Writing,(

Communicating,(
and(Science(

EBIO 1950
Spring 2016
Table of Contents

Writing Resources……………………………………………………………………. 2
Essay Formatting Requirements……………………………………………….. 4
Deliberative Project………………………………………………………………….. 5
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Finding the Conversation………………………………………………………….. 10
Project Proposal/Pitch…………………………………………………………….... 15
Google Drive……………………………………………………………………………. 17
Overall Flow of Essays: Science as Storytelling…………………………… 19
Developing and Game Plan for Reading Scientific Papers…………….. 21
Scientific Paper Distillation and Translation Project……………………. 33
Personal Goals for the Semester………………………………………………… 35
Science and Media Study…………………………………………………………. 38
Paragraph Structure…………………………………………………………………. 43
Peer Review…………………………………………………………………………….. 49
Your Guide to the Citation Style in Your Field…………………………….. 54
Sources for Deliberative Project………………………………………………… 57
Combining Images and Speech Part 1…………………………………………. 63
Drawing in PowerPoint……………………………………………………………… 67
Combining Images and Speech Part 2…………………………………………. 69
Flow………………………………………………………………………………………… 74
Citing Images in Presentations…………………………………………………… 78
Writing Conclusions………………………………………………………………….. 86
Peer Review for Deliberative Essay Drafts…………………………………… 90
Plan for Revision of Deliberative Essay………………………………………. 92
Transferring Strengths Between Modes……………………………………… 94

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Writing Resources

*This page is also on D2L with live links

On campus

The Writing Center

Offered through PWR (the Program for Writing and Rhetoric), this program employs
instructors and students to provide feedback and help students with writing
assignments. This service is especially useful if you need a fresh perspective on a draft
or if you have particular grammatical issues that you need help locating and fixing.
!
They offer a Writer’s Lounge at various residence halls and Peer Tutoring at the C4C.

The locations and hours have not yet been posted for Spring 2016, but for more
information go to:

http://www.colorado.edu/pwr/writingcenter.html

The Library
!
For help with research projects and issues specific to your discipline, you can make an
appointment with a librarian. There are librarians at CU that specialize in various
scientific disciplines.

Find your discipline here:

http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/services/bibliographers.htm

You can also chat with a librarian online if you need help!

http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/askus/index.htm
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!
Online

There are some great online resources to help you with everything from grammar issues
to avoiding plagiarism. Below are two that I find particularly useful.

Purdue University OWL (Online Writing Lab)

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/

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The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina Chapel
Hill
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/

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Essay Formatting Requirements
!
Font: 12pt

Margins: 1”

Spacing: double

Header: Please include name, date, and the assignment

Include a title

File naming: Your last name, Your first name, Assignment

Please save as a word document

Citations: We will go over citation options in class

Essays will be turned in on D2L

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Deliberative Project [Essay + Presentation]
(adapted from original by Amy Steiker)

This is the final project for this course. The other projects that you complete throughout
the semester will be on a related topic in order for you to slowly build your
understanding of a topic of your choosing.

Essay:
Outline Due: 8am, Monday, March 7

First Draft Due: 11:30pm, Thursday, April 14

Final Draft Due: 11:30pm, Monday, May 2

Presentation:
Draft presentation: Thursday, March 31, in class

Final presentations: Will run from Tuesday, April 5 to Thursday, April 14, in class

Description:
For this project, you will enter the conversation surrounding some particular issue,
question, or controversy related to your topic.

To be an appropriate issue or sub-topic, your topic must:

' Be an issue that is currently being debated (there are multiple sides to an argument)
' OR
' Be a question that has yet to be answered definitively (there are multiple possible
answers)
' OR
' Be a problem that has various possible solutions (there are multiple solutions or
combinations of solutions)

This is NOT a research paper. You need to find an ongoing conversation and actively
put forth your position.

Your essay should acknowledge the complexity of the issue as well as the different
positions held by those already engaging in the discussion. You should demonstrate a

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thoughtful understanding of those different positions. But you should also persuasively
deliver your own perspective. An effective way to do this is to discuss the validity of the
various viewpoints and then explain how your position considers those issues.

Audience: You must choose to address an audience and specify that audience in the
header of your paper. You should target a specific group, demographic, etc. that is a real
audience related to your issue in order to develop a particular "call to action" tailored
towards that group. “The general public” is not a workable demographic; be more
specific. The easiest way to determine an audience is to look for a type of publication (a
specific magazine or newspaper, a school publication, a scholarly journal, etc.) with an
audience that would actually have some interest in learning about and/or taking action
related to your topic. If you want to reach computer programmers, for instance, read
over journals directed to them. Learn what others have done to direct their writing
toward them.

Purpose: The essay needs to be persuasive, but a thoughtful audience is not persuaded
by one- sided, talk-radio-style rhetoric. Rely on effective ethos, logos, and pathos to
make your case, and don’t “preach to the choir.” By definition, persuasion implies that
the audience has been “moved,” by learning something and/or changing their position.
Therefore, if you write a paper that will only be compelling to people who already agree
with your point of view, you will have failed, persuasively speaking. Aim for an audience
that may be open to persuasion, and then suspend your own beliefs enough to make a
compelling case to that audience. This is harder than it sounds. Remember that
insulting your audience—even subtly, by suggesting they lack intelligence or merit—will
result in losing them. Don’t be aggressive—persuade your audience with logical, well-
supported, intelligent arguments.

Tips to appeal to ethos: Do not oversimplify the issue, controversy, or question or the
answer, perspective, or solution that you present. Clearly demonstrate the strength of
your own understanding of the issue at hand by presenting it accurately.

Tips to appeal to logos: Do your research and have a good understanding of the facts.
Then present your arguments in clear and logical ways. Make it easy for the reader to
follow your logic.

Tips to appeal to pathos: Using anecdotes is one way to appeal to the reader’s emotions.
But these should only be used to illustrate an argument that is backed up with good
evidence and logical claims. Think about the ways that scientists convey excitement and
novelty without sounding overly emotional.

Essay Requirements:
• Your essay (both drafts) should be 1800 – 2400 words (not including the references
section)

• You need to specify your audience in the header of your paper.

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 1
• Full Introduction

o Opener: Introduce the issue and invite your readers into the conversation

o Explanation and background: Familiarize your readers with the controversy.

Give them the information they need to understand the issue at hand and make
sense of the conversation.

o Thesis: Give your stand on the issue—your main claim.

• Arguments, counterarguments, and counterargument rebuttals clearly presented

• Conclusion

• You need at least six sources. At least three of these must be scholarly sources.

• Your sources need to be included as in-text citations and as full citations in the
references section.

• See formatting requirements, page 4.

Presentation Requirements:
• You will be required to present your persuasive argument to the class.

Your audience for this presentation is the same audience that you intend to direct your
essay towards. You will need to find a way to state this audience at the beginning of your
presentation so that your classmates are aware of the “scene” that you are attempting to
create.

You must use a visual aid. A computer-based visual aid like Powerpoint, Prezi, etc. is a
common option and can be quite successful. However, it is also possible to use other
modes of communication such as drawing images on the chalkboard, creating videos, or
even acting something out. I’m very open to other ideas. The important thing is that
you use visuals and speech together to create a stronger presentation. And both parts
should help you to accomplish your purpose. Come see me if you have alternative ideas
that you would like to discuss!

The presentation must be 8-10 minutes long. A 2-minute Q&A session will follow.

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Introduction
Kenneth Burke writes:

Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long
preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for
them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already
begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for
you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you
have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you
answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to
either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality
of your ally's assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late,
you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress.

The Philosophy of Literary Form 1941

This class is about the conversations that are taking place all around us and how you,
as a thinking, creating, communicating person can enter into the conversations that
you think need your voice. It will also help you to successfully enter into the
academic conversations that will be part of your college education. To do this, you
will need communication skills and we will work together in this class to develop your
skills in writing, speaking, and communicating with visuals. Sometimes this will
require practicing applied skills like structuring paragraphs and linking ideas.
Sometimes it will involve thinking about more abstract ideas such as the ways that
communications connect with a targeted audience. And sometimes we will work on
nitty-gritty details like how to appropriately cite sources.

The goal is to step forward from the typical academic essay, which speaks only to a
teacher or professor, and instead to learn to write something that is currently
relevant. To do this, you will need to strengthen your ability to collect and evaluate
the other voices contributing to the conversation. You will practice understanding
the various viewpoints surrounding an issue so that you can know how your own
voice can add to the conversation. And you will become better at locating the
conversation in the first place, at figuring out what important issues or questions are
being discussed right now.

So we will start there. You have just walked into a party, let’s say, where many groups
of people are talking. You want to survey the crowd and decide which conversation to
enter into. You aren’t here to be a social butterfly and pop between conversations.
For this course, I will ask you to really settle in to a conversation for the night. You
can change later if you hit a dead end or if something new really compels you.

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 But try to choose a topic that you will be excited to learn and write about for the
whole semester. That way you can gain a deeper understanding of the topic and
really practice contributing to the conversation.

