Monthly Archives: February 2015

Project 1, Part 3, Introduction (REVISED)

Based on the peer review feedback that you received, I would like you to open your essay introduction word processing file and choose to File > Save As and add the word “revised” after the name that you originally gave the essay introduction. Then, use your peer review feedback to revise your introduction into a stronger form. Save your new, revised introduction, and copy-and-paste it into a comment to this blog post before Monday’s class.

Begin thinking ahead to your supporting paragraphs. We will work on these during class on Monday, but there’s no reason why you can’t begin writing these over the weekend. Bring any brainstorming and writing to class on Monday.

Reading: Jonathan Gottschall’s The Storytelling Animal, The Witchery of Story

As you know, we are switching our reading from John Medina’s Brain Rules to Jonathan Gottschall’s The Storytelling Animal. We will alternate our readings between Brain Rules and The Storytelling Animal according to the schedule on the syllabus.

During the first ten minutes of class, write a summary of your reading from Jonathan Gottschall’s The Storytelling Animal, The Witchery of Story. Consider these things in your response: How does Gottschall’s writing style compare to O’Shea, Marcus, and Medina? How is story important to the way we think and the way we communicate with others?

Before our next meeting, type up your response and post it as a comment to this blog post.

Reading: John Medina’s Brain Rules, “Exercise”

During the first ten minutes of today’s class, write your summary of John Medina’s Brain Rules, “Exercise.” Think about how exercise improves our cognition and brain health. You can also write about what kinds of exercise you enjoy, or what kinds of exercise you would like to check out. Remember to type up your handwritten summary and post it as a comment to this blog post.

Project 1, Part 2: Thinking Visually

Before class on Wednesday, post your Project 1, Part 2: Thinking Visually discussion here. Briefly, you should post a comment below that includes six links to photos that you have taken for this project and shared online. Each link should be followed by 2-3 sentences discussing how that photo represents your thinking or what you would like to focus your thinking on in the future. Refer to the Project 1 assignment sheet linked above for all instructions. We will discuss your photos in class on Wednesday, so please bring your photos on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc. if possible.

Reading: Gary Marcus’ Kluge, Chapter 1

During the first ten minutes of class, write a summary of your reading from the first chapter of Gary Marcus’ Kluge. Also, how would you compare Marcus’ writing to O’Shea’s? Before our next class on Monday, type up your summary and post it as a comment to this blog post.

Project 1, Part 1: Thinking in Writing

Before class on Wednesday, post your written response to Project 1, Part 1: Thinking in Writing in a comment to this blog post. Details from the assignment sheet are included below.

Choose a full day to carry your notebook (or notepad) with you. At least once every thirty minutes (at the top of the hour and at the bottom of the hour), spent a few minutes writing down what you have been or currently are thinking about. Include meta-information that provides context, such as where you are, what you were doing, what time you had that thought, whom you were with, etc. At the end of the day, you should have several pages of notes recorded. Some of your thoughts will be mundane, others might be insightful, and others might be daydreams about the past, present, or future. Try to capture as many of your thoughts as possible—those about surface matters and those of deeper importance.

Look for patterns in your thoughts. What do you see think about more often? What do you give little attention to? On reflection, what should you give more time and energy to thinking about? Write a 250-500 word comment to the appropriate blog post on our OpenLab site that addresses these questions. Discuss those patterns that you identified and include some of your thoughts in your short essay in quotation marks, and give each of those quoted thoughts some explanation using your contextual meta-data that you scribbled into your notes. Also, discuss what thoughts you think should receive more or less attention from you.

Reading: O’Shea’s “The Brain”

For today’s class, you read the first chapter from Michael O’Shea’s The Brain. Spend the first ten minutes of class writing a summary of your reading in your notebook. After class, type up your handwritten summary, save it on your computer/drive, and copy-and-paste it into a comment to this blog post. To receive credit, this has to be done before our next class.

Reading: “Neuromyths”

During the first ten minutes of class, write a summary in your notebook on your reading from BrainFacts.org’s “Neuromyths” post. In your response, indicate if you had been taught or heard people repeat these neuromyths.

Before our class on Monday, type your summary into a word processor and save a copy on your own media. Then, copy-and-paste what you wrote into a comment added to this blog post.