Work in teams of four to five

Identify, investigate, and analyze an academic or real-world problem or issue (in this case SOCIAL MEDIA); consider options and alternatives; and present and defend your proposed solution(s) or resolution(s). 

The components that comprise this task are the Individual Research Report, the Team Presentation, and Oral Defense. 

These components are made up of the following elements, each of which you will need to complete in order to fulfill the task requirements:

1. Individual Research Report: 1200 words

2. Team Multimedia Presentation: 8-10 minutes

3. Oral Defense (part of Team Presentation): Each student responds to 1 question

• As a team, collaborate to identify an academic or real-world problem or issue (e.g., local,

national, global, academic/theoretical/philosophical).

• Develop a team research question (RQ) that can be viewed from multiple perspectives.

• Conduct preliminary research to identify possible approaches, perspectives, and lenses.

• Divide responsibilities among group members for individual research that will address the team’s RQ.

IRR HIGH SCORING SAMPLES

• Worldwide Legalization of Rhino Horn Trade: The Political Considerations

• How to Address the Heroin Epidemic of the United States: Foreign Considerations

• Deinstitutionalization

• 2020 High Scoring Samples Both Sample A and B are high scoring

• Read all team members’ IRRs.

• Teach other team members what you learned so that all team members understand all perspectives presented in the reports (in the OD, you may be asked about any team member’s work).

• Collaboratively synthesize and evaluate individual findings and perspectives to create a collective understanding of different approaches to the problem or issue.

• Consider potential solutions or resolutions to your team’s problem or issue.

• Conduct additional research on solutions or resolutions.

• Evaluate different solutions in relation to context and complexity of the problem.

• Propose a solution or resolution to your problem or issue.

• Develop an argument to support your proposed solution.

There are many elements to consider when your group tries to synthesize the material found during the creation of your IRR. To help you accomplish this task, your team will write a script to help synthesize your thoughts. 

• Parts to the Script (note: this is NOT part of the formal PT requirements; it is a teacher- specified requirement).

• Put your group’s RQ at the top of the page. Include the names of the members of your group.

• Have an opening, where you are guiding the audience in with a story or anecdote, a quote or scenario, and then make sure you pose the research question word for word. Include WHO WILL SPEAK THIS PART.

• Your script should include a scene heading, which dictates which perspective will come next in speaking rotation. This should be a logical choice of the order of lenses resulting from a group consensus.

• The action of the student and the dialogue: who is going to say what when. The script will include each student’s name and the chronological order in which he or she speaks.

• This should include the speaking roles of each student as he or she relates evidence (including the bibliographic information) and the analysis of the evidence through the perspectives relating back to the lens and research question. You are basically speaking the IRR, or parts of it. This will certainly be the bulk of the script. DO NOT FORGET that part of your dialogue is interacting with the multimedia behind you. Each of you MUST include some thought (analysis, extension) towards when to refer to the slides of your Google Slide / PowerPoint.

• Make sure you include transitions, (your script should use that word), to indicate how you are going to segue between and among speakers. These are your connections to each other and each other’s information. The dialogue in this way is more like a conversation. USE EACH OTHER’S NAMES! This could also be called the step-in: where can you step in to your group’s information? How does your info follow from the info that came before it?

• You should indicate movement among the group members during the presentation. This includes purposeful use of eye contact, voice, and gesture throughout your presentation.

• When should you pause for effect (write the word “pause” in your script), because pausing for emphasis is a persuasive technique? When should you move forward (toward the audience) in the “scene,” or when should you gesture back to the PowerPoint? What will you be doing with your body as others speak? Write this all out.

• How will you conduct, and who will be speaking, the closure? This includes your solution, conclusion or recommendation, along with the implications of this.

Together with your team, develop a presentation that presents a convincing argument for

your proposed solution or resolution to the RQ (basically your answer to the RQ). Your

claims should be supported by evidence, and you should show you considered different

perspectives and the limitations and implications of your proposed solution or resolution.

When preparing your presentation:

• Develop a multimedia presentation that will present your argument for your proposed solution or resolution.

• Plan each team member’s role in the presentation design and delivery.

• Design your oral presentation with supporting visual media, and consider audience, context, and purpose.

• Prepare to engage your audience using strategies (eye contact, vocal variety, expressive gestures, movement).

• Rehearse your presentation in order to refine your design and practice your delivery.

• Check that you can do the presentation within the 8-10 minute time limit.

• Practice asking each other questions about the process and product of this project to prepare for your OD.

• Deliver an 8-10 minute multimedia presentation in which you:

• Evaluate potential resolutions, conclusions, or solutions to problems or issues raised by different perspectives considered by your team by considering their implications and consequences.

• Present a well-reasoned argument that links claims and evidence about why you chose your proposed solution or resolution.

• Identify and explain objections, implications, and limitations of competing perspectives.

• Engage the audience with an effective and clearly organized presentation design.

• Engage the audience with effective techniques of delivery and performance.

• Demonstrate equitable participation and engagement of all team members.