In real life, of course, the party includes the whole world of people communicating
with each other! So it can be a daunting task to start to narrow down conversations
that you want to participate in. There are two approaches that I have found work
well. Try going through the process each way and see what different results you get.
Remember that for this class, you will want to choose a topic that is related to science
in some way.

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Finding The Conversation
Goals:
1. Begin the work of finding a specific topic of debate or unanswered question
related to science that you care about and want to contribute your voice to.

2. Learn to navigate the web of online sources to become informed about the
ongoing conversation about an issue.

Starting with you

Think about what kinds of topics might interest you. You can start with classes that you
have taken that have piqued your interest, hobbies that you enjoy, fields that yourself or
someone you know is interested in or works in, or news events that you have recently
learned about. Is there a science connection to these things?

! What are three science-related topics that interest you?

Topic 1

Topic 2

Topic 3

Starting with sources

In this class, we will explore different kinds of sources, from video blogs to technical
journal articles written by scientists. Skimming through current popular science
sources (created for the public rather than for scientists) can be a great way to start to
identify interesting issues that are currently being talked about.

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Some popular science sources: (also on D2L with live links)
Articles:
Science Magazine news
(http://news.sciencemag.org/)
Nature Magazine news
(http://www.nature.com/news/index.html)
Science section of the New York Times
(http://www.nytimes.com/section/science)
Wired
(http://www.wired.com/category/science/science-blogs/) and
(http://www.wired.com/category/science)
Slate
(http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science.html)
I fucking love science
(http://www.iflscience.com/)

Videos:
Scientific American Video of the Week
(http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/video-of-the-week/)
Veritasium Youtube channel
(https://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium)
NASA Youtube channel
(https://www.youtube.com/user/NASAtelevision)

Podcasts:
Scientific American 60 second Science Podcast
(http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/60-second-science/)

Radiolab
(http://www.radiolab.org/)
Star Talk (with Neil deGrasse Tyson)
(http://www.startalkradio.net/)
Science Friday (NPR)
(http://www.sciencefriday.com/)

! Go to at least two of the sources above and skim until you find 3 interesting topics.
Describe the topics below.

Topic 1

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 Topic 2

Topic 3

Digging deeper
Select the 2 topics that interest you the most from either approach. Then start searching
for more information related to these topics. One method is to simply open up Google
(http://www.google.com) and type in some key words related to the topic. Think
carefully about the words that you choose.

! Write at least 3 different sets of search terms.

Try synonyms.
(For example: genetic engineering plant pesticides; gmo crop pesticide; genetically
modified organism insect control)

Based on the number and type of hits, you can start to see how many people and what
kinds of people are participating in the conversation about this topic.

! What kinds of sources are you mostly finding?

Topic 1

Types of sources:

Topic 2

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 Types of sources:

Did any of your sources use terms that are different than what you were searching?
Those technical terms or synonyms could be used to do another search, which may
result in more hits.

You can also start to narrow in on some more specific aspects or issues within the
broader topic. Is there an issue that is currently being debated or an important
unanswered question?

! For 2 of your topics, find 2 subtopics that you think might be interesting. Write a
few sentences about them below

Topic 1

Subtopic 1

Subtopic 2

Topic 2

Subtopic 1

Subtopic 2

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After clicking through things for a while, change search engines. Go to Google Scholar
(scholar.google.com). This looks very much like the regular Google search page but, as
the name suggests, will search “scholarly” sources. These are generally articles that have
been written by academics (professors, grad students, etc..) and also approved by other
academics for publication. These sources are also generally written for other academics
rather than the public. Now that you have a few subtopics, try searching here for them.
Remember that academics write differently than popular science writers.

! Write a few different sets of search terms that might be more appropriate for
searching academic sources. (Think about replacing some terms with more technical
terms)

Subtopic 1

Search terms:

Subtopic 2

Search terms:

✪ Homework: Come in to class with the results of this experience and having
identified at least 2 specific subtopics that you are interested in. And be prepared to
explain to a classmate why these are currently important and interesting topics. You
don’t need to know a lot about the topic, but start to get an idea!

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Project Proposal/Pitch
Goals:
1. Practice selling your ideas

2. Reflect on your writing process

3. Demonstrate your ability to write a focused essay

Due: 8am, Monday, February 1 on D2L

2 Parts

Part 1.
Audience: classmates

Purpose: To convince your classmates that you have chosen a worthwhile topic
to write about.

Length: 1-2 pages (See formatting requirements, page 4)

This will be a short assignment but should represent your best ability to write a clear
and cohesive essay. So be sure not to turn in a stream-of-consciousness style response.
This essay, however, does not have to adhere to the typical 5-paragraph (intro, 3 body
paragraphs, conclusion) structure.

Be sure to include these five points:

1. What is the topic that you want to write about? If you can identify a particular
issue or controversy, focus on that. If not, that’s ok for now.

2. Who would care about this topic and why?

3. Is this topic currently relevant? What is the current situation or discussion

surrounding this issue?

4. Are there enough resources for you to research this topic successfully? What is
your plan for getting the necessary information? What kind of sources will you
focus on? (Convince your readers that you can get the job done!)

5. What can YOU contribute to this discussion? Why should you be the one to write
about this topic?

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Part 2.
Audience: Megan (your teacher)

Purpose: Clearly communicate your writing process so that we can have a

discussion about how you might develop the best process for you.

Length: About 1 page (including the list of steps and the paragraph reflection)

As you complete this writing project, I will ask you to reflect upon the process that you
use. In a separate document, write down the steps that you take, when you take them,
and how confident you feel with each step. You will turn this document in with your
essay. At the end of this document, please include a paragraph explaining how well you
think that your writing process works for you and if you have any ideas about how you
might improve upon it.

** On the D2L site, there is a folder titled Pitches and Proposals. This folder contains
pitches written by journalists and proposals written by scientists. These are real
examples and will look different than what you will write. But these could help you to
understand these two genres and the real-life writing that you are practicing for with
this assignment.

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Google Drive
* If you have a personal laptop, bring it to class today.

As CU students, you have access to 10 TB of online storage with Google Drive. You
can use this to protect yourself from computer failures and to have the ability to
access your files from other computers, such as the ones on the computer cart that we
use in this class.

Set up Google Drive on the computer that you will primarily use for writing for this
class. If you do not have a personal computer that you can download a program on to,
let me know and I can provide some alternatives.

To get started, you will set up a folder specifically for this class that will automatically
sync to your Google Drive account when you are online.

1. Open a browser (safari, chrome, explorer) and go to www.drive.google.com

2. To log in: *You must log in with your CU credentials. The storage space that
Google gives to regular users is significantly smaller.
a. Email: yourusername@colorado.edu
(Your user name is what you use to log in to the CU system. It will
generally be a series of letters followed by numbers. Ex: mtra123@colorado.edu.
Your actual CU email address (lastname.firstname@colorado.edu) will not work
here.

b. Password: your identikey password that you use to log in to the CU system

3. Install Google Drive on your computer

a. In the top right corner of the site, you will see a gear. If you hover over it,
it will say Settings. Click this and choose Download Drive from the
dropdown menu.
b. Click the blue Download Drive button and choose “Mac or PC” from the
dropdown menu.
c. Accept the terms and conditions
d. Choose a place to save the file on your computer
e. When it has downloaded, open the file. You may need to drag it into the
Applications folder (if on a Mac).

4. Get started with Drive

a. After you open Google Drive, it will ask you to log in. Use the same
information as earlier.
b. Drive will take you through a little intro.

5. Create a folder for 1950

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 a. You should now have a folder on your computer called Google Drive.
b. Open this folder and create a new folder within it for this class, EBIO 1950.
c. This folder will now automatically sync with your Google Drive account!

6. Using your Google Drive folder

a. When you create any files for this class, save them in your 1950 folder.
That way, you will be able to access them from any computer that is
connected to the internet.
b. If you are working on another computer, you can access our folders by
opening the Google Drive site in the web browser. You can also upload
new files there, which will be accessible to you later.

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Overall Flow of Essays: Science as
Storytelling

Goals:
1. Think about how writing about science can be a form of storytelling

2. Begin to explore different story structures

✪ Read before class:

From Writing Science – Joshua Schimel (on D2L – Sources)
Chapter 2 – Science Writing as Storytelling – page 8 to the end of the 2nd paragraph on
page 12

Response questions (complete before class):

! On page 10, Schimel writes that that “our ultimate goal is not those data – it is the
understanding we derive from them.” This advice is given for scientists writing
technical journal articles, but it is also very relevant for writing academic essays and
other communications. What is one way that you might apply this idea to writing essays
for your classes?

! When working on your deliberative project, you will be exploring multiple sides of
an issue. How can you apply the “elaborate and slash” process to finding your story for
this project?

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✪ Read before class:
From Writing Science – Joshua Schimel (on D2L – Sources)
Chapter 4 - Story structure- pg 26 – pg 30

Response questions (complete before class):

! How could the OCAR structure parts correspond with the parts of a typical
academic essay?

! On page 30, Schimel writes that “Readers take whatever information you put at
those key locations – O,C, and R – and accept it as your opening, challenge, and
resolution. If you put the wrong information there, they will get the wrong message.”
Look back at the plans that you made during the Critical Reading activity. How does
Schimel’s idea relate to your ability to make a reading plan appropriate for different
types of sources?

