the discourse of American academic
writing in business disciplines. It is not a course in mastering business forms such as the memo, the report, and the
resume.
This online version of ENGH 302 is not less work than its face-to-face counterpart; many students find the online version
to be more labor intensive. You must be able to read and write effectively to succeed in this course; you must participate
in class discussions and share your ideas. And you must be able to complete a variety of discussion boards, quizzes,
drafts, peer reviews, and revisions all on strict time line.
Required Texts (available at the Campus Bookstore and elsewhere):
Chip and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. New York: Random House, 2007. [See
excerpts] Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, "They Say/I Say" The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing 2nd ed. New
York: Norton, 2010 (ISBN: 978-0-393-93361-1). Additional readings available online and listed in the Course Calendar.
Required Technologies
You must have regular and reliable success to high-speed Internet connection at home.
For viewing audio and video files, you must have Adobe Flash, Quicktime, Real Player, or Windows Media Player.
If want to conference via Skype, you need to install this on your machine.
In order to read our required PDFs, you will need to have installed the most recent version of Adobe Reader.
All Mason students are required to use the MASONLIVE email system. Per GMU’s policy, I can only communicate with
you through your MASONLIVE address (you may forward your MASONLIVE MAIL to another account).
For word processing, you must use MSW 2007 or MSW 2010.
Course Prerequisites
Students must have completed or transferred in the equivalent of ENGH 100/101, 45 credit hours, and, in degree programs
that require six hours of literature, at least three credits of general education literature; the other three credits may be taken
concurrently with ENGH 302.
If you have met these prerequisites, you should have mastered the general writing and research skills of college
composition and should be able to write in standard American English. You should have a firm grounding in grammar,
rhetorical strategies, college-level research principles, and the construction of academic arguments. If your skills in these
areas have waned, you should expect to do extra work outside of class.
Technology Prerequisites
Students must be able to navigate Blackboard and pursue basic troubleshooting strategies, including using the “Help”
button in the upper right-hand corner of each screen, contacting courses@gmu.edu for assistance via email, and visiting
the Collaborative Learning Hub (CLUB) in JC 311 for face-to-face help.
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
1
Students must be able to create, format, and save MS Word documents; must be able to use the “Help” button on the
MSW tool bar; and must be able to visit the TOPS Lab for help with all MS Office programs.
GMU Technical Support
Assistance is also available through the Instructional Technology Unit (ITU) Support Center for a range of issues
including updates, outages, establishing email, and access to library databases from off-campus. The gateway page for
ITU Support Center is http://itu.gmu.edu/techservices/. For immediate tech support issues, go to
http://itsupport.gmu.edu/. GMU Tech Support Center: 703-993-8870.
Learning Goals
By the end of this course students will be able to
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LG1, apply critical reading strategies that are appropriate to advanced reading in your academic discipline and in
possible future workplaces
LG2, recognize how knowledge is constructed in your academic discipline and possible future workplaces,
attending to issues such as kinds of claims or questions posed by advanced or professional writers
LG3, recognize and produce evidence considered sufficient to support arguments
LG4, analyze rhetorical situations – audience, purpose, and context – of texts produced in your academic
disciplines and possible future workplaces
LG5, produce writing – including arguments or proposals – that is appropriate for a range of rhetorical situations
within your academic disciplines and possible future workplaces, with particular attention t textual features such
as common genres, organizational strategies, style/tone/diction, and expected citation formats
Advanced Writing Goals: Students who successfully complete ENGH 302 will demonstrate that they have
continued to develop their research and writing strategies to an advanced level. They will be able to do the
following:

AWG1, use writing as a tool for exploration and reflection in addressing advanced problems, as well as for
exposition and persuasion
 AWG2, successfully employ strategies for writing as a recursive process of inventing, investigating, shaping,
drafting, revising, and editing to meet a range of advanced academic and professional expectations—including,
when given appropriate time for drafting and editing, the ability to produce documents in Standard Edited
American English that are generally free from error
 AWG3, collaborate with others as the write, through peer review, group projects, and/or consulting with outside
experts (writing center tutors, librarians, subject-matter experts, workplace informants, etc.)
 AWG4, identify, evaluate, and use research sources (print and electronic), to include advanced online library
searching of databases pertinent to your discipline and the critical use of websites.
 AWG5, employ a range of appropriate technologies to support researching, reading, writing, and thinking, with
particular attention the ways that advanced students and professionals locate, analyze, organize, and share
information.
We also address many General Education Learning Outcomes; a complete list of these can be found here.
Students as Scholars:
This section of English 302 is participating in GMU’s “Students as Scholars” program. Across campus, students now have
increased opportunities to work with faculty on original scholarship, research, and creative activities, through their
individual departments and the OSCAR office (http://oscar.gmu.edu).
Assignments in English 302 will help prepare you to be contributors to knowledge in your field, not just memorizers of
facts: you will
 understand how knowledge is created and transmitted in a field/discipline
 understand key methods and conventions of scholarly research in your field/discipline
 articulate and refine your own question for scholarly inquiry
 situate your investigation in an ongoing context/conversation in your field
 and design a final project that adds new perspectives and/or data to the conversation
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
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English 302-SAS Student Learning Outcomes: For primarily text-based research that prepares students to make original
contributions: students will
SLO-1, Discovery: Understand how they can engage in the practice of scholarship at GMU
SLO-2, Discovery: Understand research methods used in a discipline
SLO-3, Discovery: Understand how knowledge is transmitted within a discipline, across disciplines, and to the public
SLO-4, Inquiry: Articulate and refine a question
SLO-5, Inquiry: Follow ethical principles
SLO-6, Inquiry: Situate the scholarly inquiry [and inquiry process] within a broader context
SLO-7, Inquiry: Apply appropriate scholarly conventions during scholarly inquiry/reporting
General Education
This course is part of the GMU General Education Program, which is designed to help students prepare for advanced
work in their major field and for a lifetime of learning. For more information on the mission of the General Education
Program, consult the University Catalog or visit here.
Methods of Instruction
We will be using BlackBoard 9.1 (see screenshots at end of file for log-in instructions). We will engage in a significant
amount of online discussion and writing. You will work individually and collaboratively, investigating issues, practicing
writing strategies and techniques, learning research and critical reading approaches, and peer-reviewing your classmates’
writings. Students who participate regularly and stay engaged in class activities, who keep up with all of the assignments,
and who allocate sufficient time for thoughtful drafting and revising usually succeed in this class.
