電気通信大学 AE2Y II: Final notes for final paper & final presentation・期末作文・プレゼンテーションの付記

Hello!

How are you? Here are some final notes for all of you for next week's final paper hand-in and final presentation.  

Please remember the following:

1. Final papers will be due at the beginning of class

2. After the papers are handed in, then we will do the final presentations

* Please also remember that there is no 16th week - so next week (1/28) is our last class!

For the presentations:

1. You cannot use your abstracts or final papers as notes for your presentation - outlines only! 

2. Everyone must be here on time!

* If your pair partner or one of your group members is late for the presentation - the whole pair or whole group will have points taken off from the presentation - so pairs and groups should come together! 

I'll see all of you on time next week. Take care - and good luck!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 AE2Y II: Academic citation slide link・引用のスライドリンク

Happy New Year to you all! 

How are you? This is a short post with the link where you can access my slide show about citation (引用) in academic writing and presentation. 

The picture at the top is a screenshot of a Word document reference list page. It is the Word version of the same reference list I showed at the end of my slide show. 

Click here for the slideshow. It will take you to a website called SlideShare. Take a look at it. 

You may find that it is easier to see this on a computer or tablet rather than a smartphone. If you do not have a computer, then use a smartphone. But if you cannot access the link on a smartphone, then please go to a computer or tablet to access it - or team up with your partner(s) and review it together on a computer. It is important! 

While the rules for citation may seem difficult, they are important to follow in showing the sources of information and content that support your final writing and presentation topics. 

I will require that you show where you get the information that supports the content within your topic for your final writing and presentation assignment, and that you follow these rules exactly in your citation and reference lists in both your written paper and your presentation.  


Watch the slide show where you can access it. Watch it as many times as you need. 


NEW - now here are the board notes for our class on 1/7:



Happy New Year to all of you once again! 

See you next week! 

Image: Screenshot of personal Word document page. All rights reserved.

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1b: Fall final writing assignment・後学期末作文

Hello!

How are you? Here is our fall semester final writing assignment (後学期の期末作文). 

Themes
Your choice of topics will be open! You have a choice to develop another topic from 
any one of the different themes we have covered over this semester since 
September: 

• Education & psychology
• Economics
• Engineering & biology 

About the choices 
Here are some notes about the choices of themes and topic ideas in them. 

For the final assignment, you can choose the theme that was most interesting to you and write another paper about a topic area in it. The only thing is that you do not write about 
the same thing you wrote about before – you must have a different topic area! 

For example, if you wrote about an educational system, choose something different about the theme of education – for example, a different approach to education such as Montessori schools, or the Steiner system of education, or within Japan, the terakoya, and how the system worked (did it have grades, or testing, or some kind of promotion to advanced learning based 
on a student’s ability, and so on).

Same with economics, or engineering and biology – as another example, if you wrote about Bitcoin, write about another cryptocurrency, arguing for or against its use based on its 
features. Or within engineering, write about another device or invention and how it works to show cause and effect. 

Some extra notes
Education:
For education, for example, you can write about an educational system in 
another country, a specific type of education - for example, science education, 
or a specific subject - such as math or chemistry. 

As for educational systems, one challenging and very interesting approach would be for you 
to choose two (2) educational systems and compare and contrast (比較対照して) 
them. If you choose this challenge, look for these points in your comparison and contrast:

Number of years in different levels of school (for example - how many years in elementary school, then junior high school or high school)

Requirements of students on different levels of schooling (for example - entrance exams if 
there are any, passing of certain subjects to advance to the next level of education, and so 
on)

Unique educational subjects or requirements in a certain country (for example - in Vietnam, university students, men and women alike, are required to do military training once a year. Some other countries require some kind of national service - often military, but sometimes 
non-military as part of entering into a higher level of education) 

Once again - you cannot write about what you did before! Write about something different than what you did. 

