The Undergraduate Environmental Science Class

My environmental science class is starting a new set of blogs in lieu of writing a term paper.  Have given them a few blogs to look at including wodmasters website.  Will provide more details later. 

Continuing work on your blog

As of today, everyone should have made at least 3 on-topic posts.  Be sure to include references (2) for posts if you want credit for them.  Take a look at your classmates' work.  Many of them are awesome.  You can include videos, pictures, discuss different points of view and make reading suggestions to your readers.   You can also add relevant links.  You can create links to your classmates' blogs. 

Please have your blog posts up before the end of the day when we have exams.

For those of you who are education majors consider how you might incorporate blogging into student experiences.  Research indicates students are more likely to maintain their blogs when the topic interests them.  This probably will not surprise you.  However, from personal experience, I've found many students have difficulty deciding on a topic and that that keeps them from being productive.  The goal of having you blog is to help you become comfortable writing and finding information.  If you are not comfortable please visit with me.  I also hope you learn something about a specific area of biology. 

Students (you included) may wish to consider building on their blogs throughout their academic careers.  Blogs can be great places to share what you have uncovered.  They can also be great places to store your ideas and references. 

References:

Freeman W, Brett C.  2012.  Prompting authentic blogging practice in an online graduate course.  Computers & Education.  59(3): 1032-1041.

Harlan MA, Bruce C, Lupton M.  2012.  Teen Content Creators: Experiences using information to learn.  Library Trends.  60(3): 569-587. 

How to make a good science post: avoiding plagiarism.

Here are a few pointers and reminders for making a good post for your blog.  Stay on topic.  Build on your blog as you learn more about it.  For a full-credit post you will need to write about your topic in your own words.  Cutting and pasting a few paragraphs from another website or copying text from another source is plagiarism.  Check out this website for more detailed descriptions of plagiarism and tips on avoiding plagiarism.  Plagiarism is a serious academic offense.  Consequences can be unpleasant and will vary depending on where you go to school.  Common punishments/consequences etc. are:

1. Getting a Zero for the assignment
2. Failing the course
3. Being referred to the Dean's office 
4. Being placed on academic probation
5. Dismissal from Honors Programs
6. Dismissal from school
7. Not being accepted to graduate or professional programs.  

Many colleges use a service called "Turnitin" that check student papers for plagiarism.  Its also very easy for faculty to plug your sentences into Google to look for matches.  That being said, I know most of you (my students in this class) are freshmen and may not understand what Plagiarism means.  You are now informed.  My students can review school policy on plagiarism by referring to the Student Handbook.  Do not plagiarize. For more info visit the TAMU Writing Center website.

 

Intro to Research Blogging: Topics 2012

MBBA and ALS

Bisphenol A

Lead poisoning

Mercury poisoning

Perchlorate

Arsenic and drinking water

SLUDGE syndrome

DDT

Particulates and Heart Disease

Particulates and Asthma

Grafting Veins

Biology of the Great Pacific Garbage Gyre

Lake Apopka Alligators

Atrazine and Frogs

Breeding endangered Rhinoceros

Invasive Pythons

Bio-remediation of perchlorate

Bee population changes

White Nose Syndrome

Zoonotic transmission

Intestinal parasites

Antler formation

Texas Horned Toads

Schistosomiasis

Asthma

Synergism of Tylenol and Alcohol

Malaria

Rhabdomyolysis

The hygiene hypothesis

Thyroid and Brain Development

West Nile Virus

Diabetes

Multi-drug resistance

Step by Step Instructions for Creating a Blog in Blogger

This link was posted by someone at the University of Michigan.  It gives very explicit written wdirections for setting up a blog in blogger.

Below is a video that you might find useful as well.  He's pretty chatty.

Intro to Science Blogging

Koala bears are important sources of funding for research projects

Use your first post to describe your topic and the purpose of your blog.  Assume that your readers are reasonably intelligent but unfamiliar with the subject. You can do this in the form of a short paragraph.  Writing a blog is different than writing a term paper.  You will gather bits of information and add them a little at a time over the course of the semester.  People who are reading blogs will skim your entry rather quickly.  Add pictures. Try listing your main points at the bottom or top of your post.  Add links so your reader can easily find your references or find additional information.

1. Introduce your readers to your topic.  What is it about?  Why is it important or interesting?
2. Add posts regularly.
3. Keep your entries short.  A few paragraphs are plenty.
4. Remember to include your citations at the bottom of your blog.
5. Add pictures, graphs, tables etc.
6. Add links.

Here are two example references.  You can follow this structure.

Steinmetz R, Brown NG, Allen DL, Bigsby RM, & Ben-Jonathan N (1997). The environmental estrogen bisphenol A stimulates prolactin release in vitro and in vivo. Endocrinology, 138 (5), 1780-6 PMID: 9112368  

Yang CZ, Yaniger SI, Jordan VC, Klein DJ, & Bittner GD (2011). Most plastic products release estrogenic chemicals: a potential health problem that can be solved. Environmental Health Perspectives, 119 (7), 989-96 PMID: 21367689