Characteristics of a Successful Online Learner
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Effective time management and knowledge management skills.
Goal-directed individual and self-directed learner.
Enjoys a high-level of communicating and interacting with peers.
Has strong reading skills and can follow written directions.
Feels at ease sharing feedback about writing with peers.
Is comfortable working with Blackboard and other digital media.
Online learning environments are not for everyone; some students learn better in a fact-to-face (f2f) classroom where they
can see their instructors and peers. If you are such a student, I strongly encourage you to enroll in the f2f version of
ENGH 302.
Course Navigation
After my initial “Welcome Message” to you, which comes to you via email and has the syllabus attached, the remainder
of our course will be conducted on Blackboard. You will find most of the course materials through the interactive
Blackboard Tools (visible on the left-hand menu of our Home Page on Blackboard). To access our Blackboard site, click
on MyMason>Courses>[our course]; screen shots for this procedure appear at the end of this file. We use the following
tools on Blackboard:
Announcements: I use this tool regularly to alert you to changes or developments in our course. Announcements that are
time sensitive will also be emailed.
Syllabus and Calendar: I suggest that you download this document to your desktop as it is your guide to the course and
includes numerous links. This is the sole source for due dates for the course. Pay particular attention to table entitled
“When, Where, and How to Submit Assignments.”
Discussion Board: Here you will conduct several discussions per week. Discussion boards (DBs) remain “available” until
they are due; after that time, they are unavailable to you—so you cannot submit DBs late.
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
3
Assignments: Here you will find instructions all of our assignments (essays, peer reviews, quizzes). Major assignments
will include samples of drafts, revisions, and peer reviews. I encourage you to review all of the files that accompany an
assignment. This is where you submit your assignments as well.
Course Content: Here you will find lectures and additional readings.
Send Email: Use this to contact your classmates. Use “Ask the Professor” on the Discussion Board, to communicate with
me, unless you have a matter to discuss that is either an emergency or would be inappropriate to discuss in public forum.
My Grades: I return all of our work to Blackboard where it is automatically posted to “My Grades,” your individual
grade book. All of your grades will appear here.
Course Requirements and Grading Percentages
Value
15
5
5
10
5
10
25
5
20%
Assignment
Short-title for file names
Essay 1, Revision Ways of Knowing in Your
(WOK)
Discipline
Proposal: Researched Essay
(PRE)
Literature Review and Expert Interview:
(LREI)
Researched Essay
Draft: Researched Essay
(DftRE)
Peer Reviews: Researched Essay
(PRRE)
PowerPoint Presentation: Researched Essay
(PptRE)
Essay 2, Revision: Researched Essay
(RevRE)
Essay 3, Students as Scholars: Metacognitive
(MA)
Assignment
Participation (includes all grades not accounted for above)
Detailed instructions and samples of assignments can be found on the Assignments Tab. All English 100,
101, and 302 classes, like all writing intensive classes at GMU, require students to complete 3500-4000
words of formal graded writing—not counting drafts, journals, and homework—and to include an
assignment in which all students revise after feedback from the instructor.
Completion Policy
The WOK and RE must be accompanied by one or more earlier drafts. A “draft” is much more than a collection of rough
notes: it must meet all requirements for overall length, number and type of sources, and sophistication.
English 302 Grading Policy
Students in ENGH 302 receive a final grade of A through F. Students must earn a grade of C (72%) or higher to
satisfy the requirement for 302.
In grading essays, I use the following general criteria:
A "C" level grade (70-79%) denotes average college-level writing and achievement. The essay is a competent response
to the assignment: it meets, to some degree, all the assignment requirements, and demonstrates that the author has put
significant time and effort into communicating his/her ideas to his/her targeted audience. It has a thesis, presents some
support, and moves from point to point in an orderly fashion; sentence-level errors do not significantly prevent
comprehension. Essays that do not meet these criteria will not earn a "C." Note: a C- (70-71) is not a passing grade.
A "B" level grade (80-89%) highlights a strong example of college writing and thinking. In addition to meeting the "C"
level requirements, such an essay goes further in some way(s): it demonstrates some insight into the "gray areas" of the
topic, provides original or very thorough support that is tightly woven into the overall argument, reads smoothly at both
the sentence and paragraph levels, and/or exhibits a personal "voice" or style. It has few sentence-level errors.
An "A" level grade (90-100%) marks an essay that is a delight for the reader. Even more than in a "B" essay, its author
anticipates and responds to possible reader questions, uses a wide range of supporting evidence, engages the reader in a
provocative conversation, provides unexpected insights, and/or uses language with care and facility.
"D" and "F" level essays do not meet the basic expectations of the assignment.
The top two and bottom two grades at each level earn plusses and minuses; e.g. 90-91 are A-, 98-99 are A+.
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
4
Returning Work
I grade your essays online and return your files and completed grade rubric to the Assignment tab; you can access them
through “My Grades” on Bb.
Class Participation
Participation is measured in terms of the quality and quantity of your contribution in our classes’ activities. There are no
make-ups for these assignments. Strong participation (e.g., participation in discussion boards, support for peers in group
work) will merit a high grade; absences from our discussions, failure to follow directions, or lack of engagement in class
will earn a lower grade.
Revision Policy
If the first revision of your WOK essay earns lower than a B, it may be revised again for a new grade. Revisions must
demonstrate substantial change to the focus, support, approach, and/or organization of the essay
include comprehensive error correction,
and include “Track changes” or they will be returned with no grade change. The file bearing your revision must
include your revised file (with “Track Changes”), original grading rubric, and a substantial head note that explains how
your revisions have improved your original paper. Revisions are due within one week of the essay's return to you.
Composition Statement on Plagiarism
Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another source without giving that source
credit. Writers give credit through the use of accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or
end notes; a simple listing of books, articles, and websites is not sufficient. See the discussion on the website of GMU’s
Office of Academic Integrity.
This class will include direct instruction in strategies for handling sources as part of our curriculum. However, students in
composition classes must also take responsibility for understanding and practicing the basic principles listed below.
