English 1A/Clara McLean/Fall 2008 GROUP RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS Length: 45 minutes (plan carefully and time yourselves) Due Dates: M 10/20, M 10/27 Assignment: Working together as a group, research and prepare a 45-minute group presentation on an issue important in the current elections: (Health Care, Global Warming, the War in Iraq, Immigration, or the Banking/Mortgage Crisis) For the next few weeks, you will be working with your group to come to an indepth understanding of a key issue in the current elections. Your goal is to find out about the issue itself, as well as to discover a range of political viewpoints on it. The Library Orientation and the list of admissible sources will point you in the right direction as your group works together to research the issue, finding 20 high-quality sources which you will summarize in your group Annotated Bibliography (see handout). Having pulled together all of this information, your task is to present it to your classmates in an informative, engaging 45-minute presentation. All members of the group must participate in the research process and in the presentation itself. Creativity is encouraged. Please follow these guidelines: 1) By the class period before your presentation, your group will choose 2 excellent sources from your Annotated Bibliography that you will assign the rest of the class to read in preparation for your presentation. 2) During your presentation, your group should: a) Present an overview of the issue and what’s at stake, being as objective as possible b) Define, and explain thoroughly, at least 4 key concepts that are crucial to understanding the issue c) Present a debate showcasing 4 different viewpoints on the issue, representing different positions on the American political spectrum. 2 of these should be the positions of the major Presidential candidates (McCain and Obama). The 2 others should be positions from outside this limited either/or: they could be specific politicians (e.g. Nancy Pelosi, Michael Huckabee) specific writers (from the articles you have read) or specific political parties (the Green Party, the Libertarian Party). Let the class see how these different positions view the issue, the kinds of solutions they propose, and where they fit on the spectrum. d) Engage the class so that they are not merely passive spectators throughout your presentation. 3) By the class day after your presentation, each group member should turn in a Presentation Self-Assessment in which you honestly evaluate both your and your groupmates’ individual contributions to the presentation. McLean/English 1A/Fall 2008 PRESENTATION SELF-ASSESSMENT Please describe the contributions you individually made to preparing and carrying out your group presentation. Be specific: Please describe the contributions your peers made to preparing and carrying out your group presentation. Be specific: What do you feel was most effective about your group presentation, including preparation: What do you feel was least effective about your group presentation, including preparation: Please evaluate your own contribution on a scale of 1-10 (circle one): 1 2 Explain: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10