COMP 96, Spring 2004



COMP 380, Fall 2006 TP-TermProject

TERM PROJECT: Term Paper & Oral Presentation

Due dates:

|September 20 |Summary and bibliography |

|September 27 |(Outline should be completed) |

|October 10-13 |Meeting with professor |

|October 18 |Status report due |

|October 27 |(Detailed outline should be completed) |

|October 30 |(Last day for informal review) |

|November 3 |Term paper due |

|November 6 – December 4 |Presentations. Practice talks need to be scheduled with professor at least |

| |24 hours prior to class presentation. |

Note: Much time and energy went into creating this document. You will be wise to take full advantage of knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your COMP 380 predecessors, from which much of this content was derived.

Project Overview and Due Dates

Each team member will take a different point of view on a controversial subject, and defend it. Your grade will reflect how you perform individually and as a part of a team.

The term project will consist of several parts, shown below, with due dates shown at right (all paper copies due at START of class). These dates supersede any dates published earlier, should there be a discrepancy. PLEASE TYPE EVERYTHING except, of course, for the two forms: Preferences; Status Reports.

ORAL PRESENTATION DATES. Please let me know ASAP if there is a date or dates during which you definitely cannot give your presentation, and what your important reason is. Kindly do so before I make the assignments. Please try to keep your schedule as flexible as possible in order that the least number of people are affected. Thank you.

Starting early, and other candid advice from your peers

Below is a sampling of actual written student comments from recent semesters.

Question: What would you change about your team dynamics or how you worked, if you could start again?

“I would have started our meetings much earlier—because of our schedules, this wasn’t easy but would really have helped give us direction a little earlier.”

“Don’t let your partner cancel out of meetings and rehearsals. Be firm.”

“...I also would have worked together on the papers more.”

“I would work more ahead of time so that I wouldn’t stress the week before if I had a lot on me.”

“Would have shared more and done more rehearsals (in the room). If time, would have recorded rehearsal and see what it looks like to audience rather than just viewing it subjectively.”

“We got started way too late. Made us rush too much; that was pretty dumb, I know…”

“Meet with my team member way more often, both during research phase and before formulating arguments.”

“We should have done a little more brainstorming. I don’t think we presented some things as well as we could have and I think we left out some important points.”

“I would be less stressed about the presentation.”

“We should have rehearsed together in the real classroom. Things happened that we didn’t expect.”

“Keep making us do progress reports because they helped us to stay on task. We’re great at procrastinating.”

Question: What worked well for your team?

“We worked well together and shared everything (resources and ideas) and rehearsed sufficiently. E-mail and visits were great. Can’t think of anything to change.”

“We really were able to bond. We set up specific times and days when we would meet, and we also set firm due dates that we stuck to.”

“Rehearsal in the classroom was definitely helpful....”

“We played devil’s advocate on nearly every idea/point we wanted to address. This helped us fully consider all possible effects and ultimately made our positions stronger.”

“I liked the level of involvement and the work we both contributed.”

“I finally had a positive group experience. Working with a smaller group helped. I learned a lot.”

“I really improved my ability to work with others… Learning from peers is interesting.”

Question: Did you feel that you learned something valuable from the other presentations (aside from content)?

“Don’t let one team member talk too much at one time; share better or it gets boring to the class.”

“Yeah, I learned the difference between good and bad presentations.”

“I learned that if you need to give a presentation and want people to pay attention and be interested, do not just show power point slides and read them. (”

“The teams that were the most creative were the most fun to watch. You should make everyone have to be creative.”

“The presentations that involved the audience were better than good ones that had no interaction.”

“After watching some of them, I know what NOT to do in a presentation! And don’t read it!”

“Energy makes all the difference.”

“I learned that it is easier to learn when presenters are more enthusiastic about the material they are presenting.”

Question: What advice would you give future COMP 380 students?

“Just be sure to stay steady w/ the project. Don’t let it sit for a long time. The assignment is really good. And working with a partner is a good idea.”

