Group Projects
Group Projects
Note: This is an assignment in English 326 (Language Studies for Teachers), a course taught by John C. Schafer.
Group Projects
I. Overview
As you can see from the syllabus, beginning in week 8 you will work on your final Group Project in your group meetings. (In week 6 you will discuss your projects briefly.) During the last five days of the semester, each group will make a presentation to the whole class on the topic it has been working on. Each group will have one entire class--50 minutes--to give their presentation. All members of the group will work on the presentation, but some members may speak more than others. Each member will explore one aspect of the topic his or her group is working on. The topics are as follows:
Grammar and the Teaching of Writing
Comparing English to Other Languages
Reading: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and the Search for a Balanced Approach
II. Mode of Presentation
Group members can decide how they want to present information on their topic. The presentation can include a video (no longer than 15 minutes, however), a panel discussion format with "experts" speaking on different aspects of the topic, staged interviews (interviews rehearsed ahead of time), short skits to dramatize certain points, or more traditional short oral reports. Another possibility is a video of a real interview, perhaps with a local teacher. It's possible to borrow a video camera for this purpose. (An interview with a teacher could help you meet the requirement mentioned in III-F below.) The idea is to choose a format that will make your presentation interesting and informative. If you know Power Point, software that enables one to give impressive presentations, you may wish to use it for your presentation-or at least part of it.
III. Required Features of Group Presentations
A. All members must be involved in the research and planning that precedes the final presentation.
B. Groups should hand out a brief "agenda" that lists the key parts of the presentation.
C. A group's presentation should include at least one handout (in addition to the agenda) that conveys information about the topic--a chart, a picture, an outline of key points. You could make a transparency and use the overhead projector, if you wish.
D. Each presentation must include at least five minutes for questions and answers. Group members should be ready with a plan to use the time productively if there are no questions.
E. You should consider ways you can involve the audience in your presentation. Some possibilities:
1. Give a short survey or test related to your topic and discuss the results. (To save presentation time, the survey or test could be administered ahead of time.)
2. Promise and deliver a quiz at the end of the presentation.
3. Give your classmates some sample sentences or other type of data and ask them to draw some conclusions about it (In other words, use a discovery learning approach).
F. Your presentation should include a section that addresses how your topic relates to teaching issues. In other words, group members should discuss the practical implications for teachers of the information they are presenting.
IV. How the Individual Paper Relates to the Group Project
You should write a paper on some aspect of your group's topic. This individual paper can be a further development of your contribution to the Group Project. Say, for example, you belong to the "Gender and Language" group. Your assignment within the group has been to explore how men and women use language differently when they participate in group activities. You would research this topic and discuss your findings with your group members; and perhaps you would report your findings orally when your group gives its presentation. In addition, you would write an individual paper on "Women's and Men's Ways of Talking in Groups" that would be turned in to me for a grade (This grade for your individual paper is a separate grade; it's not part of your grade for your group work.) This paper would be a medium-length research paper (5 pages or so).
V. How Your Contributions to the Group Project Will Be Evaluated
Your grade for your group work will be based on the following:
A. Attendance at group meetings (Missing group meetings hurts your grade.)
B. Self-evaluation (I'll ask you to provide me with your own evaluation of your contributions to the work of the group.)
C. My judgment of how you've contributed to the group
VI. How the Group's Final Presentation Will Be Evaluated
Each group's final presentation will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
A. Did it include all the required elements--agenda, handout, question and answer period, section that addresses practical implications for teaching, etc.?
B. Was accurate information on the topic presented?
C. Was the information presented in a clear and engaging way?
D. Were the evaluations done by your classmates positive? (Your classmates will be asked to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the presentation.)
VII. Ways Groups Should Proceed
Here's a rough schedule that suggests ways to use your group meetings to prepare for your presentations. Remember that you will also need to use part of your group time for work on Verb Tense Exercises.
