Call for papers?

[3rd Herd]

Your server would be filled up with my drafts. It would work ... but eventually I'd have the capability to crash you ... just like I often crash the photogallery here on this site!!  >

I limit the amount of drafts I want depending on grade level. I think the standard is three for most senior secondary and jnr post secondary courses.  But, having said that I have three hard drives in a computer I have to get back up and running as writting my own stuff is not one of my strong skills, finding the information, well that is something else. Which is why I like this idea. There is talk of a music, art, poetry board forming; this could be another aspect along with some education directed lesson plans for the classroom teacher.

edit to add:

Army Vern, just out of curiosity do you have a coloured code system for your post it notes ?

 

[armyvern]

edit to add:
Army Vern, just out of curiosity do you have a coloured code system for your post it notes ?

Colour coded, numbered and with little symbols; hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades; they only make sense to me!!  ;D

You've got email BTW.

 

[3rd Herd]

Army Vern,
Contemplating your earlier posts it seems that you have a system that works well for you. That puts you one step ahead of the bunch and to an extent your system certain has it's own inherent organization. That puts you two steps ahead of the bunch. Those are a couple of the hard parts; Finding/making/discovering a system that works for you and organization. By being organized you save time, which can be used elsewhere. Yes, I am a big fan of color coded post it notes also.

A few other thoughts from the Classroom:

1) If you hit the mental wall particularly with thesis statement development, drop it for awhile. Relax, go for a walk, play with children.

2) Email/contact your teacher/professor prior to the start of the course. Ask what major paper(s) are involved, what are the topic areas. This is hit and miss, some will give you the answers you ask, others will cite unfairness to the rest, my way is if you show enough fore thought to ask, then you will get it. It is kind of hard to do a paper when twenty others want access to the same text. Having an idea of the "required" text and sorting through the wheat and chaff before the others saves you again time. It also gives you time to prepare an argument to go off the list, to something more personally appealling. I also ask for the reading list for the same reasons.

3) Ask to see a variety of marked papers from your teacher/professor. Nothing like knowing what the boss wants and does not want. Again this is not a big deal in the middle school/secondary a good teacher has the examples on the wall. With post secondary you have to ask. And again if the prof has some sort of pedagogical skills they will have a folder of said examples.

4) Focus on improving one area at a time, steady improvement gets good grades. It has the fringe benefit of satisfying the teacher/prof's ego. "Hey, this student is learning", nothing like it in the world to see that light bulb come on. All teachers/profs have discretionary marks built into the course; easy way to change a B- into an A.

5) This one is a bit of long term planning but lump or concentrate your course load. For example your program requirements call for four courses in one area. Here I use China: Political Geography, Physical Geography of China,  Patterns in Chinese Migration, The Role of China As An Emerging Nation. All taught by the same prof in the same semester. One it made keeping the thought process on track easy and it cut back on the amount of notes. With thought this can be spread across disciplines for those of us that are of the opinion a BA consists of double majors. The really perverted ones think a BA consists of a double major with honors(avoid those types).

6) This one is mostly fro those that have done some travelling. But, again with a bit of planning you can quite easily slide your service experience into the course and here again by having some knowledge you are one step up. Used right it can get you good grades with relatively little effort. Used wrong and you and the boss are defiantly be going to have a difference of opinion over your grade.

7) The best way to confirm knowledge is to teach it to someone else. It reinforces what you know and who knows the peer you help in one area, just maybe the expert in your own weakness.

my .02

 

[garb811]

3rd Herd:  This is an excellent point regarding the drafts, like Vern I just have at 'er in my original document and only print at the end (actually, lately I haven't even been printing at all since I've been submitting electronically) and rather than sticky notes, I use bookmarks and "cut and pastes" into a seperate "possible reference" document since I do 99% of my research on-line.  I use the following at work all the time but have never thought to do it for my academic stuff, I'll start now though!  Keep the rest of the pointers coming as well, I wish I had them years ago when I started down this road.

