CSCE 488: Professional Development

Homework 2, Spring 2010

(Team Assignment)

This assignment is based on the textbook, Inviting Disaster: Lessons from the Edge of Technology.

The purpose of the assignment is to provide practice in reading comprehension and oral presentation. In a nutshell, your team will be asked to make an oral presentation summarizing the key points of a chapter of the textbook in about fifteen minutes and then lead a discussion on the material for about ten minutes.

All students in the class are expected to have read through the chapter ahead of time and you may use this fact in organizing your presentation and discussion. As part of this home work, you are also asked to devise a simple 5-minute questionnaire for the students that would verify their familiarity with the material.

Your team’s grade will be based on the following guidelines:

· (20 points) Presentation Organization: The talk should be a team presentation of the chapter summary in a logical, easy-to-follow manner and with smooth transitions between team members.

· (20 points) Use of Visual Aids: You should make effective use of visual aids (white board, PowerPoint slides, etc.). Visual aids should be neat, organized, and legible. Note that the current trend is away from PowerPoint-only presentation.

· (20 points) Adherence to Time Constraints: Be sure to observe the specified times for the presentation and discussion. Come prepared with leading questions for the discussion, in case the questions from the audience dry up.

· (20 points) Demonstrated Understanding of Material: Your presentation and your team’s responses during the discussion should demonstrate a good understanding of the material in the text. The quality of your questionnaire will be rolled into this category.

· (20 points) Speaking Quality: You should speak clearly and project your voice. Verbal clutter such as “uhs” and “ums” should be avoided. The audience should be effectively engaged with eye contact and appropriate body language.

Note that besides the instructor and the TA, the rest of the class will also be asked to evaluate your presentation on the above points. We will not use this feedback for grading but will pass it on to you for your benefit.

Note to the rest of the class: Your performance on the questionnaires and actively participating in the discussion will be credited towards Assignment 6 (classroom participation).