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Episode
Content Requirements
You will work on each episode for two weeks: first content (research)
and then presentation (publish).
During each research week, review the content guidelines on this page before
submitting the draft of your episode. Each Episode needs to include a title,
the main content, and a notes area, as described below.
A. Title
Episodes need titles! Although I will be referring to Episode #1, Episode #2,
etc., in the assignments for this class, you should not refer to the Episodes
by their numbers on your website: every one of your Episodes should have a title,
and the navigation throughout the site should use the title of the Episode,
not just a number. If you think it will be helpful to include numbers with your
titles, that is fine (for example, "Episode #1: Hippocrates and the Bladder").
B. Main Content
Each Episode must show engagement
with (1) a secondary source for background knowledge, and with (2) a primary
source that provides evidence or a warrant for the claims made. In addition,
each Episode must go beyond description to advance (3) an interpretation or
perspective that shows how it is meaningful to you.
Proofread, spellcheck,
and do a word count:
The Main Content of each Episode, not counting bibliography and other notes,
should not be less than 800 nor more than 1500 words long.
Here is more information about each
of these three content requirements:
- Secondary source (background and context): Just as each
weekly topic in this course begins with general background
knowledge, so each Episode must cite at least one printed secondary source
or link to at least one online secondary source that provides reliable
professional historical context and background.
- PROFESSIONAL CRITERIA: The secondary source must meet
at least one of the following three criteria:
- published in a professional journal for the history of science,
- written by a professional historian of science, or
- written by someone who can be named and has obvious knowledge of
the primary sources.
- If an article is written by a professional scientist it must satisfy
either criterion #1 or criterion #3.
- If a web page is provided by a company, such as a science textbook
corporation, it still needs to satisfy at least one of the above three
criteria or it will not count.
- If you're not sure whether a secondary source qualifies, use more
than one, or just drop me an email to find out. (Tip: Use
the Isis Bibliography
for the History of Science to find articles online that will count
as professional secondary sources.)
- TEXTBOOKS AND ASSSIGNED READINGS:
- To get ideas and a basic background for your project, check the
indexes and tables of contents for your textbooks.
- Although you should cite them in bibliographic notes, your textbooks
and assigned readings do not count as your required
secondary source.
- Most web projects will touch on topics discussed in the texts and
assigned readings, so please indicate in a bibliographic note
all relevant places in the assigned readings.
- Although you should summarize any kind of background knowledge necessary
to make your project accessible to anyone, your research should
go beyond the level of detail covered in the assigned readings.
Regard the assigned readings as a starting point, as what you can
expect your fellow students to know, and go on from there. Glance
ahead at the readings assigned later in the course, both online and
in the textbooks. If your topic is treated in only a tangential fashion
in the assigned readings, then you only need to go beyond that brief
treatment. However, if your topic is dealt with in detail
in the readings assigned for this class, then you will need to go
into correspondingly greater detail by making your episode
more precisely focused.
Look
out for sources suggested as "Starting Points for further exploration"
on many weekly assignment pages. These sources generally provide an
ideal place to go to discover reliable secondary sources that go beyond
the level of detail covered in the assigned readings.
- Primary Source (evidence): Just as each weekly topic in
this course is enhanced with readings of primary
sources, so each Episode must cite or link to at least one relevant primary
source to document the warrant for your claims.
- What qualifies as a primary source? Short quotations found
in secondary sources or on general web pages do not count: your research
should bring you in touch with at least one actual primary source that
is relevant to each Episode. You need to show that you have read in an
original primary source, either by demonstrating familiarity with its
contents or by including quotations.
- Finding primary sources: Remember that during the Week
1 Web Project Assignment you found examples of English translations
of primary sources in the library catalog and online. If you're not sure
what primary source might be relevant for your project, just drop me an
email and tell me what you are interested in doing.
- Tip: It's often a good idea to find and select an interesting
primary source before you choose your Episode topic. Plan the Episode
around a great primary source, rather than vice-versa.
- Interpretation (meaning): Each Episode must provide an
interpretation, not just a description. Just as in the weekly Interpretation
essay you go beyond the background knowledge and the primary sources to
express your own personal take on the week, so you should make your episode
meaningful by providing a point of view or perspective.
- Here's a good test of whether you have provided more than a description:
make sure your readers can identify what you are agreeing or disagreeing
with. If they can't tell what you stand for, then you probably don't have
an interpretation.
- Don't just dispense knowledge; try to start a conversation!
C. Notes
In a separate notes area on each Episode web page, provide the following four
notes:
- Bibliography. Each Episode needs to include a bibliography
of your primary and secondary sources. Make sure you follow the Bibliography
Guidelines, and include citations to all relevant places in the textbooks
and assigned readings.
- Primary Source Note: How did you use your
sources in order to create your own Interpretation of the episode? Did you
summarize or paraphrase your sources? Did you convey your perspective by style
(e.g., satire) or writing strategy (e.g., fictional dialogue)? Nearly always
you will have included quotations from your primary source in the main content
of each Episode, but if it is not obvious how you relied upon your
primary source, be sure to explain it here. Also explain any unusual
features of your primary source, if necessary. The more detailed information
you provide here, the better!
- Secondary Source Note. This note is an assessment
of the author's professional
reliability: Which of the three criteria of reliability does
your secondary source meet? For example, does your secondary source meet criteria
#3, but not #1 nor #2? Here is a sample reliability assessment: "My secondary
source is reliable because the author shows familiarity with the primary sources,
despite the fact that she is not a professional historian of science and did
not publish this in a professional journal."
- Image Information. Make sure you follow the Image
Citation Guidelines.
Tips
Please spend some reflective time researching
your episode! Try to learn something of the background and read something of
at least one relevant primary source before you begin writing your own interpretation
of the Episode.
Don't forget to spellcheck
and proofread
every Web Project assignment! Spelling and grammar count as part of the grade;
see Writing Tips and Guidelines.
Really? You mean that I could lose 1 point per misspelled word per episode?
Yes. Spellcheck and proofread, and check out the writing tips!
Write the Episode 100% in your own words. Do not use the words of other websites
or sources. Above all, do not cut-and-paste, telling yourself that you will
change it later on into your own words. If you cut-and-paste, or follow your
sources sentence by sentence, this will be considered plagiarism,
which is a violation of the Honor
Code for this class.
Really? You mean that I could have my semester grade lowered by one letter
if I cut-and-paste from another source and forget to put it in quotation marks
or add a bibliographic citation?
Yes. Practice disciplined research and writing habits so that you will not
accidentally make such a huge mistake.
"No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding." Plato
