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GROUP PROJECTS
Part of being an effective environmental scientist or scholar, whether you are working in the academic, private, government, or NGO sector, is being able to work together with a group of people to make recommendations and/or solve concrete problems. In this class, you will work in groups of 4 people each to make an effective oral presentation and write an accompanying paper on a particular environmental problem chosen in consultation with the instructor and the rest of the students in the class.
The schedule for your group projects is as follows:
|
Activity or Product |
Date |
| Form groups and choose general questions |
Th April 10 |
Turn in preliminary proposals
Present brief summaries to class |
T April 29 |
| Make progress report to class |
Th May 22 |
| Make formal class presentation |
Th June 5, 12:30-3:20 or
T June 10, 2:30-5:20 |
| Final written reports due |
Th June 12 12:00 noon |
Points for doing effective group projects:
- You should choose an environmental policy issue that involves both scientific and political elements.
- Your class presentation should consist of a 20-minute lecture, accompanied by a PowerPoint or equivalent (e.g. Keynote) slide show, plus a 10-minute question period. It should have the following sections:
- Statement of the problem
- Research methods used to address the problem
- Results of the research
- Alternative policy recommendations based on the research.
- Class presentations will be graded based on the following criteria:
- The scientific merit of your research or the research you cite
- The practicality off the alternative recommendations you make
- The clarity and relevance of the slide design
- The effectiveness of the oral lecture.
- Your written report should be about 5000-7000 words in a reasonably readable-sized font, plus bibliography.
- Written reports will be graded based on the following criteria;
- The scientific merit of your research and the research you cite
- The practicality of the alternative recommendations you make
- The logic and organization of your argument
- The clarity and persuasiveness of your use of language
Processes and grading:
- I will grade and return exercises, with comments, on Saturday, June 9.
- A is 4.0, A- is 3.7, B+ is 3.3, B is 3.0, etc.
- No late papers will be accepted.
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