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Developing a Game Plan for Reading
Scientific Papers
Goals:
1. Become familiar with the typical sections of a scientific journal article and
know what to find in each section

2. Practice extracting main ideas from complicated technical papers

3. Start to think critically about the claims that scientists make in articles

4. Make game plans for reading articles in the future depending on your goals

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carefully read every section. Or you might skim a paper and later return to specific
sections and read them carefully. For this practice exercise, you will read the entire
paper carefully so that you can become familiar with each section. That way, you’ll
know better, in the future, when you can skim or skip parts.

Very few professional scientists can effectively read more than a few papers in a day.
These documents are dense and contain challenging ideas. For most researchers, it is
important that they understand how the ideas of the paper fit in with their
understanding of the topic or the field. That takes time and a lot of brain-power to
accomplish. So when you’re reading technical papers, make sure that you give
yourself enough time to tackle them in small doses.

One caveat to keep in mind: many scientific articles are poorly written. Some
scientists are not very skilled at writing. Some don’t take the time and effort
necessary to ensure that their paper is clear and coherent. You will be able to tell if
you have a hard time finding the information that you are looking for or
understanding the connections between the background information, the questions
presented, and the research itself.

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We will dedicate both classes this week to practicing reading an article. During the first
(and part of the second) class, you will work in groups of 3 to work through a primary
scientific research article (that I will post on D2L and bring hardcopies of to class).

I have included some guidance as well as some questions for your group to answer for
each section. This is to help you become familiar with the different parts of a typical
paper.

During the second class, you will work with your group to develop 2 game plans for how
you will read future papers depending on your goal (or why you are reading the paper in
the first place!) At the end of the week, at least one member of your group will coach the
class on one of your game plans.

Title
The title will often be the first thing you see from a paper when you are searching
for sources. So it is one piece of information that you can use to determine if a
source is worth your time.

! Based on just this title, write one to two sentences, in plain English, on what
you think that this paper is going to be about.

Abstract
If you have found a source that you think is relevant to your project, the next step
will be to read the abstract. It is short so it isn’t a big time investment, but
includes much more information than the title.

Read the abstract. It is the first paragraph in the article. What do you now think
that the article will be about? Has your understanding changed?

! Based on the abstract, write one to two sentences on what you now think is
the main point of this article.

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 Where there any terms in the abstract that you didn’t understand? Because the
abstract is an overall summary of the article, any terms found here are likely to be
important. These are good ones to look up before proceeding.

Introduction
The introduction, while often lengthy, can be a very important part of a scientific
paper if you are interested in the larger context for the research.

Read the introduction with the goal of determining what kind of

understanding you can find in this section. The introduction is not labeled in
this paper, but begins after the abstract and continues until the section labeled
“Methods.”

! Reading an introduction can help me to understand:

1.

2.

3.

! Where in the introduction can you find each of these things?

1.

2.

3.

Discuss these 3 items with your group, then go back to the text and try to extract
some of that understanding for this particular paper.

! Why is this research important?

! 23!
 ! Is this research connected with a particular theory, concept, or outstanding
question in the field?

! What is the specific question and/or hypothesis that this research

addresses?

" Thinking critically: Getting papers published is a very competitive endeavor for
scientists. As a result, researchers put considerable effort into trying to make their
work seem important. So be wary of how much the author is overselling their study.
Where is one place in the introduction that you think the author might be
exaggerating?

What makes you think so?

Methods
Traditionally, the methods section was written so that the study could be
replicated. That is still the goal, but methodologies have gotten so technically
sophisticated that it has become quite difficult to describe them. And it could
take an enormous amount of space to describe the methods in detail. The
researcher must make decisions about how much common knowledge the reader
will have about techniques within the discipline. If techniques are referenced and

! 24!
 not explained, doing some research online or asking a professor is a good way to
understand the nature of the experiment.

If you are not interested in replicating a study or learning about techniques that
you yourself might use, getting a general idea of what the researchers did can
help you to understand how they came to their conclusions.

Try not to get overwhelmed by the technical details in the methods! See if you
can get a general idea of what the researchers did.

! Write a brief outline, below, in plain English, of what they did.

! Can you connect these methods with the questions and/or hypotheses? On
your outline, try to label each experiment, briefly, with what sub-question or part
of the larger question it is designed to answer. This may not be obvious; consult
with your group.

Results
The results section is where the authors put forth the numbers and statistics that
came from the experiment. The results are represented both in writing and in
figures. Learning to tackle figures is an challenging but important skill for
anyone reading scientific papers.

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 Read the results with the goal of determining what kind of understanding you can
gain from this section.

! Reading results can help me to understand:

1.

2.

3.

Consult with your group about the kinds of understanding that you have
identified. Then re-read the results to try to extract some of that understanding.

Start with the graphs alone. What do they tell you? If you can learn to interpret
graphs, you will have found a great way to understand the actual data that
resulted from the experiments described in the methods section. A caveat here is
that creating graphs is an important but sometimes neglected skill for scientists.
Just like not all professional scientists write clear papers, not all of them make
clear and understandable graphs!

! Take a look at Figure 2. What is this graph generally about?

! Where did you look for that information?

! 26!
 ! What are the important numbers that are shown in this graph?

! Where can you find those numbers in the text and what additional
understanding do you gain?

! Now take a look at Table 1. What is this table telling you?

! Is it easier to interpret tables or graphs, and why?

Continue on to the other graphs and the rest of the text. Look back at the
hypothesis or question that you identified in the introduction.

! Do you think that these results answer that question and if so, what is the
answer?

Discussion

! 27!
 The discussion is where the author attempts to bring it all together and interpret
the results.
Read the discussion with the goal of determining what kind of understanding you
can gain from this section.

! Reading the discussion can help me to understand:

1.

2.

3.

! Where in the discussion can you find each of these things?

1.

2.

3.

After discussing these 3 items with your group, go back to the text and try to
extract some of that understanding for this particular paper.

! According to the authors, have they answered the question that they posed
in the beginning? If so, what is the answer?

! 28!
 ! What caveats or weaknesses do the authors mention that you should
consider?

! How strongly do these caveats make you question their conclusions?

! What can you learn about the current state (when this paper was written) of
this topic or field?

! 29!
 " Thinking critically: In the introduction, the authors were trying to convince the
readers of the importance of their questions and hypotheses. In the discussion, the
authors are trying to convince the reader of the importance of their results. Where in
the discussion might the authors have used flawed logic? (This might include a
statement that their results mean something that they have not convincingly shown)

Where in the discussion might the authors have exaggerated the importance of their
findings? If so, what makes you think so?

Thinking about how this research fits into the big picture
Remember that the publications that result from research are part of a
conversation. After you read a paper, it is a good idea to think about how this
work fits into the general conversation about this topic or in this field. If there is
a conclusion section, that is a good place to get some ideas. If not, look near the
end of the discussion to see how the authors think (or would like you to think)
their work fits in to the big picture.

This is a good time to evaluate when this paper was published and how relevant it
still is. Did this research move the field forward or was it either ignored or
discredited? Look to see who has cited it and in what context. If this is a new
paper it may be too early to tell! In that case, use your knowledge of the topic to
guess at how important it might be.

! 30!
Return to the title and abstract

! Now that you have finished reading the paper, write 2-3 sentences on what
the paper was generally about.

! Go back and read what you wrote in response to the title and abstract. Do
you have the same idea now, after having read the entire article, about the main
idea or point of the article? If not, how did the title and abstract mislead you?

Strategies for the future

Today we went through this paper very slowly and deliberately. But there are
many ways to approach a paper, depending on your goals. You and your group
will work together to make a game plan for how you would read a paper, based on
your goal, in a given scenario. One member of your group will stand up at the
board and “coach” the rest of the class based on your game plan.

Scenario:

Goal:

! 31!
 How much time should you spend reading a paper for this goal?

Game plan:

✪ Homework:
Apply what you have learned to a primary literature source that you have found
for your deliberative essay project. Think about what your goal is beforehand.
Then come in to class having read the paper, used highlighting or note-taking,
and having a sense of what the main ideas of the study are.

This is an opportunity for you to work through one of your own sources. Come to
class with any questions that you have or concerns about places that you got
stuck. We’ll have time to talk about these questions in class. Then you will use
your understanding of this source for the next essay assignment.

! 32!
Scientific Paper Distillation and Translation
Project
Due: 8am, Thursday, February 23 on D2L

As you know, scientific papers are dense and complicated documents. But often, what
you want to take away from them is just a few main ideas. Communicating those ideas
to someone else can create an even deeper level of understanding. And depending on
who the audience is, you will probably want to communicate the ideas differently than
the author of the original paper.

To practice this skill, you will communicate the main ideas of your source in two
different ways. Use the source for your deliberative project that you read for homework.

Part 1.

Audience: A college-student in a field related to your topic

Purpose: Communicate the main idea and most important parts of the paper

Length: 1-2 pages

Write a summary of the primary scientific paper. This summary is longer than an
abstract and so will include more information and will probably require multiple
paragraphs.

Be sure to allow your reader to:

1. Understand the main questions that the research tackled and the answers to
those questions

2. Be able to critically evaluate the research (were the methods appropriate for
the questions? Do the results actually support the answer given by the
authors?)

