Monthly Archives: December 2012
Creative Environments in Creating Products
As a musician, I really believe that creativity flows best when I’m rested and relaxed. When I’m comfy in pajamas, with some hot chocolate, I find my creative juices start flowing and I get into “the zone.” For me, I get a lot of great work done during the winter holiday – I come back rested, but well prepared for what lies ahead at school.
In the same way, you have a lot of work that needs to be done on your PPP directly after the holidays.
January 15: Submit first draft of your report and process journal to your supervisor
January 30: Submit final draft of your report and process journal to your supervisor
February 6: Collection of all work, whether finished or not
March 7: PPP Exhibition
However, Winter Holiday is going to offer you a great opportunity to do a lot of high quality, relaxing work on your PPP. It’s a time when exams are done, your other work has been submitted, and now you can really focus on your product.
Your product needs to be finished by the time you return from Winter Holiday because January will be spent writing your final report.
So stay in your pajamas… put your process journal beside you… grab a holiday treat… and enjoy working on your product.
A Variety of Sources
Your reference list needs a variety of sources. What does the word variety mean?
Dictionary.com says, “a number of different types of things, especially ones in the same general category.” So a variety of sources means a number of different sources in the same reference list.
What does a “variety” of sources look like?
Books – See the school library. Go to www.amazon.cn. Take your passport to the Nanjing Public Library at Daxingong and get a library card.
Journal Articles – You can find these using the new EBSCOhost researching tool. Also, some peer-reviewed, professional journals are now publishing online, for free!
Newspapers – Check to which papers our library subscribes. Also check online – most of the major newspapers also have online versions.
Magazines – Check with Mr. Lockwood and Mrs. Rinker to see which magazines the school subscribes. You can also purchase magazines from the iTunes store through In-App purchasing.
Videos – These can be online (like YouTube) or they can be DVDs.
Audio Files – These can be music files or a CD. Last year a student studied how music soothes insomniacs and used audio files in her reference list.
Encyclopedias – Sometimes you need to start off by introducing your topic, and what better way to find a short, concise definition than through our local encyclopedias. Check with Mrs. Rinker.
Personal Communications – According to the APA manual, you can include a personal communication in your reference list if you provide a word-for-word transcription; otherwise, put your communications into your appendices.
Technical Reports – Doing a report on chemical properties? Technical reports are good sources of information.
Informally Published Works – IBO guidelines and manuals count as informally published works. If you have defined your AOI or have quoted about your AOI, you also need to cite the IBO.
Conference Papers / Lecture Notes – Many big conferences will post the speeches given. Some universities (e.g. Stanford) publish their lecture notes for free.
Government Reports, Acts & Laws – Some countries publish their reports, acts, and laws online, for free. I know that Canada, America, and China all do this. If you want to see how your topic is considered by specific countries, then check online.