Description and Purpose

The purpose of the project is two-fold: 1) to expose students to controversies within the field of mass communication; and 2) to allow students a greater chance to participate in class and to share their views. The panel project (the essay, the debate, and the peer evaluation combined will count as 40 percent of the semester grade.

Each student will be assigned to a team consisting of three to six members.  Each team has been assigned either the pro or the con side of an issue in Taking Sides.  The two teams assigned to a particular issue with write a essay, construct a PowerPoint presentation, and debate the issue for the class in the form of an oral presentation.

Topic Selection

1.  One you have been assigned a team check for your topic and your presentation date.

2.  Both teams will arrange to meet together outside of class to discuss their topic and to
     construct a joint research file. 

Preparation (Panelists)

1.  The presenters on each side of the issue should get together beforehand to organize
      and coordinate their presentations. Before they arrive at the discussion, they should
      split up responsibilities (e.g., specific arguments and/or points) among them, making
      sure that their presentations are linked to, while not being redundant with, one
      another. They should also decide the order of their presentations.

2.  In order to debate effectively you must do significant research and reading behind the
     textbooks.  You must develop expert power.  If the opposing team, an audience
     member, or the instructor asks you a question during the debate, and you can not
     give an intelligent answer your grade will be lowered.  The team will develop a
     research plan assigning a task(s) to each member.  Research should include both
    electronic and print sources that are up-to-date and represent a range of opinion about
    the subject.  Teams should include information obtained from official sources, i.e.,
    government officials and agencies, and advocacy groups.  . Depending on the topic,
    interviews with government officials, representatives of advocacy groups, and
    authorities on the topic should be considered.  Each team should include a
    bibliography containing a minimum of ten sources as part of the outline, including
    print and electronic, primary and secondary.

3.  Each team will wrote a FIVE page essay.  Each team will than use the essay to
     construct a PowerPoint Presentation to be used when presenting their arguments
     during the class debates.

     Click Here to See the Criteria for Evaluating 1-oh-1 Debates Each team will be
     evaluated separately using these criteria

4. Each presentation with have at least three major arguments. State your argument as
    clearly and as interestingly as possible within the time limit. The keys are to: 1) state
    the claim you are making clearly and concretely;2)warrant your argument in as many
    different ways as possible e.g. argument from authority, argument from sign, argument
     from generalization, argument from definition, and so forth. 

5.  Obviously, you will need to put some time into preparation of your presentation. If you
      don’t everyone will know, you will not only embarrass yourself, you will earn a low
      grade.  Embarrassing yourself and earning a low grade is usually best accomplished
      by pretending your are in high school and thinking you can prepare your
      presentation the night before. "You are not in Kansas anymore."

6.  In preparing for your panel presentation, you are required do research and reading
     beyond that provided in Taking Sides. When you refer to information from sources in
    your presentations, please tell us whose work you are referring to and the source of
    the information (e.g., article by Smith in the April, 1999 issue of the Journal of Abnormal
    Psychology.)   Each team will be required to hand in the resource file which was used
     to construct the presentation.

 If you think you are going to let your team down, you might listen to the following.

                     http://gcc210b.bradley.edu/alPacinoInches.mp3

Preparation (Audience Members)

1.  Everyone (not just the panelists) please read the entire chapter in Taking Sides on the
     issue for that week (including the introduction, both articles, and the challenge
     questions) before class and come to class  prepared to discuss the issue.

2. Students who are not members of that week's panel must come to class with at least
     one question or comment based on the YES reading and at least one based on the NO
     reading. These questions or comments should be typed; I will collect them during
     each class, and I will not accept them late. These written questions will contribute to
     your participation/attendance grade in the course

Presentation (Format)

The discussions will take the following format which, due to time constraints (that is, 50 minutes per discussion), will be followed strictly.

Opening comments

I will start the panel with a brief introduction (1 - 2 minutes). Yet, other than brief introductions and concluding comments, my job is to keep the discussion on track and make sure that everyone has a equal chance to participate.

Each of the two sides of the panel will present the arguments supporting their position.

1.  Opening Comments (Instructor)  
2.  Introduction   (3 min)
3.  Presentation of Pro Argument 1  (3 minutes)
4.  Presentation of Pro Argument 2 (3 minutes)
5.  Presentation of Pro Argument 3  (3 minutes)
6.  Conclusion Summary of Pro-Arguments (3 min)
7.  Introduction  Con Presentation (3 minutes)
8.  Presentation of Con Argument 1 (3 minutes)
9.  Presentation of Con Argument 2 (3-mintues)
10.  Presentation of Con Argument 3 (3-mintues)
11.  Question from the Pro Team  (5 minutes)
12.  Question  from the Con Team (5 min)
13.  Questions and Comments From Audience and Instructor (20 minutes)
14.  Closing Comments (Instructor)

Rules and Strategies

Each person should talk for 3minutes (but not longer, please).  The team presenting the pro arguments  presenters will go first, then the team presenting the con arguments.

