EIP Assignment adaptations for alternate formats

Warning: this is a lot of reading but its very important to the success of your project. Follow the directions carefully. Im excited youre considering preparing your EIP in a form other than a printed essay, or perhaps in conjunction with a printed essay. From my experience with students whove done this, the workload is typically more demanding but the payoff in creative expression and in using a particular skill/talent you have is hugethat is, when the assignment is done correctly. If you choose to create an alternative format for your project, the reason to do so is because you believe your choice of presentation is the best way to achieve the purpose of your assignment. Students who opt to create a website because they think the workload will be less cannot hide this motivation, and the results show in the quality and depth of their work. Its easy to be distracted by the cool things you can do online and to convince yourself that because your website looks great, it also achieves its purpose. That may or may not be the case. Usually, someone who gets caught up in design bells & whistles finds himself scrambling for material at the last minute, leaving the final composition weak on content. How can I be sure I do a quality job? If your project achieves its purpose with the audience your peers and me you have created a quality EIP. The purpose is to produce a composition that conveys what youve learned through extended inquiry into your topic and to present your knowledge in a way that either persuades your audience (argumentative) or engages the audiences interest in an expository narrative that leads us through your discovery of information (exploratory/analytical). Weve discussed how an exploratory essay is not just a report of the research you did; its not a research paper. Its an essay. And an exploratory essay is like it sounds a journey of discovery on which you invite your readers as you discover new information. You want them to appreciate your process of exploration. In a way, an exploratory is like an adventure story. The closest genre to a written exploratory essay is a probably a documentary.

Adaptations to the Inquiry Process

To fulfill the course requirements of engaging in inquiry-guided learning, youll ask questions, conduct academic research, draft, revise, and employ proper MLA-style citation and formatting rules, during each of the EIP project stages. Even if your final project doesnt include written language on the page or screen, you must meet the following adaptation requirements for three popular formats: 1. 2. 3. A documentary/film A Prezi/PowerPoint presentation, possibly in conjunction with an essay or other multi-media format* A website

*You can combine an essay with any of these genres and end up with a smashing EIP; however, as youll see below, the presentation software approach is the most-challenging to use for creating in-depth EIPs.

Each of these formats can be created as either an argumentative or an exploratory composition. Every extended inquiry project, regardless of format, must include a Works Cited page that can be uploaded onto Moodle in proper MLA formatting. You also have to participate in the draft submission, peer review, and revision processes. The major adaptations involve: Source Citations (how you give credit to your sources in the composition); and Procedures for the: 1. 2. 3. 4. Draft Submission (What written format your draft takes) Peer Review Process [How your peer(s) review and provide feedback to you] Revision Process (How you make changes for the final EIP: in what format and how) Final Product (How to turn in your final EIP in what format)

Documentary/Film Production
A documentary/film production is an exciting endeavor that mixes any variation of multiple media (pictures/video footage/music/voiceovers/sound effects/text/etc.) into what can be one of the most persuasive of mediums. (Think of the th st power to persuade and incite people to action that propaganda films have had in the 20 and 21 centuries.) Most students who opt to create a documentary/film are already familiar with the multiple production stages involved, from writing a script to using film-editing software to render the final project. (Note: you must work from a written script.) Before you set out to create a video production, become aware of what youre getting into. Inexperienced individuals will have fun preparing a script, shooting footage and picking out songs or recording voiceovers but may be blown away at the editing stage when its time to put everything together. Experienced individuals know to build in a lot of time for editing the various components into a final production. Here are the required adaptations for a film/documentary: RESEARCH CITATION REQUIREMENTS a) You must use at least four sources, three of which must be the required types listed on the official assignment sheet. Information from these sources must be used in your production, and you must refer to each source in one (or more) of the following ways: In the voiceover, refer to the source using a dialogue tag similar to how we set up information for a quote or paraphrase: According to Malcolm Campbell, President of the Tse -Tse Fly Appreciation Society, the life of a tse-tse fly is far more than meets the eye. Or: Mega-star Robert Pattison, no stranger to the strain celebrity puts on lifes private moments, now spends his days cooking and cleaning his small yak farm in the Himalayas. ( You can use a sub-title caption at the bottom of the screen (or elsewhere) that provides a direct quote and lists the source. Facebook is a sedative for the masses. Malcolm Campbell, author of Facebook: da TRU Story You can list a persons name/credentials in a sub -title caption as they speak onscreen. You can place text you want to draw your audiences attention to on the screen, similar to a short quote, but make it longer and write the sources name/publication . Whether or not you read the quote in voiceover, there must be typed and/or spoken mention the source.