Economics:
For economics, many of you were very interested, and wrote very well, about new trends 
in economic activity such as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and their impact on economic activity. You can focus on another problem or controversy (問題、議論) with cryptocurrency, such as the possibility of collecting salaries in Bitcoin, or the level of security required to make safe transactions with cryptocurrency possible.  

You are not limited to cryptocurrency in terms of economic topics, but as a recent development it is a good example. 

Once again - you cannot write about what you did before! Write about something different than what you did. 

Engineering: For engineering, you could choose any device or invention from the past or present. It can be something invented and used in Japan, or around the world, invented elsewhere and brought into Japan, or invented in Japan and exported out into the world. If you choose this area, think of these points:

• What it is
• Who invented or first made it
• When it was first made (and sold or marketed)
• Who uses it (- or - who used it)
• What it is (or was) used for
• Very important - what it is (or was) made of (in terms of materials and parts)
• What impact you believe it has has on society or worldwide (including what personal impact it has had on you)
• Any other details you believe are worth noting (especially any materials properties such as tensile strength, with characteristics such as brittleness, elasticity, and so on

Once again - you cannot write about what you did before! Write about something different than what you did. 

Psychology & biology:
I will only note in a short way about psychology and biology as they are possibly a little less interesting overall for many of you - though you are free to write about topics with these themes as well. But in whatever you do with these themes - make sure once again that they are not the same as what you have done before. 

How much to write 

I would like you to write 5-6 paragraphs – but if you can go longer that would be great! I would like you to write as much as you can, and to push yourselves - many of you can now write to great length!

As I have said before, anything shorter than three (3) paragraphs will not be acceptable. Please remember that our time is tight - so you might not have the time to re-write. 

Deadline (締め切り) 

It will be January 20th, 2020 (1/20/20).

Now here are the board notes for our class on 12/16:

Good luck! I will look forward to reading your great writing – and please relax over the break for a job well done in your first year of university!

Image: By Masahiro Hayata from Tokyo, Japan - Alley, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9681059

東京理科大学 Listening & Speaking 1b: Fall final presentation assignment & Writing & Composition 1b: Writing assignment 5・後学期末プレゼンテーション・作文5

Hello!

How are you? This is a post for both the Listening & Speaking and Writing & Composition classes. 

For the Listening & Speaking class, this is our fall semester final presentation assignment. For Writing & Composition, this will be writing assignment 5 - the third (3rd) writing assignment for the fall semester. 

Themes

For both classes, here are your choice of topics. You can choose one (1) of these: 

• A currency, or unique, non-capitalistic economic system from another country or period of history
• Key mistakes or accidents involving engineering (in any kind of engineering, such as chemical, electrical, or mechanical engineering)
• Principles (原理) of biology or biochemistry
• Explaining details and use of a chemical compound or a medicine

Deadlines (締め切り) 
For Listening & Speaking:

Your presentation day will be on December 23rd (12/23), so you have three (3) weeks to prepare. 

For Writing & Composition:
It will be on December 16th (12/16), so you have two (2) weeks to prepare. 

Guidelines 
For Listening & Speaking:

1. Prepare a summary (要約) about the topic you want to present on. The summary will be due for check on December 16th (12/16). 

As we did before with the mid-term presentations, you will evaluate your classmates' presentations in groups.

2. Be ready for me to review your progress on 12/16 and for you to practice your presentation in-class. You can practice with me and/or other groups of students.

* This is very important! You don't have to have the presentation 100% finished - but you have to have enough content so you can practice!

3. Finalize your presentation outside of class and be ready to present on December 23rd!

For Writing & Composition:
Have a rough draft ready to read aloud to your classmates next week on December 9th (12/9). I will give you time in class to work on it - but it must be finished and handed in on December 16th (12/16). 

* This is very important! I will immediately show you the final presentation assignment on 12/16 - so you need to have writing assignment 5 finished and handed in so you can start on the final writing assignment! 

Now here are the board notes for our classes on 12/2. The first set of notes are for Listening & Speaking 1b:

Now here is Writing & Composition 1b:

Good luck to all of you! See you next week!

