Plagiarism,   Copyright and  Working with others are implicitly and intrinsically intertwined with ethical scholarship.  Look through the hyperlinks to presentations . Reflect on the concepts under consideration. Know that the most important person sits in your chair, wears your shoes and attaches her own name to her own work. Integrity in scholarship as in all other aspects of life is a long term commitment that ultimately not only enhances our self esteem but empowers us on the way firstly to the freedom of independance and then to proper and balanced interdependance. Your own truth may be rough on the edges but it will be yours.

(See the video link on Acknowledging Sources in the list on the left)

Imagine you are an artifact called Miriam Nguyen. You were born in Yawarra Hospital,
Bankstown in 1992. Your parents are Thich Nguyen and Fatima Alameddine.  Now we will imagine referring to your knowledge in an essay about you. We will turn you into a bibliographic record and refer to you. Your name becomes your title. You have two authors. You were published in 1992 at Yawarra
Hospital, Bankstown. Using the Harvard Reference system the following can be used in your essay.Reference list example

Nguyen, T & Alameddine, F 1992, Miriam Nguyen, Yawarra Hospital, Bankstown

What if you came to the library looking for help and felt the Teacher Librarian was cranky and failed to support your thirst for knowledge? You may refer to the School Library webpage and find the mission statement which stated that the staff is proud of their service and enjoy helping you. In an essay on “Duty and Service in Libraries” presented to the Teacher Librarian you can refer to a quote from the undated webpage as follows;

The School Library n.d. Retrieved June 1, 2007, from http://members.optusnet.com.au/~victorjd/   

There are many variables that need to be accounted for in referencing a resource. The most basic elements should be 1) the author(s), 2) the title, 3) the date of publication, 4) the publisher’s name, 5) the place of publication and if an online resource 6) the date retrieved. Sometimes there are extra elements to complicate things. Sometimes elements are missing. There may be no stated author, there may be multiple authors or there may be an editor. The resource may be a book, or part of a book. It may be a print journal or a government publication. As mentioned above it could be a digital resource such as a document on the Web, a CD-ROM, an email or a Podcast. It is often difficult to know how to refer to resources in consistent and logical ways. Once you begin to practise referencing you will find it ceases to be a chore and becomes a pleasure. Moreover it will teach you to think about the nature of resources and how to get the most from them. In the end it really on matters that you be consistent. For plenty of good examples see the Curtin University of Technology pdf. from the good people in the Library and Information Service, . Harvard Referencing 2007

If you want to try an online citation maker try http://www.oslis.org/MLACitations/secondary/index.php

Have fun!

Last week I looked at how to gather and analyse information. This week I am looking at how we can develop our mental capacities to produce authentic self centred learning. To do this we need to analyse our strengths and weaknesses. Having considered these we can use tools to work to our strengths and address our weaknesses. Our goal is the whole person whose purpose is to fulfil their potential.

Multiple Intelligences

Occasionally I hear a student say that someone has said they are dumb. I like to interject by asking them in exactly which multiple intelligence they are dumb.

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, Professor of Education atHarvard
University. He believed that the concept of intelligence as being measurable on a linear number scale is far too limited. Dr. Gardner proposed eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. Go through this list and think about where your strengths as a learner lie.

1)      Linguistic intelligence “word smart”

2)      Logical mathematical intelligence “ number/reasoning smart”

3)      Spatial intelligence “picture smart”

4)      Bodily-Kinaesthetic intelligence “body smart”

5)      Musical intelligence “music smart”

6)      Interpersonal intelligence “people smart”

7)      Intrapersonal intelligence “self smart”

      Naturist intelligence “nature smart”

Key Competencies

The complement to our multiple intelligences is the idea of competencies. The Mayer Committee identified 7 Key Competencies necessary to be an empowered and dynamic member of society. An 8^th was later added. Which competencies work best for you?