b) You do not have to use in-text parenthetical citations on the screen or in your script, BUT your above source acknowledgements must refer to a source listed on your Works Cited page. (In other words, dont use a source thats not listed in the Works Cited.) c) We will view videos this semester, which include acceptable ways of how directors acknowledge their sources.

PROCEDURES: DRAFT SUBMISSION FOR REVIEW BY PEER(S) AND ME Your draft submission occurs twice: first, to your peers, who receive the script and first cut of your film. After considering your peer feedback carefully before accepting or rejecting ideas/questions/suggested revisions, you then turn the script and film cut into me. This is the due date for your EIP. I will review this draft and well discuss opportunitie s for revision for the final draft, which will appear in your portfolio. So, were talking about two events with the same preparation. This step is out-of-sequence in this document with the next step, peer review. a) Prepare a printed script in Microsoft Word that will allow your peer reviewer(s) (and then me) to make comments on specific parts of the film as they watch. Your script may be prepared in the standard script format used by professional film production companies or you may create your own format, provided it describes enough elements for each scene. For example, include a short description of footage, on-screen text, music or SFX, and voice-over copy, so we can provide feedback to individual elements. If you include an interview, you do not have to transcribe the entire interview but give enough description that I can comment on your selection of footage/source material. If youre not familiar with the genre conventions of script writing, find a reliable source and use that format.

b) Upload to Moodle the Word Document version of your printed script. Also, save this as a PDF to embed in your e-Portfolios Drafts & Peer Review section according to the portfolio instructions. (This will be discussed later.)
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c)

Upload your Works Cited page.

d) Upload a link to your documentary (if its on YouTube or another web -based site) or burn the film onto a DVD. NOTES ON PEER REVIEW PROCESS (This occurs before submission to me) a) Provide your peer with the same materials above. The production may be a rough cut, which is fine. If you havent begun the production process, then provide a storyboard with the script or something that your peer can use to evaluate your work and provide valuable feedback.

b) You may have your peer type their comments on the script via Microsoft Word, or you can have them type their comments onto a new Word document. Either way, select a peer who will give you solid feedback on various aspects of the production. You wont get much help from someone whos so amazed that you produced a film that they cannot think of anything to say other than, Wow. c) SAVE a copy of your peer review script for use in your e-Portfolio as well as the rough cut you submit to your peer (unless youve already prepared the version you plan to turn in).

REVISION AND FINAL DRAFT PROCESS a) When you receive my evaluative comments back on your pre-Portfolio draft most likely on the script make the revisions you choose to make from my comments in a new revised project file that you can upload as a link to in your portfolio or that you burn onto a DVD. This is your final draft.

b) Embed via Scribd your final, revised script in PDF format into your e-Portfolio. c) As described on the e-Portfolio assignment sheet, you also need to embed another copy of your final script that marks the changes you made. You can highlight sections that are changed, use Microsoft Words Track Changes feature, write the new material in a different text color or put it in bold whatever you do, make sure a reader can find the differences.

d) Follow the remaining directions for the e-Portfolio, including embedding the PDF of your first script into the ePortfolios Drafts & Peer Review section.

PowerPoint/Prezi Presentation
A multi-media presentation created with PowerPoint or Prezi offers you an opportunity to mix various media into a structured composition that follows a (mostly) linear format. You can use hyperlinks to the web or to other documents included in a file with your presentation, play music, work with various templates, or set out on your own in a designfriendly program. Familiarity with the software is an advantage as you begin a presentation composition; however, it is easier to learn than most video-editing programs. My concern with PowerPoint and Prezi is that, so far, past attempts at final EIPs in PowerPoint or Prezi have fallen into one or both of these traps: 1. 2. The slide/page design composition structure is in an outline format, which can easily produce a composition that is, essentially, an outline versus a multi-media essay The slick/cool appearance of a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation can trick the student into thinking theyve created something of more substance than they actually have. In other words, Ive viewed presentations that looked nice and had some good material but not nearly enough o f it to achieve the inquiry projects purpose.