Week of Oct. 2-6 (Week 6): Discuss this handout ("Group Project"). Members who have questions about it can raise them. If other members can't answer the questions, the group leader can make a note of them and check with me. Discuss the article (or articles) that I have identified (See below, "Suggestions for Each Group") as a good introduction to your topic. (Click on your group topic to go to these articles: Grammar and Writing, Acquisition of Language, Comparing English to Other Languages, Reading: Phonemic Awareness, etc., Gender and Language.) Discuss how the topic can be broken down into five parts--five individual areas of responsibility (I suggest possible ways of dividing topics into subtopics, but you don't have to accept my suggestions.) Decide who takes which area (Try to work it out so members get the area that interests them). Agree that each person will report on her area next meeting.
Week of Oct. 16-20 (Week 8): Hear reports from members on their area of responsibility. Begin to discuss in a preliminary way the Final Group Presentation. Discuss these questions: What are the main points about our topic that we want to get across to our audience? How can we best get our points across?
Week of Oct. 23-27 (Week 9): Rough drafts of individual papers related to group projects are due this week--on Fri.--but since you will be reading each other's papers and responding to them next week, it is better to wait till then to discuss them. Don't forget to bring copies of your papers to class on Friday--enough copies for each member of your group and one for me. In class on Friday you can decide which papers will be discussed during the group meeting time next week and which papers will be discussed in class on Wed., Nov. 1. See Week 10, below.
How you use your group time this week is up to you. Members could report on the highlights of their individual research efforts and propose aspects of their research that they think would be good to include in the group presentation. You could discuss the mode of presentation your group will use for your final presentation: Does your group prefer a panel discussion or individual oral reports? What handout or overhead will you use to help your classmates grasp your topic? Or a group might decide to use this week's meeting to work on Verb Tense Exercises.
Week of Oct. 30-Nov. 3 (Week 10): Groups will meet twice this week: once during the regular group meeting time and once during the regular class period on Wed. (in the regular classroom). Extra meeting time is provided to ensure you will have enough time to respond to each group member's paper.
Be sure to comment in writing on your classmates' papers, using a form I will provide, before they are discussed. (Remember some papers will be discussed during your group's regular meeting time and some in class on Wed., Nov. 1.) The response form will prompt you to mention strengths, identify unclear points, suggest possible revisions, and indicate information that you think could be included in your group's presentation. During your two meetings this week each group member will respond to papers written by the other members of the group, using the written form as a guide. A copy of the forms should be given to the author and to me.
Week of Nov. 6-10 (Week 11): Since you will be doing Verb Tense Exercise 5 this week, a review of the twelve tenses, you might want to concentrate on verb tenses this week and make sure you understand them. Of course, if there are some issues related to your group presentation that need to be discussed, you should do so.
Week of Nov. 13-17 (Week 12): Group meetings are optional this week. Meet if you need to in order to plan your group presentation.
Week of Nov. 27-Dec. 1 (Week 13): Use this meeting to pull the presentation together--to finish work on the agenda, the handout, the survey or quiz you're using to engage your audience, etc. If time allows, you could have a "dress rehearsal" for your presentation. If you're using a panel format, panel members can give their presentations. If you have audio-visual aids, you can practice using them. If the group's presentation is not ready for dress rehearsal by the time of your group meeting for this week, you may need to schedule your dress rehearsal for another time.
Class time on Fri., Dec. 1, will also be devoted to group meetings to plan the final presentations.
Week of Dec. 4-8 (Week 14): First three groups ("Grammar," "Acquisition," and "Comparing Languages") give their presentations this week. No group meetings this week unless a group needs to meet for last minute planning.
Week of Dec. 11-15 (Week 15): Last two groups ("Reading" and "Gender") give their final presentations. No group meetings this week unless a group needs tomeet for last minute planning.
VIII. Suggestions for Each Group
A. Grammar and the Teaching of Writing
B. The Acquisition of Language
C. Comparing English to Other Languages
D. Reading: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and the Search for a Balanced Approach