BloggingEnglish 2007-2008: Final Project

 

Description Task Calendar Groups Monday  14/4 Monday 21/4 Peer Feedback Checklist

 

Description

Your final project is going to be the collaborative editing of a wiki page. Given the large numbers of Italian students compared to the smaller number of American students, there will be 3/4 Italian students for each 1 American student (see groups below), but this doesn’t mean more work for the Americans!

 

 

 

Task

• Topic: Each group will choose an issue they would like to compare in the two cultures. These can either be issues we’ve focused on, e.g. organized crime, politics, immigration, or other issues, e.g. eating habits, education system, etc. It is up to each group to decide which topic interests them most.
• Language: The pages are to be bilingual. 50% in Italian, 50% in English. 25% will be written by the American student in Italian, 25% by the Italian students in Italian and 50% by the Italian students in English.
• Contents: The page should have more or less 3 sections: 1 describing the issue in America (in English), 1 describing the issue in Italy (in Italian) and a brief summary/comparison of the issue in the two countries (in both languages). The two descriptive sections should be as parallel as possible, i.e. describing the same points in the two countries.
• Length: The page should not be too long. The aim here is to be as precise and concise as possible, focusing on the main points of the issue. We recommend an average of 800-1,000 words for each student (plus titles, organizational sections, captions for pictures, etc.)
• Editing: Students in each group may edit their partners’ writing by suggesting vocabulary choices, language  structures, and idioms. They may also ask their peers for suggestions about alternative ways to express facts, ideas, and opinions. All the writing and editing phases, and the authors’ names of each version will be public. This is a collective project and we encourage students’ cooperation.
• Communication: Each group will have their own wiki page. For asynchronous communication, you can use the ‘comment’ function on your page. For synchronous communication, you will have Skype.
• Goals: Each group will have to create a public, documented resource for Italian and American students about significant intercultural topics. This project will allow students to improve their communicative skills by working with native speakers, learn to work collaboratively on a common task in an intercultural setting. Overall, it should reinforce their intercultural competence.
• Assessment: The professor/s will assess the project as a whole as well as each student’s specific section and role in the project (content, organization, creativity, analytical perspective, language, cooperation). Each student will also provide a self-evaluation and will be asked to assess his/her partners’ performance.

 

 

 

Calendar

 

Week starting 14/4	Negotiate and choose an issue for the wiki pages. Post it below. Develop a work-plan (e.g. who does what, when, how to communicate, etc.).
Week starting 21/4	Start developing the contents of the wiki pages. By the end of the week there should be an outline of the contents and the ‘beginnings’ of the sections. During the Skype session, groups discuss progress.
Week starting 28/4	Continue developing the wiki page. By the end of the week there should be a good, complete rough draft of the contents. During the Skype session, groups discuss progress.
Week starting 5/5	Provide peer feedback to each other’s pages (groups will be assigned which page to provide feedback on). Based on group feedback, final edit. Deadline: May 9 (Dickinson), May 12 (Padova).

 

 

Groups

Below you will find a table indicating the groups. Once you have decided on the topic for your wiki page, please add it to the last column for your group and I will create a wiki page for your group. I cannot assign the Padova-Poznan groups American peers until I know which group can Skype on Monday.

 

Comments on the final voting questionnaire. voting_comments.doc

 