This does not mean that you cannot produce an outstanding project with presentation software. You can. I just want you to be aware of these caveats before getting too far underway. An important way to gauge your presentations strength is to determine if the EIP achieves its purpose without a presenter; it should be self-sufficient. You are encouraged to include a voice-over, if that helps persuade/engage your audience. Last, a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation can make an excellent addition to a written essay, and this typically guarantees that the presentation doesnt fall short in depth.

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Here are the adaptations: RESEARCH CITATION REQUIREMENTS a) You must use at least four sources, three of which must be the required types listed on the official assignment sheet. Information from these sources must be used in your production, and you must refer to the source in one (or more) of the following ways: In-text onscreen, refer to your sources using a dialogue tag similar to how we set up information for a quote or paraphrase: According to Malcolm Campbell, President of the Tse -Tse Fly Appreciation Society, the life of a tse-tse fly is far more than meets the eye. You can use a direct quote (in quotation marks) or summarize or paraphrase material on the screen and give credit at the bottom of the material in a format such as: Direct quote OR summarized material (without quotes) runs here like smooth PowerPoint presentation that enraptures your audience, hypnotizing them into a state of submission where you can direct them to give you their wallets and purses and then leave the room before the wake up. Malcolm Campbell, PowerPoint Power You Never Knew You Had b) You do not have to use in-text parenthetical citations on the screen, BUT your source acknowledgements must refer to a source listed in your Works Cited. a) Your Works Cited page must appear both in Microsoft Word, correctly formatted in 2009 MLA style, and at the end of your presentation. (I realize the formatting in PowerPoint may not work exactly with the hanging indents, but please include it there in addition to the uploaded version to Moodle.)

PROCEDURES: DRAFT SUBMISSION TO ME b) Upload your PowerPoint/Prezi presentation or link to your presentation via Moodle. You may also submit the presentation on a DVD or CD-ROM that can be played on my Windows video-player software programs. c) Submit a printed copy of the presentation, page by page. (I will make comments on your printed copy.)

d) Save your draft presentation (before revisions) as a PDF to embed in your e-Portfolios Drafts & Peer Review section according to the portfolio instructions. e) Upload your Works Cited page, AND include it at the end of your presentation. PEER REVIEW PROCESS (this occurs before the above submission to me) a) Provide your peer with the same materials above. The presentation may be a draft, which is fine.

b) Have your peer type their evaluative comments in a new Word document to send you via e-mail. c) SAVE a copy of your peer review draft as a PDF to accompany your peers comments in your e-Portfolio.

REVISION AND FINAL DRAFT PROCESS a) Save a copy of the draft presentation that you turn in on the project due date, and when you receive my evaluative comments back on the print out make the revisions you choose to make from my comments in a new revised presentation file that you can attach as a file to your portfolio. (If you need to provide your final production on a DVD, thats fine.)

b) Embed into your e-Portfolio the PDF of your final, revised presentation. c) You do not need to upload a copy of the final presentation PDF showing the changes you made, but you must be very descriptive in your revision comments as described on the e-Portfolio assignment sheet about the specific changes you made.

d) Follow the remaining directions for the e-Portfolio, including embedding your first draft PDF into the Drafts & Peer Review section and uploading your revised Works Cited page.

