PUBLIC
ANTHROPOLOGY'S
COMMUNITY ACTION WEBSITE
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TIMELINE
for EACH ACTION PERIOD
(Or
What Happens When)
http://www.publicanthropology.org/Yanomami/GeneralMaterials/Brief-Summary-Guide-2007.htm
http://www.publicanthropology.org/Yanomami/a-Teachers-FAQs.htm
TIME LINE FOR THE ACTION WEBSITE (What Happens When)
1. PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE ACTION PERIOD (1a-1f)
2. FIRST WEEK OF THE ACTION PERIOD (2a-2h)
3. SECOND WEEK OF THE ACTION PERIOD (3a-3g)
4.
THIRD WEEK OF THE ACTION PERIOD
(MONDAY – WEDNESDAY, THREE DAYS ONLY) (4a-4d)
5. EVALUATION OF STUDENTS’ LETTERS (5a-5e)
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PROJECT OVERVIEW
Through Public Anthropology's Community Action Website, introductory anthropology students experience anthropology as more than the material presented in lectures and books. They participate in addressing important ethical concerns within the discipline that relate to the discipline’s place in the world today. Using the internet to draw students at various universities together into an intellectual community, the Community Action Website encourages students to address ethical issues that lie at the interface of anthropology and the contemporary world.
Anthropology is a historically unique project. No other intellectual project in world history has mobilized so many scholars with such energy to understand others different from themselves with less concern for conquest or financial gain. It is a noble endeavor. But it is a project that does not stand alone. Anthropology exists within a set of Western societies that have fostered it, and that is the problem. As the Yanomami controversy shows, anthropologists have gotten caught up in the imperial politics of their societies as well as the politics of their own discipline. It is a constant tension: seeking to move beyond our societies, we very much remain part of them. But whatever the failures, it does not mean the vision is dead. The beliefs that inspired the discipline remain very much alive. But we must nourish them – as we strive to do with the Community Action Website – if they are to flourish today.
TIME
LINE FOR THE ACTION WEBSITE
(What Happens When)
1. PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE ACTION PERIOD
1a. ALL students participating in the project should register at www.publicanthropology.net at least one week prior to the beginning of their Action Period. Registration includes (1) filling out the information required when one clicks on CREATE A NEW STUDENT ACCOUNT. The student should use AN EMAIL ADDRESS THAT THE STUDENT LOOKS AT LEAST ONCE A DAY. This is important. (2) A verification email is then sent to the student who, by clicking on it confirms this is the student’s email address. (3) The student is brought, by clicking on the code, to a set of additional web pages that need be filled out to associate the students with a particular teacher and class. (The whole registration process is described at http://www.publicanthropology.org/Yanomami/DirectionsForStarting.htm .) The registration concludes with students paying a $10.00 registration fee at PayPal for both the min-book and use of the Website. A teacher or TA can also collect the $10.00 fee if a student does not have a credit card. (The collected money is forwarded to The Center for a Public Anthropology, 707 Kaha St. Kailua, HI 96734 in the form of a check.)
1b. Students receive the on-line version of the YANOMAMI mini-book free with their registration, by going to their personal web pages once they have registered and clicking on the appropriate link on the left side of the page (i.e. on the vertical navigation bar). They can read the material on-line or, if they prefer, they can print out in hard copy.
1c. The webmaster registers ALL teachers and TA/GSIs at the beginning of the semester. Both the teachers and the TA/GSIs will receive a verification email from the Website, after I have registered them, which they need click on to see to their personal web pages with, importantly, their dashboards (charts of how their classes are progressing on various assignments). Teachers need send the Webmaster their TA/GSIs names and email addresses prior to the beginning of the semester so he can set up the TA websites. The registration password for both teachers and TA/GSIs is initially welcome -- all small letters. (You can remember the password because it is the first word of text on the www.publicanthropology.net home page.) Teachers and TA/GSIs are free to change the password to something less obvious. They simply click on FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD? RESET YOUR ACCOUNT at www.publicanthropology.net and follow the instructions provided.
1d. If you
have an Apple MAC, you need to use either SAFARI by Apple or FIREFOX
by Mozilla as your Web Browser. YOU SHOULD NOT USE MS INTERNET EXPLORER. Details
on how to download Mozilla’s FIREFOX are listed at: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
1e. If you have any problems registering, you should look at the HELP SECTION on the WELCOME page at www.publicanthropology.net and, if these do not work, email the webmaster at: webmaster@publicanthropology.org. He will be glad to help.