“Don’t procrastinate or you will be really sorry. And rehearse a lot. It was cool to have your peers lead the discussions.”

“Make your partner rehearse with you no matter how busy he says he is. Just make him. I could really tell those teams that rehearsed together and those that didn’t, and we didn’t, and it would have been much better if we had!”

Question: Additional comments?

“It was a lot of fun. Thanks for making us do this!”

“Seemed intimidating at first but turned out to be not so bad. Enjoyed it.”

“I think this project was the highlight of my semester. It was fun and I learned a lot from myself and others.”

“I enjoyed and appreciated the latitude we were given for this project—it allowed us to be creative and create our own presentation style. It was very enjoyable and I made a new friend in the process.”

“This is the best time I’ve had with a presentation at UNC, and I’m a senior…Well structured…Keep everything the same.”

“This project was very challenging but extremely rewarding. I learned so much from this!”

Team Work

Cooperation and the sharing of ideas are an important part of the educational process. You are encouraged to work together in nearly all aspects of your term project—finding and sharing good sources, providing a copy of your outline/paper to your partner; reviewing each others’ drafts of your outlines and written paper; and the oral presentation. You will be asked to evaluate yourself and your team member(s) with regard to your performance throughout.

This is not a competition between you and your partner. It is not your mission to make him/her look bad, or to be the “winner.” It should be a team effort throughout.

FROM THE SYLLABUS: Please note: Because your team member(s) will rely heavily on you, sub-standard performance as a team member will result in an "F" grade for the entire course, no matter what your course average is otherwise.

Much help is allowed. You are encouraged to confer with other current COMP 380 students, as long as they are not signed up for the same controversy/topic. Ask them to read your draft and comment on it, and point out any perceived weaknesses or oversights. Rehearse your presentation in the classroom, and in front of other students if you can—encourage feedback. (Of course, only the presenting team will receive academic credit.) You can learn a lot from your classmates, so take advantage. Consult the Authorized Aid section on page 7 of Written Assignment Guidelines.

TERM PAPER

IN SUM. Each team member will select a different (opposing) point of view on the controversy that your team will cover(that is, you cannot both argue for the same position. Each team member will write his/her individual term paper that will present his/her stance, with solid, rational arguments that are well supported and developed; he/she will refute at least two or three of the opposing major arguments (you do not have to refute every one; just pick the two or three most critical arguments).

NOTE: Each term paper will be evaluated and graded as a stand-alone document; that is, you may choose to refute different arguments than those your team member might use. In addition, the presentations will be graded completely separately from the term papers (that is, you could theoretically bomb the term paper but do well on the presentation; but it’s easier to start off well). If you coordinate efforts with your partner all along, it will benefit your forthcoming team presentation, at which time your positions, arguments, and refutations will necessarily be judged together.

1. Prioritized Topic Preferences Form (Due September 13)

A list of controversial topics* has been posted. Read each through carefully. Decide which topics look the most interesting to you. Next, DO SOME PRELIMINARY RESEARCH on those topics that look the most interesting to you. Read some of the articles you find, and then decide if you are still happy with the topic. You will spend a lot of time on this project, and it will be worth a large percentage of your course grade, so take the time now. YOU MAY ASSIGN the same priority number to many topics, if they sound equally interesting to you. For example, you may have several #1s, a few #2s, etc.

There will naturally be some overlap among certain topics. Do not be concerned if another team (or material covered during class) covers something that you plan to address in your topic. If it’s important and relevant to your topic, address it.

*Proposing your own topics (encouraged)

Although it is not required, we encourage you to propose one (or more) controversies that do not appear on the list.

In the interest of time: Be as specific and detailed as you can about the controversy that you are proposing—provide a brief write-up. Feel free to drop by to discuss your ideas before you submit them, if you wish.