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Website
As youll discover with your e-Portfolio, creating a website can produce a feeling of pride in your authorship as you present to the public something you wrote, designed, hyperlinked, tagged, and more. The website is a genre of composition. So is a literacy narrative essay, a newspaper op-ed, a political cartoon, a television sitcomeven a restaurant menu. Each genre has various characteristics that define it as part of the genre and that the audience will expect to find. (For example, an audience expects prices for each entre listed on a menu.) The basic genre convention of a website is that it consists of pages, linked either directly or through other pages to the home page. (This is where the audience lands when they type in your unique website URL.) Beyond that, there are so many variations of websites that one of the opportunities and challenges is determining how you will lay out your inquiry project. Most website-building platforms (Wix, Weebly, Google sites, and many more) allow you to incorporate any of the above elementsfilms, pictures, music, presentation slide shows, etc.into your website. A major difference between this form of composition and the others, including the written essay, is that the audience selects the direction of their reading experience. Whereas the other project forms lead the reader through a semi-linear presentation of the project, a website can influencebut not controla visitors reading experience. (Your written content, the websites design, and other compositional strategies can steer visitors through the site; however, you must design a website knowing that a visitor can move around the site any way they like.) The best websites are those that always orient a visitor as to where they are on every page and that achieve their communicational purposes regardless of the way the visitor moves through the site. It takes practice, experience, creativity and analytical thinking skills to compose outstanding websites, but the cool thing is that websites have never been easier to create. With little or no experience, you can visit one of the website-building sites listed on your e-Portfolio assignment sheet and begin designing your page with a template within minutes. So, whats not to like? Website software can be finicky sometimes and not produce consistent results w hen you publish the material; its easy to lose a lot of work if youre not backing it up; and thinking through the best page-presentation of your inquiry project takes a lot of thought. If you choose to do this, I recommend you draft out your page layout and link connections on a sketch pad and continue working with that as you translate it onto the web. I require that you create your content off-line on a word processor or notepad application, so you wont lose your copy if your computer freezes or the power goes out. This is also so I can make comments on your draft version due in early November. Suggestion: Visit many, many websites and read them closely to see how the sites are designed and written. Note where various links go, as well as what standard features you see across websites that you like About, FAQs, etc. Here are the adaptations: RESEARCH CITATION REQUIREMENTS a) You must use at least four sources, three of which must be the required types listed on the official assignment sheet. Information from these sources must be used in your production, and you must refer to the source in one (or more) of the following ways: In text, refer to the source using a dialogue tag similar to how we set up information for a quote or paraphrase: The Prince Harry Watch (PHW), a non-profit organization formed to snuff negative stories about the hard-partying rabble-rouser whos third in line to the crown of England, suggests the Vegas photographs are a fake. Look at the way hes holding his pool cue, says PHW Director Alfred Nebblesome. No self-respecting member of the royal family would hold a cue stick like that. You can use a direct quote (in quotation marks) or summarize or paraphrase material on the screen and give credit at the bottom of the material in a format such as: Direct quote OR summarized material (without quotes) running here. Malcolm Campbell, PowerPoint Power You Never Knew You Had You can include the source information in a description above or below a link to a video or another website. Essentially, you refer to sources in your writing much the same way the writers do in our assigned readings. Review the Friends with Benefits essay for an example.
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b) You do not have to use in-text parenthetical citations on the screen, BUT your above source acknowledgements must refer to a source listed on your Works Cited page. PROCEDURES: DRAFT SUBMISSION TO ME a) Provide a link to your website (via upload on Moodle).

b) Submit a printed copy of each of your web pages. Take a screen shot of each page, which Im told will save as a .png or some other graphic image format that you can then insert into a design-software document that consists of all of your pages. (I recommend using Microsoft Publisher. You probably have it if you own a computer with Microsoft Office. If not, its on every university computer available to you.) Once youve inserted an image of each web page into a Publisher document, you can save it as a PDF, which you will embed in your e-Portfolio to the Drafts & Peer Review section. c) Upload your Works Cited page.

PEER REVIEW PROCESS (this occurs before the above submission to me) a) Provide your peer with the same materials above. Your website may be incomplete, which is fine. Whatever you do, provide your peer with something she can use to evaluate your work and give valuable feedback.

b) Have your peer type their evaluative comments in a new Word document to send you via e-mail. c) SAVE a copy of your peer review draft as a PDF to accompany your peers comments in your e-Portfolio

REVISION AND FINAL DRAFT PROCESS a) Save a copy of the draft presentation that you turn in on the project due date, and when you receive my evaluative comments back on the print out make the revisions you choose to make from my comments to your website. Provide a hyperlink to your website in your e-Portfolio.

b) You do not need to upload a copy of the final presentation PDF showing the changes you made, but you must be very descriptive in your revision comments as described on the e-Portfolio assignment sheet about the specific changes you made. c) Follow the remaining directions for the e-Portfolio, including embedding a revised Works Cited page

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