To avoid plagiarism, meet the expectations of a US Academic Audience, give their readers a chance to investigate the
issue further, and make credible arguments, writers must
•
put quotation marks around, and give an in-text citation for, any sentences or distinctive phrases (even very short,
2- or 3-word phrases) that writers copy directly from any outside source: a book, a textbook, an article, a website,
a newspaper, a song, a baseball card, an interview, an encyclopedia, a CD, a movie, etc.
•
completely rewrite—not just switch out a few words—any information they find in a separate source and wish to
summarize or paraphrase for their readers, and also give an in-text citation for that paraphrased information
•
give an in-text citation for any facts, statistics, or opinions which the writers learned from outside sources (or
which they just happen to know) and which are not considered “common knowledge” in the target audience (this
may require new research to locate a credible outside source to cite)
•
give a new in-text citation for each element of information—that is, do not rely on a single citation at the end of a
paragraph, because that is not usually sufficient to inform a reader clearly of how much of the paragraph comes
from an outside source.
•
Students in the SOM should remember to introduce material not of their own invention with a signal phrase (e.g.
“According to Nobel Laureate John Smith, …) and follow the material with a page or paragraph number to
indicate the conclusion of the non-original material. If you adopt this practice, you will always clearly distinguish
original from non-original work and never be bothered with questions about plagiarism.
Writers must also include a Works Cited (for MLA) or References (for APA) list at the end of their essay, providing full
bibliographic information for every source cited in their essay.
While different disciplines may have slightly different citation styles, and different instructors may emphasize different
levels of citation for different assignments, writers should always begin with these conservative practices unless they are
expressly told otherwise. Writers who follow these steps carefully will almost certainly avoid plagiarism. If writers ever
have questions about a citation practice, they should ask their instructor!
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
5
Instructors in the Composition Program support the George Mason Honor Code, which requires them to report any
suspected instances of plagiarism to the Honor Council. All judgments about plagiarism are made after careful review by
the Honor Council, which may issue penalties ranging from grade-deductions to course failure to expulsion from GMU.
Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please contact me right away and contact
the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at 703-993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the
ODS.
The Writing Center
Consider visiting the University Writing Center.
Mason Alert
Students can sign up for the Mason Alert system and should note that an emergency poster exists in each classroom
explaining what to do in the event of crises and that further information about emergency procedures exists here.
ENGH 302 Dual Submission
The “dual submission” option allows students to use a paper written for ENGL 302 to meet the requirements for an essay
assignment in another course during the same semester. Students interested in the “dual submission” option must request
permission from both instructors before proceeding. To request permission, students must provide both instructors with
copies of the essay assignments and a completed form.
Technology Issues
If you experience a technology-related problem that you can’t resolve in ten minutes, post a message on our Discussion
Board under the forum “Ask the Professor/Class.” Include an informative subject line—e.g. “Can’t Open Attached Peer
Review.” Whoever sees the question first and can answer it, please do. Post all of your questions about the class to this
forum. Use email for private matters.
Religious Holidays
During the first week of class, please review our due dates and your religious holidays so that we may resolve any
conflicts.
Important Dates: see Spring Academic Calendar
Submitting Work
 See Submitting an assignment using Blackboard 9.1 for a general overview of submitting assignments as
attachments.
 Use proper filenames: use your USERID and a shortened form of the assignment’s name. For example, for
our “Ways of Knowing” paper, my file name would be “adefazioWOK.doc”
 Unless otherwise noted, all assignments should use Times New Roman font, 12-point type, and be double-spaced.
Follow MLA guidelines for Humanities sections, APA guidelines for Business and Social Science sections.
 Use Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) for all submissions.
Before beginning to revise your WOK or your RE, turn on “Track Changes” so that I can see how you have
revised your drafts. Failure to turn on “track changes” will result in a letter grade deduction. (see
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/sharing/howtrackchangesworks.html)
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Go to TOOLS, then TRACK CHANGES, then HIGHLIGHT CHANGES, selecting "track changes while editing"
and "track changes on screen." This will highlight (or display in a non-black color) the changes on your screen; if
you find this distracting, go to VIEW and uncheck MARKUP.
Late essays will be penalized one grade for each day (or part of a day) that they are late. (I will accept and score
late writing assignments but will not provide any written comments on them; other assignments submitted late
such as drafts, discussion board postings, and peer reviews, and exercises will receive no credit). Late-work
penalties cannot be changed through revision.
Contact me if you have a problem.
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
6
Calendar of Activities, subject to change.
Note the color coding: Writing Assignments (green), Discussion Boards (brown), Tests (orange), Reading/Viewing
Assignments (blue), and Lectures (black)--which can be found under “Course Contents” on Bb. See table beneath
the calendar for listing of all assignments, file names, and submission locations.
Assigned
date
Detailed instructions for writing assignments may be found on the Assignments Tab.
Assigned Readings, Videos, Lectures
These should be read/viewed prior to
attempting the Assignments,
Discussion Boards, or Quizzes
identified in column three.
Learning Goals
Advanced Writing Goals
SAS Student Learning Outcomes
Assignments/Discussion Boards/Tests
Due no later than 11:59 pm on the assigned
date (excepting first day of class).
(Assignments and Quizzes are on the
“Assignment” tab of Bb; Discussion Boards
are on the “Discussion Board” tab)
Tue. 22 Jan.
Week 1
Introductions, Goals, Strategies
SLO-1, Discovery: Understand how they can
engage in the practice of scholarship at GMU
Studying Advice
Mortimer Adler's "How to Mark a
Book"
Inspiring Authors
SLO-2, Discovery: Understand research
methods used in a discipline
Discussion #0: Meet and Greet. (1)
Introduce yourself and attach a photo. See my
posting on this discussion board. ~150 words.
(2) In a second post, respond to one
classmate’s posting. {due 22 Jan 11:59 pm}
SLO-5, Inquiry: Follow ethical principles
Writing Advice
Purdue Owl’s Getting Started with the
Writing Process
Dartmouth's "What is An Academic
Paper"
Distinguishing “scholarly” from
“popular”
What Makes a Journal Scholarly
(Merlot)
Peabody Library "Scholarly v. Popular
Periodicals"
Distinguishing Types of Journals from
GMU's Library
Our Library
GMU’s Library Research Basics
GMU’s Identifying Scholarly Sources
Finding Full-text Sources at GMU
Review the course infoguide that our
liaison librarian, Theresa Calcagno,
has created for our 302B section:
http://infoguides.gmu.edu/ENGH302B
View the tutorials on “Library
Research Basics,” “Search a Library
Database,” and “Select a Library
Database”
Our Writing Center
Overview of GMU’s Writing Center
Read both “Prefaces” and
“Introduction” of They Say/I Say
(Consider these questions: What is the
premise at the core of the book? What
does “democratizing academic
culture” mean? Why (and when) is the
first person pronoun acceptable? What
is the central piece of advice in this
book?)
