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| Tissues/Skin | Nervous System | Musculo-Skeletal | Limbs/ Movement | Head/Neck | Brain |
Website search suggestions [link]
Finding Information on the internet tutorial from U.C. Berkeley. The web page evaluation checklist is a great way to analyze a website for this assignment. [link]
PLEASE USE "WORDPAD" (IN THE ACCESORIES ON WINDOWS) TO POST YOUR ASSIGNMENTS. DO NOT USE WORD! YOU CAN WRITE IN WORD, BUT THEN PASTE IT INTO WORDPAD BEFORE PASTING IT INTO THE WIKI.
Website Review Instructions.
I am asking each of you to complete a written review of two websites related to a health or well-being issue involving some aspect of anatomy or physiology. In a four-step process, outlined in detail below, each of you will (1) choose a general topic and sign up; (2) identify four possible websites to review; and then (3) write your reviews. The fourth step will be providing feedback to your peers who are in your same general topic area. I will also provide feedback along the way. Completion of this assignment is worth 100 points, the equivalent of one exam. You must complete each step by the date indicated in order to earn the full 100 points.
We will do this assignment completely online using the multiple contributor “Wiki” websites that I’ve set up. Seven different general topic areas are available and you should choose quickly if you want to be sure to get the topic you want—see instructions for signing up below. Spaces for students interested in each topic area are limited and are filled on a “first come, first served” basis, so get signed up soon. Here are the topics, with links to the “wiki” websites where you will sign up and post your work--PLEASE SIGN UP FOR ONLY ONE TOPIC!! PLEASE NEVER USE SQUARE BRACKETS [ OR ] IN ANY OF YOUR POSTINGS TO THE WIKI--IT WILL REALLY MESS UP THE WAY YOUR POSTING COMES OUT!:
Spinal Cord and Nervous Function [link]
Vertebral Column and Back Musculo-Skeletal [link]
Muscles [link]
Upper Limb and Manual Ability [link]
Lower Limb and Gait [link]
Joints/Articulations [link]
Autonomic Function [link]
PLEASE MAKE BACKUP COPIES OF ALL OF YOUR WIKI POSTINGS SINCE THEY COULD BE DAMAGED OR LOST—PROBLEMS WITH THE WIKI WEBSITE WILL NOT BE AN ACCEPTABLE REASON FOR MISSING ASSIGNMENT DEADLINES SINCE I WILL ASSUME YOU HAVE A BACK UP COPY.
I ask you to do these reviews for many reasons. As you move down your career paths, I suspect the internet/web will become an increasing important source of information. It's important, starting now, to be able to cipher out and interpret what is good quality information and what is not. I also suspect that many of you will be posting and working online, perhaps as a principal component of your work, and it is also best to start this now. For some of you, this is a chance to show me, and your peers, abilities that might not be apparent in lecture, lab or the exams we do. I often use your reviews to go to websites that are of interest to the whole class, and I keep these assignments linked to my websites so that they will always be there as a reference source. And finally, most students seem to find this to be a fun, inspiring and interesting way to see the importance and relevance of anatomy and physiology.
STEP 1—Signing up. [10 pts—do by Monday, March 12]
You must choose a general topic area. Then write a very short introductory note explaining why you’ve chosen that topic area. Be sure to include your name and lab day at the start of your note. Then copy and paste that note into one of the spaces in the wiki for your topic. The topic areas are very general and you may have a more specific reason for choosing that topic. For instance, you may want do the a particular general topic because you know someone with a specific problem related to that topic.
I will write a short acknowledgement that you are signed up for that topic right in the wiki website.
STEP 2—Identify four websites of interest. [20 pts—do my Monday March 26]
You will eventually review two of these websites, but I would like you to look for four in total so we have some choices. All of your websites should be related to some specific aspect of your general topic area that is of interest to you. Two of them should be what I call “Major Websites” as defined below and two should be “Minor Websites.” When you are exploring a website, use the homepage, the "About" page, the "Mission Statement" and the page of authors or contributors to get an idea who and why the website has been posted.
MAJOR WEBSITES. These are multi-page, in-depth, comprehensive sites posted by major recognizable institutions or organizations. In many cases, these sites might not be specific to your topic, but include global information related to the topic. For instance, if your focus is on a particular type of cancer, then your major website might be the American Cancer Society, or National Institutes of Health Cancer.