How to do "drafts" electronically:

In Word you can use "Track Changes" (Tools -> Track Changes) as you work through your drafts to keep track of what you have done in order to avoid ending up with 15 different versions of the document on your HD.  This will also bring up the reviewing toolbar where you can see the revision history by hitting the Reviewing Pane button.  This shows the changes, lets you jump to it and stamps it with the date and time the change was made and who made it.  You need to make sure that you have "Track Changes" turned on everytime you are editing your document after the first save though, otherwise it doesn't get tracked.

In Wordperfect you can use "Document Review" to a certain extent (File -> Document -> Review) but I'm not sure how well this actually tracks and retains the changes for the purposes being discussed here.

My computer with Open Office on it is gutted and all over my dining room table at the moment (making my wife VERY happy) but I'm sure it will have something. 

Unfortunately after a brief test there doesn't seem to be much ability to carry this over if you change document formats between Word and Wordperfect.

WARNING:  Word will be storing all of the info from the "Track Changes", not to mention personal info such as your name if you input it during the setup routine, as meta data which you can't see.  Although this may not concern everyone, for some this could be a huge privacy issue, particularly if you're planning on putting your document up here.  Some possible solutions and reading:

How to minimize metadata in Office documents

Office 2003/XP Add-in: Remove Hidden Data

 

[garb811]

6) This one is mostly fro those that have done some travelling. But, again with a bit of planning you can quite easily slide your service experience into the course and here again by having some knowledge you are one step up. Used right it can get you good grades with relatively little effort. Used wrong and you and the boss are defiantly be going to have a difference of opinion over your grade.

You might want to check with your Prof regarding this one.  One course I slid a bit of personal experience in there and the Prof red-lined it with a big, "This is a research paper, not a personal experience paper!!!" following.  As the personal experience was one of the pillars supporting my thesis, things got ugly fast.  I have used it on a later course though, I just made sure I checked with the Prof first.

 

[3rd Herd]

garb811,
You, Vern and I guess a whole bunch others are the experts in the electronic classrooms. I have played around with it a couple times trying differnet approaches. Mostly in regard to what I can use in the classroom and what little boxes I can check off vis via student accomplishments. So your instructions are going to see me do a little playing of my own. What I tossed out was more in the general scope of things, sort of a learned lessons.  Although some of it and more forth coming is from the usual half an hour of "class/course expectations" that you either get to do, or listen to at the start of each class/course, depending on which side of the big desk your are on. Another question on the electronic method is "When you get your work back, how are your errors indicated to you". With paper out comes the red pen(although there is a debate on right now that the red pen is seen as too intimidating, a few institutions will not let you mark in red.)

With regard to setting up a board here. I do not think more than one round of drafts would be needed. Given that we have such a wide audience most of the "trouble" areas would be covered in the first review. Anything else is fine tuning by peer/wife/friend editting for comprehension, spelling, grammar, that sort of thing. Repeated draft submissions to me would indicate someone is looking to "have a paper written". Next, I would think that most of us who use this would have something already fairly complete and are using the site for testing the validity of their paper. If you got real "trouble" you have the option of contacting the person who you think can help the best through PM/email.

From the classroom cont'd.

8) Directed Studies- a great way to pick up a couple of courses especially if you are "travelling". Most post secondary allow for taking of four of these types of courses. Not truly an electronic course but a hybrid of new an old. In a nutshell you find a prof willing to supervise, come up with the criteria, set a time line and off you go. The ones that I have done usually consisted off reading a set number of relevant works, writting a report on each and then a major paper. The direct interaction is usually covered by a couple of one on ones with the prof. And here again depending on the prof you can sometimes piggy back your directed study course into a set course area. An example would be the formal course ie. History of the Soviet Union and a Directed Study course "Soviet Military 1917-1995".

9) Introduction and Conclusion are in my opinion the most important parts of a paper. Quoting, Reginald Roy, "the introduction is your first chance at impressing your audience, the conclusion your last chance at getting a pass". A fair number of students fail to heed this advice. Your introduction is your game plan or plan of attack. Your conclusion is explaining how you just won the game or defeated the enemy. Afterall no one blindly charges up a hill anymore, even in hasty attacks there is a drill.

