Online Website Notebooks

OVERVIEW AND JUSTIFICATION

The goal of this exercise is for each of you to create an online notebook where you review several websites related to a health and well-being topic of your choice.  I have several reasons for asking you to do this:

• It allows us to see the many, many real-life applications of what we are learning in class
• It helps you to see how the internet and web can be used to find information, and how to analyze the quality of that information.  For many of you, the internet already is, or soon will be, the primary source of information for your studies and in the workplace.
• It gives you a different forum for demonstrating your abilities to understand and apply what we learn in Human Anatomy and Physiology.
• Each of your notebooks will include links to several important websites related to that topic and they will all be posted to a page on our website where we can see our combined forces in the form a resource database for the health and well-being problems that we find to be of interest. 
• It gives us a chance to see how our peers think and work as we provide feedback on the notebooks of a few of our peers.

Notebook list [link]

STEP 1:  CHOOSING AND POSTING A TOPIC TO MY OWN NOTEBOOK

[10 points--must be done by 10/15]

How do I choose a topic?

I am asking you to choose a health and well-being topic that is related to the material for this semester, with the goal of finding and reviewing several websites that cover that topic.  You can choose any health-related topic as long as it somehow relates back to the material we cover over the semester  which would include:

• Overall human body plan and embryology—somatic versus visceral parts of the body; segmentation of the “outer tube” or somatic part of the body
• Tissues of the body
• Nervous system
• Musculo-skeletal system and movement
• Limbs
• Skull and head muscles and movement of face, jaws, tongue, eyes and other parts of the head
• Chewing, swallowing, speech and other functions of the mouth, throat and larynx
• Special senses—vision, hearing, smell, taste
• The Brain

Remember that these are the “pure science” topics that we cover in class.  You should choose a health and well-being topic that would, in some ways, be a practical application of what we learn.  Some examples that we’ve mentioned in class would be osteoporosis and its relationship to bone, or multiple sclerosis and its relationship to neuron function.  You shouldn’t limit yourselves to disease or health problems.   You could also look at well-being issues such as how activity levels or muscular conditioning is related to muscle physiology…or a condition such as blindness and its relationship to the physiology of vision.

Many people choose a topic with which they have some special personal connection.  It might be a health or well-being issue that you or some family member has faced.  It might be something related to your work.  Don’t waste a lot of time agonizing over a topic—just choose something that seems interesting.  Most people have many many areas of interest related to health and well-being.

How do I post my topic?

Once you’ve chosen your topic, you’ll create your own online notebook using a free online service called “QuickTopic”  (Note that if for some reason you don’t want to sign up for this service, or want to post your notebook in a different way, please let me know.)

a,  Click on this link   [Quick Topic Link].  Then Follow the easy directions for creating your own posting topic. 

b.  Next, “Create a New Message” where you will post your topic.  In this first message, in two or three sentences, please explain why you have chosen this topic and how it is related to the material for this semester of Human Anatomy and Physiology.  Be sure you include your name as the person posting the topic.

c.  Finally, at the top of the screen, beside “Admin Tools,” click on “Invite Readers” and send me an e-mail inviting me to see your notebook.  This will also allow me to post the link to your notebook on our course notebook webpage.

 DISCLAIMER:  Please remember that you will be posting to a publicly accessible website and so you should not post anything you would not want to share with your peers, or with the world at large.

STEP 2:  FIND AND POST FOUR WEBSITES RELATED TO YOUR TOPIC

 [20 points--must be done by 10/22]

How do I find websites? 

Many if not most of you may regularly use an internet search engine like Google.  However, most people limit themselves to simple general web searches using a limited number of key words.  Here are some suggestions for more sophisticated kinds of searches [link]

 I would also highly recommend these resources to help you evaluate the quality of websites

• Yavapai College library research and search help  [link]

• UC Berkeley tutorial on how to search and evaluate websites [link]

 I would like you to choose four websites related to your topic.  Be sure that some of these are big major “name-institution” websites and others are smaller individual one-page websites, or even blogs (individually posted, usually diary-format websites).

