TA: Courtney Hughes

Hello All!

My name is Courtney Hughes and I am one of the lab TA's for this course. I am very excited to be part of the CSL family and look forward to the semester ahead!

Here's a bit about me, so we can begin to get to know each other:

I hold a Master's degree in Environmental Education, where my research was conducted in Namibia with cheetahs at the Cheetah Conservation Fund. I explored the lived experiences of children (and to some extent adults) who visited CCF and participated in their educational programs on cheetah conservation. I also conducted a content analysis of the CCF's curriculum materials. In addition to this, and appeasing my BSc degree in natural science, I assisted with cheetah and leopard field captures and exams, releases of rehabilitated cats, camera trapping and analysis, and tending to the goats and guarding dogs on site.

So, as I've mentioned, I also hold a BSc in natural science and I am a certified teacher, with a BEd in science education. I taught in the formal school system, grade eights mostly (ack!) for three years and loved it; prior to this, I was the Director of a non-profit science, engineering and technology camp and outreach program for children and youth. All this as done at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay ON.

When I moved to Alberta I began my career at Inside Education, an NGO dedicated to environmental education in schools and for teachers; I then moved onto Alberta Environment where I am still employed as a Program Coordinator. My work is very diverse, ranging from the climate change file through to monitoring, evaluation and reporting. Most recently I have begun working on social science-related issues in environmental management, including social network analysis, which is very interesting.

In addition to working at AENV, I have also been a course Instructor in the Faculty of Elementary Education, in Science Curriculum and Instruction. Furthermore I am pursuing my PhD (second year, yay!) in Conservation Biology, where I am interested in using the social science to understand and find possible solutions to grizzly bear conservation in the province. My supervisor is Dr Scott Nielsen.

I love to travel and have been to four different African countries, a host of western Caribbean countries and throughout some of North America and Europe. I currently volunteer with my local Rotary District, where I lead the development and implementation of the national Science Curriculum for Belize, as well as teacher PD on science education. I love it!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share. I have an office in Education North, #330 and I am available by appointment Tuesday and Thursday before 12pm and after 2pm, generally speaking. Email is also great to contact me, and I tend ot answer quickly.

Looking forward to this co-learning experience!

Thanks! :)

TA: Marie-Claude (MC)

Hello!

My name is Marie-Claude (MC). I'm from Québec city and I graduated from McGill University in Applied Zoology.

I'm currently a PhD student working on wetland reclamation in the oil sands in Fort-McMurray, Alberta.

I also volunteer with the organization Dog With Wings as a puppy raiser. I'm currently taking care of 11 ten day old puppies who will be guide dog!

I'm looking forward to meeting you!

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.

Welcome

Welcome to ALES 204. This is the class blog where class updates, changes, assignments and general discussion will take place.

Calendar Description

This course covers the principles of professional communication, including written, oral, and electronic components. Prerequisite: A minimum of *24 credits in university courses (approval by Dr. Laccetti is required for fewer than *24 credits). Open only to Faculty of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences students. Credit will be given for only one of ALES 204 and AGFOR 204.

Objectives

By the completion of this course a student will be able to:

Identify and describe a variety of approaches and strategies of an effective communicator;

1.              Apply strategies towards developing effective written work (online and offline) and oral speaking;

2.              Provide constructive written and oral feedback on specific elements of the course;

3.              Use reflective practise for improving her/his own communication style; and

4.              Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of and competency in professional communications.

The overall objective of this course is to make you to want to be a better communicator, both online and offline. If you truly want to be a better communicator, you will be, because you will make the effort to read over and improve what you write (or tweet or blog) and think carefully before you speak (or present). The purpose of communication is to convey information, so being a better communicator means conveying it more clearly, something that comes with reflective practice.

Evaluation

Due	Assignment
Throughout the term	Participation on class blog. Every week, students will be expected to use our class blog to share a core question or thought that emerges from the assigned readings. These questions can be a paragraph or so and informal, but they are intended to help Dr. Laccetti better understand how the students are relating to the class materials and content as well as providing students with an opportunity to reflect and synthesize course content as well as developing an online footprint. Comments should be posted on the Professor’s Lecture Post. Note, if students are asked to complete a particular assignment (such as the Wordle) that will count towards your participation online. (20%)
Friday September 16th, 9:50	Module 2: Write an introductory post (about two paragraphs) about you and your field of study and what role communication plays in your work (dissemination of results, linking with fellow researchers, etc…) Forms part of the E-Portfolio. (5%)
Lab session during Module 5, Week of October 3rd	Poster Presentation.  An impromptu group presentation of a poster will take place in a lab during the week of Module 5, and will be assessed by the TA. (10%)
Lab session during Module 10, Week of October 7th	Update Wikipedia Stub Article. Identify a Wikipedia stub entry that is in your field of expertise. This assignment will require you to add content and references. Forms part of the E-Portfolio. (10%)
Friday, November 18th, 17:00	Science Article Assignment: Students will be given at least two options for this assignment. Potential options include topics on open access publishing, features of academic journals, comparative analysis of journal articles and a translation of an academic scientific article into a web presentation suitable for a general audience. (20%)
Wednesday, December 7, 17:00	E-Portfolio: to be published on student’s own blog. Some in class assignments will form part of your E-Portfolio including: ·       Module 2: Introductory Blog Post ·       Module 3: Embed the Flickr photo of your paper Facebook profile. §   Module 10: Wikipedia stub entry Additional E-Portfolio entries include: §   Embed your Twitter feed in the sidebar of your blog. §   Embed your Delicious tag cloud in the sidebar of your blog. §   Reflective blog post. Total E-Portfolio worth 35%