10) Again like all skills, practice makes perfect. Recce=Research

11) Check with your teacher/ prof, communication is a two way street and polices are institutionally specific or departmental specific.

 

[garb811]

I've had them come back a number of different ways.  Sometimes the paper is printed by the marker and gets mailed back, sometimes they are returned electronically.  The method that I get the most out of is when they come back electronically with the text in question being changed to a different font colour, or highlighted, then a comment being inserted (Insert -> Comment) that explains the problem or, on the very rare occasion on my part, gives praise for something particularly good.  The best part about getting it back electronically is you can actually read the remarks, I swear some of my Poli Sci assessors are actually MDs practicing to write 'scrips.  I understand the issues faced by the marker and the volume of papers they are dealing with, but it makes it hard to improve when you can't even read the criticism being given.

Red pen is too intimidating...yeah...right...  :  We actually had the same issue in the Branch before we went "paperless" with SAMPIS but I stuck with red because the whole point was to make it easy for the person to see the vetting, not to freak them out.  My thought was always if the paper looked like it was bleeding, the writer had bigger problems to worry about than being intimidated by my choice of ink colour.

 

[armyvern]

Mine's out too Cdn Aviator ...

It's in front of the prof being marked now. I'll wait for the outcome!! 

It's back ... marked. Passed it, and with that, the course. Whoooo!!

 

[3rd Herd]

It's back ... marked. Passed it, and with that, the course. Whoooo!!

Congratulations Vern. So when does the next course start. ;D

 

[Disenchantedsailor]

I'm just reading through the thread and came up with one idea, that will probably go down in a ball of flames.

A Call for papers thread if used properly could be a good place for students of the OPME Program (Both Officers and NCM's) to have thier papers proofed, and the benefit is they are all of a military slant. Any thoughts?

 

[garb811]

I don't think it is necessarily a bad idea but one thing people should be careful about, in my opinion at least, is reading another paper of someone taking the same OPME at the same time with the same assignment choice.  Go!!! and I were in the same course on time and I made the mistake of reading his first assignment he put up here for comments.  I hadn't finished mine yet (and those who remember Go!!!'s timelines will realize where that put me on the countdown to deadline curve) and I found it a struggle to keep his arguments from sliding into my paper.  While this isn't necessarily a bad thing a semester or two apart as long as you are not outright plagiarizing, I was pretty sure having two papers with similar arguments showing up on the desk at the same time would bring undue attention to us both.

 

[Disenchantedsailor]

Funny I recall the same type of situation from my Leadership and Ethics Course a couple years ago, a classmate and I proofed each others work, it was difficult trying not to sponge of the others thoughts.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Also particularly if you are going to cite an internet source it is a good idea to copy the internet site article and save as a pdf. on your disc drive. That way if the prof or teacher goes to the site as per your citing remarks and it is down or no longer around you still have a back up. This often happens with government documents and change in administration. A prime example would be Clinton declassifying the "Human Radiation Experiments" and Bush locking them back up. There may be a better why to capture but pdf works for the most part.

A small technical add-on to an outstanding bigger idea being hashed out by greater than my own:  When I'm doing 'net research, I just cut/paste source text and URL to a Word or text document (a US gov't reference librarian I spoke to at a recent OSINT convention says she does the same thing).  If the page doesn't allow me to highlight the text, I save it as an .htm file.  This not only works well in change o' administration situations, but with news web pages that only keep complete articles up for a few days at a time.

 

[3rd Herd]

I don't think it is necessarily a bad idea but one thing people should be careful about, in my opinion at least, is reading another paper of someone taking the same OPME at the same time with the same assignment choice.  Go!!! and I were in the same course on time and I made the mistake of reading his first assignment he put up here for comments.  I hadn't finished mine yet (and those who remember Go!!!'s timelines will realize where that put me on the countdown to deadline curve) and I found it a struggle to keep his arguments from sliding into my paper.  While this isn't necessarily a bad thing a semester or two apart as long as you are not outright plagiarizing, I was pretty sure having two papers with similar arguments showing up on the desk at the same time would bring undue attention to us both.