Image: By photo credited to the firm Levy & fils by this site. (It is credited to a photographer "Kuhn" by another publisher [1].) - the source was not disclosed by its uploader., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=710925/Board notes - personal photographs. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学: AE2Y II: 11/5 board notes & changes for Topic 1 assignment

Hello!

How are you? Here are two (2) things: First, the board notes for our classes

on 11/5, and second, some changes to our first assignment I will propose to you.

Above are the main board notes for our classes on 11/5. Now here are some additional board notes about organizing your speaking without notes for your first mini-presentation:

Changes with our first topic assignment
Now here are some changes I will propose to our first assignment. I talked a little about these in our classes, but here I will say more.

1. We will do the mini-presentations on your topics on November 19th (11/19). This will give you a little more time to put your ideas together.

2. I have decided that for your projects for the topic you can work on throughout the rest of this semester - the mini-presentation, the first draft of the abstract, the progress presentation on the same topic when you have gathered more research information, plus the final draft of the abstract on the same topic, then the final written paper on the same topic with a final, full presentation, all on the same topic at the end of the semester - you can team up with a pair partner, or in a group of no more than three (3) classmates - and you can make everything a pair or group project.

3. I will make a separate deadline for your first draft abstract on your mini-presentation topic on November 26th (11/26). As I know abstract writing is something you have not done before, you will need some more time to work on it - and if you have teamed up with a class partner, or made a three-person group, it will go easier.

Think about this, and if you would like to work in pairs or teams, let me know. It might make things easier for all of you and make the work go more smoothly.

So note down these new important deadlines: 
11/19 - first mini-presentations on own topics for semester (can be done in pairs/groups)
11/26 - first drafts of abstracts of same topics (can be written in pairs/groups)

If you want more review of the list of topic choices on the assignment blogpost from last week on 10/29, go to this link. I have changed the deadlines, and made notes about changing the assignment to pair or group projects, on that 10/29 blogpost. 

I will say more on some things in next week's class. So see you then!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学: ASE・AE2Y II 10/29 board notes・10月29日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here are the board notes for both the ASE & AE2Y II classes from 10/29. My apologies to all of you for getting these notes up late!

For the ASE II class - if you need a review of our first topic presentation assignment, go to this link. 

Above are the notes for the ASE II class on 10/29. Now here are the other notes for the 10/29 ASE class:

Now here are the board notes for the AE2Y II class on 10/29: 

If you need a review of our Topic 1 writing and presentation assignment, go to this link. 

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved. 

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1b: Link for basic writing rules・基本的な書きのルール

Hello!

How are you? As support for our latest writing assignment, here is a link to a new blog page I have created for all of you about some formatting and stylistic rules for academic writing. 

Go to this link here to see the page. Review it as many times as you need, as from here on I will be looking more closely at points on formatting, style, and voice (態) in your writing assignments. 

Look especially at the formatting rules on connecting short sentences to make longer sentences, as some of you still sometimes tend to write shorter sentences and do not connect them together to make longer statements when I see you can! 

I would like all of you to also look especially at the style rules about names of people and places, plus the rule on voice (態). These are very important!

From here on, I will look more strictly for how well you are connecting sentences and how well you follow the stylistic rules for names and places, plus the kind of voice you use, in your writing. 

I will keep updating and improving the blog pages for support on points of writing. 

Good luck! See you next week!

Image: By Andreariverac - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26140236

電気通信大学 AE2Y II: Topic 1 writing & presentation assignment

Hello!

How are you? Here is our 1st writing & presentation topic assignment for the second semester.

Before we begin, here are the board notes for our class from two weeks ago on 10/15: 

Now let's look at the assignment!

Task & topics 

The picture above is a scan of the original ARPANET packet switching network layout, which was the basis for what later became the internet. 

