Project Presentation
Policy
How to work well as a member of a group:
Students often choose to work on
their projects and presentations as members of groups. Group cooperation and
participation is an important element of student achievement, and developing
proficiency in group work is one of the outcomes expected in the Alberta
curriculum. Students are expected to work diligently on their projects. Project
presentations are to be ready on the specified deadline day. Student groups
that are not prepared when called on will incur a late penalty/organizational
penalty. Project-presentations are major assignments.
An important part of group work is
that everyone contributes in some fashion. This doesn’t mean that everyone must
participate in the presentation aspect of the project; some of the participants
may instead take on more research and writing responsibilities, leaving the
presentation aspect to others in the group. But in all cases, make sure that
members in your group all pull their own weight. In order to complete an
effective project/presentation, it is often a good idea for students in a group
to divide up the tasks equally; consider organizing group work so that each
student in the group can do the thing that he or she is best at. If research is
required for a project topic, then make good use of research time (i.e., don’t
horse around or sit idle) and research broadly. Consult many different sources.
When using materials gleaned from research sources (ex., books, magazines, the
internet), re-write your findings in your own words and cite the source for the
information. You can also use direct quotes from your sources (if you cite them
honestly), but remember that you will be presenting this information to the
class, and if you are not familiar with the words you have written, you may
stumble over them. Fluency of speech (or lack thereof) will affect the
presentation itself. For this reason, it is often best to present your research
in your own words rather than as a long series of quotations.
How to Plan Ahead for Mishaps/Adversity:
Sometimes, a student in a group is sick or
otherwise unavailable on the day of a presentation. In most cases, this fact
ought not to disable an entire group. Not all students in a group need to
present the material as long as all students have contributed in some manner to
the success of the presentation.
All student presentations should be
ready on the first day of presentations. I have advised students that it is their responsibility to ensure that they
have made allowances for illnesses, mishaps, bouts of forgetfulness, and
miscommunication within the group. Examples of ways to ensure that every group
is ready when called are:
The Process for Deciding Who Will Present
and When:
On the day that student
presentations commence, we begin by asking for volunteers. If no volunteers are
found, the teacher picks the names by lot from a bucket. The name drawn will
mean that the group to which this student belongs will be the next one to
present. Lack of preparedness will be reflected in the assessment.
How to Be a Polite and Thoughtful Audience
during Student Presentations:
Students are expected to listen
respectfully during other presentations. Students often put a great deal of
work into their presentations, and the class can learn a great deal from a
well-executed student presentation. However, the opportunity for learning is
adversely affected when students in the audience are not attentive. Moreover,
it is often difficult for students to stand before their peers and present
their work, but particularly so when they are made to feel that what they have
to say isn’t important due to the disrespect shown by others in the class who are
not listening or being respectful. Student behaviour during presentations will
therefore be monitored and considered as part of assessment.