Reading Assignment Procedure

  1. Read the assigned text.

    (Sometimes there are multiple links, parts, or sections in the reading assignment. Make sure you read them all!)

    If this is one of the code-as-reading assignments, then follow these instructions to get the code on your computer, run it, and play with it yourself!

  2. Think about the questions in the reading assignment. Use those questions to help your brain hold on to the material in the reading, and focus on important things you might have missed.

  3. Unless the reading instructs otherwise, post a short response in the class Slack channel. Point out anything that was confusing or interesting to you. (Please note the word “short!” Do not write an essay.) Then take a look at what other students wrote. Is there something you’d like to discuss, either in Slack or in class?

    The purpose of these responses is:

    • to give the instructor a sense of how the reading went for students,
    • to show other students that they are not the only one with questions, and
    • maybe to get a little conversation going.

    The purpose is not:

    • to summarize the reading,
    • to impress the instructor or outdo the other students, or
    • to check a box without thinking.

    ✅ Good: “I loved the part about penguin feet.”

    ✅ Good: “I was completely lost in section 3.5.”

    ✅ Good: “The previous reading about how penguins swim finally makes sense to me after this reading!”

    ✅ Good: “Something I wonder about that wasn’t covered in the reading: why are penguins mostly black and white, and not, say, yellow and purple?”

    ✅ Good: “When this reading says that penguins can’t ride bicycles, does that apply to all penguins, or just chinstrap penguins?”

    ✅ Good: “I have exactly the same question!” (in a thread replying to another student’s post)

    ❌ Bad: “I liked this reading.”
    (says nothing specific about this particular reading)

    ❌ Bad: “I already learned about this in another class, so this is not new for me.”
    (conveys nothing but arrogance, doesn’t foster discussion)

    ❌ Bad: ”The reading states that there are many types of penguins to be found in the southern hemisphere of planet Earth. As we can clearly see, one type of penguin typically found in South America is the Magellanic penguin. This type of penguin can be distinguished by…blah blah blah…”
    (verbose, does nothing but repeat information from the reading, clogs up the channel, does not ask a question or spark discussion)