When Mark came by my office to chat about stuff, I remarked to him that putting together a 10-minute video clip is way too much of work. I first have to have my talking points ready. Then the camera and mic have to cooperate. Finally, there cannot be too many screw-ups.
Well, guess what? Things never go well! It is typically a second or third "take" that I share with the class. Not that I am entirely happy with the product, but I just tire of the attempts :-)
Why this rambling preamble? Because I have for you here a video of a few thoughts related to the essay question. It was my second attempt--the first one I had to ditch after 7-plus minutes because my talking points paper flew away! So, even though I am not quite satisfied with the second video, well, here it is:
(BTW, my plan is to complete the grading before the weekend is over.)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Discussion Question #3
My toughest part of the term begins starting today--I have to read and evaluate your responses, and also the exam responses from my intro class.
I know what you are thinking: that my job is within my control, and that I can make my job easier by not forcing you students to do all this work :-) But then, I want to make sure you get the best return on your investment. So, on that note, here is something for you think through for this week.
One of the first articles I required you to read was an attempt to understand the "American city." in the readings for this week, you will find a general discussion of cities in the developed world, and cities in the developing countries. So, if we had a little bit of difficulty figuring out what an American city is, then you can easily imagine how huge a problem it will be to develop some kind of a generalizable model of a city.
But, we want to discover common patterns among cities so that we might be able to generalize. After all, that is a distinguishing aspect of a scientific approach to understanding the world--we try to create order out of the chaos we observe.
While it might have its own set of limitations, what do you see as the general patterns:
I look forward to your responses.
BTW, I could not do a part 2 of the YouTube video because I was knocked out with stomach ache and headache, and was practically curled up in a fetal position pretty much from 7:00 last evening until 8:00 this morning. But, I am back on the saddle, as they say, so that I can bug my students :-)
I know what you are thinking: that my job is within my control, and that I can make my job easier by not forcing you students to do all this work :-) But then, I want to make sure you get the best return on your investment. So, on that note, here is something for you think through for this week.
One of the first articles I required you to read was an attempt to understand the "American city." in the readings for this week, you will find a general discussion of cities in the developed world, and cities in the developing countries. So, if we had a little bit of difficulty figuring out what an American city is, then you can easily imagine how huge a problem it will be to develop some kind of a generalizable model of a city.
But, we want to discover common patterns among cities so that we might be able to generalize. After all, that is a distinguishing aspect of a scientific approach to understanding the world--we try to create order out of the chaos we observe.
While it might have its own set of limitations, what do you see as the general patterns:
Now, I understand that this is not a question that can be effectively and completely answered in 75 words. So, highlight what you think are the most important ones. As you get into the act later than others, make sure you continue the conversation--by qualifying statements, highlighting the contradictions, etc.
- Among the cities in the developed world
- Among the cities in the developing world
- Among all the cities of the world?
I look forward to your responses.
BTW, I could not do a part 2 of the YouTube video because I was knocked out with stomach ache and headache, and was practically curled up in a fetal position pretty much from 7:00 last evening until 8:00 this morning. But, I am back on the saddle, as they say, so that I can bug my students :-)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Intro to Week 4 contents
Hey, I have started receiving essays from students. Looks like we are on schedule then :-)
This week, the material you are required to read are from the textbook--nothing additional. I thought I would highlight a few ideas through a YouTube clip. (A reminder one last time: the video embedding does not seem to work with the email. So, always head to the notes page for this class for the videos, including mine.)
So, here is that video introduction to the issues this week. Well, actually the first part. I will complete the "set" tomorrow with the second installment :-)
Now, I refer to China in my talk. If you want more info on that, here are two resources, both from James Fallows. The first has way more photos than text about Shanghai, Beijing, and Chinese cities. The second is a 3-minute video excerpt from his DVD about doing business in China:
This week, the material you are required to read are from the textbook--nothing additional. I thought I would highlight a few ideas through a YouTube clip. (A reminder one last time: the video embedding does not seem to work with the email. So, always head to the notes page for this class for the videos, including mine.)
So, here is that video introduction to the issues this week. Well, actually the first part. I will complete the "set" tomorrow with the second installment :-)
Now, I refer to China in my talk. If you want more info on that, here are two resources, both from James Fallows. The first has way more photos than text about Shanghai, Beijing, and Chinese cities. The second is a 3-minute video excerpt from his DVD about doing business in China:
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