LG1, apply critical reading strategies
AWG4, identify, evaluate, and use research
sources (print and electronic), to include
advanced online library searching of databases
pertinent to your discipline and the critical use
of websites
SLO-1, Discovery: Understand how they can
engage in the practice of scholarship at GMU
SLO-2, Discovery: Understand research
methods used in a discipline
SLO-3, Discovery: Understand how knowledge
is transmitted within a discipline, across
disciplines, and to the public
Questions to reflect on this week: What do we
call writing that is done by scholars for scholars?
What’s the difference between what you know
about a subject and what you think about a
subject? (can you answer Who What When
Where and Why? Do you know the Context?—
or, in terms of They Say/I Say, do you know
what ‘they say’?)
In determining what you think about a subject,
how do you distinguish an analytical response
from a personal response?
Would a summary of your sources be considered
part of what you know or part of what you
think?
If analysis is considering the parts of your topic
and then examining how these parts relate to
each other or to the whole, how can you begin to
analyze your topic?
Assignments Due: Course Agreement,
Permission to Copy Student Work
(assignment drop box Bb) {due 22 Jan 11:59
pm}
302 Test 1 (These “tests” are actually untimed
reading quizzes that cover the current day’s
reading. I suggest that you open the quiz and
use the questions to guide your reading. You
may only submit each quiz once.) {due 25 Jan
11:59 pm}
Optional Readings/Viewings:
Julian Treasure: 5 ways to listen better
“A Bug’s Life” Beginning Technology will
fail; links will break; files will disappear.
Don’t get caught in routines that limit your
options for saving and accessing files:
consider Dropbox, a thumbdrive, or email as
repositories.
Western New England University on
Scholarly, Trade, and Popular Resources
Western Carolina's Hunter Library on
Scholarly v. Popular v. Trade
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
7
Mon. 28 Jan.
Week 2
Writing Summaries
College of Dupage: Writing
Summaries and Writing Concisely &
Introducing Quoted Material
Columbia: Writing Summaries
Formatting and Documentation
Formatting your Word 2010 or 2007
Document in APA Style (page
numbers, running heads, margins,
spacing, “References” page, citations,
and more)
The Basics of APA Style, Tutorial
American Psychological Association
Style page
Writing Advice: Writing in Your Field
Thirty Days To Better Business
Writing: The Bad Language
Handbook Read “Day 11” and skim
the table of contents
Top Four Business Writing Sites
(Nordquist)
Writing Center Reference Materials,
Empire State College
GMU Writing Specific to Your Major
Audience
Nordquist on Audience
Rhetorical Situation
Purdue Owl on Rhetorical Situation
Optional: Studying Advice
You Suck at Studying Guest Post from
HackCollege (in what ways does this
post echo the sentiments about multitasking voiced in Thirty Days?)
302 Test 2
LG4, analyze rhetorical situations – audience,
purpose, and context – of texts produced in your
academic disciplines and possible future
workplaces
Goals of Students as Scholars Activity 1:
Students should observe that (1)
Transmission of knowledge within a
discipline differs from transmission of
knowledge to the public in both substance and
form, (2) that both advanced scholars and
students writers distinguish primary and
secondary sources by observing those
differences and (3) that the conventions of
scholarly reporting of research match the needs
and expectations of scholars.
Discussion #1: After reviewing the sites that
address writing in your field, explain how
writing in your discipline (business, social
sciences, humanities) is different from and
similar to the writing that you’ve been doing
in college? When writers in your field argue
with one another, what kind of evidence do
they marshal? How do they present that
evidence (charts? Graphs? Surveys? Case
studies?).
Discussion 1.1: Students as Scholars,
Activity 1: Comparing Scholarly and
Popular Reports of Research
Students will learn to: evaluate credibility;
distinguish primary and secondary sources;
understand how knowledge is transmitted
within the discipline and to the public; and
apply appropriate scholarly conventions when
reporting
Read Kevin Carey’s “Why Do You Think
They’re Called For-Profit Colleges?” (also
found here) (Graff 215-220).Read Michael K.
Clifford’s “Guest Column: A Response to
Occupy Wall Street’s View of Student Debt”
(also found on Bb under “Course Content”).
In the event that we need a second article,
we’ll use Kory Maine’s “Michael Clifford:
Committed to Lowering Tuition Every Year”
(from the Significant Federation’s website).
Optional reading: “Reading Games: Strategies
for Reading Scholarly Sources” by Karen
Rosen berg
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
8
An Awareness Test (take this test)
Note-taking Advice
Academic Success Videos:
Notetaking (Dartmouth)
"Note Taking and Learning: A
Summary of Research"
Ryannguyen’s blog on Evernote
Evernote Link
Consider the Cornell Note-taking
system
Consider setting up a Dropbox account
1. In their first post to the discussion board,
students will compare the articles, noting as
many examples as they can of differences in
style, content, tone, diction, and syntax.
2. In their second post, students will discuss
the needs, interests, and expectations of
popular audiences versus scholarly audiences,
or from another angle, the differences in
purpose for material written for each
audience--why is each audience reading? How
are they likely to use this material? How are
those purposes reflected in the content and
structure of each text?
Mon. 4 Feb.
Week 3
Identifying and Evaluating Research
Tools and Resources
Recognizing how Knowledge is
Constructed in your Discipline
Wikipedia: Beneath the Surface
(video)
Get More out of Google
Google Scholar Tutorial, GMU
Evaluating Web Sites Chabot Library
Sorting Gems from Junk:
Optional: www.easybib.com
Writing Advice
Peter Elbow: On Writing
Ed Dale on Free writing
Reviewing your Upcoming
Assignments:
Corinne E. Hinton's "So You've Got a
Writing Assignment. Now What?"
AWG5, employ a range of appropriate
technologies to support researching, reading,
writing, and thinking, with particular attention
the ways that advanced students and
professionals locate, analyze, organize, and
share information.
