the documents attached show the details for the assignment
PowerPoint Presentation Academic writing resources Assignment 2 Writing your essay – Part 1 102207 The Brain and Learning Clare Power Academic Literacy Coordinator, School of Education Your assignment Note-making Planning 1 2 THE ESSAY WRITING PROCESS ANALYSING THE QUESTION DRAFTING / REDRAFTING / FINAL EDIT 2 FORMING A POSITION WRITING RESEARCHING reading note- making Your assignment This assignment requires you to prepare and submit a 1500 word essay on ONE of the following essay questions: *Please note: you have a choice of 4 essay questions. Your essay should answer ONLY ONE of the questions listed below. Each essay question has 2 parts Part A “Key ideas” Discuss some ideas presented in these modules (e.g., social brain). Part B “Application of ideas to practice” How would you apply these ideas when instructing learners in education settings? (An educational setting could refer to a school classroom or workplace training environment). 3 Marking criteria PART A: KEY IDEAS Criteria 1 Discuss key ideas and explain the relationships between these ideas 15 marks Criteria 2 Integrates relevant research evidence to support discussion of key ideas. Uses a minimum of five scholarly sources – two of these must come from outside the reading list 10 marks PART B: APPLICATION OF IDEAS TO PRACTICE Criteria 3 Generates original examples to explain how key idea/s can be applied in an educational setting Criteria 4 Presents work professionally, with correct structure, clear academic writing and uses APA referencing style correctly. . 4 Note-taking for Assignment 2 – Essay Before you start taking notes, make sure that you are familiar with the essay question – that you know it so well that you can remember it as you are researching and reading. Check your understanding of the question in tutorials so that you know you are on the right track, and keep referring back to the marking criteria which is what you are being marked on! The examples of note-making and sample essay paragraphs below are based on the concept of the social brain. We suggest that you transfer the understanding and ideas that you gain from looking at these examples to your own reading, note-making and writing practice 5 DON’T SCRIMP ON NOTE-MAKING One stage that is frequently overlooked is the note-making stage. Taking an effective approach to note-taking can - enhance your critical thinking, - ensure that you are answering the question, - enable you to paraphrase accurately, - develop your voice as a writer, and - ultimately save you time. 3 column note-taking Reference detailsEvidence - Paraphrases and QuotesComments - this is where you critically engage with your notes and start to form ‘your voice’ (Author, title, date, publisher, place of pub’n etc.)Paraphrase the text i.e. write it in your own words Or Use “quotation marks” and note the page no. for all quotes i.e. anything you copy exactly from the original textWhy have you quoted or paraphrased this information/concept? Write your ideas/ interpretations, its significance etc. How will it help you to address your essay question Is it: a main idea, key point, recurring theme, different perspective, opposing viewpoint a supporting example 6 Example of note-taking for an essay on the social brain References EvidenceComments –developing student voice Dunbar, R.I.M. 2014 The Social Brain: Psychological underpinnings and implications for the structure of organisations. Current Directions in Psychological Science April 2014 vol. 23 no. 2 109-114 Sutcliffe, A; Dunbar, R., Binder, J. & Arrow, H. 2012. Relationships and the social brain: Integrating psychological and evolutionary perspectives. British Journal Of Psychology · May Volume 103, Issue 2, Pages 149–16 Blakemore, S.J. 2010. The Developing Social Brain: Implications for Education Volume 65, Issue 6, 25 March 2010, Pages 744–747There is a relationship between the volume of the neo-cortex and social group size - not just the group size but also the complexity of interactions The social brain hypothesis (SBH) explains why the brains of apes and monkeys are proportionally larger than other animals SBH means that the size of a social group can be predicted through neocortex size This article introduces the concept of Mentalising Relationships occur in multiples of 5 for eg. 5,15,50, 150 – human’s usually have a group size of about 150 The levels of intimacy decrease and the frequency of interaction with members of the larger groups Can look at the cost benefit analyses of relationships Neurocognitive development relies on social interaction The quality and impact of social interaction differs between face to face interactions and video or sound recordings mPFC medial prefrontal cortex activity decreases between adolescence and adulthood during mentalizing tasks Complexity seems to be an important factor Is it about meaningful interactions or just interactions? Does online interaction count? – Blakemore below draws on research that suggests face to face has qualitatively different impacts. Mentalising is very important because the development during the years that children are at school are when they are developing these competencies. GOOD TO THINK OF AN EXAMPLE IN RELATION TO THIS This article affirms Dunbar’s research – particularly in terms of explanation of SBH Wonder why fives, is this always the case , big leap from 50 – 150. How does this relate to class sizes in schools ? Cost benefit analyses - This is a way of looking at relationships that sounds very economic. Need to watch my resistance here. Blakemore strongly emphasises the need for real time, face to face interaction in developing the social brain. Different perspectives taken by researchers in their focus on the social brain 7 Chunking – making notes thematically Social brain hypothesis Mentalising Peer influence RefsEvidenceCommentsRefs Evidence Comments Refs Evidence Comments 8 Read the text carefully - you may need to read the text several times. Identify and underline the key words and main ideas in the text, and write these ideas down. Consider your purpose for using this information in relation to the structure of your assignment. Group the ideas under your own headings. Think about the attitude of the author, i.e. critical, supportive, certain, uncertain. Think about appropriate reporting verbs you could use to describe this attitude. Think of words or phrases which mean roughly the same as those in the original text. Remember, if the key words are specialised vocabulary for the subject, they do not need to be changed Using your notes from the above steps, draft your paraphrase. You might want to say it aloud as a first step. When you have finished your draft reread the original text and compare it to your paraphrase or summary. You can then check that you have retained the meaning and attitude of the original text. Paraphrasing 9 Reporting verbs – use them accurately – For eg. Don’t say Abill (2013) is arguing if Abill (2013)is describing illustratesstatespoints outdescribesremarks arguesaddssuggestsmaintainsasserts observesaffirmsagreesclaimsclarifies rejectsdisagreescontestscontendshighlights notesfinds/foundshowsimpliesdemonstrates believestheorisesofferspredictsquestions provesdisputesjustifiesconfirmsreasons considersindicatesputs forwardcounterselaborates 10 Essay plan Key idea Key idea Example Key idea Key idea Key idea Example Example Example Example Key idea Example 11 Sample paragraphs Writing your essay – Part 2 102207 The Brain and Learning assignment 2 Clare Power Academic Literacy Coordinator, School of Education Essay structure Paragraph structure Example paragraphs 1 Essay Structure A well structured essay has an Introduction –road map, navigational tool Body – the journey Conclusion – reiterating the highlights of the journey Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them. 2 Paragraph structure Topic sentence: states the main idea for the paragraph – usually a claim. Usually in your voice Support sentences (2 – 5 usually): provide examples, reasons, evidence to justify the main point in the topic sentence Concluding sentence (use where relevant. Often the flow of your discussion leads forward to the next point) Direct quotes should amount to less than 10% of your word count Paraphrase as much as possible Try to incorporate more than one source in each paragraph Avoid a long list of he says..she says. Show how ideas interconnect. Don’t just write ‘’According to Jackson, or Jackson states …. Use reporting verbs Jackson claims, Jackson suggests, Jackson explains, Jackson discusses . 3 Using evidence in body Try not to write whole sentences as quotes – Direct quotes should amount to less than 10% of your word count Use paraphrase of idea/s Try to incorporate more than one source in each paragraph Avoid a long list