Week 2 Thursday

Good Morning,

As I mentioned on Tuesday, there is an optional peer review for your Research Design Plans that starts on Sunday. I encourage you to post whatever you have, even if all that you have is your list of research questions. If you'll post a draft I can get your team some feedback. The most important part of this project is asking the right research questions; if your questions are taking you off course I can help you get back on track.

I also STRONGLY encourage you to consider using Google Docs to develop and share your draft documents. Check out this video:

Here's a link to get you started in Google Docs: http://support.google.com/docs/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=21008

And a link to the Google Docs youtube community:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GoogleDocsCommunity

Faux Pas Case: I haven't seen too much discussion or any questions about the Faux Pas case yet. Don't be afraid to launch a conversation about approaches to this project over on the discussion board. The writing task here is actually fairly complicated and calls for a lot of diplomacy and sophisticated problem solving.

Due dates

A number of people seem to have persistent questions about when final versions of documents are due. As work stacks up and projects start to overlap, it's easy to get confused. To get unconfused:

• The schedule in the Syllabus and Schedule folder on the home page shows everything that is due each week and includes a box that shows "Major Assignment Deadlines At A Glance."
• The Weekly Checklist document in that same folder shows -- week by week -- everything to be completed including readings. 
• Web Campus Calendar shows what is due by day, week, and month. (To see what's due click the Calendar tool and then go to Friday for the week we are in. All major assignments are due on Fridays. Peer reviews are on Sundays.) 
• The Assignments page shows every assignment and includes its due date. 

No major projects are due for a grade during weeks 1-2.

In closing  
One last point: As I stated in my first daily message, this class is not meant to be easy. I expect you to devote time to it, especially when it comes to the group projects. 

If you are unable to devote the requisite time to the work, then you either need to drop the class or let your teammates know so that we can make adjustments to the workload and your potential grade. There’s nothing wrong with negotiating this with your team in advance (doing less work for a lower grade); there’s a great deal wrong with not negotiating it and then expecting to get the same grade as the people who did the work. 

In other words, if you are only able to devote minimal time to a project, then you should only expect to get a minimal grade, especially in the group projects. Remember, I reserve the right to adjust the grades of individuals in any group project.
 
Keep moving forward.
 
Have a great day!
 
Dr. Staggers