1f. If students have trouble registering on to the website, they should follow three steps sequentially to solve their problems. (1) FIRST, students should READ THE DIRECTIONS on the navigation bar on the left side of the home screen (www.publicanthropology.net) for creating their accounts. This step solves the majority of students' problems. ( 2)SECOND, if reading the directions fails to solve the problem, students should look at HELP! SOLUTIONS TO SIX COMMON PROBLEMS on the navigation on the left of the home screen. There are only five or six problems students usually run into and the solutions to all of them are described in the HELP section. (3) THIRD, if the information in the HELP section fails to solve the problem, you should tell students to email the webmaster at: webmaster@publicanthropology.net. This is important. You need not address such problems yourself if you prefer not to. You simply forward them on to the webmaster who makes every effort to respond within three to five hours with a solution (unless of, of course, the student is on the east coast and, because of the time lag, the webmaster is asleep in Hawaii).
1f. If the on-line YANOMAMI mini-book is a required assignment, students should read through the 106 pages of text prior to the start of the Action Period. If it is an optional reading assignment, prior to the beginning of the Action Period would be a good time for students to complete the optional assignment. “A Personal Note to Undergraduates” (pages XIII-XV) instructs students in how to read the book at a fairly quick pace. The key chapter is Chapter 6, especially the “Questions to Ponder.” Students should spend roughly two hours on the assignment.
2. FIRST WEEK OF THE ACTION PERIOD
2a. All students registered on the Website are notified by email at the start of their Action Period. The email instructs them to log on to their personal web page and follow the directions in the pink highlighted area. Until the student completes the assignment, the student receives an email each day.
2b. Students log on at www.publicanthropology.net and, as noted in the highlighted pink area, are told to: (1) read certain background information, (2) examine the criteria for what constitutes a good letter, and (3) write their own letters. The links to each of these pages are clearly marked in both the text on the student's personal web page AND on the navigation bar at the left side of the screen. The BACKGROUND INFORMATION is critical reading for students. They need to read it to complete the assignment. They will not know what they are supposed to write about nor to whom they should address their letters if they do not read this material.
2c. Please note: Students should write their letters in a word processing program – such as MS Word – and then copy and paste it into the space provided. This way they are able to use a professional spell checker as well as have an extra copy if, for some reason, they push the wrong bottom when they try to submit the letter to the system and the letter gets erased (a rare occurrence but it has occurred once or twice).
2d. The due date for the assignment, as specified on the student’s website, is five days after the Action Period begins (i.e. on Friday). In actual fact, the website closes off to all further letter submissions on Sunday night (i.e. seven days after the Action Period begins). Since a some students -- for one reason or another -- miss the Friday deadline, the two extra days allow teachers flexibility in extending the deadline and/or tracking down those who fail to complete the assignment in the specified time.
2e. If a student misses the formal Sunday deadline, she or he is dropped from the Yanomami Community Action Website and cannot participate further in the project. A teacher may – at his or her discretion – allow students who missed the formal Sunday deadline to pass in a written letter. However, the letter will NOT be graded within the Community Action Website nor does the student participate in the evaluation of other students’ letters. The student’s letter is graded by the teacher independent of the Action Website.
2f. If students have trouble logging on to the website, with various links, and/or in submitting their letters, you should tell them to (1) look at HELP! SOLUTIONS TO SIX COMMON PROBLEMS on the navigation bar on the left side of the home screen (www.publicanthropology.net). There are only five or six problems students tend to run into and the solutions to all of them are described in the HELP SECTION. (2) If the information in the HELP SECTION fails to solve a problem, students should email the webmaster at: webmaster@publicanthropology.net. This is important. You need not address such problems yourself if you prefer not to. You simply forward them on to the webmaster who makes every effort to respond within three to five hours with a solution (unless of, of course, the student is on the east coast and, because of the time lag, the webmaster is asleep in Hawaii).
2g. Students complete their three assigned TA/GSIsks (described under 2a) during the first week – culminating in their written letter. They are not allowed to proceed on to the second section prior to the beginning of the second week (when that section is automatically opened and section one is closed.)