I will veto your idea only if I believe it does not relate well enough to the course, or if I suspect you may have trouble with it(but you can certainly appeal the rejection, with supporting evidence, and I will reconsider. (

Later. After teams and topics have been assigned, it is still possible that you and your team member may discover a completely different topic/controversy that you both believe you would prefer. Should that occur, your team may propose the new topic to me via email or in person. Each team member will subsequently submit a new Summary Statement for approval.

Team and Topic assignments

Teams and topic assignments will be announced and posted on the date indicated(with no more than one team per topic. While we cannot promise you will get your top choice, we will do our best to accommodate. This method is still better than your simply being assigned a topic without having provided any input. To be fair, we will try to schedule later presentation dates for those teams who did not get their top choices (unless your team prefers going early). The more written information you share with us, the better it will be for you.

You may trade your topic with another team, or you may even propose trading team members, as long as everyone is in agreement, and you let us know what is going on.

2. Summary Statement

The provided topics should provide you with some ideas and questions; but notice that some topics may actually have more than one controversy within. We ask you to think about these questions as you identify a particularly interesting and specific controversy, and as you plan out your own thesis statement. Your thesis does not have to cover all the questions posed(focus on the controversy that you want to address.

Each team member must turn in a typed Summary Statement (only a paper copy is required here). The statement should be fairly brief, and include a problem statement and your thesis, and a brief bibliography (at least two entries), as follows:

Your name

Partner’s name

Brief Topic title (taken from Topics list)

[Problem statement] Describe the issue or the main problem you intend to write about (what is going on, why is it controversial, and why is this worth examining?). [Descriptive]

[Your thesis] Describe what your paper will argue for—what you intend to prove in your paper (your position), and a general idea/plan for how you will accomplish this. [Normative]

[Your brief bibliography here]

An example follows:

The ease with which nearly anyone can be a publisher on the Web has brought with it not only many benefits, but a significant tradeoff. Numerous hate groups (white supremacists, neo-Nazis, etc.) have an inexpensive and convenient way to reach world-wide audiences—including children and young adults—something not a decade ago. The debate continues as to whether or not the most repulsive hate speech (perpetrated by U.S. citizens and stored on U.S. servers) should be censored by the government. Exposure to the most vicious hate speech can compromise a person’s right to feel safe and to pursue happiness. On the other hand, hate speech is protected under the First Amendment in order to preserve a marketplace of ideas; censorship often serves to chill freedom of expression.

Hate speech published on the Internet, no matter how egregious, should enjoy the same First Amendment protections as does the print media. Anything less puts censorship in the hands of government instead of adults and/or parents; goes against the principle of tolerance of opinion, which erodes our “marketplace of ideas”; and it puts us on a very slippery slope.

IMPORTANT: Your problem statement will, of course, be very similar (possibly identical) to your teammate’s; however, because you will be assuming two different points of view, your thesis should be very different.

Feedback

I will review your Summary Statement, and return it to you, marked as one of the following:

1) Approved

2) Approval Pending receipt of partner’s statement*

3) Approved as Amended

4) Revise and Resubmit [do so ASAP! Ball’s in your court]]

* I plan to review your partner’s summary statement at the same time that I review yours (unlike the term papers) Consequently, your summary statement may receive #2 (Approval Pending receipt of partner’s statement); that means get in touch with him/her ASAP.

3. Detailed Outline

The purpose of the outline is to keep you organized, on track, and on time, to ensure that you will cover many important arguments and counter-arguments, include evidence, and especially to ensure that you keep your thesis in mind throughout. If you do a thorough job on your detailed outline, your paper should be simple to write. We will assume that your outline is complete by the due date provided. You are encouraged to bring it to the Writing Center for consultation as early as possible. You may, if you wish, go over parts of it with me during office hours or by appointment.

A sample outline is provided on the Web; notice that it follows the methodology for writing a philosophical paper that is shown in Written Assignment Guidelines. Of course, your outline may be organized differently, as long as it is easy to follow and inclusive.

