The project consists of a presentation of one's findings, research etc. A
report is also required for this exercise.
Further notes on these components are given below.
Size of group
Five members (plus or minus one).
The presentation: specifications
The presentation should be twenty minutes in length, and no more. Groups that
exceed the time limit will be stopped, even if they have not completed their
presentation.
There should be five minutes of discussion after the
presentation.
Instead of unswervingly presenting a conformist group opinion, your group
should present, whenever possible, a diversity of opinions. Remember,
critical thinking has nothing to do with conformist thinking. However,
diversity of opinions and evaluations should be presented systematically,
and you should discuss with your group mates or with me on how this could be
done.
Not every member of your group need to present.
The recommended software for the presentation is PowerPoint 2003, 2007
or 2010. Other
software may be used, but students are urged to ascertain beforehand if
their software is compatible with the operating system and hardware
available in the seminar room. I have found that Macintosh presentation
software does not always work with the available operating system and
hardware. No added time will be given for technical glitches
– these glitches should be resolved before
and notduring the session.
The presentation: assessment yardsticks
Here are some questions that I bear in mind when assessing your presentation:
Was the purpose of the project clearly and systematically presented?
Was there a smooth progression of the ideas or observations presented?
Was the content of your presentation original? Or did it present old
ideas in a new light?
Was the content relevant to the module?
Was the use of graphics, sound and/or video effective?
How was your sense of timing? (a rehearsal before your presentation
might help you to avoid going beyond the time limit).
How was the delivery? (eg. voice quality, audibility, movements,
gestures, attempt at eye-contact, etc.)
How was the group dynamics like (eg. coordination and cooperation
between members of the group)?
Overall, was the presentation interesting?
The project report
The project report is
essential. The following should be followed when writing the report:
The project report should be between 500 and 2,000 words
The report need not be an exact replica of your presentation.
A project report is not a group essay. The requirements of the
project report are not the same as those of a group essay. You
should present your points and observations more succinctly than in an
essay, and the write-up should follow a prescribed format, which is given
below (the format is usually more variable for an essay).
Your project report should follow the following format:
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