Exam Period Office Hours

posted on December 4, 2009
by Richard Hink | Filed Under Announcements

I will hold office hours twice next week in case you have any questions on the course material for the final exam.

Monday, December 7: 11am-4pm
Thursday, December 10: 9am-2pm

Office hours will be held in Prof. Sterne’s office (Arts W-280). Please note that ONLY consultations on the course material are appropriate–I will not review or comments on drafts of essay questions, etc.

Further information on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)

posted on November 25, 2009
by Richard Hink | Filed Under Announcements

In case you’re interested in learning more about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) discussed in lecture today, here are several links to additional resources:

Update: Dwayne will hold make-up conferences this week

posted on November 16, 2009
by Richard Hink | Filed Under Announcements

While Emily, Chris and Lalai’s conferences are cancelled this week, Dwayne will use this opportunity to have make-up conferences for the one that was missed.  Students in those conference sections should attend as they would normally.

Visit Emily at Expozine

posted on November 11, 2009
by | Filed Under Announcements

As some of you know, Emily Raine also works at the Montreal fashion journal Worn, which is participating in Expozine this weekend. She says it’ll be like extra office hours.

Expozine, Montreal’s annual small press, comic and zine fair. The event is in the basement of the Église Saint-Enfant Jésus, on St-Joseph between St-Laurent and St-Dominique. It’s both Saturday and Sunday during the day, and there is a launch party on Friday night at Sky Blue Door, 5403B St. Laurent (side door), 7 – 11.

Their official self blurb is as follows:

This incredible event brings together nearly 300 creators of all kinds of printed matter – from books of all kinds to zines to posters and graphic novels – in both English and French. In the past eight years, Expozine has become one of North America’s largest small press fairs, attracting thousands of visitors as well as exhibitors from across Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

Office Hours for Week of the 9th + No conferences this week

posted on November 7, 2009
by | Filed Under Announcements

Prof’s Office Hours: My office hours on Monday has to be canceled because of an appointment. However, I have a few limited slots available by appointment only on Tuesday. If there is demand, I am also willing to make approximately 4 to 6 additional 15-minute appointments Wednesday afternoon. I will be on campus Thursday but right now my schedule appears full. If a slot opens up, I will accept 2 to 4 15-minute appointments then.

Teaching Assistants are also holding extra office hours. Contact your TA for an appointment, but keep in mind that demand is always high near deadlines, so ask early and try to be flexible. We will try to see as many students as we can but we also have other obligations this week.

CONFERENCES ARE CANCELLED for the week of November 9th, as I’ve asked the teaching assistants to devote all their available time to consultation for papers. Lecture will meet as usual on Monday and Wednesday.

Two Sample Papers Now Up in WebCT

posted on November 7, 2009
by | Filed Under Announcements

Two sample papers are now up in WebCT. I should make clear that the assignment was somewhat different when they were completed (spring 2007), and they are both unusual in some fashion, but they are both good examples of good, original work in the course.

Free Books

posted on November 4, 2009
by | Filed Under Of Interest

There is a startlingly large pile of free books available in the AHCS hallway. You’ll pass right by them on your way to my office. If the McChesney reading got you interested in media ownership, some of these books may interest you (for obvious reasons).

The titles are:

McChesney, Robert W. (2004). The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century. Monthly Review Press.
McChesney, Robert W., Newman, Russell, and Scot, Ben. Eds. (2005). The Future of Media: Resistance and Reform in the 21st Century. Seven Stories Press.
McChesney, Robert W. (2007). Communication Revolution: Critical Junctures and the Future of Media. The New Press.
Cooper, Mark N., Ed. (2007). The Case Against Media Consolidation: Evidence on Concentration, Localism and Diversity. Donald McGannon Center for Communications Research: Fordham University.
Nichols, John and McChesney, Robert W. (2005). Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy. The New Press.

FAQ: What do you mean by “single-layered” study sheet for the final exam?

posted on November 3, 2009
by | Filed Under FAQs

It means that in past years, clever students have tried to convert a more or less 2-dimensional piece of office paper into a 3 dimensional object through taping stuff to it. I admire the ingenuity, but only both sides of a single sheet of standard printer or office paper are allowed.