2h. Teachers can track the progress of the whole class through the dashboard that is on their personal web pages. TA/GSIs can track the progress of the students in their sections. By clicking on the listed links in the dashboard, teachers and TA/GSIs can also track the progress of individual students. You can obtain a list of which students have and have not completed the required assignment up to the moment you are looking at the dashboard.
2i. There is a new feature that all teachers and soon all TA/GSIs will be able to use this semester. As noted an email is sent each day to students who have not completed their assignments to complete their assignments. (Those who have completed the assignment for the week are NOT sent an email.) If teachers and TA/GSIs would like to add their own personal notes to the email below the standard message -- to exhort, encourage, or warn students to complete the assignment -- they go to MY ACCOUNT and click on reminder emails. They then click on the appropriate email depending on the date they wish to send their message, click on that email reminder, and then type in their message. Students who receive the email will receive the teacher's (or TA/GSIs) comments in bold blue right below the standard message.
2j. If you wish, you can at anytime log on to a student's web page and see what the student is seeing. To do so, you need to click on the students name (from one of the various links on the dashboard such as MY STUDENTS). You will see, for the first two lines, the students, first and last names. The next two lines, include the student's email and whether or not the student has created and account AND click on the link sent to the student so the student can complete the registration. (A YES not to verified means the student has completed the registration process.) The next two lines specify Community Access -- whether the student has been locked out because the student failed to complete an assignment on time (i.e. the Sunday deadline) -- and Review Password. TO LOG ON TO A STUDENT'S WEBSITE, all you do is go to www.publicanthropology.net and log in using the student's email AND the Review Password list for the student. That is it. Once you know a student's email and Review Password you can log on to her or his web page at any time.
3. SECOND WEEK OF THE ACTION PERIOD
3a. All students who have completed the first week’s assignment – submitted a letter – are notified by email when Section Two of the Website opens early Monday morning of the second week. A student receives an email each day during the second week reminding the student of the assignment until the student submits it.
3b. Students log on to the www.publicanthropology.net website and, following the directions on their personal web page, (1) read descriptions of the five criteria students will use in evaluating the four letters sent to them. They then (2) evaluate these four letters – comparing two at a time and deciding which is better on each of the five evaluation criteria. The letters are compared to one another in the following order: A/B, A/C, A/D, B/C, B/D, C/D. When students, complete their evaluations, they submit them to the website.
3c. The due date for the assignment, as specified on the student’s website, is five days after the beginning of Section Two (i.e. on Friday). In actual fact, the website closes off to all further letter submissions on Sunday night (i.e. seven days after the beginning of Section Two). Since some students -- for one reason or another -- miss the specified deadline, the two extra days allow teachers a certain flexibility in extending the deadline and/or tracking down those who have not completed the assignment.
3d. If a student misses the formal Sunday deadline, the student is dropped from the Community Action Website and cannot participate further in the project. The student’s failure to complete the assignment is treated seriously. It means that four students will not receive a full set of evaluations. There is no backup position for these students. Students who fail to complete the evaluations are deemed to have failed the Project. These students do not get to see how their letters were graded by other students. (Only their teachers are able to see this information.)
3e. Many students, once they have completed Section Two, are eager to see how their own letters have been evaluated. But students cannot see this information until Section Three opens (Monday morning of the third week). The evaluations need to be sorted and calculated. This only occurs after the Sunday night deadline.
3f. If students have trouble logging on to the website, with various links, and/or completing their evaluations, let me repeat, you should tell them to (1) look at the HELP! SOLUTIONS TO SIX COMMON PROBELMS section. (2) If the information in HELP! SOLUTINS TO SIX COMMON PROBLEMS fails to solve the problem, students should email the webmaster at: webmaster@publicanthropology.net. To repeat what was stated abvoe, neither teachers nor TA/GSIs need address students problems if they prefer not to. You simply forward them on to the webmaster who makes every effort to respond within three to five hours with a solution (unless of, of course, the student is on the east coast and, because of the time lag, the webmaster is asleep in Hawaii).
3g. As in Section One, teachers can track the progress of the whole class, TA/GSIs of students in the sections they are responsible for. You can see which students have and have not submitted their evaluations up to the moment you are looking at the data.
