Individual Assignments: Blog Posts

Objective

Blogging is an important tool and also one of the easiest methods for publishing online. Blogging allows the student to build online presence, and the class to engage in intellectual discourse virtually. In this course, blogging replaces some of the traditional paper assignments for these reasons:
  • Develop student competency in this important modern technology
  • Cultivate student experience in online publishing
  • Provide opportunities for building the student’s online work portfolio
  • Facilitate intellectual discourse in the digital space
 Summer 2014 student blogs are available here.


Instructions

Account Set-up: The student must create a Gmail account (or use an existing account), and use Gmail’s blog function (i.e., Blogger or sometimes called Blogspot) to create a new blog for all individual blog assignments (you can create multiple blogs using the same Gmail account). This account is for individual assignments and must be different from the Gmail account used for the team project. If the student already has a Gmail account, they may either use it here or create a new account specifically for this class. You should then use the account to create a new blog dedicated to the BUS576 course. Submit your individual blog URL address by emailing it to the instructor.

Schedule: Please follow the assignment schedule available on the course website to post the biweekly individual blog post using your individual Gmail account.

Blog Post Content: The individual blog post (30 points) must meet the following criteria
1.     [24 points] Each post must contain four paragraphs, each worth 6 points. The first two paragraphs must address the two most important concepts that you have learned during the current Session. You must using course reading materials or EIAs available from the course website to illustrate these concepts. You must also discuss why you think these two concepts are important.


Each of the first two paragraphs must address these three elements:
a.   [2 points] What: Definition of the concept/skill under discussion. Provide a definition and a specific example to illustrate it.
b.   [2 points] So What: Explain why the concept/skill is important in your opinion, how it is useful, and its key implications for management.
c.   [2 points] Question: Do you have any outstanding questions concerning the concept? Do you question the validity or value of the concept? Are there potentially negative consequences of applying the concept? Do you disagree with the course materials in insightful ways? Do we need to challenge implicit assumptions of the concept? Would you caution the reader on potential issues? Offer one or two questions or concerns for the reader to respond to.

The third paragraph must critique management recommendations from well-established websites recommended below, or reading/learning materials you have used from other Chatham MBA/MAcc courses. You must discuss whether the recommendations are evidence-based (i.e., are they based on sound scientific research? are they based on reliable data? are the arguments based on coherent scientific reasoning? or are they based on personal opinions? personal experiences? isolated cases? what's the sample size of the research that the author uses to make the arguments?) You must follow guidelines available from the Week 1 instructor lecture, and the reading How to evaluate psychological sciences for organizations to evaluate the scientific literature that you are using as the basis of your recommendation.

      If the recommendations are not evidence-based, please discuss what kinds of evidence you would like to see in order for these recommendations to become evidence-based. Please provide a URL link to the source of the recommendations you are critiquing, or APA-style reference of the source material. The recommendations you choose to evaluate must be relevant to the topic of the current course session.

Recommended websites for your critiques include:

      If you would like to use other sources, you may request for instructor approval.   
      A great example is Jill Lepore's critique of Christensen's theory of Disruptive Innovation published by the New Yorker. Your paragraph clearly will be much shorter, but the same logic/principle of critique applies.

The last paragraph is where you reflect on your personal learning journey during the current Session, what you find rewarding versus challenging, and your learning goals for the next Session.

2.   [1 point] Each post must contain at least one image that visually illustrates the essential message of the post. This image can be your own image file uploaded to the blog account, or a link to an externally hosted image file. When linking to an external image, you must indicate the source of the image clearly in the post.
3.   [1 point] Each post must contain at least one external link, properly formatted (meaning that the “http://…” should not be visible to blog readers; use appropriate anchor text).
4.   [1 point] Each post must be tagged properly. Individual Blog 1 must be tagged with the BUS572-1 tag, Individual Blog 2 must be tagged with the BUS572-2 tag, and so on. In addition, you should also tag the blog post with keywords relevant to its content.
5.   [1 point] The post must be properly formatted. Pay attention to the overall look and feel of the post. Is the title descriptive, brief, and effective? Is the font size and type consistent throughout the entire post? Is the size of the image proportional to the side of the post? Overall is the post easy for the reader to enjoy?

Comments [2 points]: In addition to posting, the student must comment on at least two posts other than the student’s own during each blogging Session. These comments should be one on another individual blog, and one on another team's team project site. Comments should be meaningful and of significant substance. “I love this!” or “Great idea!” is not an example of a meaningful comment The comment must address questions raised by the post author, extend the post in meaningful ways, or call central ideas of the post to question in a critical manner.

Grading Rubric

1.   Content (40%) – Relevance and Logic

Relevance (20%): The content must relate to the Session’s course content, including assigned readings, class discussions, EIA activities, and project work. The content of the post/comment must apply to the content of the coursework in a directly clear manner. Please reference source materials in APA style.

Logic (20%): The content must also demonstrate logical integrity and your critical thinking skills. Does your work make sense? Are the arguments reasonable? Are reasons based on objective evidence and sensible logic? Are answers written in a cohesive and comprehensible manner?

Also, make sure you observe the legal guidelines that apply to blogs.

2.  Insight (30%)
Does your post/comment illustrate critical understanding of course materials? Have you developed new insights as a result of this part of coursework? Do you disagree with the course materials in insightful ways? Does the post/comment illustrate difficult concepts in creative ways? Did you answer a question in an unconventional way? Did you do something that would pleasantly surprise your classmates or instructor? Of course, your creativity must be sensible and reasonable within the context of this course.

3.  Writing (30%)
Is the post/comment free of technical or editorial issues? Is the post/comment compliant with APA style requirements? Is the post/comment easy to read? Are the paragraphs constructed with appropriate topic sentences? Are flows between paragraphs logical and meaningful?

Does the post/comment stand-alone and assume little contextual knowledge (e.g., “yesterday I met a paid search specialist” assumes knowledge of the date of the post. Instead this sentence is much more easier to understand because the date is explicitly defined “On January 1, 2014 I met a paid search specialist.”) 

Overall the post/comment should follow tips for effective blogging available here.

It is extremely important to follow Chatham University's guidelines for academic integrity. Your writing must be of your own, and you must cite sources when you reference or quote materials that are not your own. Violations of academic integrity will lead to severe academic consequences outlined in the university catalog, the Chatham MBA/MAcc handbooks, and the course syllabus.

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