Crunch Time

There are several research projects underway right now for the 8 week summer session and for the 4 week summer session. Most are English or Communications classes which require basic research.  One COMM1201 class has an assignment called a "Symposium" which is described below:



Symposium (Group Presentations).  To be delivered beginning July 22nd.   20 points of total grade, made up as follows: Preparation Outline 5 pts, Peer Evaluation & Presentation 10 points and Annotated Bibliography 5 points.. You will join/form a group of approx. 5 students.  Each group will speak on a global issue topic for 30-35 minutes. That is each group member will speak for approx. 6 minutes, followed by a 5-10 minute question & answer session.You are required to cite your sources not only in your preparation outline, but also in the verbal presentation of your speech.

Each group will approach the topic as a problem-solving project where they will apply Dewey’s Reflective Thinking Method of decision-making as explained in Chapter 20. This assignment requires research and group meetings outside of class.

On the day of the Symposia, each group member will turn in:

1)      A Preparation Outline, worth 5 points out of the 20.

2)      An Individual Annotated Bibliography of 5 sources (no overlaps), worth 5 points out of the 20. An annotated bibliography involves you writing a summary of the source, and how that particular source is relevant to your topic.  The description should be at least a paragraph—which in this case would involve 3-5 sentences.  The annotated bibliography is worth 5 points out of the 20 for this assignment.

3)      Also turn in the Peer Evaluation sheet, which will be handed out on the day you present.  Should a student fail to complete the evaluation, 5 points (from the 20 for the assignment) will be deducted from her/his grade. Note: The points for the peer evaluation and the verbal presentation will be combined to provide the grade of 10 points, thus making the evaluation “blind.”

4)      Visual aids are expected—all parts of the presentation should be on one PowerPoint document.

The professor reports that topic chosen this term are:

• Global warming (air pollution)
• Poverty in Brazil or Zimbabwe
• Immigration in Australia or Italy
• Clean Water

The analysis from the Reflective Thinking Method includes asking:

• What is the history of the problem?
• How extensive is the problem?
• What are the causes, effects, and symptoms of the problem?
• Can be the problem be subdivided for further definition and analysis? 
• What methodist do we already have for solving ht problem, and what are their limitations?
• What new methods can we devise to solve the problem?
• What obstacles keep us from reaching a solution?

from Introduction to Public Speaking, GPC edition, p 214.

New Computers!

You've probably noticed that the new computers have been installed at the reference desk. Your profiles should have transferred because they come from the server, but you'll need to re-establish your Outlook email client and reset any bookmarks you had on browsers. You'll also note that we have Microsoft Office 2013 for the most commonly used programs. The student computers were upgraded to that version earlier this year, so we now coordinate with them.

My impression of the new WORD is that it hasn't changed much from 2010 for basic functions, but here are a couple of articles from Microsoft about the changes, if you would like to read them:

•  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/what-s-new-in-word-2013-HA102809597.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA103980599
• http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/discontinued-features-and-changed-functionality-in-word-2013-HA103980599.aspx?CTT=1 

For a quick run-down of changes to other MSO programs, see this chart:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178954%28v=office.15%29.aspx

Remember that the staff is the JagSpot is trained to support use to the MicroSoft Office programs, so if students have needs beyond your knowledge, feel free to send then there.

Speaking of which, the JagSpot in the basement of E-building is undergoing renovations, so has been temporarily moved across the hall into a classroom.  Just tell students to follow the signs.

Guide to Databases Now Included in "GALILEO Discover Tool @GPC"

Which databases will currently be searched when using the "Discover GALILEO" search box?  If you are like me and need a reminder, there is a  chart which I have printed and placed at the "back" Reference Desk to replace the out-of-date one. 
This chart is also posted as a library guide at:  http://guides.gpc.edu/content.php?pid=43455&sid=4684268
The chart lists the databases which are fully searchable,  as well as the "Limited" search databases and the "NOT INCLUDED" databases.