3. Think about how this research fits into the larger conversation related to this
topic

Part 2.

Audience: A member of the public that has a general interest in science

Purpose: Communicate the main take-aways from the research

! 33!
 Length: However long is needed to accomplish your purpose (this depends
largely on the form that you choose)

Briefly communicate the main ideas of the research paper in a creative, alternative form.
Here are three ideas:

Write a poem about the study

Create a cartoon that explains the study

Create an audio recording (of 60 seconds or less) in which you explain the study

Be prepared to share your project (Part 2) with the class on the day that it is due.

! 34!
Personal Goals for the Semester
- Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses
Writing is a skill that you will continue to use and improve upon throughout your
career. And as with most skills, everyone has different strengths, weaknesses, and
goals. In order to make this course as useful as possible for you, I want you to
identify your own personal strengths and weaknesses. Then you can keep tabs on
your progress throughout the semester. Additionally, if you have any personal goals,
I would like to help you work on those.

First, try to identify your strengths and weaknesses on your own. Then, when we meet
during our first conference, I will use my experience reading your response essay to
contribute my thoughts. So please take some time to think about and fill out the
following section before our conference:

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Goals (to be filled out by you prior

to our meeting)
Strengths
! What do you bring to the table when communicating (this can be both in writing
or in other forms of communication)? What are the things that you either really enjoy
doing or feel that you are good at? These can be anything from writing outlines to
incorporating humor into presentations to coming up with exciting topics to having
great grammar. List 3 things that you feel are your strengths.

1.

2.

3.

! 35!
Weaknesses
! What do you struggle most with when communicating? These can be things that
you don’t enjoy or things that teachers or classmates have pointed out that you need to
work on. Once again, these can be anything from speaking in public to writing
conclusions to correct comma usage.

1.

2.

3.

Goals
! What would you really like to be better at when it comes to communicating about
science? Your goals could be to improve on particular weaknesses or they could relate to
specific projects that you would like to be able to complete in the future. For example,
you may want to improve at writing lab reports or to be able to give really compelling
PowerPoint presentations. I can’t promise that you will be able to directly work on your
goals in this class, but there will almost certainly be skills that we cover that you can
apply to your goals. By identifying your goals, we can work together to figure out what
skills you may want to focus on.

1.

2.

! 36!
Plan of Action (to be completed after the conference)

Write out a plan for how you will work towards your goals, capitalize on
your strengths, and improve upon your weaknesses.

! 37!
 Science and Media Study

Goals:
1. Explore how science is communicated differently to different audiences
and through different media

2. Experiment representing a concept through a visual medium

3. Analyze sources based on audience, purpose, and appeals used

✪ For this class: Bring earbuds or headphones if you have them

At the end of today, you will be creating a visual representation of how science changes
when communicated differently. Keep this in mind as you work!

As you have already seen during your topic searches, science is communicated in
some very different ways to different audiences. Learning how authors target their
communications to different audiences is a very important communication skill. And
for future projects in this class, you will work to target your own communications to
audiences of your choosing.

In science, the way that information is presented differently to different audiences

can have important implications for how different groups of people view particular
issues or science in general. Scientists themselves spend most of their time writing
for other scientists. Journalists and other media folks are mostly responsible for how
science is communicated to the public. So it is crucial for anyone in a science field to
understand the different conversations related to their work. These conversations
can influence laws that are made as well as how much funding is available to do
particular types of research.

During class:

Step 1.
You will be randomly assigned to groups and given a source to analyze. Work with your
group to identify the following components of your source.

! Source Title:

Outlet (where is this source found?)

! 38!
 How does this influence the source?

Who is the author (position, title, personal details?)

Audience (who is the intended audience?)

Evidence:

Purpose (What is the author trying to do with this communication?)

Evidence:

How does this author appeal to Logos?

How does this author appeal to Ethos?

! 39!
How does this author appeal to Pathos?

Which types of appeals are used the most strongly in this communication
and why?

What are the main take-aways about this research?

Read and watch the rest of the sources (the ones that your group didn’t analyze)

Step 2.
New groups will now be formed with members that have each analyzed a different
source. The goal of your new group is to compare between your sources and determine
how these sources (which communicate the same research) differ. Each group member
should share their analysis of their source. Be prepared to explain your answers for this
section to the rest of the class.

! What impact do the differences in each of these factors have upon the
way that the science is communicated? And WHY do these differences
exist?

Authors

! 40!
Audiences

Purposes

Outlets

Media

How is the importance of the study differently represented (and why)?

How are the main take-aways different (and why)?

! 41!
! Work as a group to create a visual that illustrates one of the trends that
you noticed during your comparisons.

! 42!
Paragraph Structure
Goals:
1. Learn to create strong, focused paragraphs

2. Think about the internal structure of your paragraphs

✪ Read before class:

From Writing Science – Josh Schimel (on D2L)
Chapter 10 – Internal structure – page 95 to page 103 before exercises

✪ Pre-Homework:
Bring a draft of one of your paragraphs for Part 1 of the Scientific Paper
Distillation and Translation Assignment (digital or paper is ok).

When you sit down to write the first draft of an essay, you probably have a lot of
thoughts related to your topic and a good deal of evidence. Deciding what to include
and in what order to place those thoughts is often one of the most difficult tasks
facing writers. If you aren’t careful about this, your writing will seem rambling and
unfocused. Your reader will get confused.

Your outline can serve as a guide to the overall order of your essay. It lays out what
main ideas you will put forth and in what order. But how will you go about
explaining those main ideas?

This is the job of your paragraphs. Within your paragraphs, the supportive ideas that
you choose to include and what order you place them in is also very important.

Today, you will practice evaluating paragraphs for some key elements. You will rework
some paragraphs to make them stronger. And then you will revise one of your own
paragraphs for your Science and Media Assignment.

In the past, you probably learned to start a paragraph with a topic sentence. This
sentence reveals the main idea of the paragraph and is followed by supporting sentences
that flesh out that main idea, often adding details and evidence. The paragraph finishes
by returning to the main idea and then transitioning to the idea that will be presented in
the next paragraph.

This is a pretty simple structure but it often works well and is fairly common. Here is an
example of a fairly successful paragraph using that structure:

! 43!
*Warning: The paragraphs in this section have been partially or entirely fabricated for
the purpose of exploring paragraph structure and do not always contain real
information.

The isoflavones and nutrients in soy milk help to protect the body from disease
and promote good health, so soy is a better choice than cow milk. Scientists believe that
soy milk has the potential to balance cholesterol levels in humans: "A diet with
significant soy protein reduces Total Cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol)
and triglycerides" (Tsang 1). Since soy milk is one of the easiest ways to incorporate soy
into the diet, this is a good choice for people seeking to lower their LDL and
triglycerides. Soy milk also may reduce the potential for heart disease. Asian countries,
which traditionally consume more soy protein, have a much lower incidence of heart
disease and many types of cancer (Berkeley 4). The benefits of soy aren’t just limited to
the heart, however. Soy milk and cheese made from soy milk may help with weight loss
since they contain less saturated fat than regular dairy products, although they contain
about the same amounts of fat as reduced-fat milk and cheese (Collins 1). Some
researchers even believe that soy may help to stimulate the metabolism (Duke 4). The
disease-fighting and health-promoting components of soy milk have the potential to
change people’s health and to improve their lives by affecting both cholesterol and
weight. This makes soy milk an important factor in heart health, so people should
consider switching to soy milk.
*Adapted from https://www.umuc.edu/writingcenter/writingresources/paragraph_struc.cfm

! What is the main idea of this paragraph?

! How do you know?

Successful paragraphs can vary quite a bit. They do, however, generally contain the
same key elements.

Take a look at this paragraph:

! 44!
The field of animal behavior, by unraveling the mysteries of the actions and choices of a
wide variety of animals, has taught biologists a great deal about animals as well as
evolution in general. An early study on gopher behavior, for example, led to the
development of a widely accepted evolutionary theory (Lock 1971). This theory has now
been tested in a variety of systems, from slugs to whales. Slugs and whales vary
enormously, particularly in their capacity for thought. Yet we apply common theories to
the “choices” of both. So is thinking a requisite for behavior? Recently, a group of
biologists has been expanding these theories even further. They begun to apply theories
developed in animal behavior to the choices of plants.

! What is the main idea of this paragraph?

! How do you know this time? What clues did you use?

Break up into groups of 2 or 3 and work together to determine what all of these
paragraphs have in common. Create a checklist below of the key elements of successful
paragraphs. Include tips for how to include these elements, regardless of the paragraph
structure. You do not need to use all 5 spaces right now. And for the purpose of this
exercise, a key element may also be a lack of something undesirable rather than just the
inclusion of something desirable.

! Key Elements of paragraphs

! 45!
1.

tips:

2.

tips:

3.

tips:

4.

tips:

5.

! 46!
 tips:

! Read the following paragraph and see if you can find the key elements that you
have identified. Underline or highlight and label them. Work with your group to make
a plan for revision of this paragraph to make it stronger.