How do I post the websites I find to my notebook?

For each website, you will need the name, or a description of the website, along with its URL or internet address (this is the “http://..... that appears in the address box of your internet browser).  For each of your four websites, I would also like you to write a brief overall description of the website that would include WHO is posting the website, WHY you believe they are posting the websites, and WHAT topics the website covers.  You should be able to do this in three sentences, but be sure all that information is included.

My strong recommendation is that you create a word processing file where you store the names, URL’s and these short descriptions of your websites.  Then you can use Copy and Paste to post the entire file to a new box in your online notebook when you are ready.  This way, you will always have a back-up copy of the work you have done.  If you have any trouble with this, please let me know.  (I will not accept "problems with the Quick Topic site" as an excuse to not have the work done since you should always be able to show me your back-up copy.)

Once you have posted your websites, please be sure that each of the URL’s will link automatically to the website that you have posted.

STEP 3:  FEEDBACK FOR PEERS ON THEIR WEBSITES

[10 points—must be done by 11/5]

You will see that you in a peer color group on the course page where all of your notebooks are listed.  You will provide feedback on how you see the quality and topic-relatedness of the websites that each of your color-group peers have chosen.  Usually this will be five or six other students.

How do I provide peer feedback on their chosen websites? Notebook list [link]

Go to our course online notebook page listing and find your own name.  Then open the notebooks for each of your peers and open the links to the websites they have posted.  Once you have viewed that website, write down your opinion of the quality of the information you saw and the way it was presented.   Please write the two best things about each website and the two worst things.  I strongly recommend that you write all of your feedback in a word processing file.  Then copy and paste the information to the online notebook for each of your color group peers.  Do this by clicking on “Create a New Message.”  Be sure to include your name so that I and your peers will know who has provided the feedback.

STEP 4:  WRITE YOUR WEBSITE REVIEWS

[50 points—must be done by 11/19]

What do I include in my website reviews?

Of your four posted websites, please choose two to write length.  Please choose one large website from a major institution, and one that is a smaller more personal type of 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 reviews in a word processor and then copy and paste them into a new box on your notebook page.  Each review should include the following elements:

• A concise title that tells what website is being reviewed and a general view on its value or your opinion of it.  Please be sure you include a link to the website home/main page in your title.
• A summary of the website being reviewed.  This short paragraph should tell us WHO is posting the website, WHY you believe they are posting the websites, and WHAT topics the website covers.   
• A paragraph that explains how your website relates back to the basic anatomy and physiology of the body.  What parts of the body’s anatomy and what aspects of the body’s functioning or physiolgoy are important for understanding the health or well-being issue that your website is dealing with.
• A paragraph that tells us the two best features of the website and its two worst features.  For your large website, please include links to those sub-pages where you would find these features. 
• A “signature.”  Be sure to make it clear, either with a “by-line” at the start or end of the entry, that you wrote this website review.

STEP 5:   PEER FEEDBACK ON WEBSITE REVIEWS

 [10 points—must be done by 12/3]

How do I provide feedback on my color group peers' website reviews?  Notebook list [link]

Please carefully read each of the website reviews posted by the peers in your group.  Then, write a short response which includes the following:

• MOST IMPORTANT:  A sentence or paragraph telling them anything, from the above list on what should be in the review, that is missing.  This is the best service you can provide to your peers.  They will then have a chance to correct anything that is missing before I grade the review.  If nothing is missing, just write a sentence saying that.

• Then, write a short paragraph telling them what you think is the best aspect of their review, and what could use more work.  Then, please tell your peer what you liked best about the review and what you thought could most be improved.  lease 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…”

HAVE FUN!

PICK A TOPIC THAT INSPIRES YOU!

GET TO KNOW THE ‘NET!

SHOW US YOUR GREAT WRITING SKILLS!

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