The End

We come to the end of the semester and the SSK 1212, and it's time for an overall reflection on the course.
What are my impressions after taking SSK 1213? Well, the first thing I can say is that it is much more interesting than SSK 1211. Indeed, in this course, we learned things that we didn't already know. This course gave me the opportunity to carry out research in the library, look for information, give an oral presentation using Power Point, and finally write a paper. This is to say that this course actually made me do something myself rather than repeating theoritical strategies of how to prepare for exam (that work only if you live in the ideal world), how to manage your time, etc of SSK 1211.
One of the things I liked most is the Oral presentation. I wanted to test myself, so I did not prepare any notes to read. I tried to discuss the content of the slides based on my research and understanding, and I managed to do it.
Moreover, thanks to this course, I think that from now on, I will be able to write research papers that are properly referenced. This is particularly impotant for me as an IS student. I know from older students that most of the courses in our major will require writing papers. A week ago, I had to submit a paper for GEO 1301, and I must say that what I learned in SSK 1212 was of great help.
I have stated the things that I liked. Let's jump to what I didn't like. First, because of the course and an oversight due to an overwhelming amount of work, I had to pay a fine to the library for overdue books :)
The second thing I didn't like, and that I have perhaps mentioned in an earlier post, is the obligation to be linked with the rest of class and examine the same topic. I think that everyone would have liked to write on something he likes best, since the choice can be given in this course.
Now I am looking forward taking the last of CAD courses, SSK 1213.

Next Step: The Paper

All what have been doing so far, from the beginning of the semester, aimed at achieving one specific purpose, that of writing a research paper of 6 pages, properly referenced according to the MLA system.
Today, we had to bring our first drafts to class in order to compare them and correct referencing mistakes. To write my essay, I have more or less followed the essay outline sketched before. So, now I have a clear idea of the main themes covered in the paper. First, I talked about the religious toleration of the Ottoman Empire. The second theme discusses the condition of women in the Ottoman society, and finally, the last one is a description of the Ottoman architecture. These three aspects of the Ottoman culture seem to me the most important ones. I had some problems with providing in-text reference for articles from websites and books that discuss one single thesis throughout the whole book, making it impossible to give page numbers. Fortunately, the professor was there to solve this technical problem.
I still have two days to refine and edit my paper, which by the way has more than 6 pages. Hopefully, the work of the entire semester will be fruitful!!

PS. I was just wondering whether Turnitin.com recognizes quotes and does not consider them as plagiarism. I hope Turnitin is smart enough to see the quotation marks :)!!!

The Ottomans

After the Presentation

Today, my teammates and I presented our work in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. I was really worried about it even if I tried to show confidence to my teammates. How can I qualify the presentation? well, I cannot say it was excellent since it would be a dishonest claim. Rather, I can say it was more or less good. Indeed, we had some weaknesses in some areas like time management, but this does not affect the work very much (we should not forget that the technical problem at the beginning also took some of the time :)).
We did a great job trying to find the logical linking between the four different research interests, and it was not easy to organize those different topics in a way to give a rather clear image about the influence of religion on culture.
As far as I am concerned, I was happy since I said all I wanted to say without having neither memorized it by heart not referred to any notes. I told myself that, if I am to give a presentation, I will talk spontaneously. I considered today's presentation as an exercise for future talks (after all, I am an IS major!). Therfore, I have to train myself to this kind activities. It involves facing an audience, trying to be natural and concentrating on the idea I want to convey. In brief, my impressions about today's oral presentation are positive.

Power Point Presentation

After the data collection step, it is now the time for the powerpoint presentation.I have started working on my part of the presentation for a week now, but I still need to meet with my teammates in order to have an agreement on the introduction, the conclusion, and the linking slides. Now I'm nearly done with my part of the presentation. I thought at the beginning I would not have much to say. But when I made some order in the information I have and the different resources I dispose of, I found out that I have a lot of things that I would like to include in my presentation. I'm afraid 4 mimutes won't be enough, but I will try to respect the time constraint.
I enjoyed creating themes in the new Power Point, switching colors, and trying to make my presentation more attractive. I liked working on the presentation because I had a lot of fun while doing it.
Here, I have to say that, honestly, the workshop was not very helpful since I already knew most of what the staff from CITI said.
I am a bit scared because I don't want to forget what I want to say. But I am confident everything will be okay.