Due: 3 days before class
Monday class: Friday at 6pm
Wednesday class: Sunday at 6pm
Each student will lead one of the in-class discussions, with four partners. These assignments are announced in class and posted on the reading page for that week. There are two parts to this assignment: leading the discussion and preparing a detailed plan for the discussion. This assignment counts for 25% of your final grade.
Leading a Discussion
If you are one of the discussion leaders for a class, your primary responsibility is to identify and examine the central point of the reading. Your discussion should be structured around an exploration of the following questions:
- What is the central point of the reading? How exactly does the technology described work? What are the problems or complexities the article identifies?
- What social or ethical issues are raised by the reading?
- What did you learn from this reading? (as a developer, person, citizen)
Whether or not you’re the discussion leader, think about these questions as you read and as you prepare for class. Resist the temptation to focus on whether you agree or disagree with the author. Focus instead on the ideas the author is articulating and what you can learn from them.
I reserve the right to intervene in a discussion. I may do this to make sure: important topics are covered, everyone participates equally in the discussion, we use time wisely, the discussion remains constructive, etc.
Discussion Plan
You must have a detailed plan for the discussion. Post your plan on the site by 6pm on Friday (Monday section) or Sunday (Wednesday section). File it under the discussion category. Depending on your plan, I may send you feedback and ask you to revise it before class. Your plan should include:
- A timeline detailing how much time you will spend on each topic. Identify the main topics you want to discuss and organize your timeline around these topics. The timeline should be broken down into 5-10 minute slots. You should plan to lead the class for 40 minutes.
- A list of questions you will ask, organized by topic. Each question should include the answer you are looking for. You should be prepared to guide students toward these answers. Questions should be organized within the timeline.
- A plan for how you will equally share the leadership role among teammates. Each person should lead the class for the same amount of time/play an equal role.
- A plan for insuring everyone in the class contributes to the discussion.
Your questions should be focused tightly on the reading. You can invite people to share their stories and ideas, but only in relationship to the readings. You want the class to be talking about the reading. As you make your plan, feel free to be creative! An appropriate activity can be fun and helpful.
Collaboration
The discussion should be organized collaboratively and have a clear overall flow and structure. This will be impossible to achieve if you do not collaboratively organize the session.
It is your responsibility to find time to meet with your discussion partners and jointly plan out the session. After each session I will ask each of you to rate your partners.
Grading
Each team member will receive an individual grade, but the majority of your grade will reflect the quality of collaboration and the presentation as a whole.
- 40 points: discussion plan (includes: identified central points of reading, developed relevant questions and answers, developed an appropriate timeline and sharing plan.)
- 40 points: quality of discussion (includes: shared leadership role, included everyone in discussion, stayed focused on reading, managed time well.)
- 20 points: peer rating