Grades and quizzes

We are getting closer to our vacations and Easter week, but before that, we need to take the two final quizzes.

BOTH sections will come on Thursday at 1:30 to the Big Lab (EGE 214) and will take the quizzes together. First, you will take the vocabulary quiz without dictionary and then the argumentation quiz with dictionary. If anyone needs to take the exam before 1:30, let me know and come to my office at 11:30 a,m, on Thursday. Send me an email to bleiva@usb.ve to make a classroom reservation.

The Departmental exam grades are ready and posted. As we had predicted, the scores are lower compared to first exam ;-( since the rhetorical functions were more difficult and you are probably tired because of the end of the term and I might not be the best teacher, ha, ha ... The average for section 20 at 1:30 was 14.93/25 and for section 24 at 3:30 was 15.23/25

If you want to see your departmental exam, come by my office Thursday at 11:30.

Donate water to the world!!!

See how many cups of water you can donate by testing your knowledge about the world. Each correct answer means you will be donating 10 cups. Good luck!

How far would you go to end poverty? Your mission here is to locate the place given to you [e.g. Rome, Italy] and how many cups of water we donate on your behalf depends on how accurate your answer is. Once you have located one city or landmark, another location will be shown to you. You may play the game however many times you wish. Of course, the more you play and the more you are correct, the greater difference you will make with your donation.

Are you ready to go out?

Since we mentioned the subject in class when we were discussing Argumentation, I thought you would like to know that a USB architecture student was among the seven young latinamericans who got an award in a video contest about "Your life, your decision" organized during the World Day for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.

Her video is entitled "Are you ready to get out? Try to watch the video and reflect about the message that she is trying to convey. Post your comments. If it does not open here, go to this link. It is the 21st video on the left column. I hope you find it ;-)

More information here.

Your position

What are we doing with the information that we get? Is it helping us make better decisions and live better lives? In this video of a bit less than 5 minutes (audio is mostly music) identify if there is one point of view or more. Then write a comment on your position. Do you agree or disagree? Is information helping us or not?

Points of view

In argumentation we have mentioned "points of view" and how when there is more than one, a controversy might arise. Watch the following video which lasts less than a minute and then write your reaction to it in the comment area. What did you think at the very beginning? Were you right? Have you ever had a similar experience?


The Guardian Point Of View - The best free videos are right here

The machine is us ...ing us

Watch this video to check if you are a digital kid from the 21st century.

How close do you feel to Web 2.0 technology? How much do you know about what is going on in the world of Internet? Do you just chat and send email or is there something else you do? Have you ever set up your own webpage, blog, wiki? Are you registered at Facebook, Myspace, Hi5 or any other social network? How often do you surf the net? Do you know what Del.ici.ous is? How about rss?

You don´t have to answer all of these 8 questions but we would love to know more about you and your net habits and knowledge.

Inference and conclusion exercises

I scanned some exercises where there are conclusion and inference multiple choice questions. I hope you have the time to do them and get some practice before our second departmental. I also included the answer key at the end. Please write to me in case of doubts (bleiva@usb.ve) Best of luck !!!

Homework debate

Here is a discussion on homework at the university level. The transcript is in this site, in case you do not understand the audio. There is also a quiz to check your comprehension in that page.

1) Is there a balanced view on this subject, just one point of view or more than one position?

2) Do they include evidence or facts to prove their positions?

3) What is YOUR position? Do you think there should be homework at the university or not?

Do you need to be told what to do, like doing assignments and practicing, or are you responsible enough to do what you are supposed to?

More information if you want to read about research on the pros and cons of homework.

Here is a sample of our next argumentation exam on Thursday April 2nd (week 12).

Are you an auditory learner? Do you learn better when you listen?

Check this link, where not only you will be able to read but also listen to a study about "sleep".

After reading and listening to this text, tell us if you would change your sleeping habits and why. Was there something in this research that had an impact on you to make such change? Did you find cause-effect relationships in this text?

In case you liked this link, here is another.

Miracle flight in New York

Maybe you heard about this. Anyway, here is more information on this flight. Watch the video on the minutes it took the pilot to solve the situation. Why were birds involved in this situation? Be patient as the video may take time to download.



What would you have done if you had been on that plane?
Is flying on a plane safer than driving a car or crossing a street? You can read more here.

Argumentation: There was no moon landing

Guillermo Arturo posted a link to a Youtube video during week 3, but I waited until now to mention it because I thought it was a controversial topic more appropriate for argumentation. Some think that the landing was fake.

Here is in English



Here a Spanish version




More on the moon landing. What do YOU think? Did it happen or it didn´t?

Are the arguments well presented, convincing, superficial?

Last song syndrome = song-stuck in your head

In our unit on hypothesis, there are three aspects we will be identifying in the articles we read:

1) the problem or phenomenon.

2) the hypothesis or hypotheses in the article to explain the problem or phenomenon.

3) facts and opinions.

Read the following web sites (1, 2, 3) and identify these elements. Write your answers in the comment´s area.

Have you heard about LSS? Has this phenomenon ever happened to you? Had you thought of a possible hypothesis to explain this phenomenon?

By the way, here is a sample of the next hypothesis quiz.

Fact or opinion

Here are some exercises in case you would like to practice a bit more. There are many "grey" cases that could be either fact or opinion, depending on points of view.

Easy 1
Easy 2
Medium
Medium 2
Medium 3
Medium 4
Medium 5
Difficult

Nazca Lines

Find out about this phenomenon in this link known as Nazca Lines.

In the middle of the Nazca desert, Peru, there are massive animal shapes. These are known as the Nazca lines, and are the subject of much discussion over their unknown origin. The largest is almost 900 feet in size. The main confusion over these markings is that while impressive in scope and appearance, there would seem to be no real means for the creators to have SEEN their creations.

WHY?
There are a number of theories as to why the Nazca lines were built. The most popular is that they are creations of some religious significance. In the area in which they were made, Solar Eclipses are common, and it has been theorized that these images may be designed to be viewed not by man, but by ‘The Eye in the Sky’. A variation on this theme is that the lines were walked along, in a kind of religious practice similar to the practice of Labyrinth walking.

Another theory would be the obvious concept of artistic merit or beauty, though it’s difficult to imagine why one would make such an incredible piece of art, when nobody could possibly be able to see it, but we’ll revisit this briefly when we look at the Hows.

There’s also a theory that the markings were made on account of Extra Terrestrial life, though there is little evidence to this effect. One drawing that comes up regularly in relation to this theory is one referred to as 'The Astronaut', which has a resemblance to a spaceman.

HOW
One theory, again, a favorite, is that the lines were made simply through good mathematics. The area would be graphed into squares, the image drawn on graph paper, and the image converted to its epic scale.

There is a theory though, that the creators would have in fact been able to view their creation through the aid of hot air balloons that would have been used to ensure the quality of production. This could also lend a little more weight to the idea of the images as art designed for human eyes. This theory is further given credibility by researcher Jim Woodmann who proved that it was possible to make a functional hot air balloon with technology and material available to the Nazcas, but the theory is as yet neither proven nor disproved.

Have you heard about the CROP LINES or CIRCLES? Are they similar to the Nazca Lines? How are they different or similar? Are they hoaxes?

Write your comments about these phenomena.