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G9/Spring 1998--Psych 409/WI

Instructions for the 
newsgroups.html file

Note:

Discuss with Dr. James about doing this assignment with Chatrooms instead of Newsgroups, in which case the file name will be chat.html and the title/heading will be something you make up that's appropriate. The sections will also have to be different. Take a look at Mr. Islam's attempt here.

Note:

Where you see these two asterisks ** they indicate a tagged sub-title that is also to appear in the Table of Contents. Be sure you have them all.

_____ 0) This file must be called newsgroups.html and must have the following main heading:   Newsgroups for Drivers: xxx

Note:

Replace xxx with a fitting sub-title of your own choosing!

_____ 1) Use a search engine to search Usenet (that is, Newsgroups) and type in this search statement:

aggressive driving drivers road rage commute traffic

You will get several hundred, perhaps thousands, of results. Start reading them in the following manner:

_____ 2) When you read a posting that shocks you or surpises you in some way, copy the entire posting (including all the headers) and paste it into your word processor in a file on your diskette or HD. Keep up this copy/paste process using the same file over several sessions, so you accumulate about 10 postings. For an example, see the newsgroups.html file of some G7 students below. After exploring and reading come back here to continue reading with Steps 3.

• Ms. Huynh (G7)
• Ms. Rho (G7)
• Mr. Akira (G7)

_____ 3) When you have all 10 postings, re-read each one and add a commentary to it in answer to these questions. Note: be sure to answer each question fully -- G7 could have done a better job here, so you need to improve on them!!

_____ 4) What was the writer trying to do, as far as you could tell? Do you agree with it (explain your reasons)? Don't be shy!

_____ 5) What does this indicate about our society, culture, or the individual? Does it reflect a social norm or is it an individual personality trait? Relate it to some concepts in Psychology that you know of, e.g.:

• attitude formation
• cognitive dissonance
• repression
• prejudice
• emotional intelligence
• moral development
• anger management
• self-witnessing
• self-modification
• and so on.

Note:

You might need to consult your textbooks from prior courses to refresh your memory (e.g., social, clinical, learning, motivation, perception, and other branches of psychology). Make a note of this so you can do it after the Lab.  You can also consult one of Dr. James' textbooks on Social Psychology here.

Read and copy/paste into your word processor file what you find in your search that's of interest to talk about here. When done, come back here to go to Step 6.

_____ 6) Now you need to go back to your word processor file where your copy/paste selections are for Newsgroups, and add explanations. In other words, integrate the posting with the psychological explanation (re-read Steps 4 and 5 again!). After you gave explanations for all 10 of your selections, go back and make up an **anchored sub-title for each of them. Make titles that are descriptive of content or theme, not cutsie or obscure titles that don't inform about the content (this is a worthwhile challenge for you!). Now make a Table of Contents with these 10 sub-titles and place it at the head of the document.
Important note: The first item in the Table of Contents must be this file of instructions (that is now on the screen). Call the Link "Instructions for this Report" and give this address location--which is:
../../leonj/leonj/leonpsy8/g8newsgroups.html
This link MUST be the first item in the Table of Contents! Makes sense, right?

_____ 7) Now take a look at how other students in your G8 class have done this report (when the drafts are posted). In a separate section with its own **sub-title, (add it to the Table of Contents), describe your impressions and reactions. How do they compare with yours in (a) content, (b) approach, and (c) presentation? (Note all three!!) After checking and reading and studying their approach, go back to your file and type in the answer to how they comapre with you in (a) content, (b) approach, and (c) presentation? (Note all three!!) Then come back here to Step 8. Note: hurry up and post your draft of this report so others can complete this part of it!! Please email the class when your report is first posted. In your announcement, remind them to send their answers through the class list.

_____ 8) Add a **tagged Conclusion section (add it to the Table of Contents) explaining how you think future generations can use your document for studying the psychology of Newsgroups. How could they improve on it?

_____ 9) Add a centered h1 heading, calling the document:   Newsgroups for Drivers: xxx  

Note:
Replace the xxx with a fitting subtitle of your choosing.  This makes your report different from others, so choose well and be specific about what one can find in your report.

_____ 10) Put this in your [title] field: FN, LN,   Newsgroups for Drivers, G9/Summer 1998, Psychology 409

._____ 11) Place a Table of Contents at the top of the document with links to all the tagged sub-titles.

_____ 12) Be sure you add a Navigation Table and e-mail button at the bottom of the document.

_____ 13) Using your web browser, check your document screen by screen: no screen should be made of just one paragraph (i.e., no paragraph should exceed one screen full--it's too hard to read that way!). Paragraphs should always be less than one screenful to make for easier reading!

_____ 14) Check the visibility of your text: patterned backgrounds are not allowed. Darker colors are not allowed for text files (but they are allowed for other Pages). White bgcolor is always excellent, especially if you vary the font face, color, and size to enhance visibility and emphasis (no blinking text allowed). Remember: your text looks different in different browsers and computers, so you need to experiment and ask others. You may also use graphic enhancers such as color bars, color dots, animated icons. Using the Table tag in html allows easy control over the color of each column and the placement of text on the screen.
Here is a helper for font color and face and here is a nice use of varied fonts by a G7 student.

_____ 15) Check the way your document loads after it contains everything. How long does it take? Does text appear on the screen while one waits, or is it blank? Slow loads and blank screens are not allowed, so you must choose graphics that are low in memory size!

_____ 16) Be sure to remove all identifying information unless you receive written permission to use the excerpts in your report.

_____ 17) Congratulations! This is the end of Part 11. When it is completed, you need to fill out the ratings.
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