The presentations will be timed and you will be stopped after 2 minutes. Thus, you should prepare, practice, and time what you want to say beforehand. This preparation and practice will help you speak clearly while adhering to the time limit.

No notes are allowed.  Use the PowerPoint slides to cue you ideas.  If you insist on using notes your individual grade will be reduced by two grades.

Yet, it is much better to talk, in conversational style, from prepared notes  rather than to read verbatim from a script. If you talk (rather than read) it will be easier to listen to you and you will be more engaging and interesting.  If you simply transfer the content of your essay onto the PowerPoint  graphics you will earn a lower grade.  If you just read, I will assume that you do not know what you are talking about and your individual grade will be reduced by two grades.

After the presentations, we should have 20-30  minutes) left for discussion, comments, and questions from the class members NOT on the panel. To get the discussion going, sometimes I will ask for volunteers to ask questions and/or make comments and sometimes I will call on people. This is where your preparation before class and your written questions come in. We will try to give everyone an equal chance to participate throughout the semester when not on the panel.

The audience . The students not involved in a debate are still a part of the situation. They will get special points for participation (and it will be noted by the professor). Two kinds of audience participation can be expected: clarification and question.

Clarification --If a student is uncertain of a point, counterpoint, interpretation of data, a study, or any other portion of a presentation, the students in the audience can ask for clarification. Whoever is explaining the concept or supporting members on the team should clear the problem up for the student as a teacher would do in any class. Clarification questions should be asked at any time (interruptions are fine).

Question --This kind of audience participation can come after a position is clarified and the research is in. Questioning is appropriate when a student is disturbed by an answer or has data to counter or expand upon a position taken by the panel. Students should be reminded that the panel (pro and con) is primarily responsible for this sort of question, and the audience should wait and see if the panel will develop the response before they question too deeply.

Please state your discussion point, question, or comment clearly and concisely. Most importantly, be respectful and considerate of your classmates, but don't be afraid to disagree with and critique their positions and arguments. Don't make personal, ad hominem attacks on people. Critique the ideas presented, not the person presenting them him- or her-self.

After each question or comment is raised, I will ask others (first non-panelists, then panelists) to follow-up and/or comment on the issue raised. After I think the first issue has been discussed sufficiently, I will ask for a question or critique on the other side of the issue, and so on.

I hope that all members of the panel will be involved in, but NOT dominate, the open discussion. Thus, each panelist should try to anticipate questions, weaknesses, flaws, and problems in his/her own position and arguments that might be raised. When you get together beforehand with your team, you should help one another in this preparation.

The professor will end each class with a short summary of the session's events and highlights. (1 - 2 minutes)

Post-Presentation

All team members are responsible for the substance of the entire presentation.  In great groups there is no such thing as "my part."  Do not divide and conquer.  Do not divide up the work and go you separate ways and try to throw the presentation together the night before it is due.

1. Each student will complete a peer evaluation of their own and their other team
     members contribution to the team project through out the course of the semester.

     If you think you are going to let your team down, you might listen to the following.

                     http://gcc210b.bradley.edu/alPacinoInches.mp3

   If you think you are going to let your team down, you might read the following

                    "Hell hath no fury like a group member scorned."

If this situation develops in you team, please email me immediately.  In Com 1-oh-1 team members who do not carry their weight can be fired by their team.  In the even a group decides to terminate a member, that members can either: 1) complete an entirely new project working alone, or drop the course.

Evaluation

General Evaluation Criteria
All submissions will be evaluated based on both form and content. Form refers to professional and timely presentation in accord with assignment instructions, as well as cogency and organization. Content refers to quality of analysis, correct application of principles, coherence in reasoning, and thoroughness of research. You grade will reflect your success in meeting these standards

Highest grades will go to presentations that are professional in appearance, well organized, informative, engaging, innovative, and that demonstrate critical thinking in applying the concepts and ideas examined in this course and presented in the textbooks. Presentations, case studies and debates which are unprofessional, disorganized, superficial, unoriginal, that simply rehash assigned readings, classroom lectures, or old news, that are poorly researched, or that exceed the assigned time limit, will earn lower scores.

Click here to see the instruments that will be used to evaluation your team's presentation.

Subjective criteria will also include:

1. Grasp of the issue and important related points.
2. Ability to make presentation interesting, engaging, and relevant.
3. Ability to support arguments.
4. Use of supporting materials outside of Taking Sides readings.
5. Use of constructive criticism and rationale
6. Ability to anticipate and/or counter opposing viewpoints.
7. Ability to see and challenge flaws in opposition's arguments and research as well as one's own flaws.

Team Evaluation

Peer Evaluation

Each team member will be required to confidentially rate the contributions of his/her fellow team members to the team presentation, using a rating form which I will provide. The results of this team evaluation can be supplied to me by each member of the team immediately following the presentation. The individual grade you receive for your team’s presentation will reflect the grade I assign to the presentation and the participation score you receive from your team. You will not receive a score for the team presentation if you do not submit your team member evaluation form.

. 

.