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Group Project: The course is organized around teamwork. Students will work in groups of three people
to produce a web-site dealing with the issues raised in the course. This web-sites
can include multimedia elements such as pictures and video-clips. However, credit will
primarily be awarded for clear presentation, good writing, powerful story telling,
selection of evidence and the coherent presentation of interesting arguments.
In the first week of class, fill in the individual
information form, and return it via paper or email.
Project groups will be assigned in consultation with the
students. Start thinking about a topic as soon as possible. You will need to
consult with me before finalizing it.
Breakdown of Marks:
Project marks will be assigned as follows.
 | 30% for quality of research. This is a research project. That
means footnotes, citations, going to the library, ordering books
specially, reading old newspapers, and that kind of thing. Do not rely
exclusively on amateur websites, and use all materially skeptically. Make
sure you have a good range of sources of different types. |
| 20% for quality of writing. Write clearly, directly. Proofread
carefully. Have an overall argument, and make sure the thing holds
together as a site rather than just a collection of pages. |
| 20% for the final presentation. |
| 15% for integration with the themes of the course. This doesn't
mean you need to write exactly what you think I want to hear, or drop
mentions to the course readings where they don't belong. But the project
must address some of the big themes of the course. (The themes page and
the timeline will help with this). |
| 15% for intelligent use of the Web. Everything that makes this
more than just a term paper on line. Note that this does NOT mean that you
need Flash animations, big graphics, etc. -- more that you put thought
into the overall design, structure and so on. More of these marks |
Generally speaking, everyone in a group will get the same mark. But,
sometimes some members of the group put in much more effort than others, and
it is clear to them that other members are free-riders. You will have an
opportunity at the end of the project to recommend what you as an individual
think is a fair distribution of the overall group mark between the different
individuals. In the past, this has led to substantial adjustments of marks
for a small number of people.
Hints on Teamwork
Teamwork is great when it works, and horrible when it doesn't. There are
things you can do to make it work better.
| Treat your fellow team members with respect. Don't always insist on
getting your own way. Be vocal and give your opinions at the planning
stage, but listen and learn from others and go along with the team
consensus. Don't argue about the little things. |
| Work sensibly on a single topic -- put the site together as a whole.
Splitting a bit topic into separate areas and having each team member
create a separate area of the site is not a good strategy -- you'll finish
up with a very patchy result. |
| Different people are good at different things. If one of you is much
better at web layout, and another is much better at research, then play to
those strengths. Don't assume that everyone has to take part equally in
each activity. You are not in competition with each other. |
| Have whoever is best at writing and editing go over the whole thing
before you put it online. |
What NOT to Do:
Here are some mistakes students have made previously. Learn from them.
| Put all the effort into a fancy graphic design. Look at the credit
breakdown. Great visual design is not going to push up the overall mark by
more than a few percent. Worry more about layout and navigation, and worry
most of all about quality of research. |
| Adapt all the content from an existing website. This shows. |
| Not bother showing up to meetings with your teammates. They will hit
you hard in the credit breakdown, and you will deserve it. |
| Think of it like a homepage. When you put up your own amateur website
you can write whatever you want, you don't need to do original research,
your opinions don't need to be separated from your evidence, and you don't
need to cite sources. This isn't a home page -- it's a formal research
project that is being put on the web instead of paper. |
| Leave it until the last minute. |
Group Assignments:
Group 1: Title TBA Project TBA
| Ross Freedman |
| Gregory W. Johnson |
| Leif G. Person |
Group 2: Title TBA Project TBA
| Russell B McPherson |
| Russell D. Mink |
| Pace Carter |
Group 3: Title TBA Project TBA
| Joseph Z. Gazza |
| Michael L. Ungerer |
| David C. Hauser |
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