Sound Libraries

http://www.freesound.org/

http://www.freesfx.co.uk/

http://www.soundsnap.com/

http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

http://www.musicalley.com/

Feeder 2.2 Script Workshop

3/20/12
Name:

1. How does the author attempt to grab the reader's attention? It will be helpful to think not just about what the author is saying--i.e. the words s/he is using them--but HOW s/he says them. Will there be music? Sound effects? Will these methods work? If we assume that a potential listener is going to give us 10 seconds of devoted attention before making up his or her mind about whether to listen, do you think this author will have grabbed the listener by that time? Why or why not?

2. When we listened to the RadioLab podcast we talked a lot about the ratio of scripted vs. unscripted content. What do you think that ratio will be in your partner's podcast? Do you think that ratio is appropriate given the tenets of the middle style? How might the author work in more unscripted content? How might the author integrate different voices, sounds, and other effects that might add dynamism to the finished product?

3. How does the author explain the experiment in the Methods and Materials section? How does the author deal with the problem of representing quantitative data orally? Do you think the listener will be able to understand precisely how the experiment works? Do you think the listener could repeated the experiment precisely him or herself? Suggest ways in which the author might make this Methods and Materials section clearer.

4. Your finished podcast will contain at least two main sections: Introduction and Methods and Materials. How does the author signals the transition between those two sections (or any others the podcast might include)? Do you think these transitions will be effective? Why or why not?

5. How has the author attempted to establish and maintain his or her scientific credibility? There is a fine line between being accessible and losing one's credibility; where does the author's voice and content reside on this line? If the author were to shoot for a slightly "higher" take on the middle style, how might the script change? Conversely, how would it change if the author were to go "lower?" 

Example Podcast Scripts

https://docs.google.com/document/d/125yiArwhNXUKzrpxt8vw4O9QeHrRGIAgW4g3dq_Tt90/edit

Draft Workshop: Feeder 2.1

1. The assignment asks you to take a piece of scientific research and make it meaningful to your audience. This involves a unique answer to the "so what?" question. How does the original article answer the "so what?" question? In other words, why does this research matter to psychologists? (note: you might have to ask the author or look up the original article to find out.) Now, explain why this research matters to your blog's audience… has the author explained and supported this answer adequately? Do you think your readers will really value this research in the way the author has proposed?

2. Many of your summaries for Feeder 1.2 were too long, too detailed, and too closely mimicked the structure of the original article. Does it feel like the author has fully digested the research he or she is presenting? Are the key terms explained vividly, simply, and in ways that your audience can understand clearly? Go through the draft and strike out any information that you think is too detailed for the needs of your audience.

3. Is the essay organized? Evaluate the author's paragraphing skills; does each paragraph have a clear topic sentence and stick to only one topic without wavering? Is each paragraph's idea fully developed? Identify any potential problem paragraphs and note how the author might revise them.

4. Evaluate the writer's introduction. Does s/he grab the reader's attention quickly? Does s/he transition quickly and effectively to the thesis statement? Does the author follow the pattern of one of the more or less effective introductions we talked about in class? Note any ways in which you think the introduction might be improved.

Listening to Podcasts Critically

1. What kind of “hook” do they use to draw in the listener? (Note: ignore the plea for money that precedes the podcast.)

2. Estimate what proportion of the program is based on extempore speech and what seems to be read from a script. How can you tell?

3. Note any background music or sound effects that seem to have been added in post-production. Why were these things added? How do they make the podcast clearer or more interesting?

4. Note any terms or concepts that you learned about from listening to the podcast. How were these explained? How did the authors make these complex ideas and terms easy to understand? 

Example Intro 6

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2008 childhood obesity report estimated seventeen percent of adolescents were overweight or obese; adult obesity was estimated between twenty and thirty percent.[1] The CDC also reports percentage increases, both adult and child, since 2008. Many researchers have addressed the growing concern, rooting out potential causes to enable future treatment and prevention. Since the investigation’s beginning, food quality, genetic predisposition, increasing portion sizes, and sedentary activities such as television and video gaming have each received blame regarding what is now termed the “epidemic’s” emergence. Many Americans do not get enough daily physical activity and thus, the calories they consume outweigh those they burn. Sedentary activities like watching television exacerbate the situation.[2] Katherine Jones, Jennifer Otten, Rachel Johnson, and Jean Harvey-Berino recently conducted a study to determine whether or not having a bedroom television set negatively affects the owner’s health. Their study furthers existing research concerning television’s contribution to poor health because they discovered bedroom televisions do not seem to augment the existing health risks of sedentary activities.

Example Intro 5

Concussions are the most common injury in all of sports, both contact and non-contact, from intramural college teams to professional sports. Not only are athletes more likely to suffer from concussions than the average person, but they are also at a greater risk to develop future brain damage as a direct result. Athletes must decide when they are able to come back to play. If one returns too early to play, one risks developing another concussion or potentially dealing with Second Impact Syndrome (SIS). SIS does not need to stem from a large impact, but any impact following a concussion has the potential to trigger the condition, which has only a 25% survival rate. Several tests are used to decide whether or not an athlete is able to safely return to the playing field. However, these tests are measuring psychomotor speed (time to think of something and then perform a task) as opposed to visuomotor speed (time to see something and react) which is far more game relevant. This results in some athletes returning to play before they have fully recovered. Studies show that upper extremity and oculormotor functions deficiencies can still be present a year after a concussion, long after other symptoms have faded. This had led to a call for more intensive testing for athletes returning from concussion. An obvious way to do this would be to implement some sort of test to measure visuomotor speed. Along with being relevant to the environment, incorporating visuomotor tests may increase the sensitivity of current post-concussion testing methods.