1)      Collecting, analysing and organising information

2)      Communicating ideas and methods

3)      Planning and organising activities

4)      Working with others and in teams

5)      Using mathematical ideas and techniques

6)      Solving problems

7)      Using technology

      Cultural understanding

Thinking Skills

Edward De Bono developed a theory about the different ways we think and he used coloured hats to represent thinking styles. What is your preferred hat?

1)      White hat: Information; what do I need to know?

2)      Red hat: Emotion; how do I feel about this?

3)      Blue hat: Organising; what thinking is needed?

4)      Green hat: Creativity; what ideas do we have?

5)      Yellow hat: Benefits; what is good about this?

6)      Black hat: Judgement; what is bad about this?

Our mind is a seething ocean of ideas and resources. All we need to do is refine the tools we need to go fishing. What best suits you? I’ll leave you to reflect on that.

Next week I will look at acknowledging and referencing resources. Stay tuned.

2008 All My Own Work Birrong Girls High School

Nothing is worse than feeling helpless and hopeless. Being dependant on someone else for knowledge is guaranteed to lead to loss of self esteem and self respect.

When we are approaching our Higher School Certificate it sometimes seems that there is too much to do and there are too many complicated ideas to grasp. In desperation we can begin to think that cheating is the only way out.

The famous mathematician Euclid, having opened a school of mathematics at
Alexandria, was asked by King Ptolemy whether he could explain his art to him in an easier way. “Sire,” said the geometrician, “there is no royal road to learning.”

So it is for all of us. We must earn our own knowledge. The HSC All My Own Work Program is designed to help students learn to use the commonly accepted principles and practices of scholarship. It explains what sources of information should be acknowledged and how to do so properly. It targets the illegal use of information through plagiarism and copyright. Finally AMOW shows the difference between working honestly with partners and working secretly with the intention to deceive.

Firstly look at the principles and practices of scholarship. We can begin with the idea of Information Literacy. If literacy is the ability to make meaning from symbols, then Information Literacy is the ability to make meaning from data and facts retrieved from a variety of information sources. We can view this from a number of perspectives. Imagine gaining knowledge in the context of a set assignment as a process. The steps are as follows:-

1) Come up with as many key words as possible that are connected to the subject of enquiry;

2) Investigate all the sources of information you can think of that refer to the key words;

3) Choose references to search results that support the framework of the initial question;

4) Set out the results of the search along a progressive line, for example by chronology, personality, topography or theme;

5) Use as many means as you can think of to present your results; and

6) Assess and evaluate how successfully your results address the initial question. Your teacher or examiner may critique you unexpectedly but your own feelings of satisfaction and fulfilment are very valid as well.

There are a number of analytical tools which can deconstruct sources so that they can be understood better. Analysis by genre is an excellent approach to dissecting what we are studying and it is sadly underutilized. In literature we can classify novels as being horror, fantasy, romance, social realist, post modern and even genre defying. In music we can classify by R & B, classical, jazz etc. and in games we can classify by card game, board game, strategy and word game. All sources of information can be considered as having a genre basis. Another tool to use to analyse information sources is that of text type. Information can be communicated to us in a number of structures that can be broken down to the following types:-

1) A Report says how things are now;

2) A Recount says what happened step by step;

3) A Narrative has substructures of orientation, complication and resolution;

4) A Procedure shows a pattern step by step;

5) An Exposition argues points for an against a proposition

6) An Explanation sets out reasons for why things happen

7) A Response has elements of aesthetic judgement;

and A Personal and Expressive text type explores the imagination.

Use these tools to build your own knowledge from your own perspectives. Your own voice is the one that will make the world fall in patterns that give you freedom of choice on your own terms. All My Own Work will give you the power to be who you imagine you can be when you are at your best.

Next time I will tell you about Mayer’s Key Competencies, De Bono’s Thinking Skills and Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences. Look in again next week. Meanwhile here is a video to give you a general introduction to the course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN6cWhLgX5M