Assignments Due: Post “Ways of Knowing”
Draft to (1) File Exchange under Group
Tools (for Peer Review) and (2) to the
Assignment Dropbox {due TH 7 Feb. 11:59
pm}
302 Test 3
Discussion #2 Made to Stick (M2S):
Introduction “What Sticks?” pp. 3-24. Post
two comments. One comment must address
one of the following:
(1) Think of your own "spectrum of
memorability" (5) why do you remember
what you remember?
(2) Try the Tapper and Listener experiment
(19) and report your results.
(3) Have you ever been a victim of the "curse
of knowledge" (21); have you ever been
victimized by this curse?
The second comment should be a response to
one of your classmates’ postings.
Discussion #2.1: What does Elbow say about
tracking the process of your writing? About
outlining? About “making a mess”? About the
duration of number of sessions spend on a
writing task?
Discussion 2.2: Students as Scholars,
Activity 2: Choosing Appropriate
Research Sources
Students should learn to (1) Choose
appropriate discovery processes, (2) Gather
appropriate evidence; choose credible sources,
and (3) Evaluate credibility; distinguish
primary and secondary sources.
Once you are acquainted with our library’s
resources, locate a full-text article that seems
a likely resource for a researched essay.
With reference to your notes from Students as
Scholars Activity 1, determine whether your
source is scholarly, and why.
Post a correct citation to your article on the
Discussion Board and explain why you
concluded that the article was scholarly or
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302
9
popular.
Mon. 11 Feb.
Week 4
Working Collaboratively-Peer
Reviews
View: “Peer Reviews Gone Wild”
If Bb is unavailable, we can conduct
peer reviews through email or google
docs, or on Dropbox.com
Why Chris Penna Uses Google Docs
vs. Wikis for Collaborative Writing
Using Google Docs without a Gmail
Account
Writing Advice
Given-New Theory
Assignments Due: Post Peer Reviews of
“Ways of Knowing” Draft in two places: to
the File Exchange tab in the Group
Discussion folder; and to the Assignments
tab.
302 Test 4
Discussion #3: Pitfalls of Peer Review.
According to this video, what are the pitfalls
and objectives of the peer review process. In
your response, just identify one
pitfall/objective and link it to your previous
experience with peer reviews.
Read: They Say/I Say One (How does
a writer give “a point” to his writing?
How does a write keep an audience
engaged?) and Two (Why do people
fear summarizing? What are the
qualities of a good summary? What
role should verbs play in your
summary?)
18 Feb.
Week 5
Note: secure an interviewee for Expert
Interview.
Proposals, Literature Reviews and
Annotated Bibliographies
A Practical Guide for Writing
Proposals
Proposal Writing: Stages and
Strategies with Examples
The Foundation Center's "Proposal
Writing Short Course" (skim)
SLO-3, Discovery: Understand how knowledge
is transmitted within a discipline, across
disciplines, and to the public
“Literature Reviews” (The University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
AWG1, use writing as a tool for exploration and
reflection in addressing advanced problems, as
well as for exposition and persuasion
Cornell's "How to Prepare an
Annotated Bibliography" (includes
sample annotated bibliography using
APA and MLA)
Writing Advice
Writing Effective Sentences
(Coordination, Subordination,
Parallelism)
Mark Fullmer's "Revising v. Editing"
Listen: Grammar Girl’s Proofreading
Tips and Grammar Myths, Ending a
Sentence with a Preposition
Useful Repetition (Nordquist)
The Oxford Comma
Assignments Due: Ways of Knowing
Revision Due
302 Test 5
LG2, recognize how knowledge is constructed
in your academic discipline and possible future
workplaces, attending to issues such as kinds of
claims or questions posed by advanced or
professional writers
AWG2, successfully employ strategies for
writing as a recursive process of inventing,
investigating, shaping, drafting, revising, and
editing to meet a range of advanced academic
and professional expectations—including, when
given appropriate time for drafting and editing,
the ability to produce documents in Standard
Edited American English that are generally free
from error
Discussion M2S #4 Chapter 1 “Simple” pp.
25-62. In two posts, address one of the
following prompts; then respond to a
classmate’s prompt.
(1) Share examples of CI (26) that you have
discovered in everyday life.
(2) Comment on a classmate’s posting.
Assignments Due: Students as Scholars,
Activity 3: Analytical Report on Associations
in your Field (this activity located on the
“Assignments” tab of Bb).
AWG3, collaborate with others as the write,
through peer review, group projects, and/or
consulting with outside experts (writing center
tutors, librarians, subject-matter experts,
workplace informants, etc.)
25 Feb.
Week 6
Corbett Lecture, Introduction (all
lectures found under “Course
Contents”)
Assignments Due: Submit the Proposal for
your Researched Essay to the Assignment Tab
and to the Discussion Board.
Discussion M2S#5 Chapter 2 “Unexpected”
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 10
pp. 63-97. Address one of the following
prompts and then responds to a classmate’s
prompt.
1. Why is “breaking a pattern” one of the
most basic ways of getting someone’s
attention?
2. How can you use surprise in your writing
to capture and maintain your readers’
attention?
3. How can you “open gaps” in your readers’
minds and then fill them?
Discussion Board 5.1: Review two
proposals. {Due 26 Sep 11:59 pm} Focus on
(1) the formal qualities (adherence to
instructions, file naming, formatting, and
completeness) and then (2) on part C, where
the problem and proposed solution should be
made unambiguous. Has your classmate
followed the instructions? Can you identify
the problem and proposed solution by reading
their Proposal.
Provide two posts—one for each review that
you conduct. Each student should receive two
reviews, so review a student’s paper that lacks
two reviews.
4 Mar.
Week 7
Writing Advice
Patti Stafford,
Faulty Subordination, Rambling
Sentences, and Faulty Parallelism,
Sentence Structure and Coordination
Take the University of Oregon’s
Grambo test
Interview Skills
“Thirteen Simple Journalist
Techniques for Effective Interviews”
by Sarah Stuteville
LG5, produce writing – including arguments or
proposals – that is appropriate for a range of
rhetorical situations within your academic
disciplines and possible future workplaces, with
particular attention to textual features such as
common genres, organizational strategies,
style/tone/diction, and expected citation formats
Career Services
Career Services, Internships, Resumewriting Skills
View:
GMU's Career Services
302 Test 6
Discussion M2S#6 Chapter 3 “Concrete”
pp. 98—129. Address one of the following
prompts and then responds to a classmate’s
prompt.