4. The Term Paper (Requirements)

Review very carefully the handout MISC-03: Written Assignment Guidelines.

Length. 8–12+ pages (length for each paper; one from each partner). The length is a guideline. You may go above (or slightly below) it. Be careful if you go too much below it (see MISC-03 for details).

In addition to the 8-12+ pages, you must include:

(A title page stapled to the front(see Written Assignment Guidelines for required information.

(An appropriately formatted bibliography of works cited, stapled to the back (or footnotes as long as you follow correct style). A minimum of six sources is required—at least four must come from sources other than our class readings. (As long as at least four come from other sources, you can essentially use as many class materials as you like.) If you wish, one source (or more if you have more than six total) can be an interview. Keep in mind that six sources is bare minimum—the best papers typically have dozens of sources that have been well integrated.

TEAM PRESENTATION

The purpose of your presentation is to present the essence of your paper to the class (the controversy, your thesis, the most important of your well developed and supported arguments, and your conclusion) and an opportunity to lead the class in discussion. Your presentation will certainly not cover everything that you can cover in a term paper, nor at the same depth. For the presentation, select the most important arguments (generally about three), with evidence. (In contrast, your paper may have four or five arguments, depending on your topic.)

In addition, your presentation might include an argument (or arguments) that did not appear at all in your paper. Just be sure to keep your thesis in mind throughout.

Each team will have 15 to 18 minutes* of presentation/discussion time. That includes your setup time.

* Because of the size of the class, there will be 3 or 4 presentations per class period. This length is based on that constraint. Time limits will be strictly enforced.

You are also offered much latitude in terms of actual format:

□ Your topic might lend itself nicely to role playing (can be very effective, memorable, and more fun if you dress and act the part)(of course, be sure the audience knows who you are, and what the controversy is. A creative skit can hold audience attention. “Location” can be anything you like: a court of law; someone’s living room; the workplace; a coffee shop; the golf course; a television program....whatever works. Have fun with it, but be sure your main arguments (with support) and some counters can be easily understood by the audience.

□ DO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON BACKGROUND MATERIAL. If you do, you will run out of time and your grade will suffer. If there is material that you want the class to read before your presentation, I will be glad to post it. It needs to be posted by the beginning of the prior class.

□ During previous semesters, those presenters who involved the audience as much as possible and creatively were the most well-received. Audience participation can add a lot to an otherwise potentially dry presentation. Part of your grade relies on it. You may come up with a role playing exercise that involves the whole class, for example.

□ Perhaps you would enjoy a debate format, playing a specific role that characterizes your position (FBI agent? attorney for the ACLU?). One person can present a supporting argument for his/her position, followed by the teammate who identifies its weaknesses or other risks; opponent can then present his/her main argument, followed by the first speaker who plays devil’s advocate, etc. Staying in the role from start to finish has worked well.

□ Or, you may come up with a completely different format, or some combination thereof. Just be sure the audience knows early on what the controversy is, who will take what side, and that both sides get thoroughly and equitably aired, with arguments made clearly. One team member should not dominate; this is also true for handling the discussion—that is, if it feels like you are dominating, defer to your partner where you can.

□ A note of caution: You are welcome, even encouraged, to make use of skits, jokes, visual aids, mixed media such as film clips, art, and music, and anything you can think of to enhance the interest and engagement of the audience. However, these additional elements should be appropriate and useful as part of an educational, professional presentation. Always be aware that some of the topics we’re treating are controversial and will be sensitive to some of your classmates. We’re not trying to censor your opinions—we’re simply asking you to be respectful.

□ Further, it can be tempting to overuse video, popular music, and media clips: the audience enjoys them, and they take up time! But before you choose to use a video clip or other media element, ask yourself whether the clip really furthers and supports your argument—don’t use media only for entertainment purposes. A Hollywood film or pop song may not be the best way to support an intellectual argument. Use media—but use it wisely. Unnecessary and time-wasting use of media will hurt your presentation, even if the audience enjoys seeing it. Some of the best and most creative use of media that we’ve seen has been when students create their own short films, commercials, or other clips to demonstrate their points. One presentation effectively used TV commercials to demonstrate evidence of gender bias.

