THE POSTER ASSIGNMENT FOR KNPE/PHED 167
here it is…..hard copy will follow Wed.
cheers, geoff
KNPEPHED 167: NOTES FOR GROUP PRESENTATION
WINTER TERM 2008 * GEOFF SMITH
THE ASSIGNMENT:
In groups of five you will conduct a piece of primary sociological or historical research focusing on a specific topic that will allow you to analyze and illustrate the potential of PHED/sport in teaching ethics (raising ethical questions, identifying ethical issues) in contemporary culture. This assignment asks you to think about issues raised daily in the media (i.e. tobacco bans on advertising sport, issues of deviance, how middle class university students might bring parts of the PHED project to the community, problems posed by our increasingly sedentary life style). In short, the field is wide open, with the topic subject only to approval by the professor and/or TAs. You have many options in approaching these topics. You might look at newspaper sports pages, at TV broadcasts, at magazines, at advertisements, at films about sport. You might interview old teachers and coaches, with well-focused questions, on how they conceive effective community programs or fairness in PHED classes and in choosing teams. You might look at athletic programs that have been successful in your communities. You might look at issues that bring up ethical questions in broader sport cultures–say, the way Olympic Games get awarded, figure skating gets judged, or how some teams and players are “more equal” than others. You might emphasize a particular theme in sport coverage (values, race, “winning is the only thing”). Or you might look at an issue of substance abuse, constructing a project from the celebrated case of Ben Johnson (1988) or Ross Rebagliatti (1998). You might look at the use of painkillers in sport, the use of steroids, the impact of body image. Or you might take on a specific aspect of violence in sport, say the alleged effects of WWE (formerly WWF), the recent case of Kobe Bryant, which raises a host of questions about fairness and touches all of the categories that comprise a cultural study of sport. Lists of possibilities might continue indefinitely. The main idea? Focus, focus, focus on an important and interesting topic.
Most important, you will need to determine a solid research question. You will need to ground your research and thinking in intelligent reading and observation. You should take care to ensure that your sources are appropriate sources for the question(s) you raise. And you should take care that your evidence supports your conclusion. Good projects clarify the assumptions (hypotheses) that guide the project.
You will present your research as a poster.
WHAT IS A POSTER?
Poster presentations—often used at scholarly conferences—allow many people to present their work in a short time. Instead of oral presentations, presenters display their research on large, well-designed posters. All posters usually stand in one large room. At a designated time on the conference schedule, presenters will stand by their posters to answer queries from people seeking information about them.
Poster design will allow posters to stand alone (and for observers to comprehend them without oral assistance); but the assignment assumes that presenters possess greater knowledge of their subject than what appears on the poster alone.
For this assignment (because of the limited space available to us—the gorgeous 2nd floor hallway), your posters will be no larger than four joined pieces of bristol board. This means that you must condense your project—to its barest bones—again, focus, focus, focus! Posters are not the place to dump undifferentiated masses of information. Papers should be concise—emphasizing the important points about your topic.
We shall have two class periods in March devoted to poster presentation. This is the chance for you to show your work off to other members of the class. We’ll make it as conference-like as we can. Important: Posters must be removed from the walls by 4 P.M. on the day they go up and you must make sure that you do not leave marks on the wall (no nails or tacks, please). If you cannot return to remove your poster, please arrange for someone else to do it. Failure to remove posters by 4 P.M. on the day they go up will result in the deduction of two marks from the assignment for all group members. Sorry to be heavy-handed about this, but we must be for several reasons.
WHAT TO DO WHEN NOT PRESENTING?
On the day that you are not presenting your poster, you will write up and submit a short comment or question on four of the posters on display that day (your choice). Here you should read your colleague’s work carefully and think constructively about it. If you do not hand in your four questions/comments, you will lose two marks on the grade for your poster. (Out of 20 marks possible). Those questions/comments obviously prepared with scant effort (questions do not engage with the posters, or could have been written without reading/thinking about the them), will mean a further one-mark deduction from your grade.
MARKS (KARL, GROUCHO, AND YOURS….):
Each poster will receive a mark from me. This mark will be adjusted by group members’ evaluations of each other’s work. We shall discuss this process in class. The point here is that the project itself will get a mark and that the rest of her/his group will evaluate each person’s contribution to the project. The mark for the project itself will be based on the following criteria: quality of research question; quality of the research; use of appropriate literature to ground the project; structure; quality of writing; design; originality; strength of the relationship between question, research, and conclusion. Some questions to consider: Is the question clearly stated? Are sources appropriate to the question? Is the group’s method clear? Are assumptions/hypotheses clear? Is conclusion justified? Is poster visually attractive and effective? Again—focus, focus, focus!
GROUP WORK—SOME SUGGESTIONS:
Many of you know each other well, but you will still need to put some effort into making yourself a cohesive group. Suggestions:
1. Get to know each other better. What are your various work styles? What are your interests in the topic? What experiences do you have in this type of project? What skills do you have among you?
2. Allocate roles. Who will chair your meetings? Who will keep track of your decisions? Will you need a timekeeper for meetings? Will someone ensure that meetings happen and keep track of your group’s progress? Try not wait until someone else assigns you a role. Volunteer, and let others know what you think is appropriate for you.
3. Set a tone that will encourage creativity, originality, flexibility, and maximum energy. You might want to agree on some ground rules for group work:
-everyone of equal potential value to group
-no one should dominate the group or talk too much
-everyone should make suggestions on how the group will function
-have fun
-criticism is constructive
-key points: health of the group and progress on the project
GROUP WORK—PROBLEMS:
-aimless chatter
-people who dominate and talk too much
-people who do little or nothing
-excessive formality
-not allowing people to talk about how they feel
-not getting to know one another better
-hostile (not constructive) criticism
-not listening
CHOOSING A TOPIC:
Make certain to find a topic that will engage all the members of your group. If someone is not keen on the topic, they will find it hard to carry their share of the workload. In choosing a topic, you will want to find something that will permit you to divide the work equitably.
ORGANIZING, DIVIDING YOUR WORK:
You will need to decide on a research question, choose appropriate sources, develop a list of task and decide who will carry them out. You will also need to develop time lines for your work. Please make certain that you choose something that you can complete in the next three weeks!
EVALUATION CRITERIA:
-contribution to formulation of problem/topic/research question
-contribution to design of project
-contribution to data collection
-contribution to analysis of data
-contribution to writing project
-contribution to design of poster
-contribution to presentation of poster
-contribution to maintaining smooth functioning of your group
HAVE FUN! (HERE IS A CHANCE TO GET A REALLY GOOD MARK!!)
…………..WITH GREAT THANKS TO MARY LOUISE ADAMS
GSS