1. Why is being concrete in your
communication important?
2. What makes concreteness work?
3. Can you provide examples of concreteness
from your first two essays?
4. How might you use concreteness in your
upcoming essay?
18 Mar.
Spring Break 11-15 March
Week 8
Corbett Lecture, Discovery
They Say/I Say Three (Why is it
important to incorporate quotations
into our arguments? What are some of
the problems with the way that this is
normally done? How should we avoid
introducing quotations?)
Nordquist on Signal Phrases
Note: Generally stated, for
pedagogical reasons SOM faculty are
asking students to participate in a
conservative application of APA
expectations: providing full signal
phrases and full in-text citations for
every quotation and paraphrase.
Use APA citation style in SOM 301
with two simple specifications:
SLO-4, Inquiry: Articulate and refine a
question
Assignments Due: Expert Interview and
Literature Review
Discussion M2S #7 Chapter 4 “Credible”
pp. 130—164. Describe an incident where
you witnessed someone (a person, an author,
a character) lose his or her credibility. How to
you include credibility in your writing?
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 11
1. A signal phrase is always required
to show the reader where the research
begins.
2. A page or paragraph number is
always required to show the reader
where the research ends.
While APA recommends #2 for
paraphrasing/ summarizing, it requires
it for quoting. However, SOM 301
faculty tell students to always provide
a page or paragraph number even if
they are not quoting so that students
do not unintentionally plagiarize by
making it appear that research was
their own idea/ analysis. These two
specifications ensure students are
giving credit for their sources and
helps to avoid ambiguity about what is
research and what is not.
25 Mar.
Week 9
They Say/I Say Five (What are “voice
markers” and how does identifying
them help us as communicators? Are
“voice markers” the same things as
“signal phrases”?)
Western Oregon University: Voice
Markers Includes egs in APA and
MLA styles
Corbett Lecture, Arrangement &
Metadiscourse
Nordquist on Metadiscourse
Richard Nordquist, Refutation
They Say/I Say Six (Which of the Five
Parts of Discourse from classical
rhetoric does this call to mind? How
can “planting a naysayer” improve
your credibility? What are some of the
potential problems with failing to
include a naysayer?)
They Say/I Say Seven (Why should
you consider the questions “So what?”
and “Who cares?”)
How will you address the critical
question of why your argument
matters?
How do you “offer a clear claim” in
your writing, and how do your frame
your claim in response to what
someone else has said?
Tip from Purdue Owl: Point of View and
Voice
When writing in APA Style, you can use the
first person point of view when discussing your
research steps ("I studied ...") and when
referring to yourself and your co-authors ("We
examined the literature ..."). Use first person to
discuss research steps rather than
anthropomorphising the work. For example, a
study cannot "control" or "interpret"; you and
your co-authors, however, can.
In general, you should foreground the research
and not the researchers ("The results indicate ...
"). Avoid using the editorial "we"; if you use
"we" in your writing, be sure that "we" refers to
you and your fellow researchers.
It is a common misconception that
foregrounding the research requires using the
passive voice ("Experiments have been
conducted ..."). This is inaccurate. Rather, you
would use pronouns in place of "experiments"
("We conducted experiments ...").
APA Style encourages using the active voice
("We interpreted the results ..."). The active
voice is particularly important in experimental
reports, where the subject performing the action
should be clearly identified (e.g. "We
interviewed ..." vs. "The participants responded
...").
Teaching Tolerance: Introduction to
Refutation
Discussion 7.1 refutation exercise
Select one of the sources from your "Expert
Interview and Literature Review" that
represents an "opposing view" and follow the
four-step template in "Teaching Tolerance:
Introduction to Refutation," writing one or
two sentences to address each step.
The guide may be found here:
http://www.tolerance.org/ publication/civildiscourse- classroom/introduction- refutation
Note the four-step Refutation
Step 1: Restate (“The say…”)
Step 2: Refute (“I say…”)
Step 3: Support (“Because…”)
Step 4: Conclude (Therefore…”)
Discussion Board 7.2: Read “Day 4 Find the
story” in Matthew Stibbe’s 30 Days to Better
Business Writing and “Day 9: Write like a
human being.” Stibbe encourages us to write
conversationally, picture a human reader,
interview yourself, use your sense of humor,
embrace the exclamation mark, use everyday
metaphors, include a sense of person, place or
time. Would you dare accept this advice?
Discussion M2S #8 Chapter 5 “Emotional”
pp. 165—203. Describe how you might
incorporate an emotional appeal into a paper
or presentation for your field.
Writing Advice:
Purdue Owl: Point of View and Voice
Purdue Owl: Tone in Business Writing
UNC Chapel Hill OWL Passive Voice
1 Apr.
Week 10
Read: They Say/I Say Eight (What are
some ways that you can “connect the
parts” of your essays? What is the
difference between a perfunctory
transitional word like next and a more
helpful bit of meta-discourse?) They
Say/I Say Nine (What dictates the kind
Assignments Due: Draft Researched Essay-to
Assignment dropbox and File Exchange in
Group Discussion folder for PR
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 12
of diction and syntax that you use in
your writing? If voice is “the
personality of the writer as it emerges
from the text,” how would you
describe your voice?”
8 Apr.
Week 11
Read: Nordquist on Coherence
LG3, recognize evidence considered sufficient
to support arguments
Read: Corbett Lecture, Style
Dartmouth's Writing Program:
"Attending to Style"
Sister Miriam Joseph’s Brief Guide to
Composition
SLO-6, Inquiry: Situate the scholarly inquiry
[and inquiry process] within a broader context
SLO-7, Inquiry: Apply appropriate scholarly
conventions during scholarly inquiry/reporting
Assignments Due: Two Peer Reviews;
submit to the Group Discussion Board and to
the Assignment Tab
Discussion M2S #9 Chapter 6 “Stories” pp.
204—237. Briefly (~100 words or so)
recount a story that you heard at least 10 years
ago. By "story" I mean an actual story that
you heard--not a life experience of your own.
Include the title of your story and your name
in your subject line. Then, respond to one of
your classmate’s stories, identifying the
elements that you think make this story stick
for more than a decade.
Optional:
See what Air University: The Intellectual an
Leadership Center of the Air Force has to say
about Story Telling and the Use of Narrative
15 Apr.
Week 12
Crafting your Presentations
Chicken Chicken Chicken (or, How's
Powerpoint working out for you?)
