Group Presentations

Spring 2008

Beginning the week of April 7, time in class will be devoted to planning the group presentations. A list of suggested activities is presented below for each of the three class periods. The results of the planning sessions will be reviewed with the instructor at a later time to be arranged outside of class.

• Friday, 4/4 - Group Signup

  
  Each student will select and signup for a first and second choice topic. Groups will be finalized in class and set up on Blackboard.

  
  
• Monday, 4/7 - Group Topics

  
  Each member of the group should submit topics to be covered by the group to the Blackboard discussion board. Research is not required if you have some general ideas already in mind. Each group must complete an outline of topics, in the order they are to be presented, with each topic assigned to a group member.

  
  
• Wednesday, 4/9 - Group Assignments

  
  Group members will meet in class and finalize group topics and the order of presentation. An outline of the topics and presenters will be prepared and posted to the group discussion board. Group members can then began locating references for their individual topics. The textbook provides a starting point for most topics and relevant material from the text should be included in all presentations. Web searches provide a wealth of information but can be overwhelming without a general understanding of how subjects are interrelated. The first goal should be to form a conceptual understanding of the subject and how it relates to other topics within the group. The textbook is often very helpful at this stage. Technical details should be postponed until a good conceptual understanding has been developed. The instructor and the library are other sources for books and journal articles which may not be available online. Keep track of all references which are used and give citations in standard form as the research proceeds.