Group	Padova Students	Dickinson Students	Skype day	Wiki page topic
Group 1	Marina Fuin Federico Fiorentin Alessia Ferrara	Kirsten	Tuesday	ItaliaUSA_NorthSouth Differences and similarities in the relationship between North and South in Italy and in the USA Peer feedback on on groups 5 and 6. peer5a peer6a group_1_rubrics.doc 7 votes
Group 2	Anna Bordignon Martina Urbani Enrico Stanic	Allyson	Tuesday	ItaliaUSA_StereotypesMovies   The image of Italy in American movies and that of America in Italian movies Peer feedback on on groups 7 and 8. peer7a peer8a group_2_rubrics.doc 3 votes
Group 3	Valentina Mioni Laura Zoccarato Giovanna Foschini	Ugo	Tuesday	ItaliaUSA_Sports Peer feedback on on groups 9 and 10. peer9a peer10a group_3_rubrics.doc
Group 4	Caroline Witte Roberta Fumani Giovanna Sperotto	Anne	Tuesday	ItaliaUSA_Media Peer feedback on on groups 11 and 12. peer11a peer12a group_4_rubrics.doc
Group 5	Alberto Tono Serena Santi Martina Torresan Alice Violato	Kelsey	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_CollegeLife   American college university life compared to Italian college life Peer feedback on on groups 1 and 13. peer1a peer13a group_5_rubrics.doc 11 votes
Group 6	Elena Costa Alessandra Squaquara Sara Pahor	Artem	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_DeathPenalty  The issue of death penalty in Italy compared to America Peer feedback on on groups 2 and 14. peer2a peer14a group_6_rubrics.doc 12 votes! In the end this one wins!!
Group 7	Alessia Leonardi Marta Tosato Raffaella Panizzon	Brian	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_Women_Media Peer feedback on on groups 3 and 15. peer3a  peer15a group_7_rubrics.doc 3 votes
Group 8	Elisa Snaidero Cristina Robba Stella	Ashley	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_PregnancyRights   Pregnant women's rights at workplace. Comparison between Italy and America. Peer feedback on on groups 4 and 16. peer4a peer16a group_8_rubrics.doc
Group 9	Elena Vivian Elisa Caramori Silvia Nicolini Silvia Lovato	Chiara	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_Women_Work Comparison between Italy and the US Peer feedback on on groups 1 and 16. peer1b peer16b group_9_rubrics.doc 1 vote
Group 10	Camilla Zulian Letizia Malacarne Veronica Bozzato Lisa Belluco	Michelle	Wednesday	Young Adults in US and Italy Comparison between the North and the South in Italy and the US Peer feedback on on groups 2 and 15. peer2b peer15b group_10_rubrics.doc 2 votes
Group 11	Marta Guarda Sara Babetto Elena Boscaro Nina Horakova	Marigny	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_UniversitySystem  American university system compared to Italian university system Peer feedback on on groups 3 and 14. peer3b peer14b group_11_rubrics.doc
Group 12	Giada Guazzo Monica Ferrara Valeria Fagan Elena Carlet	Rachele	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_VitaStudentiUni  American college life compared to Italian University life Peer feedback on on groups 4 and 13. peer4b peer13b group_12_rubrics.doc 1 vote
Group 13	Chiara Ramazzotti Selena Bortolett Elisa Rossi Caterina Luison	Corina	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_HealthcareProblems  What's Wrong with America and Italy's Health Care System Peer feedback on on groups 5 and 6. peer5b peer6b group_13_rubrics.doc 3 votes
Group 14	Nicola Canton Davide Pozzato Elena Sottil	Leah	Wednesday	ItaliaUSA_Healthcare  Comparing  and contrasting health care system in Italy and U.S. Peer feedback on on groups 7 and 8. peer7b peer8b group_14_rubrics.doc
Group 15	Claudia Turolla Anna Giabardo	Elena	spare time	ItaliaUSA_Election_System Peer feedback on on groups 9 and 10. peer9b peer10b group_15_rubrics.doc 3 votes
Group 16	Eleonora Carta Stefania Pasquali	Sharon Perrone	spare time	ItaliaUSA_IllegalImmigration The problem of illegal immigration in Italy and the US Peer feedback on on groups 11 and 12. peer11b peer12b group_16_rubrics.doc 2 votes

 

 

 

Details of Monday lessons

Monday  14/4

• discuss project
• set up workplan, i.e. how to use del.icio.us for the project, linking blogs using RSS feeds, feed from the wiki for updates, etc.

• discuss immigration (the topic for this weeks' Skype exchange) and write questions on the wiki page.

 

Monday 21/4

• Sarah spent 10-15 minutes with each group discussing their project and their workplan. If you were not in class and have questions for Sarah, please contact her.
•  

 

Peer Feedback Checklist

 

Your feedback for your peers is a fundamental part of the editing process. These pages are written by students for students. They will be used with future students both for informative purposes and as examples of how to write effective wiki pages. Your pages may also very well be edited by future students. This wiki is also public and is already being viewed by outsiders so you have quite a wide public. Clearly the teachers will provide final feedback, but your peer feedback is a first step.

 

Two peer feedback pages have been provided for each wiki page (so no problems with page locks!). In the table above you can see which pages your group is to give peer feedback on and a link to the pages where you are to write your feedback. To provide peer feedback, use the following checklist. You are welcome to copy and paste the following text into the peer feedback pages or to simply provide a summary of the peer feedback taking the following points into consideration. Peer feedback is constructive criticism. This means being both supportive and pointing out what works with a page as well as effectively suggesting what could be done to improve the quality of the page.

 

 

Contents and Organization

 

Does it do what it’s supposed to do? This would depend on whether or not there is an Introduction. If there isn't one, should there be one? Is there a table of contents?

Is there a comparison or are there conclusions? 

What do you like about it? (be specific)

Is there cohesion?

Is it relatively easy to read? If not, what could the writer do to make it easier for the reader?

Is there balance and parallelism?

Is referencing done correctly?

Are there parts that appear that they should be referenced, but are not?

Can you find any instances of plagiarism?

Are there enough links to outside sources?

Length - are the paragraphs too long? too wordy?

Structure - is there a clear structure divided into paragraphs?

Is there any use of multimedia?

 

Language

 

Are there sentence fragments or any run-on sentences?

Are the verb tenses used correctly?

Are there words that need to be checked for spelling?

Are the beginning of sentences and proper nouns capitalized?

Do sentences have appropriate ending punctuation?

Is internal punctuation (comma, colon, semicolon) used appropriately?

Are pronouns used correctly?

Is the appropriate vocabulary used?

You are encouraged to intervene directly on the pages you give peer feedback on if you see particularly evident language mistakes!

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