Stop! You're killing me with
Powerpoint.
Death by Powerpoint
T. J. Walker Powerpoint presentations:
cut the words out.
David Patmore, How To Avoid Death
By Powerpoint,
Consider the “argument for change” in
TED Talks: The Amazing Intelligence
of Crows
Dick Hardt, Identity 2.0
Optional
http://www.presentationzen.com/
The General Education Learning Goals for Oral
Communication require that you:
(1) Analyze audience and adapt an oral
presentation to audience
(2) Construct and deliver a well-organized,
logical, and informative oral presentation that
demonstrates analytical skills
(3) Use clear, concise, colorful, creative and
culturally sensitive language in an oral
presentation
(4) Use appropriate delivery techniques (e.g.
maintain adequate eye contact, being vocally
expressive, avoid distracting or nervous
mannerisms, etc.) in an oral presentation.
(5) Use appropriate presentational technology to
enhance messages and convey greater depths of
information, knowledge and feeling in an oral
presentation
Week 13
22 Apr.
Assignments Due: Revision Research Essay
Discussion M2S #10 Epilogue pp. 238—252.
(1) Identify the element(s) of M2S that you
think are mostly likely to stick with you and
(2) Provide a thoughtful comment about one
of your classmates' postings.
29 Apr.
Week 14
Assignments Due: PowerPoint
Presentation. Submit to Assignment Tab
AND to Discussion Board #11.
{due 1 May 11:59 pm} Discussion #11:
Review Ppt Presentations by two of your
classmates. Provide a general comment about
its effectiveness and address the following: (a)
were the slides crowded with images or
words? (b) were the problem and solution
conveyed clearly? (c) was there a logical
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 13
progression of ideas? (d) were you persuaded
that the “solution” was worth acting upon?
6 May.
Week 15
Assignments Due: Metacognitive
Assignment
Course Evaluations—on line
When, Where and How to Submit Assignments
Assignments
Value
Examples of Required
File name or Subject line
Due
Discussion Boards
(DBs) and Tests:
due dates for DBs
and tests are listed
in the Calendar
above.
Includ
ed in
20%
Due
22 Jan
11:59
pm
Due
7 Feb
11:59
pm
Course Agreement
& Permission to
Copy Student
Work
Draft, Ways of
Knowing
Use informative subject
lines (e.g. “how do I find
my Peer Review Group?”
that indicate the nature of
your DB post and
distinguish your work
from your classmates’
n/a
Includ
ed in
20%
[userid]+WOKdft.
e.g. adefazioWOKdft.doc
(use your own userid,
please)
Where/How to submit: Note that some assignments need PASTED, others ATTACHED,
some both PASTED & ATTACHED, and some need to be submitted in TWO
LOCATIONS (one place for your classmates, another place for your instructor)
For DBs: Home Page>Discussion Board>[select assigned discussion board; add your own
informative Subject Line; respond appropriately] See additional instructions below.*
For Tests: Home Page>Assignments>[select test, complete, select ‘submit’]
Home Page>Assignments [Choose these assignments]>open attachment> complete form> in
the text editor beneath “2. Assignment Materials,” PASTE document and click Submit. Screen
shots explaining how to paste a submission appear at the end of the syllabus.
Post this draft in TWO LOCATIONS.
(1) For Peers--To File Exchange: Home Page>Groups>Click on Your Group>Under GROUP
TOOLS click on File Exchange and ATTACH your file.
(2) For Instructor--To Assignment Dropbox: Home>Assignments, select “Draft, Ways of
Knowing” then ATTACH your file.
To conduct your Peer Review(s): Home>Groups>File Exchange—select/open a file and
conduct PR. See comprehensive instructions below.**
To post your Peer Review: Home>Groups>Group Discussion Board>Click CREATE FORUM,
enter your userid and the click SUBMIT; then, in response to the FORUM that you created,
create a THREAD (again, name it with your userid) and you may attach your peer reviews in
this thread.
COMMON PROBLEMS: Students fail to first create a FORUM and then a THREAD, leaving
themselves with nowhere to attach a file.
Due
4 Feb
11:59
pm
Due
11
Feb
11:59
pm
Students as
Scholars Activity
#2
Includ
ed in
20%
Discussion Board
Peer Reviews to
peers, WOK for
your classmates
Includ
ed in
20%
[userid]+WOKpr.doc
e.g. adefazioWOKpr.doc
Due
11
Feb
11:59
pm
Peer Review#1,
Ways of Knowing,
for instructor
Due
11
Feb
11:59
Peer Review #2,
Ways of Knowing,
for instructor
Includ
ed in
20%
[userid]+WOKpr.doc
e.g. adefazioWOKpr.doc
Reminder: Turn on “Track Changes” before you begin to revise.
For DBs: Home Page>Discussion Board>[select assigned discussion board; add your own
informative Subject Line; respond appropriately]
Post this assignment in TWO LOCATIONS
To post your PR for your classmates: Once you have conducted your peer review, go to
GROUP TOOLS >Group Discussion Board> click on CREATE FORUM, enter your userid
and the click SUBMIT; then, in response to the FORUM that you created, create a THREAD
(again, name it with your userid) and you may attach your peer reviews in this thread.
COMMON PROBLEMS: Students fail to first create a FORUM and then a THREAD, leaving
themselves with nowhere to attach a file. And the sometimes forget to post the assignment on
the Group Discussion Board (for their peers) AS WELL AS to the ASSIGNMENT TAB (for
their instructor)
To retrieve a paper for peer review: Home Page>Groups> Click on Your Group>Under
GROUP TOOLS click on File Exchange and select an essay for review.
PASTE your PR to the assignments tab for the instructor to evaluate. Your PR consists of the
PR questions that you pasted to the top of your classmate’s paper and the classmate’s paper, in
which you have embedded your comments.
Includ
ed in
20%
[userid]+WOKpr2.doc
e.g. adefazioWOKpr.doc
As above for PR#1.
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 14
pm
Due
14
Feb
11:59
pm
Due
18
Feb
11:59
pm
Students as
Scholars Activity
#3
Includ
ed in
20%
[userid]+SAS3.doc
e.g. adefazioSAS3.doc
Home Page>Assignments>[choose this assignment]>2.Assignment Materials, Submission then
PASTE your two word tables.