Creativity is very important, but SOLID CONTENT (clear and well organized) is absolutely critical. It should not be used merely to entertain, but to make each point more interesting and memorable.

You must be ready to present on your assigned day—only an official University-excused absence will be considered (or a note from your Dean’s office). It should be obvious that both you and your team will suffer if you do not show up. If you must trade presentation dates with another team for a very pressing reason after the team presentation dates have been made, you must obtain permission from the other team and then my permission, and as far ahead as possible.

Presentation Day Visuals and/or In-class Handouts

REQUIRED. Your team MUST use some sort of visual aid(s), and you MUST PROVIDE A HANDOUT for the class, either before you present, during your presentation, immediately after your presentation, or TELL the audience to pick it up on their way out. You should decide the timing ahead of time—it will depend upon what it is, of course. Assigned reading does NOT constitute a handout.

For the former, for example, you could create a PowerPoint presentation, and/or a Web site (also save it locally, just in case the network is down), or some combination thereof. We have also seen some very creative props used; they can add a lot of interest. Feel free to run your ideas by one of us if you are unsure.

For the class handout: Could be an abbreviated, one-page version of your slides; could be a copy of your slides (done in 6-slides/page handout style or outline style, PLEASE). It could be a synopsis of the controversy, with arguments and counters. Or a synopsis of the controversy, with interesting related URLs (aside from those we provide). It could be a brief quiz. The purpose of the handout is to re-enforce the material presented. Speak to me if you are confused.

AUDIENCE: The final exam will include questions about one or more of the topics presented. For example, you will be asked to describe a specific controversy (what’s being done or proposed, and what’s the problem?), and present a few arguments for each side. Take enough notes; you will not be provided with copies of presentation slides unless the presenters choose to do so.

Helpful Presentation Hints (not presented in any particular order) More presentation tips here

1. Background information is meant to give your listener sufficient knowledge of the technical elements and/or of the controversy in order to understand the debate and to comprehend your arguments. Just as it should not be the primary focus of your paper, that is even more true for your presentation, which is much shorter. Be careful that you move quickly into the arguments for both sides, or you may run out of time. You must leave enough time for audience participation, as discussed in class.

2. Your presentation will be successful only if you are well prepared, well read, well rehearsed, and if you truly believe that what you are saying is important to your listeners. Be convincing! Do not apologize for taking up our time—your term project will count for a large portion of your final grade. You will be the expert here.

3. Consider having one person introduce each of you, and then present the basic introduction (the controversy clearly identified, and what sides each team member will take). The brief background can be presented by one of you or shared. (Hint: If I were the team member with the most difficult side to defend (and therefore a slightly shorter presentation), I would want to present the intro and/or the background for the team.)

4. Do not apologize by saying that you’re not good at this, or that you are nervous. Most students are novice speakers. Apologizing when you start serves only to make your audience (and consequently you) even more uncomfortable. Worse, do not begin by saying that you do not agree with your stance. That is a turn-off to the audience (even if it is true)(at this point in your college career, you should be able to provide convincing arguments for either side of a controversy, and do so enthusiastically and with conviction. Did we say enthusiastically, and with conviction?? And do NOT SIT or hide behind the computer when you speak.

5. Speak loudly and speak with ENTHUSIASM and plenty of ENERGY. A soft spoken, unenergetic, uninspiring presentation gets the most negative audience (and grader) feedback—and a lower grade. THIS IS A HUGE HINT.