Go!!! was not/ is not is the only the only one. His advantage was the realization of the resources here on site and to learn how to use them to ensure his ammo pouches were full, and his six was covered. In plain language, his papers had the right content and his arguments were solid, remember it is the details that will kill you. Also, he( and a few smart others) use/d the site to mine for "gems", the little tid bits not normally found. Or a personal recollection which is used to open a killer introduction. In teacher talk, it meant moving from "the student shows the skills expected at this level" a B, to "this student shows insight beyond the average expectations" an A. Here again I talked about this in regard to available resources. You have thirty students all doing a paper on the "Effects of the Battle of Blood River", when marking, a majority of their time with thirty students you will find either five or six main themes or arguments. But, papers are like people we are all individuals Somewhere out there a study is being down on twins with regard to the trends in identical thought procedure. Further, having two people from similar backgrounds and experiences you will again see similar thoughts and arguments. The subtle nuances of a person's work will show the individualism of the work. And remember, myself and Army Vern have gone this route before, when the call is made on plagiarism either through a request to visit, stay a few minutes after class the red flag is already rising. The answers/explanation of this first inquiry well decide how high up the flagpole it reaches.

As to the benefit of all being from a military slant, do a little checking around the site there are a couple of members who have never been in the CF but whose opinions are quite valid and in one respect sometimes drive the military types round the bend. It was quite amusing to watch a site member ask another "with all your knowledge in this sector" how come we have never met. The answer "because I have not served, I just like this field". In conjunction yes you/we all have for the most part military experience but excluding the trade school types(RMC, Royal Roads, St. Jean) there is again a wide variety of academic qualification and expertise. I got a little list of some as if I need some assistance in an area out of my usual lanes of fire, PM outbound. Again maximize your resources and manage your time.

garb811,
thanks for the insight on the critique feedback. Was curious how that was done. An earlier point was the "personal experience" business. I think we were at cross purposes here. My thoughts a little more explained are for example- Urban Geography- "Development of the Modern City" The personal experience comes in from having visited/lived in a number of differnet cities. Having been there you are ready know a fair amount of general knowledge what you do not have is the "academic speak". That is why you take the course and as I stated earlier this requires some planning and organization.

edit: speling/grammar

 

[Disenchantedsailor]

As to the benefit of all being from a military slant, do a little checking around the site their are a couple of members who have never been in the CF but whose opinions are quite valid and in one respect sometimes drive the military types round the bend. It was quite amusing to watch a site member ask another "with all your knowledge in this sector" how come we have never met. The answer "because I have not served, I just like this field". In conjunction yes you/we all have for the most part military experience but excluding the trade school types(RMC, Royal Roads, St. Jean) there is again a wide variety of academic qualification and expertise. I got a little list of some as if I need some assistance in an area out of my usual lanes of fire, PM outbound. Again maximize your resources and manage your time.

Agreed, a very vaulauble point made here. Case in point, my father, an electrician, never having served a day in uniform is a self decreed military historian, the man knows a good deal more about the Canadian Forces and world military history than most of us in uniform,  myself included. The ideas and points of those who do not serve are made less valuable for that reason alone, many have very good points and can introduce a valid argument or counter-argument to a thread.

 

[3rd Herd]

Continuing after our commercial break. Do you not just hate commercials in the middle of a good move ?

Most of what I am attempting through the "From the Classroom" is to put forth some ideas on how we can avoid crashing the site and over loading the server. As Army Vern pointed out she is very good at. If someone should desire maybe a poll should be started to identify the major academic themes/disciplines in which this proposed board would handle. That would give us the idea of a client base and needs. Also included could be the areas by discipline we/you are interested/have experience in/qualified in. I am of the firm belief that it should be papers ready to hand in but at least ten days before due dates. For one the volume could be quite high once word gets out and two, it has to be manageable for those involved. I also think that a sample sub board could be set up and then locked to show what a "perfect" paper is.

