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

電気通信大学 AE2Y I: 7/9 board notes・7月9日のボードノート

Hello! 

How are you? Above are the board notes for our classes on 7/9. 

If you want to see the AE2Y I final presentation assignment post again without searching around for it, click here for it.

Here are some more notes below for all of you on summary writing, presenting,  and composition writing: 

I hope these notes can help you as you finish your presentations and compositions. 

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs and screenshots of original Word documents. All rights reserved.

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1a: 7/8 board notes・7月8日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here are the board notes for our class on 7/8. 

If you would like to see a link for the final presentation assignment without searching for it, click here. 

Here are the other notes about paraphrasing. Please note these - and please remember them. See the examples below: 

I hope these notes can help you with your preparation in your final compositions.

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1a: Spring final writing assignment・前学期末作文

Hello!

How are you? Here is our spring final writing assignment (中間「前学期」作文). 

Themes
You have a choice between two (2) different themes:

・Writing about works of art
・Writing about a problem or controversy in an area of science or technology 

About the first choice:
For this topic, you can look in the Listening & Speaking textbook about some different works of art - or search out some works of art on your own on the internet. I could 
also select some works of art to post on this blog as well. 

You can write about one (1) work of art, or for an extra challenge, choose two (2) works of art 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:

Dynamics of artistic composition (美学、美術の構成) - (for example, color, space, relationships 
of people and/or objects to each other)

Possible story or scenario that the work of art shows or gives ideas about (for example, 
mood, feelings of people, conditions of objects or the place where the people and/or objects 
are) 

Finally, choose the work of art you prefer (好む) and show what you believe to be a short story 
or scenario that comes to your mind when you see or think about this artwork.

About the second choice: 
For this topic, think about some problem or controversy (問題、議論) in an area of 
science or technology – for example, a problem with a drug or medication in research, 
or a technological application. Here are some examples of such problems: 

・The false data in the research of Haruko Obokata and the trouble in her research institute 

・The use – and misuse – of private data by social media companies such as Facebook

・The ways in which social media has spread fake news and other false information

・The relationship between humans and artificial intelligence (AI) and possible problems

You are not limited to these examples of problems and issues, but these are some good examples.

Special note: 

For both of these different choices, I will gather your writing on this topic into a collection called The Little Book of Big Things -  a book about student writers’ feelings, opinions, issues and perceptions (認識) about different topics. 

How much to write 

I would like you to write 4-5 paragraphs – but if you can go longer that would be great! I would like you to write as much as you can, because your work may be published (出版した) on this blog and in The Little Book of Big Things collection. 

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. 

I will review as much of your work as I can on July 15th (7/15). I may ask you to re-write, or re-work your content, if I see that you are behind or if you need more advice or suggestions from me about the assignment. 

Please do not write line-by-line sentences. Remember that you are writing paragraphs (段落), not lists of sentences. On 7/15, I will ask you to re-write if I see that you are only writing lists of sentences about your topic. 

I will review with you guidelines in class on about Word formatting for your final drafts.

Deadline (締め切り) 

There will be two (2) deadlines this time - you can choose which one you would like to try for: An earlier one on July 22nd (7/22), and a final one on July 29th (7/29). 

Now - if you believe you can completely finish by 7/22, you can turn it in early - but I will review it first. If I see that it needs more work, I will ask you to work on it more and turn it in on 7/29. 

If you feel you need more time and have to turn it in on 7/29, that is okay - you will not be late. 

On either day - 7/22 or 7/29 - you will hand in a final version (完成版). You should select your theme and topic in it that you are interested in, and begin writing from now – do not wait! 

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

Good luck! I will look forward to reading your great writing – and please relax over the summer for a job well done!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 AE2Y I: Spring semester final presentation & writing assignment・前学期期末プレゼンテーション・作文

Hello!

How are you? Today I will show you our spring semester final presentation & writing assignment. 

But first - here are the board notes from today (6/25). I made the same notes for both AE2Y I classes and the ASE I class in the 1st period: 

Congratulations on a job well done on the 2nd presentations!

Topic & task

Think about a problem or controversy (問題、議論) in an area of science or technology – for example, a problem in research, or technological application - and prepare a short presentation, with a written reaction, about it. 

You can choose to make a one-sided reaction, or two-sided argument, for the problem or controversy. 

Here are some examples of some problems or controversies:

• False data in the research of Haruko Obokata and the trouble of her research institute 
• The use – and misuse – of private data by social media companies such as Facebook
• The ways in which social media has spread fake news and other false information
• The pros and cons of internet access by children and younger people
• Earthquake building construction in Japan and whether it is good enough
• The Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011 and the technical response to it

You do not have to limit yourself to one of these topics – but these are good examples of problems or controversies in science and technology.




This time, write a little more than before: A separate, short 3-5 (or more) paragraph reaction about the same topic. 

This time as well, I would like you to go deeper into your reaction in both your presentation and composition: A reaction should look deeper, under the easy arguments made for or against something. A reaction looks at facts, and separates what is true from what is not true in a critical way. 

Guidelines

Like before, you have a choice of making an A3-sized poster or short Power Point display. We will use the same guidelines as we did in the presentations we have done so far this semester.

Deadline (締め切り) 

We will do these in two (2) steps. 

The presentations will be on July 16th (7/16), and the final composition will be due the week after on July 23rd (7/23). 

So in total, you have three (3) weeks to do these. 

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

Image by Senado Federal - Fake News, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71710423.

電気通信大学 AE2Y II: Final notes for final project・期末プロジェクトの最後のノート

Hello!

How are you? As I mentioned today, here is a short post with some reminders about what you need to bring with you next week (1/29) for the hand-in of your final writing project composition and the final presentations. 

Reminders
First, please bring:

• Your final draft of the final writing assignment composition (作文) 

• Your completed presentation display with a slideshow handout of your display (not print-outs of all your slides!), and a final draft of your presentation outline 

• Your own computer or tablet with the battery charged to 100% (or close to it)

If you need another refresher on outlining, click on this link here.

Next: 
Make sure that both your writing composition and your presentation display has numbered citations (引用) within both the composition and display in IEEE style. 

Make sure you also have a reference list in IEEE style at the end on a separate page of your composition and a reference list on the last slide of your display.

To refresh yourself on IEEE style, see my slideshow link from last week's (1/15) class here.  

Finally:

As I mentioned in class, I have to give one tough rule for the day on the final presentations. This is so everyone gets an equal chance to do their presentations, and that the day goes smoothly for everyone. 

This is the rule - please come on time for the time schedule you chose! If you are more than 5 minutes late, I cannot let you give your presentation.

Our schedule is - schedule 1 (13:00-13:40) & schedule 2 (13:45-14:25)

I am not allowed to post your names on here as this will violate the UEC privacy policy - so please remember your group members and time!

Good luck for the presentations - and see you next week!

See you then!

Image: By Marius Iordache - http://www.public-domain-image.com/public-domain-images-pictures-free-stock-photos/objects-public-domain-images-pictures/electronics-devices-public-domain-images-pictures/computer-components-pictures/black-computer-keyboard.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24925337