The recent boom in paper retractions in scientific journals is particularly

problematic for the public image of science. Just this week, Elsevier announced the
retraction of over 100 papers from journals published by the company (Strong 2015).
This company now joins the ranks of several others that have issued large-scale
retractions in the last several years due to peer-review scandals. Peer-review is a
process that is largely misunderstood by the public and so also does not improve the
public image of science. Non-scientists do not understand that published papers are
vouched for by other professional researchers. A recent study by King et al. also
revealed that scientists themselves do not have a good grasp on how the public views the
process of publication in science (2015). And there is even another problem because
most science is presented to the public through journalistic writing, which is not as
carefully reviewed.

Revision plan:

! 47!
! Repeat the process with the following paragraph. Remember that what a writer
decides not to include can be just as important as what they decide to include.

The!divide!between!coffee!and!tea!drinkers!just!got!wider,!as!caffeine!seems!to!have!
arisen!independently!in!these!two!pick'me'up!plants.!! A!team!led!by!France!Denoeud,!of!
the!Institut!de!Génomique,!found!differences!in!the!sets!of!genes!used!by!coffee!and!tea!to!
make!their!addictive!signature!substance!(2014).!!The!genes!in!question!are!for!the!
enzymes!N'Melthyltransferases,!which!construct!caffeine.!!Coffee’s!DNA!includes!many!
copies!of!these!genes,!as!does!the!DNA!of!chocolate!and!tea.!!This!study!also!revealed!many!
other!genetic!similarities!between!coffee!and!tea.!!New!techniques!in!molecular!biology!and!
genomics!made!this!possible.!!But!the!way!that!these!copies!were!made!appears!quite!
different!(Denoeud!et!al!2014).!!Rather!than!one!great!grandparent!of!all!three!plants!
developing!caffeine!and!then!giving!rise!to!a!diverse!group!of!caffeine'producing!
grandchildren,!it!seems!that!the!grandparents!of!coffee!stumbled!upon!this!compound!
independently!of!the!ancestors!of!chocolate!and!tea.!!This!discovery!highlights!the!
importance!of!caffeine!to!the!chemical!defense!of!plants,!since!it!evolved!multiple!times!in!
the!history!of!plants.!!!

Revision plan:

Now that you have a good idea of what makes a paragraph work, get out your own
paragraph draft for your Scientific Paper Distillation and Translation project. Can you
identify the key elements in your own work? What can you do to make this paragraph
stronger? Are there extraneous thoughts that you should remove?

! 48!
Peer Review (How to Give Feedback)

Goals:
1. Practice giving constructive feedback

Very few writers (or communicators of any kind) work in isolation. Journalists
receive extensive feedback from editors, creative writers workshop with peers, and
scientists seek comments from colleagues and lab-mates. When I submitted my last
manuscript for publication in a scientific journal, it had been through six revisions
and had been read by five different people.

Because peer feedback is so important for writers, we will take this task very seriously
in this class. This is not just because it is useful for the writers receiving the feedback.
One study on the benefits of peer review separated classes into two groups. One
group only received feedback on their writing and the other only gave feedback on the
writing of others. At the end of the course, those giving feedback actually improved
the most in their writing (Lundstrom and Baker 2009).

References:
Lundstrom, K., & Baker, W. 2009. To give is better than to receive: The benefits of
peer review to the reviewer's own writing. Journal of Second Language
Writing, 18(1), 30-43.

Today, you will practice giving feedback on an example essay. You will compare notes
with your group and then we will discuss as a class what kind of feedback we might give
the author of the practice essay.

Things to think about when giving feedback

1. Point out successful parts of the work so that the writer can use those sections as
models
2. Be specific about what is problematic
3. Make your feedback constructive

Your goal is to help the writer improve their draft. The term constructive relates to
construction, or building up. You can point out problems with their construction, small
holes or gaps, sections that need to be torn down and restarted, and even issues with the
very foundation of their essay. BUT the goal must be to help them rebuild. If you come
in with a demolition crew and flatten their project without giving any help on how to
move forward, your feedback is not constructive, it is destructive. You will definitely be
asked to give feedback to peers in the future in school and in your career, so work on
this skill!

! 49!
Practice Essay:

A Search for Equality

Anne Roiphe's "Confessions of a Female Chauvinist Sow" first appeared in the
magazine New York in 1972. In this essay Roiphe aims to convince her readers that women
must put faith in the idea that they are equal to men, not superior. "Women who want
equality must be prepared to give it and believe in it . . . ." Personal anecdotes, contrast,
and comparison are techniques Roiphe skillfully uses to create a strong, convincing essay.

Roiphe begins her essay with a personal anecdote describing the "horrifying" realization
that she married a man exactly like her father. This technique immediately establishes the
essay as informal and personal. It is a great way to capture the reader's interest. Also, this
particular anecdote is used as background information for the first point Roiphe makes in
the following paragraph—that ". . . people . . . have at one time or another been fouled up
by their childhood experiences." Another anecdote in the essay explains how Roiphe's
mother used to give Roiphe "mad money" before going on dates. "My mother and I knew
young men were apt to drink too much . . ." and "mad money was for getting home on your
own, no matter what form of insanity your date happened to evidence." Anecdotes such as
this are entertaining and tend to lighten the mood of the essay. Also, it is quite easy for
readers to relate to personal experience. Another function of anecdotes in this essay is to
substantiate and support main ideas. At the end of one paragraph Roiphe states, "The
hidden anti-male feelings, a result of the old system, will foul us up if they are allowed to
persist." This is directly followed by the anecdote explaining the necessity for "mad
money"—that men are untrustworthy, inconsiderate beasts. The anecdote clearly provides
evidence and support for the fact that women have anti-male feelings.

Shortly after capturing the reader's interest with the introductory anecdote, Roiphe begins
using contrast. The numerous examples of contrast throughout the essay portray men and
women as being drastically different, especially morally. Boys are thought to be incapable
of engaging in ". . . easy companionship . . ." as girls are able to do, and men are generally
believed to be ". . . less moral . . ." than women. "Everyone assumes a mother will not let
her child starve, yet it is necessary to legislate that a father must not do so." Roiphe uses
contrast to illustrate the common anti-male attitudes women have, and in doing so, makes
it obvious that women feel superior to men. This exactly, Roiphe points out, is the barrier
to equality between men and women. It is clear to the reader that equality between the
sexes will never exist as long as women continue to feel superior to men. The contrasts
also function to support points Roiphe makes later concerning the similarities between
men and women.

! 50!
About midway through the essay, Roiphe makes a transition from contrast to comparison.
She begins focusing on the idea that women are actually quite similar to men. She bluntly
states, "Intellectually I know that's ridiculous . . ." to assume ". . . that women given power
would not create wars." She admits, "Aggression is not . . . a male-sex-linked characteristic
. . . ." Comparisons such as these smoothly lead Roiphe into making one of her strongest
comparisons—that ". . . us laughing at them, us feeling superior to them, us ridiculing
them behind their backs . . ." is ". . . inescapably female chauvinist sowness." These
comparisons, particularly the last one, are shocking and cause the reader to reflect on
previous ideas in the essay. Roiphe's statement, ". . . what they have done to us, and of
course they have, and they did and they are . . .," momentarily makes readers believe that
men are mainly to blame for the inequality between the sexes. However, through effective
comparison Roiphe leads her readers to logically infer that women must also be
responsible for the inequality between men and women. It then becomes clear to the
reader that the ". . . secret sense of superiority . . ." women feel is what makes them
equally as chauvinistic as men.

More important than the functions of the techniques she uses independently is how Roiphe
uses them together. For example, had she bluntly stated early in her essay that women are
"female chauvinist sows," without preceding it with contrast, a quite different effect would
have been created. Her readers, particularly the women, would have undoubtedly been
offended. This approach would certainly have prevented the essay from being convincing.
It is obvious that Roiphe purposely used the techniques in a planned way. This allowed her
to create a specifically designed essay that was beneficial in helping her present her ideas.

Works Cited
Roiphe, Anne. "Confessions of a Female Chauvinist Sow." Patterns of Exposition 9. Ed.
Randall E. Decker. Boston: Little, Brown, 1982. 85-90.

submitted by Sarah Norby

Sample Essay Peer-review Questions

! After reading the sample essay, write your responses to the following questions.
Responses should be two to six sentences. Try to make your responses specific and
useful. The goal is to help the author make the essay better.

1. What is the main idea of the essay? Are there parts of the thesis that need
clarification?

! 51!
 2. What is successful about the overall structure or order of the essay?

3. What is confusing or difficult about the overall structure or order of the essay?

4. Where are a few places that there is good flow between topics or ideas? Why?

5. Where are a few places that the connection between topics could be stronger?
Why?

! 52!
 6. Evaluate how well the introduction prepares the reader for the rest of the essay.

! In addition to these specific questions, what else would improve this draft?

After you answer these questions for yourself, break into groups of 3-4 and discuss your
answers. Did someone else word their feedback in way that was more specific or clear
for the writer?

Select one comment from your group that you think is the best example of useful,
constructive, and specific feedback for the author of this essay and be prepared to share
this comment with the class.

