Ales204 Blog and Analytics

Miarcel Salanthe created Webpages As Graphs, a visualizer applet that will turn any weblink into a graphic form. You can view the graph being plotted in real-time as little colored nodes branch out into snowflake-like patterns. Each color dot represents a certain aspect of the web structure, such as blue if for links, red is for tables, violet for images and so on.
Webpages As Graphs uses Processing, Traer Physics and HTMLParser. Salathe has also provided instructions on how to print out the graph into poster-size.

via PSFK.


Have a look at our own "snowflake"

Image created here. 

Lecture 33: Online Class

•Online class! By the end of class (9:50) please complete the following exercise:

•As the new editor–in–chief of a significant journal published by Reed Elsevier you would like to modernize the academic publishing process. You are eager to implement “open peer review” See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_peer_review even after Nature’s experiment with this form of peer review failed (see http://www.nature.com/nature/peerreview/debate/nature05535.html). However, a more recent experiment by Noah Wardrip-Fruin on the Grand Text Auto blog was more successful (see http://grandtextauto.org/2009/05/12/blog-based-peer-review-four-surprises/).  Do you try to convince your colleagues to try open peer review or are you daunted by examples such as Nature’s?

•Upload your 3-5-paragraph response to Google docs. Make sure you share your document so it is visible to anyone and add a link to the document as a comment on the Lecture 33 post. Be sure to e-mail the link to your TA and I as well. 

Lecture 32: Open Peer Review

Today we'll be doing some group work using the reading that was assigned for homework:

Lecture 32: Open Peer Review

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Using Google for Research

During the lectures I often noted how useful google can be to find academic research. We talked about using google scholar and the advanced search function. With that in mind, I'm sure you'll appreciate this infographic from Jenica Rhee.



Created by: HackCollege

Lecture 26: E-Mail Etiquette

For fun, read this article by Ms. Mentor: "Don't E-Mail Me This Way"

Lecture 26 email etiquette

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Lecture 25: LinkedIn for Students

Welcome to a brand new week everyone!

Today we'll be introduced to LinkedIn and we'll have a little bit of time during the lecture to register and begin our exploration with LinkedIn and how it can be useful to you as students.




A reminder about the science article assignment which is due on Friday (the 18th) at 17:00. You must send your assignment via e-mail (yes, e-mail!) to BOTH your TA and myself. If you are doing option four and have chosen the poster option, you need to send your assignment to us via e-mail and then (if you have decided to do a physical poster) you can give me the poster on Monday before we start class (otherwise, an attachment with your e-poster is fine!).

Lecture 24: Online Class

Photo by Jessica Laccetti.

Today is your opportunity to work on your Wikipedia assignment! Take this time to add to your stub. Remember, you need to write 300-600 words AND, since this assignment is also part of your e-portfolio, you need to follow those guidelines.

As a reminder, the Wikipedia assignment is here and the e-portfolio assignment is here and the rubric is here.

Lecture 19: Reviewing Science Articles

Today Pam will guest lecture and lead us on how to review a science article.

She will have a powerpoint which will be posted here.

Peer Review: Guest Lecture by Pam

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Lecture 18: Science Article Writing

Today we have a guest lecture from Kaustav! Please remember to send three tweets to @JessL about what you're learning from Kaustav's lecture. Please also tweet back to a fellow student - start a discussion about what you're learning.

Ales 204: Kaustav Guest Lecture on Academic Writing in Science

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Remember, next week is e-portfolio week! It's your chance to work on your own topic of a blog post and perhaps start drafting your reflective blog post. You can add your twitter feed and in general spruce up your e-portfolios!

Science Article Assignment

This week in labs you will be given the Science Article Assignment and you will have the duration of the lab to discussion the options with the TA. By the end of the lab, you will let your TA know which option you will be doing.

You can always check the google doc of the assignment too.

Note: Sometimes the google doc seems to have some issues with Option 1. So here is a google doc JUST of Option 1:.

Remember there are four options, you just need to pick one.

