PowerPoint Tips

Here's the presentation that I shared with you in class. Credited and linked, as promised.

Don't Be A PowerPoint Felon from Nick Smith

This one has more tips on slide design. A bit more artsy and certainly more humorous in its sarcasm/meanness. Let's just not be mean about each other's (or our own) presentations. :)

You Suck At PowerPoint! from Jesse Desjardins - @jessedee

11-1 Essay Questions

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each region's economy?
• Contrast the political situations of the Union and the Confederacy.

Priming

Here's what I referred to in class today:

The psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson created an even more extreme version of this test, using black college students and twenty questions taken from the Graduate Record Examination, the standardized test used for entry into graduate school. When the students were asked to identify their race on a pretest questionnaire, that simple act was sufficient to prime them with all the negative stereotypes associated with African Americans and academic achievement—and the number of items they got right was cut in half. As a society, we place enormous faith in tests because we think that they are a reliable indicator of the test taker’s ability and knowledge. But are they really? If a white student from a prestigious private high school gets a higher SAT score than a black student from an inner-city school, is it because she’s truly a better student, or is it because to be white and to attend a prestigious high school is to be constantly primed with the idea of “smart”?*

*Gladwell, Malcolm (2007-04-03). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (pp. 56-57). Hachette Book Group. Kindle Edition. 

Credible Online Sources

How do you know if your source is credible or not? Here's a few guiding questions that I found at a university library's website*:

• Does the site have a scholarly apparatus: a bibliography and endnotes?
• Is there a clear author?  What are the author's credentials, biases, and perspectives? 
• Who is the publisher?  A university or historical society?  A company? 
• Is the thesis built on a foundation of primary source material?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the site?
• How does the site help me understand my topic?
• What questions are left unanswered by the author?

Tips on finding credible sources:

• One clue that can help you decide if a site is credible is the domain name.  In general, sites that end with "edu" (educational sites), "gov" (government sites), or "org" (nonprofit organizations) offer more credible information than sites that end with "com" (commerical sites trying to sell something).
• Google your topic along with the keyword "library guide" or "libguide".  This will lead you to library web sites about your topic, and librarians generally list only high-quality sites on their pages.
• Specialty Search Engines
• IPL2: works like Yahoo, but finds mostly quality sites discovered by librarians
• InfoMine: scholarly internet collections

*http://guides.lib.ua.edu/content.php?pid=126639&sid=1087764

Project: Middle Ages

• Pick a partner or work alone.
• Choose a specific topic that you would like to research.
• Write at least three specific questions that you would like to investigate regarding your topic.
• Find at least three reliable resources in print or online in addition to your textbook.
• Choose a medium for what you will produce to demonstrate your learning including but not limited to:
• a 5-10 minute movie
• a PowerPoint/Keynote/Prezi presentation
• Rubric (0-5 in each criterion):
• Presents accurate information about your topic (30%)
• Presents information clearly so people can learn about your topic; concepts organized in a logical manner  (30%)
• Selected product allows you to convey your message/information (5 %)
• Reflects careful planning, creativity and effort; final product presents a polished appearance (30 %)
• Uses and cites a minimum of three references (5%)
• additional consideration will be taken for individual effort and collaboration for those working in groups
• Scale
• 5 - Excellent
• 4 - Commendable
• 3 - Adequate
• 2 - Developing
• 1 - Remedial
• 0 - Nonexistent

Project: Middle Ages - Topics

Looking forward to some great projects! Hope that you get quite a bit done this weekend. Carpe diem! :)

• Lily/Jason: Innocent III
• Naike/Esther: Papal Power
• Danieke: The Black Death
• Ella: Feudalism
• Ruth: Papal States
• KC: Christian Living
• Michaela: Vikings
• Jin Hee: Monks
• Mutara/Joshua: The Crusades
• Davis: Charlemagne
• Kassidy: Nuns
• Adam: Serfs vs. Slaves
• Ollie: Medieval Mythology

Herbert Hoover: "American System" Speech, 1928

Source PDF: “American System” Speech by Herbert Hoover, 1928

1. What is the American System?
2. What changes were necessary during the Great War?
3. What is the tendency of government after a war?
4. What does it mean for the government to be "an umpire instead of a player"?
5. What would the government propose as a solution to Prohibition?
6. How would the government propose to help with agriculture?
7. What consequences of increased involvement of government in business does Hoover fear? Give at least five.