! 53!
Your Guide to the Citation Style in Your Field

Goals:
1. Create a personalized guide for future citations

In this section, you will identify the citation style used most in your particular field of
study. This will be the style that you use in this class and will hopefully be a useful
reference for you in the future.

There are a couple of ways to identify the most appropriate citation style. The first way
is just by doing a Google search for “citation style” and your field. This website from
American University lists many styles and has links to resources for each style:

http://subjectguides.library.american.edu/c.php?g=175008&p=1154144!

You can also get an idea of the citation styles used in your field by checking out the
reference sections of the primary literature that you are reading for your project. Keep
in mind that many individual journals have their own particular style, with specific
requirements for citations. But generally most journals within a specific field will use
similar styles.

Once you have identified the most appropriate citation style for your field, fill out the
guide below. Here is an example of how to complete this for MLA style (which you may
have used in English classes before but will never use in science):

Example:
Field: Literature

Name of citation style: MLA (Modern Language Association)

Generic citation in this style:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium

of publication.

Example citation in this style:

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71.

Print.

! 54!
 Diagram:

! YOUR CITATION STYLE:

Field:

Name of citation style:

Generic citation in this style:

Example citation in this style:

! 55!
Diagram:

! 56!
Sources for Deliberative Project
Goals:
1. Become confident using your citation style and finding all of the necessary
information

2. Practice extracting the main ideas from sources

3. Critically evaluate your sources

4. Make a plan for how to use your sources for your project

Due: 8am, Thursday, March 3

In preparation for writing your deliberative essay and creating your presentation, you
have already begun researching your topic and collecting sources. This section of the
book is a place to record the correct citations for those sources and to evaluate how
those sources contribute to the overall conversation on your topic. You will also think
critically about how you will use each source for your project. You will not have to use
all of these sources in your actual project. And you will likely need to find more as you
continue to do research and to develop your viewpoint. But this experience should help
you plan your essay.

At least 3 of your 5 sources must be primary literature, ideally from a peer-reviewed

journal. The other 2 sources can be from anywhere, but should have passed your
evaluation in terms of reliability and credibility (ex. CRAP test).

! For each source, fill out the form and answer Questions 1 & 2 below with 3-5
sentences.

1. How does this source contribute to your understanding of this issue or topic?

2. How does your understanding of the author’s purpose and use of rhetorical
techniques influence your opinion of the viewpoints put forth and how you might use
this source for your project?

Citation Style:

Source 1
Citation:

! 57!
Main ideas:

Q1.

Q2.

Source 2
Citation:

Main ideas:

! 58!
Q1.

Q2.

Source 3
Citation:

Main ideas:

Q1.

! 59!
Q2.

Source 4
Citation:

Main ideas:

Q1.

! 60!
Q2.

Source 5
Citation:

Main ideas:

Q1.

Q2.

! 61!
! 62!
Combining Images and Speech Part 1: Nano-
presentations Exercise

Goals:
1. Practice selecting images to accompany speech

2. Explore making your own images

This exercise is designed to help you practice choosing images that support an idea or
argument. One main idea to think about is complementation versus redundancy.
Sometimes, you may want to pair an image with speech that conveys the same
meaning (redundancy). This could be useful when you want to really drive home a
point. But often you will want to choose images that convey a complementary, rather
than repetitive, message to your speech. Images (or videos, or audio tracks) can
convey some ideas or arguments better than speech or introduce nuance to your
argument.

Work with a partner

Choose a scientific idea or principle that you can explain quickly.

You are going to create a “presentation” that is 60 seconds or less. Your goal is to
convey the idea that you have chosen.

You will use speech as well as images. You must create all of the images that you use.
This might include photos taken with a smartphone or drawings on the board (or a
drawing done on the computer or on a piece of paper and then photographed with a
phone). You cannot use written text on your slides or the chalkboard (unless the text is
part of the images).

Take 10 minutes to make a plan. Answer the following questions:

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! What scientific idea or principle will you communicate?!
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! How will you convey this idea with speech? (Write a few lines that you might say)!
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work well and name them or draw sketches)!
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appropriate? (Remember that you can have periods without images)!
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! How many images are appropriate for this length of presentation?!
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! Will you have images that you interact with? Images that you don’t interact with?

Take 20 minutes to create images. Feel free to go outside of the classroom if you want to
take photographs.

Take 15 minutes to compile your presentations. If you want to create slides, use
PowerPoint to keep it simple. For the sake of this exercise, do not use any text on your
slides. Practice what you will say and when you will switch between images (if at all).
Both group members should speak.

Let me know if you would like technical help for this process. See the instructions below
for how to draw directly on PowerPoint slides.
!
Save your presentations as .ppt files. Submit them to the dropbox: In-class exercise:
Nano-presentations (the time of your class)

I will download all of the files and then each group will present for up to 60 seconds.

While watching the presentations, think about the kinds of images that the presenters
chose. When are they complementary? When are they redundant? How many images
are used and when do transitions happen? Do the presenters interact with their images?
Why or why not?

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! Take some notes here in response to each of these questions. You will refer to
these notes when we discuss this in class next week

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Drawing!in!Powerpoint!
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You!can!draw!simple!images!directly!in!PowerPoint.!!While!these!drawings!may!not!be!
artistic!masterpieces,!often!a!simple!image!can!very!effectively!convey!an!idea.!!And!it!may!
actually!take!you!less!time!than!searching!for!the!perfect!image!online,!because!you!can!
create!exactly!what!you!want.!!Give!it!a!try!!
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For!Mac!Office!2011:!
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Open!Powerpoint!
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Select!the!Home!tab!
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Then,!under!the!Insert!section,!select!Shape!
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From!the!dropdown!menu,!choose!Lines!and!Connectors!
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From!that!pop!out!menu,!choose!the!“Scribble”!image!in!the!bottom!right!corner!
!

Your cursor should now be a drawing implement. If you click and drag the cursor you can draw
free form.

For Windows Office 2013:

Select the Home tab at the top

On the right side, there will be a box of drawing shape icons

! 67!
Choose the “Scribble” icon in the bottom left corner

Your cursor should now be a drawing implement. If you click and drag the cursor you can draw
free form.

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Combining Images and Speech Part 2: Using
Visual Evidence

Goals:
1. Practice explaining visual evidence, particularly graphs

✪ Pre-Homework:
For today’s exercise, come prepared to build a slide with a graph from one of your
primary sources. Be able to access the graph with your own or a laptop-cart computer.
Ideally, you will choose a graph that you will use in your deliberative project
presentation. We will have time in class to put the slide together and for you to think
about how to explain it. Then, you will share it with your group and get feedback.

You have now seen how easy it can be to create your own visuals to complement your
spoken arguments. When giving presentations, scientists often refer to research done
by other scientists. They do this to set the stage for their own arguments. For your
deliberative projects, you will be using research to introduce your topic and to
strengthen your argument.

There are several ways to use evidence. In your essay, you might reference a statistic
or findings from a study. In a presentation, you should take the opportunity to
represent findings visually, which is much more impactful for your audience. One of
the easiest ways to do this is to use graphs from the primary literature. Most
scientists also understand the power of visual representation and so include graphs to
illustrate their main findings.

Select graphs that include the data that is important to illustrating your points. If you
have multiple choices, choose the graph that is the easiest to interpret. Often, this
means one that is simple and well-made. Just as not all scientists are good writers,
not all scientists make good graphs.

Make sure that you size your graphs so that your audience can easily read them. This
may mean taking up a whole slide with one graph. Think about whether someone
sitting in the back of the classroom will be able to read the numbers and axis labels.
In the future, you may also want to consider color choices. It is always a good idea to
be aware of the potential for an audience member to be red-green colorblind. There
are ways, using Adobe Illustrator, to import graphs and change colors. That is a
pretty advanced technique, however, so don’t worry about it for this class.

You will learn how to include the correct citations for your graphs in 2 weeks.

! 69!
 Explaining a graph, particularly a complicated one, can be challenging. But if you
don’t provide enough information, or enough time for your viewers to digest the
graphs, they will serve only to confuse rather than to inform your audience.

So today you will practice explaining your graph to a small group.

Tips for effectively explaining graphs:

1. Orient your audience to the study (who did the research, what was it generally
about, and when)
2. Orient your audience to the nature of the data (what kind of data is
represented on this graph? Would it be helpful for your audience to know
more about the specific experiment or study that led to these results? If so, tell
them briefly.)
3. Explain your axis labels
4. Point out the data points, trends, groups, or whatever it is on the graph that
supports your argument
5. Give your viewers time to see and read the axes and to appreciate the trends
that you point out

Break up into groups of 3-4 and take turns explaining your graphs to each other. You
can just show the graph on your computer screen to the group. But think about
interacting with the screen as you would if you were presenting up in front of the class.
Because you aren’t giving a whole presentation, the argument that you are making might
seem out of context. Feel free to give your viewers a little background information on
your project before launching in to the graph.

Reviewers
! Be sure to ask questions and let the presenters know when you are confused. Did
they move too fast through something? Do you not understand the nature of the data or
the particular trend that they were trying to point out? Take notes below for each
presenter related to the tips given above.

Presenter 1

1.

2.

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 3.

4.

5.

Presenter 2

1.

2.

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4.

5.

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Presenter 3

1.

