1. Please feel free to chat until the seminar begins at the top of the hour!

2. Interviewing is a method of gathering information for a purpose. Think about your Big Idea – could you interview someone about it?

3.  Tell us about it briefly…  Does a parent interview their child when they come home upset about something?  Do you interview a spouse, a partner, or someone you just met?  So, interview skills are used by everyone!

4.  Ask an expert  Someone who worked in that career field  Someone who has done scientific research on your topic  Someone who has written a book about your topic  Interviewing students, parents, or ordinary citizens is considered “polling” someone about their ideas or attitudes and is not primary research  Example – parent of an autistic child vs. an educator with a degree

5.  You need to plan and be ready  Before you go make up your questions  Be ready to record the person’s responses  What might happen if you do not plan?  What is the difference between an open or a closed question?

6.  A good interview has to be planned and you should never do one extemporaneously when gathering information for a project like ours.  Why do you suppose that might be true?  What could happen if you do not plan?

7.  Okay, now let’s have everybody here today post your topic and name a type of expert you possibly could interview about that Big Idea.  Example: If my topic was child abuse, who might be an expert?  Great and thanks for all those ideas!

8.  Are you wondering how you will be expected to cite an interview? Do you know already because you’ve done it before?  This is what the APA rules say: since an interview is not a retrievable resource (meaning it is not published and sitting in a library), we only need to cite it in the text of our project’s essay.  This is a parenthetical citation of an interview:  [J. Funk, personal communication, February 21, 2011]. This goes at the end of a sentence that is a paraphrase or a quote of what I said.

9.  You probably introduced my interview by telling your readers who I am and why I am an expert on your topic, also. Like this: Dr. Funk has a Ph.D. in education and has taught online for 6 years. Blah, blah, blah!  Then you can continue to refer back to that person in the next sentence – Dr. Funk also believes that X, Y, and Z are true if the conditions of A, B, & C are met.

10.  Take a bit of time to introduce yourself.  Explain why you need this information and what your purpose is for using it.  Reassure them that their thoughts will be kept private and not get published publicly.  It is just for a university class to learn about the value of primary research on a topic.

11.  Tell us some aspects of good body language you will use  Sit up straight, look them in the eye, nod or smile to show interest.  Remember not to interrupt and try to finish their thoughts.  At the end of the interview what should you do?  Summarize and ask any clarifying questions you might have.  Give that person a chance to add information, if they want to clarify anything.

12.  What is a closed question?  Yes, it is one that only be answered by yes, no, or I don’t know, or something as brief.  They do have value and can be used sometimes, just do not make a whole interview be with closed questions!  Example: For how many years have you worked with child abuse victims?

13.  Yes, an open question is one that will give you a response of several sentences or more.  For example: What happens to the child abuse victim, if charges are a brought against his or her abuser?  A second example: What can a parent do to enable their children not to become child abuse victims?  Here is a great resource for you when you get ready to create questions for an interview: Creating Interview QuestionsCreating Interview Questions

14.  At the conclusion of an interview and as you excuse yourself and leave, thank them for their time and giving you the benefit of their knowledge and give them a way to contact you.

15. Okay, now we are going to try a mock interview with each other in pairs through a feature of this seminar chat called Private Messaging or PM.  Look at the list of names on the roster. In a moment we will pair off with each other and practice interviewing each other about your topics for a few minutes.  I simply want you to think like a reporter who is getting information for a story about your partner’s Big Idea.  When I say, START, you will click on the person’s name and then click on the PM here at the bottom.

16.  When the time is up, I want you to return to this class chat and report briefly in a sentence or two what you learned from the other person.  So, if you wish, you can take notes in Word or Word pad off to the side to help you remember what was asked and said.

17.  Now next week in Unit 4 in Project 4 (100 pts) you will use an APA Cover/Title page and then…  Fill out a pre-interview form given to you for Part I  Information about the person you might interview and why you selected him or her.  Information about the research you did to prepare for the interview someone about your topic  Three open and three closed questions  Describe your reasoning behind these questions  Anticipated answers

18.  Note* Go to the Writing Center to learn about how to create a title page.  A manuscript is a project, proposal, or paper  APA is American Psychological Association  Format is how it should look  APA Manuscript Format (link) APA Manuscript Format

19. Part II of Project 4

20.  Summarize 3 secondary sources related to your big idea (articles or books)  One of these must be challenging or disagreeing with your idea  Compare and contrast the approaches these authors take towards your issue and determine which sources will be helpful and tell us why  Have a References page of full citations in APA format of each source

21.  Time for questions about anything covered this evening-  Thanks for attending and sharing your expertise with us!