ASSIGNMENT FOR GROUP ORAL PRESENTATION ON A COFFEEHOUSE

GNST 1400: SPRING (II) 2001

Bob Corbett, instructor

MEETS: 1 - 3 PM, TUESDAY - THURSDAY

Each student must participate in a group which will study, learn about, and research a particular assigned coffee house. This work will culminate in a major in-class oral group presentation. This assigment will count as 50% of your total grade for the whole course. The project will involve:

The grading procedure for this assignment.

There will be three different grades given:

  1. A grade for the first meeting.
  • A grade for the second meeting. Here the gaps or weaknesses or further plans discussed (and promised) after the first meeting should be fully completed and the presentation ready for finally organization. Corbett will grade HIS portion of this grade at 30% of HIS grade for the whole project.
  • A grade for the oral presentation itself.
    1. The oral presentation must be a minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of 25. This is a SUBSTANTIAL time and a substantial report is expected. Anything shorter than the minimum would not be in any way eligible for a grade of A, and unless the content were exceptional would probably be significantly lower. At 25 minutes I will be forced to conclude the presentation to make time for other groups and discussion, thus excessive time would suggest irresponsible planning.
    2. Students may organize the oral presentation in any way they choose, but every member should in some way participate as the group thinks best.
    3. The presentation must in some way touch upon the basic history of the coffee house, the important figures of our period (turn of the 19th century) who worked and visited there on a regular basis, and any other useful details of this coffee house's role in turn of the century Vienna. Corbett's grade will be based on how well, accurately and clearly those items are presented, and on the aesthetic quality of the presentation itself.
    4. Corbett will grade the oral presentation itself as 50% of HIS oral grade.
  • The students who did the oral will also participate in their own grading.
    1. After the presentation Corbett will give a grade that will be the sum of his three grades, 20% for the first meeting; 30% for the second meeting; 50% for the in-class presentation itself. This will be from a total of 1000 possible. Thus, for example, were his grade 90%, then the score would be 900 points.
    2. This grade of Corbett, however, will only count for 60% of final grade for the oral presentation. The students who did the presentation will assign the remaining 40% in the following manner:
      • The group as a whole will grade EACH individual member of the group on the basis of how much he or she contributed to the group. This must be a total group decision and if it is not arrived at by the group unanimously, then Corbett will grade each student with the exact same grade for this section. This grade will be 20% the total grade for the oral.
      • Lastly, each INDIVIDUAL student must grade the portional value of each student's grade he or she would assign for the value of the participation in the group presentation. This will count for 20% of each student's final grade for the oral presentation.
      • PLEASE NOTE: This means that Corbett will not at all assign any individual grade himself to students in the group, but his grade is IDENTICAL for eacha member of the group. The only differentiation among the group members will come from the student grades.

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