While there is no set theme I have selected for the semester, the internet is an example of a technological achievement that has had a great impact on our social and economic lives, and is shaping human culture in ways that are both positive, and not so positive. In that sense, you could think of this as a loose theme - the impact of scientific & technological achievements on society.

While all of you are free to go with any topic, the goal is to develop one (1) topic that all of you present and write about, with argumentation, step-by-step over the whole semester that will result in a final semester composition, with an abstract, plus the same topic also developed at the same time as a final presentation. 

NEW - because this is a new kind of writing for all of you, and all of you are also developing short presentations on your same topics at the same time, I will allow you to work in pairs or groups throughout the whole semester on a collaborative basis.

If you choose to work in a group, it cannot be more than three (3) members. In groups of more than three members, someone often does more work than the others - so I will ask that you collaborate equally. 

Either way - if you work in pairs or groups, you also have to stay with the same partner or group for the whole semester. 

So here is a list of topics that you can choose from. Choose one (1) of these with your partner or group that you you like and agree on. To help you keep track of these topics, I have numbered each one: 

1. The reliability of Wikipedia as an information source for academic presentation and writing preparation.

2. The reliability of Google and other search engines in helping people stay attentive in learning and studying.

3. Any technology that people can (and perhaps should) live without.

4. Levels of safety and risk in payment systems that require people’s eye or face scans.

5. The ethics of facial recognition or touch ID technology.

6. The ethics of air travel in climate change.

7. The ethics of implanting microchips in animals.

8. The ethics of extending human rights to robots and other highly-developed forms of artificial intelligence.

9. The ethics of robots and other programmed machines to give medical treatment in hospitals.

10. The ethics of robots and other programmed machines to serve as teachers or professors.

11. The purpose of space travel and/or planetary exploration.

12. The purpose of Japanese space exploration and technology.

13. Inventions or discoveries that have been made possible by space technology.

14. Comparing and contrasting the Sputnik versus Apollo space programs and which had the greater impact.

15. The cultural and social impact of marriages with robots or high-tech dolls.

16. The level of safety in military technology and what it means for society in general.

17. Possible connections of science and technological activity to natural disasters.

18. The legality of restricting certain kinds of technology.

19. The ability of humans to contact and understand possible other forms of life in different galaxies.
20. Advantages or disadvantages in technology that allow people to feel and touch objects in virtual reality.

Abstract writing
For this Topic 1 assignment, write a short abstract of between 200-250 words showing a one-sided position - one that your pair or group will make an argument for, or one that your pair or group will make an argument against.  

This is a new kind of writing for all of you, so I have made this short. But it is important that you aim for a one-sided argument from your reactions to the issues you will write about this time with your partner(s). So you can state an opinion – but you have to go beyond only saying what you believe, to develop as much of a methodology as you can to support the position you take, with researched proof to support your argument. 

For example, if your pair or group believes that the internet does not need to be regulated by local or national governments, state an opinion about it – but do not stop there. Exactly why, in you and your partners' views, does it not need to be regulated? Are things about the web fine the way they are? Or is self-regulation by the general public, where people simply make promises not to post fake news or spread misinformation, good enough to keep the internet a safe area? What evidence is there to support your position that the internet is still socially safe? 




Short presentation
Along with the written abstract, develop a short, 3-4-minute presentation with your partner(s) based on the abstract about the same topic – not a reading in front of others, but a separately developed presentation of you and your partner('s) topic. 

Guidelines

I would like the abstract typed up. For the presentation, you have a choice of making an A3-sized poster or short Power Point display, as those of you who have taken AE2Y I from me have done before. We will also use the same guidelines as we have done before.

Deadline (締め切り) 

NEW - there will be two (2) different deadlines for this assignment: 
11/19 - first mini-presentations on pair/group topics for semester 
11/26 - first drafts of abstracts of same pair/group topics 

Good luck! I look forward to reading about, and seeing, your arguments to your choices of topics.

Image: By ARPANET - The Computer History Museum ([1]), en:File:Arpnet-map-march-1977.png, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9990864