3h. There is a new feature that all teachers and soon all TA/GSIs will be able to use this semester. As noted an email is sent each day to students who have not completed their assignments to complete their assignments. (Those who have completed the assignment for the week are NOT sent an email.) If teachers and TA/GSIs would like to add their own personal notes to the email below the standard message -- to exhort, encourage, or warn students to complete the assignment -- they go to MY ACCOUNT and click on reminder emails. They then click on the appropriate email depending on the date they wish to send their message, click on that email reminder, and then type in their message. Students who receive the email will receive the teacher's (or TA/GSIs) comments in bold blue right below the standard message.
3i. If you wish, you can at anytime log on to a student's web page and see what the student is seeing. To do so, you need to click on the students name (from one of the various links on the dashboard such as MY STUDENTS). You will see, for the first two lines, the students, first and last names. The next two lines, include the student's email and whether or not the student has created and account AND click on the link sent to the student so the student can complete the registration. (A YES not to verified means the student has completed the registration process.) The next two lines specify Community Access -- whether the student has been locked out because the student failed to complete an assignment on time (i.e. the Sunday deadline) -- and Review Password. TO LOG ON TO A STUDENT'S WEBSITE, all you do is go to www.publicanthropology.net and log in using the student's email AND the Review Password list for the student. That is it. Once you know a student's email and Review Password you can log on to her or his web page at any time.
4.
THIRD WEEK OF THE ACTION PERIOD
(MONDAY – WEDNESDAY, THREE
DAYS ONLY)
4a. All students who are have submitted a letter and completed their evaluations are notified by email when the third week of the Action Period begins. Students receive emails, each of the three days Section Three is open, encouraging them to log on to the website and follow the instructions for the pink highlighted area.
4b. Students log on to the www.publicanthropology.net website and, following the directions in the pink highlighted area of their personal web page, read (1) how their own letters were evaluated as well as (2) the Action Period’s winning letters. The evaluation of their letters includes: (a) a list of the schools that participated in evaluating that student’s letter, (b) a percentage score for each of the five criteria used in the evaluation (indicating how the student ranked among the students who participated in the Action Period), and (c) a percentage score for the letter as a whole. Please note that the five criteria are weighted differently so the total score is not an average of the five separate criteria.
4c. Students have the option to affirm support for one or more of the winning letters. Supporting particular letters adds political “umpf” to these letters – it makes them more salient to the person receiving them since the letters have a large number of additional signatures attached to them. While students are encouraged to support one or more letters, they are NOT required to. They may support as many or as few letters as they wish.
4d. The Community Action Website Project ends on the Wednesday of the third week. Students – if they have submitted both their letters and evaluations on time – can go back during the semester and read their letters as well as the evaluations of them. (They cannot go back and review the letters of the students they evaluated.)
5. EVALUATION OF STUDENTS’ LETTERS
5a. Teachers are able to examine the scores of all students in the class. TA/GSIs are able to examine the scores of all students in their sections. These scores remain on the website throughout the system so teachers and TA/GSIs can do their evaluations in a leisurely manner. Teachers and TA/GSIs can print their students’ scores out – either organized hierarchically by grade or alphabetically by name.
5b. Teachers and TA/GSIs can evaluate/grade the letters in one of two ways. The easiest way is to accept the total grade provided by the student’s peers. If a teacher or TA wishes to examine a student’s work more closely, the teacher or TA can look at not only the letter itself but the scores the student received on each of the five criteria by logging on to the student's website and examining this information.
5c. If teachers wish to print out the letters and grades of ALL THE STUDENTS in their class – so they can read particular letters along with their scores – rather than just a print out of their scores – teachers have one one of two options: (a) to save paper, students’ letters and scores can be printed continuously, so more than one student may be listed on the same page depending on the length of the letters involved or (b) students letters can be printed so each letter begins on a separate page (used if you want to separate out various students’ letters from others.) The former uses less paper than the latter.
5d. A fall-back position, with the above grading procedure, is to indicate a willingness to independently grade a letter if a student feels particularly upset at the grade received from other students. The easiest way to do this is to request that the student submit a brief explanation of why the student feels the letter was graded unfairly. The student should understand the teacher’s or TA’s grading may result in a higher or lower grade than that received from the students in the Project. Few students seem to request their letters be regraded. But a willingness to do so means that students need not feel at the whim of their peers, particularly if they take an unpopular stance in their letters.
5e. If teachers prefer, they can print out all the letters, as indicated in 5c above, and personally grade them.