2.

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4.

5.

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Feedback
! Take notes here on things that you could improve, or things that you did well and
want to remember to keep doing for your full presentation!

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Flow

Goals:
1. Improve your ability to transition between ideas

2. Make it easier for your reader to follow your logic

Creating flow between ideas (both within and between paragraphs) is one of the
toughest writing challenges. When transitions are done successfully, the reader
doesn’t notice the shift from one topic to another. All ideas have connections
between them, and these connections can be used to create links that feel smooth and
natural. Sometimes this takes a series of links, like stepping-stones between two
stream banks, depending on how far apart the topics may seem.

Working to create smooth, logical transitions is a great way to make your writing
seem much more sophisticated. And, perhaps more importantly, good transitions
make it much easier for your reader to follow your logic. You can’t accomplish your
purpose if you leave your reader behind at the first stream crossing.

!
✪ !Read before class:
From Joshua Schimel’s book Writing Science – on D2L
Chapter 12 – Sentences –through section 12.2
Chatper 13 – Flow

We will do some exercises in class to practice the techniques that he explains.

Flow between sentences

Creating flow within paragraphs is generally easier than between, so we’ll start there. If
you have successfully focused your paragraph on one main idea, then all of the
sentences in that paragraph should support that idea. So it shouldn’t be too hard to find
the link between the smaller ideas put forth in your sentences.

Two things to focus on are:

1. The order of your sentences
2. The structure of your sentences

The order in which you present your ideas is crucial to your ability to transition between
those ideas.

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! Rework the following sentences to create better flow. Remember to think about
both the order of the sentences within the paragraph and the structure of the sentences
themselves.

Example:
The evolution of science often parallels the invention of instruments that extend
human sense to new limits. The microscopes first used by Renaissance scientists, as
well as the microscopes you are likely to use in the laboratory, are all light microscopes.
The discovery and early study of cells progressed with the invention and improvement
of microscopes in the 17th century. Glass lenses have visible light pass through after
passing through the specimen. The lenses refract the light in such a way that the image
of the specimen is magnified as it is projected into the eye, onto photograph film, or
onto a video screen.

Your revised version with better flow:

*hint: first change the order of the sentences, then restructure the ones that need
revision.
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Example adapted from: Campbell, N. A., & Reece, J. B. 2002. Biology. 6th.

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Transitions between paragraphs

Transitioning between paragraphs can be a little more challenging, but can be

accomplished with the same general technique. Instead of thinking about the topic and
stress of your sentences, think about the topic and stress of paragraphs and link them.

A successful example:
Read the excerpt from Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. As you read, think
about how Diamond transitions between paragraphs. We will discuss his approach
together in class before moving on.

Read and evaluate:

Read the excerpt from the book The Red Queen by Matt Ridley.

! Afterwards, annotate the excerpt with:

• The main idea of each paragraph
• How does the transition work between each pair of paragraphs?
• The overall distance traveled in each paragraph

Apply your skills (read and revise):

Read the paragraphs below.

Tradeoffs of an Active Lifestyle

The University of Colorado is located in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. Boulder, a city of

roughly 100,000 people, is situated on the edge of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Because of this prime location, Boulder provides easy access to world-class destinations
for mountain sports like rock climbing and skiing as well as some of the most popular
routes for road biking in the country. Many of these destinations can be easily accessed
by bike or bus from the University of Boulder campus, where many students live.
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Skiing and biking are enjoyed by a large percentage of the student population at the
university. The people of boulder are consistently recognized as some of the fittest in
the country and the university students are no exception. They take advantage of the
newly renovated recreation center on campus, as well as the natural mountain

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playground, to maintain a healthy active lifestyle. Fitness is such a priority on campus
that, during a recent snowstorm, the library closed down before the gym.
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Focusing on school can be difficult in a place that has such natural beauty and such an
active lifestyle. Completion times for graduate programs at the university are
sometimes longer than at other institutions. This extended stay in Boulder may be a
result of a tradeoff between time spent on outdoor pursuits and time spent in the lab.

! Afterwards, write down:

• The main idea of each paragraph

! Revise the paragraphs to make the transitions smoother.

Compare your revisions with a partner.

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Citing Images in Presentations

Goals:
1. Learn the appropriate way to cite images in presentations

2. Explore a few ways to find images that anyone is allowed to use

and that are easy to cite

For your upcoming presentations, you will be combining speech with images to help
you accomplish your goal. I hope that the exercises that we have done so far have
given you some ideas about ways that you can create your own images. But it is also
very common for scientists to use the wealth of images available on the internet. And
for your presentation, you can also make use of images created by other people.

It is important to remember, however, that these images were all created by someone.
And just as it is crucial to acknowledge the sources that you rely upon for your essays,
you must acknowledge the creators of the images that you use in presentations. And
before that, you must determine if you have permission to use those images at all.

Today in class, you will create one slide (in whatever presentation creation software you
choose) with images pulled from the internet. You will practice finding sources that you
have permission to use, determining the creator, date, title, and other necessary
information for a citation, and appropriately citing the image on the slide. If you are not
planning to use slides for your presentation, create a mock slide today to practice these
skills for the future.

Searching for images

Google Image Search
You are likely familiar with Google Image Search. To use it, open up Google
(www.google.com) and search for something that would be useful for your slide. On the
results page, just beneath the search box, you will see several tabs. Select “Images” and
google will provide you with only image results for your search. Google is a very
powerful search engine and will likely provide you with a lot of results. When it comes
to figuring out if you have permission to use an image or how to cite an image, however,
things get tricky.

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Click on one of your results and go to the webpage that contains the image. Is there a
photographer name attached to the image? Does it state, either next to the photo or at
the bottom of the page, what the copyright status and permissions are associated with
this image? If it does, you’re in luck. But most likely it won’t. This is because many
images used in articles and on websites are stock photos. They were purchased from the
photographer without the requirement of giving credit. The website paid for the image,
but you didn’t. So you don’t have permission to use it. Another problem is that many
images online become disconnected from their original source. If a photographer puts
up a photo, another person, like a blogger for example, might come along, download it,
and repost it on their own website without citation. Technically this is pirating. When
you find it on their blog, you have no idea where it originally came from.

If you really want to use an image like this, you can try a reverse image search:

Back in your Google image search, find the camera icon in the search box, on the right
side.

Click it and choose one of three ways to search by the image:

1. Drag the picture file from your computer into the box
2. Paste a URL for the image
3. Choose where on your computer to upload the file from

In the results, scroll down to the section titled “Pages that include matching images.”
This list of websites will likely include several that have used the same stock or pirated
image. But if you’re lucky, it might also include the original source.

A better way to search! And how to figure out permissions

I included the Google Image Search section because it is commonly used. But there is a
way to find images that I find much easier. There are several websites that allow you to
search only images from creators that have given permission for the public to use their
images. These sites generally also make it very easy to find the information necessary to
appropriately cite the creator.

Here are a few that I like:

• Johns Hopkins Libraries: http://www.cer.jhu.edu/mediaresources.html
• Wellcome Images: (they do sell some images but also have many free historical
images) http://wellcomeimages.org
• Creative Commons: http://www.search.creativecommons.org
• Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
•
The last two are the most generally useful so I’ll take you through how to use those.

Creative Commons

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According to their website: “Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables
the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools.” Basically, they
provide free licenses that people can use to control how they share their content online.
So if you create a masterpiece cat video and want people to be able to share it on their
websites, but always want to be attributed (to have your name next to it so that everyone
knows that it is your work), you can do that. Creators can decide if other people are
allowed to change their work in any way or to make a profit off of it.

Go to creativecommons.org
In the top menu bar, select “Licenses” and select the first option from the dropdown
menu “About the Licenses”

There is a lot of good information here if you’re ever interested in sharing your own
creations online. For today’s purposes, scroll down until the header “The Licenses” and
read about the different kinds of licenses available and what they mean to you as a user
of the content licensed in those ways.

Here are those licenses for future reference:

Excerpted from Creative Commons by Foter.com (CC BY SA)

You can also use the Creative Commons website to search for images that have a
particular license. To do so, go to search.creativecommons.org. On the site, you can

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check the boxes to search for things that you can adapt or even use commercially. When
searching for this class, you will probably want to uncheck the commercial use box to
broaden your results. You can also choose where to search including sites like Flickr or
YouTube.

Wikimedia Commons
Another great way to search for images is through Wikimedia Commons.
Open up Wikimedia and it looks much like the popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Type something into the search box in the top right corner and search.
The results page also looks much like Wikipedia, with a clickable table of contents. But
instead of words, the results are all images.
Click on one of the images and it will be brought up in a media-viewer type window.
Click the blue button titled “More details” to see all of the information regarding the size
of the file, the copyright permission details, and the information that you will need to
cite the image.
To make it even easier, go back to the viewer page and click the download icon in the
bottom right corner.

A box will pop up allowing you to choose the size of your download. At the bottom of
this box, it will say if you need to attribute the author.

Click that message and Wikimedia actually creates a citation for you that you can copy
and paste. But be careful! Just like with citation manager software, this citation is
made by a machine and so is not always reliable either in formatting or content. You
should always look it over and see if anything seems off. Remember that you can go to
the “More details” page and get all of the information for yourself.

