Author: admin

• Since 1960, colleges across America have seen significant grade inflation and UMW is not an exception. The purpose of this post is not to explain why or the impact this has had on graduates, that would require significantly more research. The purpose is to merely show that UMW is part of that national trend and highlight which departments have the most dedicated students.

• ASSUMPTION: The amount of “As” a department awards are a reflection on the dedication and commitment of their students.

• ASSUMPTION: Departments which award the highest number of “A” grades exemplify this inflation trend the most.

What I have inferred from the data:

• UMW exemplifies the national grade inflation trend. According to the UMW grade distribution report, from 2017 to 2023, UMW saw a 9 % increase in the number of “As” departments awarded.

• The three departments with the most dedicated undergraduate students in the Spring 2023 semester and those depratments which exemplify this inflation trend the most are:

• Classics, Philosophy and Religion

• Business

• Modern Language and Literature

• The graph bellow depicts the various UMW departments for Spring 2023. Along the “Y” axis are the departments with the percentage of grades awarded along the “X” axis. The bars are color coded and represent awarded grades: As blue, Bs red, Cs green, Ds purple and Fs light bue. The highest grade awarded are As represented by the blue bar.

• UMW Grade Distribution Summary

• The graph bellow depicts the nation wide letter grade distribution at US Colleges. The “Y” axis shows the percentage of letter grades awarded with the years, 1960-2020 shown along the “X” axis. The bars are color coded and represent awarded grades: As red, Bs golden yellow, Cs green, Ds light blue and Fs purple. The highest grade awarded are As represented by the red bar.

• Attribution: Grade inflation continues in US colleges | Times Higher Education (THE)

My process of working with data and creating my graphs

• The imitial process was straightforward if you paid attention in class! Working with EXCEL and manipulating the data and converting my data sheet to a graph was simple and just required listening to the professor in class with no additional assistance. It was however, somewhat complicated to take the various data:; all the grades awarded in a given semester, etc., and build the value graph. Wiith plenty of practise however, a basic working knowledge of the process is quickly achieveable.

• Posting my graph in my domain was more difficult than I imagined. I struggled with making the graph large enough so it could be read. It seems that there is no way to enlarge the graph in the admin posts section. I initally tried to paste my graph in powerpoint: no luck. I went through a number of procedures in order to save my graph as a larger image: saving the graph as a PDF, saving the graph in EXCEL with no success. I eventually “surrendered” and saved the graph as an image and posting it to my domain. Yet, I was still not satisfied with the work.

For my final project in Digital Studies 101, I plan to build on the work I have completed in class and build out my main domain. My intent is to write about those things that interest me or that I have experienced.

My experiences/travels through Bavaria/Austria

• Create a podcast
• Create a video
• Add Images

My thoughts on films and literature

• Add images
• Add reviews/thoughts
• Add cuts from films
• Create a podcast

Requirements

• Follow all accessibility guidelines taught this semester
• Give credit to the creator of any material under copyright
• Media/source credit
• Ensure information accuracy
• License my work
• Incorporate the feedback the Professor provides on the project idea post

The subject of this video:

• This historical video provides the viewer with an understanding of the history of the Fredericksburg Hardware Store. The Fredericksburg Hardware store was a fixture of the city from 1914 to 2004.  Visited by Presidents touting the value of small business and by the local population alike, the store was the heartbeat of the city for 90 years.     

• The location where the hardware store once stood, is now a beautiful downtown community.

The Process of making this video

• Learned allot!

• The overall process was fairly straighforward. Gather the inputs: video, audio/narrative, and musical selection, uplaod to KAPWING, and start the edit.

• Merging all three elements into one cohesive product was fairly easy. The difficulty was in the upload to VIMEO which took almost six hours to troubleshoot.

• Once again it was a minor problem which consumed most of my time. KAPWING would download my video as a word document! Easy solution which took me hours to solve, make sure that your default APPs have been reset so that you can download your video, URGHHH!

• Overall, the KAPWING software was easy to use, with the most difficult function being the close caption and the VIMEO upload.

Credit

• KAPWING software was used for all video/audio editing. Along with the use of one of their musical selections.

• For the video portion I used a Samsung Fold 5 camera

• For the audio I used a head set with mike and recorded directly into KAPWING. I cleaned up the audio with KAPWING’s “clean” audio feature.

• Kari L. Everett provided the voice for the audio

• The Free Lance Star provided the images of the Hardware Store, President Bush and the Hardware store shopper.

