Honours project

• Use of pronouns in formal writing https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/pronouns/
• Tense in research writing https://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/connections/writing-about-your-research-verb-tense

Advice on giving feedback

• Commenting on assignments
  • avoid one word "good", "unclear" or "awkward"
  • what's the focus for the assignment
  • specific in the margin and general at the end
  • don't overwhelm the student - one to three comments per page
  • identify strengths and explain them
• Commenting on student papers
  • Use your comments on a student’s paper to highlight things the paper accomplishes well and a few major things that would most improve the paper.
  • Always observe at least one or two strengths in the student’s paper, even if they seem to you to be low-level accomplishments — but avoid condescension.
  • Don’t make exhaustive comments. They take up too much of your time and leave the student with no sense of priority among them.
  • Don’t proofread. If the paper is painfully replete with errors and you want to emphasize writing mechanics, count the first ten errors on the page, draw a line at that point, and ask the student to identify them and to show their corrections to you in office hours. S
  • Notice patterns or repeated errors (in content or form). Choose the three or four most disabling ones and direct your comments toward helping the students understand what they need to learn to do differently to correct this kind of error.
  • Use marginal notes to locate and comment on specific passages in the paper (for example “Interesting idea — develop it more” or “I lost the thread of the argument in this section” or “Very useful summary here before you transition to the next point”). Use final or end comments to discuss more global issues (e.g., “Work on paragraph structure” or “The argument from analogy is ineffective. A better way to make the point would be…”)
  • Maintain a catalogue of positive end comments: “Good beginning for a 1B course.” “Very perceptive reading.” “Good engagement with the material.” “Gets at the most relevant material/issues/passages.” Anything that connects specific aspects of the student’s product with the grading rubric is useful. (For more on grading rubrics, see the Grading section of the Teaching Guide.)
  • Diplomatic but firm suggestions for improvement: Here you must be specific and concrete. Try “The most strategic improvement you could make is…” Again, don’t try to comment on everything. Select only the most essential areas for improvement, and watch the student’s progress on the next draft or paper.
  • Typical in-text marks: Provide your students with a legend of your reading marks. Does a straight underline indicate “good stuff”? Does a wavy underline mean something different? Do you use abbreviations in the margins? You can find examples of standard editing marks in many writing guides, such as the Random House Handbook.
  • The tone of your comments on student writing is important to students. Avoid sarcasm and jokes — students who take offense are less disposed to learn.
  • Address the student by name before your end-comments, and sign your name after your remarks. Be professional, and bear in mind the sorts of comments that help you with your work.

Better presentations

• https://www.duskbeforethedawn.net/2015/05/notes-and-thoughts-on-edward-tufte-one-day-seminar/
• https://cathieleblanc.com/2018/11/18/edward-tufte-visualizing-data/
• https://www.panopto.com/blog/are-your-meetings-presentations-or-conversations/ (flipping meetings)

Resource ideas for talks

• Web3 cyber concerns