Being in the library, we might as well use it

We need to discuss the meeting calendar: next week, 10-27, I need to be in St. Paul during class time while you guys will use the day for interviewing and the posting of interviews, as well as reviewing all other interviews from classmates.

today: After a brief class discussion...

1. Organize into in groups of 4: women and men, culturally diverse; here.
1.1 Each member creates a post "Library Research Assistance" for their own part of the task and all other group elements prepared today.
1.2 Group members look at their web-site and divide the tasks for presentation. Develop one presentation per group and make sure to copy that entire presentation to every group member's blog later.
1.3 By the end of today, we want to have facilitated research of any topics enabling you to better research about countries and cultures of your interviewees, including reporting of the process and interview content. Remember to cite your sources!
1.4 Besides using the on-line info, you have to find at least two books in the library that relate directly to your topic. Check the book out and show it during your presentation. Explain why you brought it to class. Be sure to write the bibliographical information from those two books into your blog post. "Today, we also introduced the books ... because ..."
Format: pick either MLA, APA, Chicago.

2, Be prepared to present your topic in class today, beginning at 19:30.

Objective: Select examples from the web-resources found and relate how they can be used and what they can deliver. In case of "Citation Styles" you may want to pick two and introduce them explaining their purpose, and where they are required and expected.

2. Open to the Research Assistance in the Library menu

Group 1 prepares for presentation "Research Basics"

Group 2 prepares for presentation "Subject Guides"

Group 3 prepares for presentation "Course Guides"

Group 4 prepares for presentation "RefWorks" (must create a new id to use)

Group 5 prepares for presentation "Citation Styles"

Group 6 prepares for presentation "Reference Sources"

Each member of the group needs to study and prepare one aspect of the topic. Assign who will do what. Post the information on each others blogs: each member will link to each post from other group members that pertain to this task. That means that we could access any member's blog and find there all group elements in the new student post "Library Research Assistance- group #____; topic: ___" .
Start: 17:30
Finish 19:30, then review presentation by all groups

PS You may wonder why we would include "Course Guides" here. The list of courses taught may link to our topic, though, as in the example of CMST 212, where the syllabus offers access to topics and resources not only in interpersonal communication, but also intercultural communication. A topic that might interest you... so check all other courses and see what might connect to Global Communications. I would not suggest looking in Electrical Engineering or Biology. But Mass Communications, Speech, Sociology, Foreign Languages, English, and many others, may contain useful information.  

Please be sure to ask these final core questions.

In each interview, please ask:

1. What is your name?

2. Where are you from?

3. Please describe the education system of your country.

4. How has your culture influenced your people/family values?

5. What is the form of government in your country?

6. Tell me one thing that makes you proud of your country?

7. What places /sites would you recommend to tourists?

8. What festivals do you celebrate in your country?

9.. What's the weather like in your hometown?

10. What is a type of sport in your country?

11. What's a traditional food in your country?

12. what do most women do after they get married in your country? (house wife, working?)

back up while in process

October 6 Selecting questions and learning how to interview

Every student has created a list of 20 questions (and categories?) she or he would like to ask of their interviewees. Now we need to boil this down to a core of twelve questions that each of you will be asking. Of course, you can add and modify. These are just the core questions that will make interviews comparable.
I will ask you to organize yourselves into groups and come up with the final questions today. After that, we will sit in a circle and discuss interview techniques. And practice them.

Editable document for interview questions: here

Objectives and questions for the interviews

When writing your questions, please be sure

• not to lead (manipulating the questions; "And how do you like it here in the great US of A", or "You must certainly think..."

• to allow the interviewee to ask questions of you

• to wind down the conversation slowly (you could ask whether your interviewee would like to add thoughts and ideas that you did not ask for, you could invite them to ask you questions, etc.)

• to thank your interviewee for the time and effort invested on your behalf

Each interview will have four components:

1. A country report (1-2 pages) about the country or region that your interviewee calls home

2. A process description: How did you prepare, conduct, record and transcribe the interview?

3. A transcript of the interview (you may adjust words and sentences, make mild editing choices where sentences are incomplete on the tape, etc)

4. A personal review what you thought about that interview, what was new and exciting, or what disappointed you. Here you compare what happened to your objectives, and draw conclusions.

Q&A with respect to interviews:

Q-How many interviews with international students do I have to conduct and record?  

Answer: 3

Q-Do I have to transcribe all three?  

Answer: You may deselect the weakest one and only transcribe the two best interviews.

QWhat do I post if I de-select one interview?  

Answer: You post the country report, the description of the preparation process, your objectives, and the explanation why you chose not to transcribe this interview. Then you post all of that minus the transcript.