Batting Practice Report

Back in February I invited any of our team to share your metaphoric home runs, triples, doubles, base hits, foul balls, or strike outs as a way for all of us to gain insight.  Here's one that happened yesterday.

As I was leaving for the day (bags over shoulder) and stopped at the ref desk to say goodbye to everyone during the shift change, a non-traditional student (about 30 years old) came up and asked where the copier was.  One of the four librarians (sorry I don't remember who) directed her to the right place. (Yay!) But there was something about the student's voice, some anxiety or masked confusion, that compelled me to follow her to the print room.  Sure enough, she didn't have a clue what to do.  Did she have her Jcard?  No, she was planning to pay cash. Did she have time to go to the B building and get her Jcard so she could use her technology fee money? No. Luckily she had the $2 necessary to get a Vcard and add value, but, as you know, the machine is less than intuitive, plus it was being temperamental and needed to be coaxed to take one of the bills. Finally with Vcard in hand, the student needed to learn that her card must be swiped before the copier screen would make sense and that her original needed to be oriented up and down to the top left corner of the glass. At last she had what she needed. A simple directional question had turned into a multi-step indoctrination to GPC print/copy.

Could she have figured all that out?  Maybe, but not quickly or without frustration.  She may have needed to go back to the desk and ask directly for help. As it turned out, she was very glad that I'd come back to shepherd her through the process. I was too, because I felt it was solid service "hit."

No doubt most of you have done the same thing many times. Important insights:

• The challenge of "listening" to unspoken needs of our users, often emotional
• The chance to be proactive with service, especially when the desk is slow
• The joy of seeing someone gain skills and confidence
• The anticipation of a good relationship with a student who knows we care

Documenting Need for Printing Help

Just a reminder to use the log at the desk to record incidents when you wished we had a courtesy card to help students print. (This can be times you actually did help OR--in a Boolean sense--times you had to tell students you couldn't help. It's a "wish list" not a "confession." ) The printed categories are the common ones I could think of, but feel free to add other situations in the "Other" column.

Getting some hard data will be revealing and allow decision-making based on our actual experience. It might also be helpful information about actual user experiences we can share with our colleagues at ancillary services about needed improvements to our entire printing system. Thanks for helping with this.

Hot Topic!!  Pluto the dwarf planet and the new “Mega Earth”

 

The planet Pluto was discovered by a United States astronomer in 1930.  Pluto was known as the smallest planet in the solar system and the ninth planet from the sun (Dunbar, 2012). Fast forward seventy three years to 2003 an astronomer saw a new object beyond Pluto much larger names Eris (EER-is). Thus, from this discovery Pluto is considered by astronomers as a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet orbits the sun just like other planets, but it is smaller. A dwarf planet is so small it cannot clear other objects out of its path (Dunbar, 2012). Scientists are exploring and learning more about the universe and Earth’s place.  

Based on new data by the Kepler space telescope back in 2011 it was determined that Kepler 10c is actually a new type of plane discovered in the star system.  The planets name “mega- Earth” is huge and rocky.  It has been noted that this planet is actually a rocky world weighing 17 times more than Earth; yet this planet has no life existence (Mack, 2014). The new data indicates that the planet has a dense composition of rocks and other solids. Scientists are still discussing the data about “mega-Earth” and further research is yet to unfold about the star system.

References

Dunbar, B. (2012, August 29). What Is Pluto? . NASA. Retrieved June 3, 2014, from http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/what-is-pluto-k4.html#.U44Aol3y0dc

Mack, E. (2014, June 2). New 'Mega-Earth' Means Habitable Worlds Could Be Even Closer. Forbes. Retrieved June 3, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/06/02/new-mega-earth-means-habitable-worlds-could-be-even-closer/

Student Book Exchange

Welcome back to summer term!  We all know how students try to save money on textbooks, and here's a great resource to share with them. The Book Exchange is one of several GPC listserv/message boards , by far the most active.  There students may offer textbooks for sale or post the title they are looking for. Though it's an open forum, a current GPC username and password are required for access. I've made a link on the right so you can find it easily.