Following the presentation, your team will defend its argument (OD). I will ask each individual team member a question in which you will reflect on experiences of collaborative effort and defend your team’s work. Each team member should be prepared to answer questions about any part of the presentation or research process (including information that others in your team have researched and/or presented).

TMP Sample Oral Defense Questions 

• Student A, how did the group decide to include Student B’s perspective/lens into the overall presentation? 

• Student A, give one specific way that your thinking changed as a result of learning about Student B’s findings. 

•  Reflecting on your colleagues’ work, which one had the greatest impact on your overall understanding of the problem your group identified? 

• What is an example of a compelling argument from one of your peer’s individual reports that you decided to exclude from your team presentation and why? 

• What is a way in which your team’s resolution makes you think differently about your own individual research? 

• Describe an argument from one of your peer’s individual reports that made you think differently about your team’s solution or conclusion? 

• If you had another team member, what other perspectives or limitations could they have researched that would have made a useful contribution to the project?

This document details THREE (3) different ways that you can structure your IRR.  REMEMBER:  This is a research report, not an argumentative essay.  You can have a thesis statement, though you may include a recommendation paragraph at the end where you consider the research you’ve done to identify what you believe might be the best solution to your group’s research question.  Here are some options (this list isn’t exhaustive though):

Option 1:  Organize by perspective (ex. Rhino Horn Trade) - This approach is suitable if you’ve identified at least 2-3 different stakeholders within your lens whose perspectives you want to compare and contrast. 

Option 2:  Weave perspectives throughout (ex.  Heroin epidemic) - Your sources should represent a variety of perspectives/arguments.  In this paper those perspectives are woven throughout and not sectioned off by topic or individual stakeholder perspectives.  

Option 3:   Organize topically (ex. Deinstitutionalization) - This approach is suitable if your sources represent a multitude of perspectives on specific issues/subtopics that arise in your lens.  For example, the student sample identifies 3 problems that have resulted from deinstitutionalization policies and each problem has its own section in the paper.  The sources are used to explain each problem and offer potential solutions.

**2020 Students Samples - A and B are high scoring**

Sample A - weaves sources’ arguments/ perspectives through

Sample B - covers 3 distinct stakeholder perspectives

General Overview:

Introduction paragraph - This can be used for all 3 options above 

• Hook - use a statistic/fact to draw the reader into your issue

• Reference your group’s Research Question - this doesn’t need to be explicit, but can be done by building the appropriate content/defining the problem that is the focus of your question in the intro

• Context--historical, scientific, economic, political, etc. - make this specific to your lens

• Significance/Why Worthy of Investigation

• INCLUDE AT LEAST 2-3 PIECES OF EVIDENCE THAT REQUIRE CITATION

Body Paragraphs

Options 1 & 2 - the only difference will be whether you section off perspectives or weave them together

Perspective A, B or C (ex. Democrats, Republicans, NRA) - Remember that the stakeholders will have different perspectives, that rebut, complement, support, limit, or constrain the others. Put them in conversation.

For each Perspective (A, B, C) write 2 body paragraphs that include:

• Topic sentence that explains this group’s POV 

  • Ideas for topics of paragraphs include:  defining who the group is and why they have a vested interest in the issue, explaining their POV, provide limitations to their POV, explain solutions that they argue in favor of, etc.)

• At least 3 pieces of evidence from multiple sources that support this group’s POV - you should have multiple sources per paragraph - you should not have paragraphs where the topic sentence is supported by only one source

Option 3 - First, identify 3 problems that exist in your lens, or 3 subtopics of interest within your lens that you will discuss.  Devote 2 body paragraphs to each problem/topic of interest, etc.

Problem/Topic A, B, C (ex. Deinstitutionalization has resulted in:  Homelessness, Increased Crime Rate and Prison Overflow and Isolation/Suicide)

For each Problem/Subtopic (A, B, C) write 2 body paragraphs that include:

• Topic sentence that explains this problem/subtopic 

  • Ideas for topics of paragraphs include:  defining a problem, factors that contribute to the problem, solutions for the problem that have been proposed by various sources

• At least 3 pieces of evidence from multiple sources that support the topic of your paragraph - you should have multiple sources per paragraph - you should not have paragraphs where the topic sentence is supported by only one source

Conclusion paragraph - Synthesize perspectives -  This can be used for all 3 options above 

• Recommendation is not necessary, but you may offer one

• If A gets their way, this will happen. If B gets their way, this will happen, etc.

• Where do we go from here? What do we do with this information?

• Provide an image of what happens from here. What happens if we act, react, or don’t do anything?

DATABASE - EBSCOhost

• Try checking the databases "ERIC" and "Education Research Complete" to narrow your search

DATABASE - Gale in Context

• Another database to search for Academic Peer-Reviewed Journals

DATABASE - Points of View

• Another database to search for Academic Peer-Reviewed Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals

• DOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals. DOAJ is independent. All funding is via donations, 18% of which comes from sponsors, and 82% from supporters and publisher supporters. All DOAJ services are free of charge including being indexed in DOAJ. All data is freely available. DOAJ operates an education and outreach program across the globe, focusing on improving the quality of applications submitted.

Pew Research Center

• Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis, and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy positions.