Multiple Choice, COMS 210 and You — Save This Post!

posted on November 2, 2009
by | Filed Under Announcements, FAQs, Of Interest

First, I hope you enjoyed the end of daylight savings time as much as I did.

I know you’re all busy with your papers and not thinking about anything else, but it’s time I posted some practice questions for the final on WebCT. And so I did. There is now a quiz of 10 questions that you can take at any time you like between now and the end of the course. The quiz is graded automatically (so you know how you did) but is not factored into your semester grade in any way. I think I could see the results if I went to look but I don’t.

So why take such a quiz?

As you know, multiple choice questions make up a portion of your final exam. The thing is, we don’t have other multiple choice exams in this course, so you have no opportunity to experience how we write exam questions. Hence the quiz.

Our multiple choice questions are different, and they are written according to a rough formula that I will share with you. Most multiple choice exams are tests of recognition. You’ll see the “question stem” and then a list of 4 possible answers. You recognize one, put it down, and it’s the right answer. This is NOT how we write our exams. Instead, we test comprehension. First, we ask that you choose the BEST answer to the question, which means that one answer may be “more right” than another. Our multiple choice questions consist of the following:

A Question Stem

Answer A. The Right Answer

The Wrong Answers B-C-D are selected from the following:

Positions criticized by the author or lecture such as:

–an argument that the author rehearsed for a few paragraphs before dismissing it
–a “common sensism” that was shown to be based on false premises
–or sometimes just the opposite of what the author actually says

Non sequiturs such as :

–a true statement made in the text (or elsewhere in the course) that doesn’t correctly answer the question
–a concept from another part of the course
–an argument advanced by another author
–nonsense combinations of words or ideas from readings and lectures
–finally, if there’s a really good opportunity to make a joke, we might be inclined to take it

Multiple choice theory (yes, there is such a thing in education studies and your prof has read just enough to be dangerous to himself and others) suggests that a good question has at least “plausible” answers and one right one.

EXAMPLE:

According to Todd Gitlin, why is our culture so heavily saturated with media?

a. Though commodity fetishism, we compensate for our alienation from our own labor.
b. Entertainment media are the opiate of the masses, distracting us from the important business of democracy.
c. We seek disposable feelings to compensate for the blasé attitude brought on by the money economy.
d. We live in such a textualized world that we go looking for absent bodies through bodies that are textualized.
e. Communication is a fundamental human need and does not change over time.
f. Media transmit messages which we must correctly decode through our access to frameworks of knowledge.
g. We couldn’t get them out in just one cycle through the washing machine.

A real question would only have 4 possible answers: I just wanted to show you a wider range of wrong answers. The first thing you should notice is that all ideas are attributed to authors. The question begins “According to Todd Gitlin.” This is the humanities–people debate things and take up different positions. We want you to understand how those positions fit together, which means first knowing who said what.

Now, let’s walk through the answers.

a. Gitlin rehearses this position but dismisses it as insufficient (remember his discussion of why he and his friends play basketball?)
b. A commonsensical answer, but one not found anywhere in the readings or lectures.
c. The correct answer. Gitlin turns to Simmel’s analysis of the blasé attitude brought on by the money economy (to operate in modern bureaucracy, we essentially turn away from our own emotions).
d. Sort of, kind of, Carolyn Marvin’s answer to the question. Not quite right, and anyway, we asked you for Todd Gitlin’s answer.
e. A total non-sequitur (and not true!), though it is within the realm of possibility that the correct answer will reject the premise of the question. Also the opposite of what Gitlin argues.
f. Lots of phrases from Hall’s essay used in a nonsense sentence.
g. Thank you, I’m here all week. Please tip your bartender. And try the fish.

IN CONCLUSION, it’s probably a good idea to practice, which is why I made you the quiz. Take it with a friend and reason through the answers, or take it with your coursepack and notes in front of you so you can figure things out.

For the actual final, you are allowed a single study sheet — 8.5″ by 11″, double-sided, single layered, in your own handwriting only (not typed, photocopied, silkscreened or long-penned) with your name and ID on it, and to be turned in with the final.

Final Exam — 11 December, 2pm

posted on November 2, 2009
by | Filed Under Announcements

or at least that’s what the tentative final exam schedule says. Location TBA. The exam office decides, so I’m simply reporting. Whatever they say goes.

keep looking »