How do I get an A? While the only way to assure an A is to do perfect work and never ever make any mistakes, students who do the following tend to get higher grades in my classes: 1. Fulfill all the course requirements. 2. Study. 3. Do extra credit if I offer you the opportunity. 4. Don't miss classes. 5. Start assignments early. Go to Top

Why do we do group work? Some students think that small group assignments and activities are too "high school" and that university study should focus on traditional lecture or lab-based learning. Unfortunately, too many students graduate with a bachelor’s degree and no real sense of how to work as a member of a team. Small group work, besides being more interesting than simply sitting and listening to me talk for an hour, helps students learn that are key to succeeding in a post-college career including how to organize time, discussion leading, how to work with difficult people, and how to synthesize information from disparate sources. Small group work doesn’t just benefit you; research has shown that some students learn better when concepts are explained by peers so, your role as a group member is not just to help yourself but also to assist your colleagues. Go to Top

How should we organize our small group? While every group is different, most small groups work best when people are assigned a role. For instance, if your group is tasked with reading and discussing an article you might want to assign the following roles: 1. Facilitator: Keeps everyone on track and makes sure that everyone is heard. 2. Time Keeper: Watches the clock and makes sure that people have (roughly) equal amounts of time to talk. 3. Note Taker: Takes notes and then distributes them to everyone afterwards. 4. Reflector: Summarizes what was said at key points during the discussion to make sure that everyone understands and that the person talking knows they were able to communicate their ideas effectively. 5. Discussant: Comes up with one or two questions or thoughts to get the discussion rolling. If the group is focused on completing a written assignment or group presentation, in addition to evenly dividing the research/writing tasks, some of the roles might include: 1. Facilitator: Organizing meetings and makes sure that everyone knows the same information. Keeps track of whether people have done what they said they would and maintains a c-tools or Google docs site for the group. 2. Note Taker: Takes notes of all group meetings. 3. Editor: Copy edits all written work and assures that it meets the standards outlined in the assignment. 4. Artist: Creates a PowerPoint or other visuals for the presentation. Creates handouts for class presentation and makes sure that enough copies are made to distribute to the class. Assures that whatever is presented orally is in concert with visual aids. 5. Presentation Facilitator: Creates an oral script, if needed. Coaches everyone on their role and is the go-to person during class presentations. This person might want to learn other people’s parts of the presentation in case someone freezes or forgets a key point when talking to the class. Go to Top

We have to do a class activity but I have no idea what to do.... any ideas? The best class activities are ones that require some thinking, that don’t assume everyone has read all the material and knows it well, that teach something, and don’t focus just on quizzing or recall of information. That being said, some popular class activities have included: - Jeopardy (this works best as a test review) - Adapting a game such as poker or Risk to teach a class-related concept - Summary of the material followed by small group discussions led by prepped facilitators - Scavenger Hunt using class texts - Short explanation of how to analyze an original document followed by small group analysis of a text - Student-created board games - Short video(s) with guided discussion - Analysis of a newspaper or magazine article - Class debate(s) Go to Top

What is APA style? All assignments in my classes must be done in APA style, a standardized format for writing papers, creating documents, and citing sources. APA style is determined by the American Psychological Association and is the most commonly used style in the social sciences. For more information on APA style, check out this handy website created by the folks at Purdue. Go to Top

How do I write a decent paper? 1. Follow the instructions in the assignment. 2. Think and write critically. 3. Always cite your sources. 4. Synthesize ideas and material. 5. Include real-world examples or application. 6. Avoid using vocabularly that you don't fully understand or trying to "sound academic." Go to Top

I'm writing a paper on human rights. Where should I go on the internet for more information? You said we have to use reputable sources. Obviously a good academic paper includes both academic sources (think: peer reviewed journal articles) and a variety of other sources including news media, governmental or NGO reports, and the like. Here is a list of links for human rights websites that I visit: International Organizations Amnesty International This is the official website for Amnesty International, and is a joint effort of the International Secretariat, AI's permanent international administrative office, and the Canadian National Section/English Speaking (ESCS). Committee to Protect Journalists An organization of journalists which was founded to promote freedom of the press and document attacks on individual journalists. Freedom House Freedom House tracks information indicating the relative freedom of different countries, and publishes a respected annual report on this subject. Human Rights First Human Rights First was formerly known as the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights. Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations which investigates and exposes human rights violations. Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights mobilizes health professionals to advance health, dignity, and justice and promotes the right to health for all. Harnessing the specialized skills, rigor, and passion of doctors, nurses, public health specialists, and scientists, PHR investigates human rights abuses and works to stop them. Small Arms Survey The Small Arms Survey is the principal source of public information on all aspects of small arms. It serves to monitor national and international (governmental and non-governmental) initiatives, and acts as a clearing house for the dissemination of best practices in the field. Regional Organizations Africa ARSO - Association de soutien à un référendum libre et régulier au Sahara Occidental Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies Center for Human Rights - University of Pretoria Western Sahara Human Rights Asia Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development Asian Human Rights Commission Asia Pacific Human Rights Network Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team Australia/Pacific Islands Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation Asia Pacific Forum Pacific Islands Legal Information Network Australian Legal Information Network Pacific Women's Bureau Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development Foundation for Survivors of Torture Americas Derechos Center for Justice and International Law CAJ Latinoamerican Commission for the Rights and Freedoms of the Workers and Peoples Inter-American Commission on Human Rights School of the Americas Watch Witness for Peace Human Rights Research Methodology HURIDOCS HURIDOCS is a global capacity-building network of organisations that use documentation techniques, monitoring methods, information management systems and technologies in the defence of human rights and the prevention of abuses. HuriSearch Search more than 4500 human rights websites. Human Rights Resource Center The Human Rights Resource Center is an integral part of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center and works in partnership with the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library to: * Create and distribute Human Rights Education (HRE) resources via electronic and print media; * Train activists, professionals, and students as human rights educators; * Build advocacy networks to encourage effective practices in human rights education; * Support the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-2007) and the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004). Go to Top