6. Do not read from lengthy prose. You can use note cards on which you have listed the main bulleted points, to jog your memory if need be, but do not rely on them too heavily or your grade will reflect that. (Put no more than three or four abbreviated points on a card—much like the slides.) Overuse of note cards can also be distracting and often interfere with a presenter’s ability to successfully interact with the audience; therefore, we will be very impressed if you commit most of your main points/ideas to memory, and TALK to us. Overheads or a PowerPoint presentation also can help, but take care not to talk to the computer (or projector) screen. More in next item.

7. Using PowerPoint slides (or Web pages) to show your main points helps both you and the audience to stay focused.* This is your production—make it professional, make it convincing, and have some fun with it. Creativity is important to maintain audience interest, and should enhance, not replace, substance.

a. *To store your files on the classroom PC. We will provide you with a user name and password so that you can log on to the classroom PC. We will provide a folder with a shortcut on the desktop where you can store your files. However, bring all files on a CD, a key drive, etc., for safety(files can be erased from the hard drive without my knowing. You may use your notebook computer if you prefer; just be sure you know how to connect it in the classroom so it projects correctly.

b. Do not fill a slide with prose!—the audience will have trouble reading it while you speak. Just a few VERY BRIEF points are all you need on each slide. Use a large typeface size so those in the back rows can see. Use enough contrast between the text and the page background for easy reading. Test everything ahead of time in the classroom.

8. Audience participation:

There are many creative ways in which to involve the audience. Include them in your skit. Ask them well crafted questions periodically. Ask them to role play. Play a game (as long as it has a valid purpose or objective). Think about how you might distribute some kind of artifact, or color-coded note cards, and then tell them what to do based on what they received. (“everyone with a Hershey’s kiss must do yadda yadda whenever blah blah.”)

Your team is in charge. You should determine when it is time to move on to another question or to another audience member. When enough has been said on a particular question, you might follow up by reacting to one or more of the comments, and then go on to another question. Do not feel you have to pick on everyone who raises his/her hand for any particular question, but everyone will appreciate your giving different people a chance to participate. Feel free to pick on people whose hands are not raised. Audience: remember to give others a chance to speak.

a. Be sure any discussion questions are focused and specific enough so that the audience can respond easily. Provide an illustration, or a scenario, perhaps, for the class to react to. Very broad questions are very difficult for the audience to address and can cause a disjointed and uncomfortable discussion. “What do you think should be done about this controversy?” is much too broad. This has been the most recurring problem with discussions during past semesters, no matter how often I point it out.

b. You may want to have some pre-written scripts for certain audience members. Don’t use this exclusively so that others can participate.

9. Dress appropriately and/or for the part that you will play. You will feel more professional, and/or “in the role.”

10. END your talk gracefully. We’ve heard many students end with “OK, we’re finished.” Not very effective nor very gracious. Have a plan for how you will finish up as an individual and as a part of a team.

Do Ahead:

1. Practice, practice, and then practice again. Try to spread your rehearsals out over a few days, if possible. Practice in front of the mirror. In front of others. In front of your cat. Time yourself with each practice and see how you are doing. Next, try to memorize your main points. For some people, memorizing the presentation works well; but for many, it can throw them off if they forget a word, or they can sound too robotic. This is a personal choice, so go with what works best for you and your personality. BUT PLEASE DO NOT READ.

a. REHEARSALS: We will reserve a number of blocks of time in our classroom so that your team can sign up and rehearse before you have to give your presentation in front of the class. You may combine my review with a rehearsal or you may do them separately.

SIGNUP SHEETS will be hung on my office door(details covered in class.

b. Should someone else be in the room when you arrive for your scheduled time, please see one of us or our receptionist to get the matter resolved. Don’t just leave—the occupant may simply be unaware of the schedule.

2. Be sure to test your files on the classroom PC before your presentation date to be sure everything projects and or links the way you expect. Although it is rare, the PC could malfunction, so be prepared to fall back to the use of a laptop. We will review in class how to put your materials where they can be accessed by multiple machines.