Revision, WOK
15
[userid]+WOKrev.doc
e.g. adefazioWOKrev.doc
Due
25
Feb
11:59
pm
Research Proposal
5
[userid]+RP.doc
Due
18
Mar
11:59
pm
Due
1 Apr
11:59
pm
Due
1 Apr
11:59
pm
Expert Interview
& Literature
Review
5
[userid]+EILR.doc
Home Page>Assignments>[choose this assignment]>2.Assignment Materials, Submission then
ATTACH your file. This file originates as the draft WOK that you submitted to your instructor
and peers. It should contain the rubric that I marked when you submitted your draft as well as a
second rubric that is designed for your revision. Before you begin the revision process, you
must turn on “track changes” so that all of your revisions are tracked.
.
Post this assignment in TWO LOCATIONS
Home Page>Assignments>[choose this assignment]>2.Assignment Materials, Submission then
ATTACH your file. Then, without the grading rubric attached, PASTE your file into the text
editor.
Also, submit your proposal as a PASTE to Discussion Board 5.1; use your userid in the subject
line.
Home Page>Assignments>[choose this assignment]>2.Assignment Materials, Submission then
ATTACH your file
Draft to Instructor,
Researched Essay
10
[userid]+REdft.doc
Draft to Peers,
Researched Essay
Includ
ed in
20%
[userid]+REdft.doc
Post this draft in two locations: Assignment Drop box and Group Discussion Board, File
Exchange
For instructor: Home Page>Assignments>[choose this assignment]>2.Assignment Materials,
Submission then attach as a doc or docx file
Post this draft in two locations: Assignment Drop box and Group Discussion Board, File
Exchange
For Peer Reviews: To File Exchange: Home Page>Groups>Click on Your Group>Under
GROUP TOOLS click on File Exchange and attach your file.
Due
8 Apr
11:59
pm
Due
8 Apr
11:59
pm
Due
8 Apr
11:59
pm
Due
22
Apr
11:59
pm
Peer Review#1 to
instructor,
Researched Essay
3
[userid]+REpr.doc
To conduct your Peer Review(s): Home>Groups>File Exchange—select/open a file and
conduct PR.
As Peer Reviews, Ways of Knowing (PASTE)
Peer Review#2 to
instructor,
Researched Essay
2
[userid]+REpr2.doc
As Peer Reviews, Ways of Knowing (PASTE)
Peer Reviews to
peers, Researched
Essay
Includ
ed in
20%
[userid]+REpr.doc
As Peer Reviews, Ways of Knowing
Revision
Researched Essay
25
[userid]+RErev.doc
Due
29
Apr
11:59
pm
Submit
PowerPoint
Presentation on 26
Nov
10
[userid]+Ppt.doc
ATTACH, as Revision, WOK
This file originates as the draft RE that you submitted to your instructor and peers. It should
contain the rubric that I marked when you submitted your draft as well as a second rubric that
is designed for your revision. Before you begin the revision process, you must turn on “track
changes” so that all of your revisions are tracked.
Reminder: Turn on “Track Changes” before you begin to revise.
Post this assignment in two locations:
(1) For Instructor: Home Page>Assignments>[choose this
assignment]>2.Assignment Materials, Submission then ATTACH FILE
(2) For peers: On Discussion Board #11 ATTACH
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 15
Due
1 May
11:59
pm
Discussion Board
#11
Includ
ed in
20%
Due
6
May
11:59
pm
SAS
Metacognitive
Writing Activity
5
On Discussion Board
[userid]+MA.doc
PASTE and ATTACH
*Discussions on Bb
 You will be conducting discussions boards (DBs) on Bb as an entire class. Note the specific instructions about
due dates and spacing of your responses. I don't award credit for perfunctory fluff ("Like, I totally agree with
where you're coming from, Classmate. Something like that happened to me, too!"). I'm looking for thoughtful,
reflective, commentary.
 Write in Standard Written English; use complete sentences.
 When you reply to a post, snip the germane quotation that you are responding to. That way, readers won’t have to
go back and re-read the entire post to which you are responding in order to make sense of things.
 Change the subject line of your posts when you reply, otherwise we get long strings of uninformative “RE’s.”
 Large block of unbroken prose can be daunting. In your postings, use short paragraphs divided by a line of white
space so that readers can easily snip a piece of your comment to include in their own responses.
**Conducting Peer Reviews
 Peer Reviews should be posted on the Home Page>Groups>Group Discussion Folder on Bb. Peer Reviews must
also be posted to the assignment dropbox.
 Post your draft for peer review to Home>Groups>File Exchange (then attach your file); remember to submit
your draft to the Assignment Dropbox as well.
 Your draft will thus become available to the other students whom I have selected as your peer review group. If
you are interested in learning who is in your group, you can click on “Groups.” Note: Peer review groups change
with each new paper, and I do not designate groups until a day or two before Peer Review are due.
 To conduct a peer review,
Home>Groups>File Exchange, select and open a file (name your file [userid+PR];
paste the peer review questions (found with the assignment) into the top of the file;
answer the peer review questions using a color other than black so that your comments are easily
distinguished; and add you own comments in square brackets in the body of the essay, [also using a
different color or font].
 To post your peer review for your classmates to read: Home Page>Groups> Click on Your Group>Under
GROUP TOOLS >Group Discussion Board> click on CREATE FORUM, enter your userid and the click
SUBMIT; then, in response to the FORUM that you created, create a THREAD (again, name it with your
userid+PR) and you may attach your peer reviews in this thread.
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 16
1. How to Log in to Bb.9.1
How do students access Courses/Blackboard?
All users access Blackboard 9.1 through the myMason portal. To access 9.1 please log in at: http://mymason.gmu.edu and select the
“Courses Tab.” Faculty and students will gain access to their course from this location. If you have difficulty, contact the ITU Support
Center at 703-993-8870 or support@gmu.edu. You can also contact courses@gmu.edu. In either case, include your name, G number and
course information
1. Log in,
MyMason
2. Click
Courses
3. Select our
course from your
9.1 Course List
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 17
2. How to Paste an Assignment into the Text Editor
To PASTE an assignment into the Text Editor, click on
Assignments, open the attachment, read and complete, then cut
and paste into “2. Assignment Materials,” and click submit.
DeFazio, Syllabus and Calendar, 302 18