From the classroom:

11) Due dates: to my mind due dates are the very last possible day to hand in a completed assignment. There is nothing in the rule book that states you cannot hand in a paper when it is complete. Yes a few will object but most will accept. Reasoning that either it will sit on the desk in box, awaitting the rest or it will get read, marked. From the teacher/prof perspective that is one less you have to deal with when the other less astute students hand theirs in. Again a two edged sword, swinging one way, the teacher/prof is going to have a little more time to give your paper a through read, minor mistakes that would be overlooked, maybe found. In the other direction because your "poop is in a group" and the teacher/prof has a little time your grade may be higher.(Remember discretionary marks)

12) Sources: Evaluating sources is a skill, it is part of the learning process which in turn is part of the essay process. As with writing it takes practice. An example here would be the Guardian UK and the Guardian. One is a (depending on personal taste) a widely respected newspaper the other the voice of the Australian Marxists Party. Another tip is to think outside the box. For example a paper calls for the study of the arms trade involving countries a, b, and c. Up comes Ebsco host and all of a sudden you get a thousand articles or goggle and you get a million articles. However, arms are made by companies, companies advertise, and they do it quite quickly. For one bragging rights and then either to calm stockholders or to attract more. More proof that you are in the "exceeds catagory".

13) Peer help and what does the prof/ teacher want. Essay paper questions are like math word problems, every word has a meaning. It is one thing to paraphrase the question and an entirely different matter to see the whole unabridged version. In part because the wording of the question will indicate the type of paper results sought. Opinion based, pro/con, position based are just a few of the skills being examined. In my opinion junior level papers are more about the skill development than content. So work on the skills, proving your an expert comes later.

 

[garb811]

PMing with 3rd, I now realize that I may not have been entirely clear on what it was my original proposal was.  What I was thinking was more along the lines of a "library" as he so eloquently put it, similar to what CFC and other institutions do with their papers; the papers would be complete and already submitted for grading.  When I said "peer review", it wasn't along the lines of a formal peer review as would happen with a professional journal prior to publication, more of an informal beast whereby if your paper wasn't savaged by the learned users on the forum, it was pretty much sound and good to go and would serve as a source of enlightenment and reference for the other forum members.  I kind of looked at it from how I would choose a paper to put up here; if I was proud of my work, got a great mark and it was suitable content, I'd consider putting it up.  If I tanked it, I certainly wouldn't want the world to read my shame...

Since that time the idea, as most good things, has taken on a life of its own and there have been a lot of good suggestions on how to expand the concept further, some of which are very ambitious, perhaps a little overly so in the case of running an online proofreading service.  If it gets too popular and suddenly 3rd ends up spending every spare minute proofing everyones Poli Sci assignment I'm sure he won't be the happiest camper and it'd be a shame to lose out on his other contributions to the board. 

If it flies, which I'm hoping it will in some shape or form, it'll be most interesting to see the end result.

 

[Disenchantedsailor]

Garb,

Are you thinking something along these lines http://wps.cfc.forces.gc.ca/en/cfcpapers/index.php

 

[garb811]

Yes.

 

[Flip]

I was tying to float an idea on another thread when George Wallace straightened me out.
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/65476/post-607852.html#msg607852
My notion was somewhat less academic and would rely on testimonial more than what's going on on this thread.

My Idea was a single page of one line remarks, each a single argument or premise.

Each Premise contains a hyperlink to It's respective paper.

The page with a list of sound bite sized remarks becomes
a simple narrative which is an easy reference and self contained argument.
An editor would have to put the "remarks" in a logical order.

This simple narrative is more likely to get noticed and attract attention than
an endless pile of threads  or something requiring a search.

I think the general idea is to get noticed. We need to keep it simple
for civvies like me.  ;D

Ideally, the simple narrative is straight forward enough that a child could memorize it.

I really do believe this anthology of essay would have more merit and credibility than
all the talking heads we see on the news.

After a while a publisher could print it and make Mr Bobbitt rich! :