Day 8 - January 31. Producing Research results
Tuesday was a research day, meaning that the class did not meet, yet students were supposed to go to the library to do some research on their own on a topic or issue they were interested in. Working in groups, they had to produce the results of their research and readings in a powerpoint presentations.
They also had the choice, in case they did not plan on working on this issue for their final paper, to write a focus essay on one of the stories that we read in class. A focus essay requires students to pick a line or a passage from the story they preferred.
The assignment asks that they focus on this line and reflects on its meaning within the story. For example, if they pick the line from Eudora Welty's A Worn Path: "she looked like an old lady" (the line we discussed in class together) students could focus on how the grandma is pretending to get what she wants by defining herself according to the wishes of those people around her who try to define herself. and then, quote lines from the text that show that she is not only fragile and a charity case as she pretends to be (or as other people would like her to be) but that she is a cunning (and conniving) character...I ask students to reflect on the story and by focusing on the text itself, try to find the message that is beneath the surface, the one that is not obvious at first but that they can find if they read carefully between the lines !!
Today, in class, students came with their presentations. I was impressed by the amount of work they had put into it. It lead us to discuss the claims of policy or claims of cause that they could discuss in a final research paper.
Assessment: The class went well - I also introduced the new site I have just created on pbwiki. I hope it will allow students to do online peer-review sessions...
They also had the choice, in case they did not plan on working on this issue for their final paper, to write a focus essay on one of the stories that we read in class. A focus essay requires students to pick a line or a passage from the story they preferred.
The assignment asks that they focus on this line and reflects on its meaning within the story. For example, if they pick the line from Eudora Welty's A Worn Path: "she looked like an old lady" (the line we discussed in class together) students could focus on how the grandma is pretending to get what she wants by defining herself according to the wishes of those people around her who try to define herself. and then, quote lines from the text that show that she is not only fragile and a charity case as she pretends to be (or as other people would like her to be) but that she is a cunning (and conniving) character...I ask students to reflect on the story and by focusing on the text itself, try to find the message that is beneath the surface, the one that is not obvious at first but that they can find if they read carefully between the lines !!
Today, in class, students came with their presentations. I was impressed by the amount of work they had put into it. It lead us to discuss the claims of policy or claims of cause that they could discuss in a final research paper.
Assessment: The class went well - I also introduced the new site I have just created on pbwiki. I hope it will allow students to do online peer-review sessions...
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