Discussion Posts & Short Assignments

ENG 21011-008 | Spring 2015 | Instructor: Emily Lamielle

VUCA READING QUESTIONS

This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 10.
After reading Shaffer and Zalewskis Career Advising in a VUCA Environment, post an original
response to the questions below:
1. How did Shaffer and Zalewski change your understanding of the definition of a career? What was
your previous understanding of a career? How do Shaffer and Zalewski define career?
2. Consider the acronym VUCA How might trends of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, or
ambiguity influence your chose career path? Be specific with details about your field/ industry.
3. Consider Shaffer and Zalewskis definitions of portfolio careers, protean careers and
boundaryless careers and how these career trajectories might exist in your field / industry. How will
you ensure job security in your chosen field/ industry?

LITERATURE REVIEW/ ANNOTATIONS TOPIC POST

This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 12.
In a 150-word post, describe your proposed topic/ focus for your literature review/ annotations
assignment. You must include:

The field/ industry you are focusing on.

3 sources that offer evidence of the current situation of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and/or
ambiguity regarding employment in this field/industry.
An understanding of how the arguments in these source connect/ relate to one another

DISCUSSION POST #9 FIELD OF STUDY: CAREER OPTIONS

This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 12.
Free write a 200-250 word post about the career you are interested in pursuing. Discuss the various
positions that you may hold as a professional in this field. Consider the class discussion on the new
definition for a career what do you think might be challenging about having a career in your field
according to this definition?

DISCUSSION POST #10 WHAT THE BEST COLLEGE

STUDENTS DO REFLECTION
This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17.
In a 200-250 word post, compose a reflection on the reading assigned on What the Best College Students
Do by Ken Bain, as well as the class discussion. Address the following points/ questions in a coherent
post:
Draw connections between surface, strategic and/or deep learners and the VUCA environment.
According to Bain, what makes an expert in a field of study? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Consider Bains research project and the type of evidence he uses to demonstrate his points in the sections
you read. From this reading, what did you learn about using supportive evidence and analyzing it in order
to prove a point?

ORGANIZATIONAL OUTLINE
This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 31.
Create an organizational outline for the research paper. View the research paper prompt, consider your
literature review and annotations assignment, and create an outline that demonstrates:
1. A working thesis statement.
2. Specific points that you will need to make in order to prove the thesis (write these as topic sentences
one per paragraph).
3. Transitions between paragraphs (how do the paragraphs connect?).
4. Research and evidence needed to support the topic sentence.
5. The importance of the evidence to your argument.
6. Post your outline here with appropriate labeling.

DISCUSSION POST #11 TOPIC SENTENCES AND EVIDENCE

This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 2.
For this assignment, revise your working thesis from your organizational outline based on the class lesson
on Tuesday, March 31. Then, consider the several points you will need to make in order to prove your
thesis and the evidence you will use to support each point. Be sure to address the research paper prompt
fully.
In this post, type revised working thesis. Then, type each point you will make followed by a sentence with
supporting evidence and the MLA parenthetical citation.
Your posts should be a minimum of one page.

DISCUSSION POST #12 4-PAGE DRAFT (ARGUMENT AND

EVIDENCE)
This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 7.
For this assignment, revise your working thesis and turn your outlines into body paragraphs with the
appropriate support and analysis. Your draft should demonstrate how you are starting your argument and
building paragraphs on one another to make your point.
Your post should be a minimum of four pages.

MODULE 4: PEER EDIT 3

Due Date: Thursday, April 9 at 10:30 AM on Blackboard
*Credit will only be given if all sections are fully completed according to the instructions below.

PEER EDITING PROCESS

1. Post your 5-Page Rough Draft to the Peer Edit 3 Submission Site no later than 9:00 AM on Thursday,
April 9.
2. Prepare for peer editing. Sit next to your partner when you come to class. Bring your SMH.
3. Peer edit in class using Microsoft Word Comments and ending with a full paragraph response
4. Post the edited document as a response to your peers original draft post no later than 10:30 AM on
Thursday, April 9.

PEER EDITING TECHNIQUES

Editing focuses on content-based feedback. You will offer feedback on the content of the paper, not
on grammatical and technical issues. Your feedback focuses on the writers thesis, evidence, support,
clarity, coherence of the paper, development of ideas, and transitions of paragraphs.
Editing focuses on global issues. What is the writers purpose? How does he/she communicate ideas?
Who is his/her audience? What evidence and support does he/she use? How does the writer analyze
the evidence?
Editing focuses on constructive comments. When you comment, explain why you are making the
comment. If you comment this idea is not clear, follow with a reason why (for example: this is not
clear because of wordiness and too many pronouns). If you comment that a point is good, explain
what the writer did specifically well (for example: here you do a nice job of transitioning between the
point of __ to the point of __ ).

USE CLASS LESSONS TO HELP YOU IN THE EDITING PROCESS.

Does the writer provide a topic sentence (point), support (evidence), demonstration of how the
support connects to the point (analysis), and connection to the thesis (so-what) in each paragraph?
Does the writer fully integrate each source?
Does the writer fully explain the solution and demonstrate how this researched plan for success will
address the VUCA environment in the specific field of study?

8-PAGE ROUGH DRAFT WITH WORKS CITED AND REVERSE

OUTLINE
This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 14.
Revise your draft and add the rest of your body paragraphs and conclusion to reach the 8-page
requirement. After you write your draft, prepare for class by completing the following revision
techniques:
Make a reverse outline using one short sentence to describe the point of each paragraph. Your outline
should be typed and added after the Works Cited page.
Highlight PEAS in each of your body paragraphs. (Point = yellow, Evidence = light blue, Analysis = light
green, So what = light pink)
Upload your 8-page draft with PEAS highlights, Works Cited, and Reverse Outline to this submission
site.

POSTER DRAFT AND DESIGN REASONING

This assignment is due by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21.
Reflect on the following questions in an 8-10 sentence paragraph:

What text and visuals do you need to convey your message?

What appeals might you use through these words and images?
Is your message concise?
What grid and alignment structure might you use?

Create a draft of your poster based on our class discussion on message, appeals, concise language, and
grids and alignment.
Upload the poster and design reasoning to this submission site.