MINOR WEBSITES: These may be secondary, small, quirky, alternative, even home-created websites that present an interesting and different perspective, or even case study or example or story, related to the topic. They might even be a blog or a wiki! For instance, if you are focusing on a particular type of cancer, then your minor web site might be one family’s online story about their experience with that type of cancer, or a site that deals with some alternative treatment, such as acupuncture or biofeedback, for that type of cancer.
As you identify your websites, be sure to keep a record of their URL or internet address, by making them one of your “favorites,” or copying the URL to a word processing document. Write a very short paragraph for each website that declares whether you believe it should be considered a “major” or “minor” website, why you think that, and why you find the website interesting. Be sure you tell us who posted the website, why they posted the websitet and what kind of information we can find on the website. Your websites do not necessarily have to be ones that you agree with or that you believe to be of high quality! Copy and paste the name of your websites, the URL (that's the website address in your internet browser) and your paragraph about each website into your space in our general topic area “wiki.”
I will then provide feedback on whether I agree with your “major/minor” designation for each of your websites and perhaps with my suggestions as to which websites you should review.
Here are some suggestions for using Google, or any search engine, to find good websites [link]
STEP 3—Writing your reviews. [50 pts--do my Monday April 16]
Of your four possible websites, you will write reviews of two--one major website and one minor website. The reviews must be concise, well-written, thoughtful, and based on a thorough familiarity with the website being reviewed, or at least the parts of the website that are relevant to your specific topic. Your final posted review should be a second, third, fourth…draft that is well-written, has been proof-read and is well-organized. Your review must show how your particular topic relates back to the basics of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Please write your review in a word processor and then copy and paste it into your space on the “wiki” general topic area website. Each review should include the following elements:
STEP 4. Peer Feedback [20 pts—do by Monday April 23]
Once all the reviews in your group are posted, you should post feedback for each of your peers in your general topic area wiki. In your feedback, be sure you evaluate whether each review includes all the elements that are listed above in the section on writing the review. Check all the links to their websites and sections of their websites to be sure they work and actually open up the page they are supposed to. See if they have written good descriptions of those pages. Then, please tell your peer what you liked best about the review and what you thought could most be improved--Please be sure you explain why you thought the chosen feature was the best and how you think the review could be improved. .
The best feedback is detailed and focused on what is actually in the review. It doesn’t make comparisons to others students’ work, unless those comparisons are positive or used to point out a particular that might help the writer. It is important to remind both yourself and the person you are evaluating, that your praise and criticism is from your own perspective and you should explain it that way, saying, for example…” for me, this doesn’t work because…” or “from my point of view that seemed so great because…”
IMPORTANT!! Please write the feedback for each of your peers in a word processor as you review your group's wiki online. Address each of your peers with their name which you will see right at the top of their posting in the wiki. Once all your reviews are written, please post them all at once right into your own section of the wiki. Please do not try to post comments in each of your peer's sections. Then, to read your own comments, you will scroll through and find them posted by each of your wiki peers within their section of the wiki..
STEP 5 (optional). Respond to peer reviews [do my Monday April 30].
If you feel you need to add some comments or response to your peer reviewers, or you want to modify your review according to your peers’ comments, please do this by the date indicated.
GRADING AND MY FEEDBACK:
The key to this assignment is getting each step done on time. If you are even a day late, then you won’t receive credit for that part of the assignment. Please think ahead and do not use “the wiki was down or wouldn’t open” as an excuse. If you really can’t get your work posted, please send it to me in an e-mail and explain the problem, but be sure you do that at least two days before the deadline. Otherwise, get going on the wiki website and be sure you understand how it works—they’re really pretty simple.
I will evaluate your review for the bulleted points that are listed above. Please take seriously the charge to write several drafts, edit them, and post your best work. I can tell when something is done hastily at the last minute, and worse yet, so can your peers.
HAVE FUN!
PICK A TOPIC THAT INSPIRES YOU!
GET TO KNOW THE ‘NET!
SHOW ME YOUR GREAT WRITING SKILLS!
Examples of past student website reviews [link]
Writing and the Web--article with hints for writing better online [link]
Biology Department In Ecuador:
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Phone: (928) 717-7628; (800)-922-6787