Some Requirements:

Due: Friday, November 18th, 17:00;
Length: 750-1250 words;
Format: Memorandum (single-spaced text; double-spaced between headings and paragraphs);
Publication: Via E-mail to Dr. Laccetti (laccettiATualberta.ca) AND to your TA;

Infographic: World Food Crisis

I thought this infographic would be of interest to #ALES2-4 students, perhaps especially those concerned with the environment and health/nutrition:
Created by: Public Health Degree

Lecture 17: Science Journal Articles

In today's lecture we will review the elements of a scientific paper:

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Works Cited/References

The second example of an abstract comes from this article: 

Green Tea Consumption Is Inversely Associated with the Incidence of Influenza Infection among Schoolchildren in a Tea Plantation Area of Japan

you can read the abstract here or the entire paper here.

Also very useful is this article: Writing the Empirical Journal Article by

Daryl J. Bem
He gives some very useful examples of opening statements and how to present your findings.

Lecture 17: Elements of an Academic Paper

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Image from OWL at Purdue.

For further reading, check this out: HOW TO WRITE A SCIENTIFIC PAPER FOR A PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL by PHIL LANG

Lecture 4: Science Journalism

Outline:

• Review of Science Journalism
• Review of Readings
• Science Journalism Activity
• Friday = Online Class

Review:

•  Science communication: explaining the science
• Science popularization: making science popular, promoting science
• Science journalism: critically assessing science and its claim
• Your role: ALL THREE 

Knowing Your Audience and the PLoS Blogs:

• Choose one of the blog posts at PLoS that you read for homework:

• Think about the blogger’s writing style, which is most related: Science communication: explaining the science, Science popularization: making science popular, promoting science, or Science journalism: critically assessing science and its claim

• Who do you think is the intended audience? How does the blogger convey her/his information
• In groups of 5-6, answer these questions in a comment on today’s lecture post (Lecture 5) on the class blog.

Perspective:

nclose to a single person, e.g. a patient or a victim;

n

nhigh above a scene, reporting from a distance, independent and little involved;

n

nclose to an organisation that offers information, such as an NGO or a company;

n

nclose to the scientific community; 

n

nclose to the audience, examining problems in their daily life

Activity on Perspective:

• Choose one article/blog post from Scientopia (http://scientopia.org/blogs/ )  & one from Not Exactly Rocket Science (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/)  
• Compare the writing perspectives: what view does each blogger take? Does their view hamper the “objectivity” of the story? How or why?

• Send your responses to @JessL 

Final Thought

“Some journalists are still stuck in the model: We give you journalism, that’s the way it is. In this world, where we don’t know if there’s going to be a pandemic, or where the next terrorist attack will be, or how bad global warming is going to be, if I’m not engaged in a two-way street with scientifically engaged readers, I’m not responsible.”

Andrew Revkin

Friday's Online Class - By the end of class students must: 

• Complete the social media survey on the Module 2 blog post
• Set up a blog using Blogger and write an introductory post about you and your field of study and what role communication plays in your work (dissemination of results, linking with fellow researchers, etc.…)
• In a comment on the Module 2 blog post, leave a link to your newly started blog (absolutely necessary so the professor and TAs can grade your work) 
• Note: you require a personal blog for your E-Portfolio.

Lecture 3: Blogs & Twitter 101

Lecture 3: Blogs & Twitter 101, Intro to Science Journalism

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How To Use Twitter Effectively

Homework:

Come to next class having read:

Public Library of Science (PLoS): http://blogs.plos.org/blogosphere/ 

Scientopia: http://scientopia.org/blogs/ 

Not Exactly Rocket Science:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/  

Module 1 – Introduction to Social Media and Science Communication

The first week will focus on providing an overview of communication modes, assignments, and key terms such as new media, social media, convergence, interactivity, rss, blogs, microblogging…

Video: Did you Know 4.0: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

Video: The Machine is Us/ing Us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

Lab – Module 1:

No Lab this week.