Today’s class was devoted to our Peer Review Workshop.
Homework:
1) Continue revising/completing your Research Paper essay based on today’s Peer Review Workshop and my comments on your outline (if you submitted one).
2) Prepare for the cumulative grammar quiz to be held on Wednesday, 12/5.
3) Prepare for your Oral Presentation (to begin 12/5). The order in which students will present on their research will be according to the sign-up sheet. Please note that days/times are tentative and you must be ready to present on either day. If you are not ready to present when you are called, you may not get another chance and forfeit the opportunity (which results in a “0” grade).
Please back up your PowerPoint presentation on a flash drive and via email to ensure you have it and it’s ready to go. Additionally, you MUST print out a copy of your PowerPoint presentation to submit to me (you can print 6 slides to one page to save paper). If you do not have this, you cannot present.
Details (from Research Project handout):
Students must create a PowerPoint presentation based on their research project and present it to the class in a 5-minute presentation. Each presentation will be followed by a short Q&A session (2 minutes). You will be evaluated on: (1) content and organization; (2) presentation skills; (3) PowerPoint presentation; and (4) audience participation.
To help your listeners stay focused on your presentation, use transitional words. You must speak loud enough, slow enough, clear enough, and with enough modulation in your voice to be heard and understood without difficulty by everyone in the room. Don’t read from a prepared speech. Rather, use notes and make eye contact. Your grade will suffer if you merely read and don’t ever look up. Instead, practice your presentation aloud several times before class to be sure that it is smooth and well-timed.
You can select some of the following questions to help you generate ideas for your presentation but do not simply answer them in order. Your presentation should have a logical flow, just as your paper will.
1. What did you argue?
2. What supporting reasons did you use to support your main claim?
3. What assumptions allowed you to arrive at those reasons?
4. What was some of the strongest evidence you found to support your argument?
5. Who was your opposition? How did you account for the counterevidence?
6. What did you think about your topic before the research process began? How did your research shape the way you think about your topic? Did your research cause you to change your mind?
Lastly, make sure to organize your presentation. Chances are that your material will evolve in a progression that resembles your essay. Here is one potential way to think of it:
- State Point of View: provide direct statement of position on the topic at hand.
II. State Reasons Why: provide broad reasons why you hold this point of view.
III. Present Evidence and Examples: provide data to support the stated point of view and reasons. Discredit counter evidence.
IV. Restate Point of View: drive the argument home.
And finally, be advised that you will need to be an active listener as well. You must listen attentively, and be prepared to answer/ask question(s) about each presentation. Students who are absent or do not actively participate will receive lower grades.
