th before midnight, in the designated Courselink Dropbox
Value: 35% of you Final Grade
Late penalty: -2% (-0.7) per day, up to an absolute maximum of seven days.
Instructions:
The exam is in three parts. Complete Part I, Part II, and Part III.
Part I
Through the course we’ve discussed the practice of ‘collecting’ as a symbolic practice –
of placing things into some kind of orderly arrangement to give them a kind of
coherence or meaning. Your job here is to collect the ideas about Canada we’ve
covered in the course (esp. post-midterm) and organize them into a mind map that
paints a conceptual picture of Canada.
Below is a rough draft example from our first week of class when I asked everyone what
the big issues were in the news in Canada:
Your map should look back upon Canada now at the end of the course to provide a
richer portrait. Stronger attempts at this exercise will offer an angle or perspective or
focus on an aspect of Canadian society – so you will want to choose an overall theme
that gives the material focus (e.g., at the centre node, you might have a theme like
‘Canadian Identity’ or ‘Settler-Colonialism and Canada’ or ‘Inequality in Canada’ or
‘Canada and Nation-Building’ rather than just the word ‘Canada’ like the above
example). From this could extend (like branches) subthemes or key concepts, and from
there could further extend examples, all from our course materials. How you visualize
this all is somewhat open-ended.
You can draw your mind map by hand, or using one of the many mind-mapping
websites out there – the UofG library has a list of recommended ones, and the one I
used for the example above was whimsical.com.
You map should have at least 25 nodes (e.g., boxes) that interconnect in some way,
and the terms you include should relate back in some way to at least 10 of the sources
on the syllabus from Weeks 5 to 12 (though you can draw from more if you wish). Each
node should indicate a concept, a theme, or an example that stems from the course
material.
Part II
Explain to us in 750 to 1000 words the conceptual organization of your mind map. This
section is where you will be able to indicate to us which sources you have used from the
syllabus to integrate your concepts/themes/examples. You will want to give us an idea
of why you chose to organize your map in this particular way – e.g., along those
selected themes and subthemes. If there are tensions or contradictions that arise in the
map, explain how you have addressed/visualized those. Since you need to reference at
least 10 of the sources on the syllabus from Weeks 5 to 12, this would be the place to
make those connections clear. You are welcome to use more than 10 sources, and
occasionally you may wish to include (as an addition) either one of the lectures or a
source from outside the course, or a source from the first four weeks, which is fine,
especially if it helps make your mind map appear more ‘complete’.
You can treat this part as more of a ‘report’ than a formal essay. We will grade Part II
based on how well it clarifies and complements Part I, and we will grade Part I on its
insight, complexity, nuance, and creativity, so while you can consider the bulk of the
grade divided equally between Part I & II, the two should be considered as integrated
and complementary parts. These two Parts will comprise 30 marks in total.
Part III
As a reflective learning exercise, tell us in 250 words or more (i.e., a paragraph or
two) what you learned in the course that you found surprising. In addition, tell us what
you would like to have learned more about, or something you wish we learned about
that was not covered. This will be graded more like the discussion forum posts (in this
case, out of 5), so full marks here should be considered highly achievable.
General Notes & FAQ:
For grading: we will be looking for how well you grasp the ideas you are discussing, the
strength of your analysis, how well you meet the expectations laid out in the
instructions, how well you have integrated the course materials, and the caliber of your
writing style. Note that while the discussion forum activities allow for a more
conversational tone, the writing style for the midterm should be more formal. ‘Formal’
doesn’t preclude the use of first-person pronouns, but some usages of “I” (if you happen
to use it) read as stronger than others: e.g., “I argue…” or “I claim…” tend to be more
compelling than “I think…” or “I feel…”, which can skew toward the subjective.
Your mark will reflect in part how well you have integrated the course materials and
course concepts into your response, so we are looking for more than the mere insertion
of one sentence from or about a reading in order to meet the expectations set out. You
may use quotes from the course material, but do so in a very limited fashion
(paraphrasing is usually preferable). There is a limited number of words for your
analysis/explanations & most quotes you use still need to be unpacked or integrated so
you demonstrate you understand its meaning to the reader. Similarly, concepts need to
be explained when you use them, to demonstrate to the reader you grasp their
meaning.
A bibliography is required. This, and your citations, can follow any of the standard
styles (e.g., APA, ASA, MLA, Chicago). If you reference the lecture material, you should
cite it as well (the style of lecture citation is not so important, so long as it is clear for the
reader). If it is clear to the reader what material/reading you are discussing, and you put
the ideas in your own words, you usually don’t need a parenthetical reference at the end
of every sentence. Quoted material on the other hand must always be put in
quotation marks and a page number provided after, if available, to indicate to the
reader clearly where your words end and another author’s begin.
While discussion of the course material with other students is part of the learning
process in this course, you’ll want to make sure that the work you submit is your own
original work as collaboration with others in completing the midterm is not permitted.
The formatting of your responses (spacing, font, margins, etc.) is not so important since
we are looking more at the word count than the number of pages.
Be sure to upload the file as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file (not .pages and preferably not .pdf).
Please back up your work, frequently, and email yourself a copy of your completed
assignment so you can verify when it was completed at a later date in case you
encounter problems with Courselink or accidentally upload the wrong file.
In general, the bar set for an ‘A’ on the midterm is higher than for the discussion forums.
Below are the general criteria we use at UofG to distinguish an A from a B, from a C,
etc.:
80 – 100 (A) Excellent. “An outstanding performance in which the student demonstrates
a superior grasp of the subject matter, and an ability to go beyond the given material in
a critical and constructive manner. The student demonstrates a high degree of creative
and/or logical thinking, a superior ability to organize, to analyze, and to integrate ideas,
and a thorough familiarity with the appropriate literature and techniques.”
70 – 79 (B) Good. “A more than adequate performance in which the student
demonstrates a thorough grasp of the subject matter, and an ability to organize and
examine the material in a critical and constructive manner. The student demonstrates a
good understanding of the relevant issues and a familiarity with the appropriate
literature and techniques.”
60 – 69 (C) Acceptable. “An adequate performance in which the student demonstrates
a generally adequate grasp of the subject matter and a moderate ability to examine the
material in a critical and constructive manner. The student displays an adequate
understanding of the relevant issues, and a general familiarity with the appropriate
literature and techniques.”
50 – 59 (D) Minimally Acceptable. “A barely adequate performance in which the
student demonstrates a familiarity with the subject matter, but whose attempts to
examine the material in a critical and constructive manner are only partially successful.
The student displays some understanding of the relevant issues, and some familiarity
with the appropriate literature and techniques.”
0 – 49 (F) Fail. “An inadequate performance.”
Additional questions? Put them in the Ask Your Instructor forum on Courselink so others
can benefit from the answers as well.