CRITICAL. Secondary storage media can fail without warning. Be sure you have a second electronic copy of your presentation with you; and also put a copy on the local PC’s hard drive in the designated folder BEFORE your presentation date. TEST the font types you use to be sure those are installed on our classroom PC (else it can default to something ugly, or worse, a font that causes some of your text to be unreadable).

THE PLAN FOR PRESENTATION DAY

1. PRESENTERS: You may want to bring a bottle of water. Don’t let dry mouth happen to you. :-[

2. Regarding time: Let us know if you want time warnings (flash cards). If your team runs out of time, a bell will sound.

3. TURN IN: At the start of class on your presentation day, turn in a paper copy of any PowerPoint slides that you use (either outline format or 6-slides per page), class handouts, and other visuals. No electronic copies are required. LABEL everything clearly with team member names and your topic title.

4. AUDIENCE:

a. Be on time. If you must be late for a very pressing reason, kindly be considerate of the presenters. If you enter (or must leave) in the middle of a presentation, do so quietly; take a seat in the back until the next team gets up to set up.

b. ON YOUR WAY IN: Pick up a Peer Feedback Form for each presenting team for that class day, and complete it during class. Place them in the appropriately labeled boxes before you leave. Do not evaluate your own team with this form; you’ll be asked to do that later in a more comprehensive format.

Important Note: Please be aware of the nature of peer evaluations. Don’t gush uncontrollably unless the presenters knocked your socks off, but don’t be overly harsh, either—you are judging students, not polished professionals.

When you read YOUR team’s evaluations: Usually within ~24 hours of your presentation date/time, look for an email message, which will include an MS Word attachment that will provide some feedback from both your peers and from the teaching staff.

Do not be overly sensitive if there are some who thought you did poorly. Focus on the general trends. The teaching staff’s comments will have the most influence on your grade. We’ve been doing this a long time, and believe we can be fair at evaluating student performance. All comments—good, bad, or ugly—are meant to help you to keep improving your skills. We share the peer comments with you because we believe that you can often learn from each other, and to satisfy your curiosity. They are anonymous, of course. We will be happy to discuss the team evaluation with you.

c. TAKE NOTES.

d. Participate! Read Discussion Guidelines again.

Actual presentation feedback from recent COMP 380 students/staff

“They were both pretty dull. They needed to add energy. Relied too much on note cards.” [Many students have made very similar comments.]

“Great energy, fun presentation, clear and interesting examples/arguments.”

“Arguments were weak; I still don’t understand what he was trying to convince us of.”

“They needed to get the audience involved more; ran out of time!”

“They never even told us what the controversy was until they were half-way through.....was hard to follow.”

“Needed more interaction between the presenters, more pep, more discussion.”

“Good use of visuals, nice job getting audience involved; we like that.”

“The biggest problem we saw was your lack of energy and enthusiasm; you seemed apologetic to be taking up our time, and you were not convincing. It didn’t appear that you believed much of what you were saying.”

“Your voice trailed off, and really needed more volume and some emotion and energy. You need to speak with conviction and energy.”

“Good skit, very informative, well polished, easy to follow, great job.”

“If every team uses that typical one-presents, then the other-presents style, this could be really boring. I like. the ones that also keep the audience interested and involved...”

General Grading Rubric for Presentations

Your final presentation grade will likely be a composite of a few inputs: Your individual presentation performance (weighs the most); your team performance; feedback from your team member(s) that addresses your performance as a productive and willing member of the team; and, to a lesser extent, feedback from the class. Final presentation grades will be posted only after all other presentations are complete.

□ An “A” presentation: Speakers are graciously introduced, and the controversy is CLEARLY and completely identified, as are the positions that each team member will take (all done toward the beginning of your time). Supporting arguments are clear, rational, and well developed, with good supporting evidence. The tradeoffs or risks are acknowledged (by you or your partner). Two or three major arguments by the opposition are successfully refuted. The presentation is very creative, well developed, and well organized throughout, as the audience is led gracefully from one point to the next. The speaker is well poised, speaks with conviction, with volume, and lots of energy, exhibits no distracting mannerisms, and uses media very well. The audience is clearly stimulated, and is kept involved. Audience questions are handled well and shared. Discussion questions are well thought out, focused, and nicely executed—the speaker is in control. It has obviously been a very cohesive team effort throughout.