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Notice that there is a Creative Commons license code in the bottom right hand corner of
the screen. Most images available through Wikimedia are licensed using Creative
Commons.

Now that you’ve found your images, and you know that you have permission to use
them, how do you actually correctly attribute the creator?

Attributing (citing) images

The infographic on the next page explains the information that you must collect for each
image you use.

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! 83!
Excerpted from Creative Commons by Foter.com (CC BY SA)

Some of this information might not always be available. The title of a photograph, for
example, is not always listed. This information will be especially hard to find for images
that you get through Google Image Search. But do your best to get the Author, Title,
License type, and any Copyright notices.

This infographic was created for bloggers, so it shows where to place attribution in a
blog post. It also suggests embedding a hyperlink into the title and license, which would
be useful in a blog post. But what about for a slide presentation?

Formatting
For presentations, the best practice is to attribute any images on the slide on which they
appear. This may seem cumbersome but it ensures that your audience can identify the
creator of all of your images. If you are giving a live presentation, you do not need to
hyperlink to the original source, as that won’t be useful for your audience. If you are
posting slides online, however, you should include links. The best place for an image
citation is generally at the bottom right hand corner of the slide. But if you find it more
aesthetically pleasing, you can place it anywhere. Just make sure that it is clear which
image belongs with which attribution.

Here is an example created by a photographer:

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This example would be appropriate for slides posted online. If you were actually
presenting this slide to a live audience, you could leave off the URL.
Notice the size of the citation font. Your audience MUST be able to read the citation;
otherwise it is useless!

Also notice that the order of this citation is slightly different from the one from the
infographic. Because this is a newer issue than citing written work, the standards are
still being developed. The essential information, however, is the same. So pick the style
that you like and BE CONSISTENT between your slides.

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Writing Conclusions
Goals:
1. Identify common conclusion problems as well as strengths to
apply to writing your own conclusions

The conclusion of an essay is the last thing that your audience reads and so strongly
influences what they take away from your writing. Just like the end of a sentence or a
paragraph is a stress point, the end of your essay is a powerful position to make an
impact on your reader. Most students know that they should bring together the main
points of the essay. But it can be difficult to avoid simply listing the main ideas. Use
the exercise below to practice identifying strengths and weaknesses in conclusions.

Conclusion exercise
You are grading essays about staffing shortages in the hotel industry. It is a fairly short
essay. Imagine that it is a whole essay rather than just an introduction, outline of body
paragraphs, and conclusion. Read the introduction and outline to orient yourself to the
topic (you don’t need to evaluate these sections). Then evaluate the possible
conclusions.

Introduction

During a time of recession and high unemployment it seems hard to believe that,
"two million new recruits will be needed by the hotel and catering industry in the
next three years to counter skill shortages and staff losses" (Afiya 1992).
However, this is one of the main staffing problems facing the industry today.
Reasons contributing to this problem include the "substantial growth in the
demand for staff as the industry comes out of recession" (Afiya 1992), the
poor image of the industry, low pay, long and antisocial hours and
inadequate training.

Body Paragraphs

I. Industry growth
a. Recent resurgence in business
b. Stats on # of new jobs

II. Low wages

a. Stats on average wage
b. What this means for workers with families

III. Difficult working hours

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 a. Due to the nature of the industry
b. Hotels staff hours statistics
c. How to combat

IV. Lack of training

a. Average level of training for new staff
b. Ideas for training plans

Conclusion 1
The results of the study have been positive. Staff turnover has been reduced by a
third. Two thirds of our people have worked with us for over two years, 40% for
over four years. Profit margins have increased by 17% this shows how that by
looking at staff problems and investing money and time in motivating your staff
you are able to reap the benefits which are good moral amongst staff members,
who obtain a high level of job satisfaction which intern benefits the customer
and finally the company financially.

2
There is no denying that there are staffing problems within the hotel and catering
industry and it would not be true to say that these problems are easily overcome,
especially if the industry does not have the finance it needs to solve the problems.
The main pressure for staffing problems are lack of money which links up with bad
management and lack of training. Bad management can create many more
problems such as lack of motivation, low morale and conflicts in the workplace. In
any industry lack of finance is the beginning of a vicious circle because if there is a
lack of finance then this means that the industry has to cut back on certain areas,
such as training the workforce which in itself can cause all sorts of major and minor
problems. However, good management is essential to running an efficient
workforce because of the human relation skills the manager would have and pass
onto his workforce. Good management and training are the two most essential
ingredients for overcoming staffing problems.

3
The reasons for staffing problems within the hotel and catering industry are
varied, but ultimately it is up to the industry to make itself a more attractive
employer. A combination of approaches establishing adequate training and
improving working conditions will be necessary, but they represent no quick
answer, and the labor supply issue will remain a crucial challenge for the
industry for the foreseeable future.

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4
Overall, I feel that the hotel and catering industry is probably one of the best industries
available and offers good prospects for the future. The pay may not be as good as others,
but it is certainly worthwhile.

5
The hotel industry is growing and now facing many staffing problems. These problems
include low pay, terrible hours, and the lack of a trained workforce. Wages are lower in
this industry than many others. Many hotel jobs require staff to work overnight and
long shifts, which are difficult for many people. And most people do not have the
opportunity to receive training to be prepared for these types of positions.

For each conclusion, identify the strengths and weaknesses.

Think about these criteria:
Conclusion:
___ Returns to the main idea of the essay
___ Introduces a new level of understanding
___ Takes one step out from the discussion (by relating to the bigger picture, giving
suggestions, discussing implications, or some other strategy)

! Work with a partner to determine what grade you would give each conclusion and
why.

Conclusion 1

Grade:

Rationale:

Conclusion 2

Grade:

Rationale:

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Conclusion 3

Grade:

Rationale:

Conclusion 4

Grade:

Rationale:

Conclusion 5

Grade:

Rationale:

! 89!
Peer Review for Deliberative Essay Drafts
Answer these questions for both of your group members

Instructions for using Track Changes in Microsoft Word (THIS WILL NOT
WORK FOR ALL VERSIONS)
Open your classmate’s draft in Microsoft Word. Click on the “Review” tab at the top of
your screen and click the Tracking button from “off” to “on.” From now on, your edits
will be “tracked,” which will enable the author to see your changes. You can also add
comments by clicking your cursor on where you want to add a comment and clicking the
button under “Comments” that looks like a piece of paper with a green plus sign.

Edit and make comments as you see fit. In addition, make sure to address the following
questions at the end of your classmate’s paper.

Save your changes as a new document by using “Save As” and renaming it as: “Original
Document Name_Your name.docx” Then, email that document (along with your
responses to the questions below) to the author. Also, turn that document in on D2L.

When reading the draft, try to imagine how the target audience would respond. This
will allow you to be the most helpful for the author.

1. Introduction: How successful is the author at inviting the reader in to

the essay and topic in a way that is appropriate for the target
audience? What suggestions could be made to improve this?

2. Introduction: How successful is the author in including the right

amount of background information to orient the reader? Is it too
much or too little?

3. What is the main argument/viewpoint (or thesis)? What stand is

being taken? Indicate if either of these things are unclear.

4. Do the body paragraphs each put forth one main idea? Identify
paragraphs that lack clear focus or have multiple main ideas.

5. Which paragraph did you find the most convincing and why? (Think
about clear explanations, strength of evidence, relation to the overall
idea)

6. Which paragraph did you find the least convincing or the most
problematic and why? How would you improve it?

7. Does successful is the author in providing multiple perspectives (with

evidence) in a way that satisfies you that they are deliberating on the

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 issue and have a good understanding of multiple sides of the issue,
not just one? How might they better accomplish this? What
viewpoints or issues should be developed more?

8. Flow: Identify places where the author could improve the flow
between ideas.

9. Conclusion: Does the author return to the main idea without simply
reiterating? What suggestions do you have for a stronger conclusion?

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Plan for Revision of Deliberative Essay
For our last conference, I won’t be able to read a full draft of your deliberative essay.
But I can read one section of your choosing. Please submit your current drafts on D2L
and highlight the section that you would like me to read by 8am, Wednesday, April 20.

I would also like you to come prepared to talk about your plan for revising your essay.
To prepare, answer the following questions:

Reflections from Peer review

! What were the main issues brought up by your reviewers?

! What were some comments from reviewers that you agreed with?

! What were some comments from reviewers that you disagreed with or
didn’t understand?

Personal reflections
! What do you feel is the weakest part of your essay?

! What would you most like to improve about your essay?

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Plan
! How do you plan to tackle these revisions? Please list, in the order that you will
undertake them, the revisions that you plan to do.

1.

2.

3.

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Transferring Strengths Between Modes
In school, we often focus on written communication. But some people that struggle
with writing might have more talent for communicating through visual art or
speaking. In the same vein, some very skilled writers struggle to capture an audience
when giving presentations. But these different modes of communication have much
in common. We will discuss this further during our conference.

! Before our conference, think about one form of communication that you are the
most comfortable with.

Communication form:

What strengths do you have when communicating in this way?

Try to brainstorm, below, at least one idea of how you can use this strength to
communicate in another medium.

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