The script:

• The Fredericksburg Hardware store was a fixture of the city from 1914 to 2004.  Visited by Presidents touting the value of small business and by the local population alike, the store was the heartbeat of the city for 90 years.     
• The site is now the location of a popular restaurant and Amelia Square, a small residential community built on the block of William and Winchester streets.  Walking along the old site, the stories still resonate throughout the city.  The store was a place where people went to shop and to catch up on the news of the local area with neighbors and friends. 
• The store built relationships with its customers and kept a devoted list of clients who shopped there for decades. Speak to a native of Fredericksburg and they will tell you about being brought to the store as a child.  More than just a place to pick up supplies, it was a real institution for the community.
• The Fredericksburg Hardware Store may be gone, but in the hearts and minds of many who live in Fredericksburg, the business will be a fond memory to pass on to their families.

The subject of my audio track is the wonderful Salzburg Christmas Market and why it is one of the best in Europe. Salzburg is truly a very special place throughout the year but, it is even more special during Christmas. There is something for everyone.

I found the process of recording very difficult. The SOUNDTRAP software offered a variety of soundtracks and audio editing options but, I found that trying to manipulate the audio track and the sound tracks very difficult and eventually could not get the timing to my satisfaction. The large variety of music tracks and sound effects is very helpful and provided everything that I needed for this project. I used a sound booth at the Hurley Convergence Center along with my HP headset microphone to record.

I used the following sources in my research and the following software to build my audio recording:

• Salzburg Christmas Market 2023 – Dates, hotels, things to do, – Europe’s Best Destinations (europeanbestdestinations.com). According to https://webparanoid.com, this site is very reliable with a high trust factor. The domain was registered in 2009 and no “red flags” were found by webparanoid. There are also social links to Facebook and Twitter.
• Salzburg Christmas Markets | 2023 Dates, Locations & Must-Knows! – Christmas Markets in Europe. New website established in 2023 does not have any reviews or evaluations on the WWW. However, it is linked to Amazon and Bookings.com. Their privacy policy seems straight forward and includes Google Analytics and other control measures.
• Both audio soundtracks, the background noise of Hamburg Christmas Market and the piano bells courtesy of SOUNDTRAP.
• TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO TRACK: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening to my podcast. The subject of today’s podcast is a 2023 Salzburg Christmas Market. The most beautiful in Austria. Salzburg is known as the city of Mozart, and in my opinion it’s also the city of Cappuccino. At the Salzburg Christmas market you can experience both. You can listen to classical Mozart while wandering around the Christmas stalls and taking a break with delicious cappuccino. Situated in front of Salzburg Cathedral with glimpses of the famous Holland Salzburg fortunes it lies above, Christmas in Salzburg is traditional, musical and magical. In the heart of Salzburg, the Christmas mark creates an authentic festive experience. You’ll be surrounded by aromas of gingerbread, warm spice wine called glue line and Hardy Austrian street food. The dates for the Salzer Christmas market are 23 November to the 1st of January 2024. Thank you for your attention.

• The new header design represents one of my favorite pass times: cappuccino! The new header design also shows the crest of the city of Bad Tolz in southern Bavaria.

• This graphic depicts the crest of the city of Tegernsee in Southern Bavaria as its’ center motif. I selected this design as it represents a very special place for my wife and me. I spend most of my summer days with my wife enjoying the beauty of this part of the world.

The process:

• The header design used CANVA as its base with graphic art added by me. The software was easy to use, especially the “click and drag” feature for moving graphics to the base slide.

• The second image with the Tegernsee crest was designed using Vector software, which was very easy to use. I imported the graphic of the coat of arms and added the gradient background along with a blue starburst and the green vine to the left border.

Why I chose the copyright license that I did:

• I chose a somewhat restrictive copyright as I did not want my postings/images to be used for other than what they are intended: a nonpolitical domain presented for enjoyment and knowledge.

• However, in the spirit of “openness,” should you wish to use my postings/images for purposes in violation of my copyright license, feel free to contact me directly.

• I hope this will facilitate your viewing pleasure.

My “quiet corner of the world:”

• The Isar is a river that flows through Southern Bavaria with its source being the Karwendel mountain range of the Alps. The Isar river enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching the Danube near Deggendorf. With 295 km length, it is among the longest rivers in Bavaria. It is Germany’s second most important tributary of the Danube.

• The “6” in Isar6 in military parlance refers to the commander at the company, battalion, brigade and division level. I have commanded twice at the company level and once at the battalion level.