□ A “B” presentation: Speakers are introduced, the controversy is clearly identified, and there is some mention of who will argue for each side (either toward the beginning, or at least sometime soon thereafter). Reasonably clear and fairly well supported and developed arguments are presented, although not with the clarity or support of an “A” presentation. Some tradeoffs or risks are acknowledged (by you and/or your partner), but perhaps not as well thought out or presented. Two or three major arguments by the opposition are addressed and refuted, but not as thoroughly or convincingly as in an “A” presentation. The presentation may be somewhat creative. It may exhibit some organizational weakness; however, the audience can follow along. The speaker may be less comfortable, and may rely a little too much on his/her notes. The speaker does not speak loudly enough at times, or his/her voice trails off. More energy and enthusiasm are needed. Some conviction can be seen, however. Media are used fairly well. Audience questions are handled pretty well, but there could be more interaction with the audience. Discussion questions are pertinent, focused enough to get some good discussion, and fairly well executed. The team members seem to have worked well together.

□ A “C” presentation: Speakers may be introduced, and the controversy identified; or not. Too much time is spent on background material, so they have to rush or they run out of time. The speaker presents at least some rational arguments for his/her thesis, but some may be too general, unsupported, or not very well developed. There may be some faulty logic. Opposing points of view are scarcely addressed. Some creativity may be found. Organization is weak, and the audience may have problems following his/her ideas. The speaker is fairly uncomfortable and may rely too much on his/her notes. The speaker does not speak loudly enough, or does not sound convincing. Energy and enthusiasm are missing. Media are used but not very effectively. Very little to no time for audience participation. Or, discussion questions may be vague or much too broad, and the speakers do not do enough to keep the discussion on track. One speaker may predominate. It does not appear the members rehearsed nearly enough as a team.

□ A “D” presentation: Speaker may have a thesis, but it is hard to follow or so unclear that the audience cannot always be sure what the speaker is arguing for—and in some cases, even isn’t sure exactly what the controversy really is. Arguments teeter on uncertain logic, and most are presented as unsupported assertions, or they do not support the speaker’s stance. Opposing points of view are scarcely addressed, if at all. (In some cases, both speakers appear to be arguing for the same side.) There’s not much, if any, creativity; organization is poor; and the audience may be lost. The speaker may be reading directly from prose. There’s no energy, no conviction, no enthusiasm. Media are not used or are distracting rather than helpful. Little or no audience participation. Team dynamics are clearly absent.

□ An “F” presentation: Speaker has no recognizable thesis, making any logic or supporting arguments irrelevant. That is, the speaker’s position is hopelessly vague, or perhaps indiscernible. Opposing points of view are scarcely addressed or nonexistent. Organization is poor or nonexistent; the audience is lost and visibly uncomfortable. The speaker may be reading directly from prose. There’s no energy, no conviction, no enthusiasm. Discussion questions may be irrelevant and/or poorly executed, or the speakers have left no time for questions or audience participation. It appears that this is the first time the team members have seen each other since the topics were assigned. Dreadful.

Or some combinations thereof. Plusses and minuses may be used for finer-grain letter assignments.

PRESENTATION GRADES will be assigned and posted only after all teams have presented.

Questions, problems?

Be assertive with your teammate(s). Do not let things fester. Stay on top of everything. See one of us ASAP if problems arise that you cannot fix yourself.

TO LEAVE YOU ON A POSITIVE NOTE. A good percentage of past team presentations have been excellent. The students have said that they were challenged, enjoyed it very much, and most rose to the challenge. Do well, enjoy yourself, and good luck!

Last revision date: 5 Sept. 2006: jmw

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