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Team oral presentations Each student will make an oral presentation as part of a team. PowerPoint(tm) slides must be used, and notecards will be turned in for credit (see below). Twenty points can be earned: 10 for presenting and 10 for the notecards. Making an oral presentation is required to earn a grade higher than "F". Purposes 1. Students will learn how research methodology and statistical techniques are applied in real-world criminal justice research 2. Students will learn to read and interpret scholarly articles in criminal justice 3. Students will have an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of basic methodology and applied statistics Articles Each team will be assigned an article from a scholarly journal. Every team member will be e-mailed a .pdf version of this article. Please print these out right away and read them in their entirety as soon as possible. Splitting up the work First exchange contact information. Then select one student to act as the coordinator/PowerPoint guru. They will be responsible for the introduction, for placing everyone's PowerPoints on a single flash drive, for making sure that the slides are properly formatted and flow well, and for testing the drive to insure that it works. (These duties make up for a somewhat lighter workload on the article.) The following issues must be covered, in approximately the following order. TEAMS WITH FOUR STUDENTS: Student 1 (coordinator/PowerPoint guru) - INTRO 1. Article title, authors. 2. Describe the research and its purpose. What is being studied? Why? 3. Briefly describe the main hypothesis. Then, from the literature review, briefly mention prior research into this issue. What have other researchers speculated or discovered? Student 2 - VARIABLES AND MEASUREMENT 1. Restate the main hypotheses. If there are more than one, explain. 2. Identify, in detail, the principal independent and dependent variables and state how they were measured. 3. For each key variable, discuss any validity and/or reliability concerns. Do the variables accurately represent the real world? Do the measurement scales or categories make sense? Student 3 - RESEARCH DESIGN 1. Briefly restate the main hypothesis and identify the key variables. 2. Identify the specific research design used in the study (experimental, quasi-experimental, non-experimental). Describe in some detail how the study was conducted. Was existing data (e.g. a national survey) used? Or if the researchers collected original data, how did they go about it? 3. Identify the sampling technique used. What was the sample? How was it drawn? Student 4 - FINDINGS 1. Briefly restate the main hypothesis and identify the key variables. 2. Use one or two key tables to explain the main findings. Was the principal hypothesis supported? Any of the others? Begin with the most important independent variables, then move on to other key independent variables. 3. You will probably need to project one or two tables. If you don't have the software, the instructor will furnish the table(s) you need as a .jpg file. Please ask for this well in advance so that you have it for the team meeting with the instructor on Week 13. TEAMS WITH THREE STUDENTS: Student 1 drops literature review and adds #1 and #2 from variables and measurement Student 2 does research design. Student 3 does findings. Slides and notecards PowerPoint slides: Each panelist will have three or four PowerPoint slides, to be used as prompts and to help the audience follow along during the presentation. Each slide should have several bullet points, each no more than two lines. Bullet points are concise summaries of major points, arranged in order. Please don't place detailed information in the bullet points - save that for the notecards (see below).
Slides should be dark lettering on a light background. NO graphics. (Only exception is if a graphic is necessary to convey important information. In that case, please place the graphic on its own slide.) Students who present findings will need to place tables on one or more slides. Please consult with the instructor, who will work with you to make sure you get the tables you need, in the proper format. Notecards: Each student will turn in a set of four or five 4 X 6 inch notecards. (Please don't use 3 X 5 cards.) These are keyed to the bullet points on the PowerPoint sides, expanding them to provide full information and analysis. It's not necessary to have one paragraph per bullet point - you can combine several bullet points - but please follow the same sequence. PRINT neatly, using complete sentences and good grammar.
Please avoid reading from slides or reading excessively from the cards -- it's painful for the audience and will cause you to lose points. Oral Presentation Maximum time limit per team member is five minutes. Please rehearse, committing as much as you can to near-memory. To do an effective job you must of course understand the article in sufficient depth to convey the key points. Use your words and thoughts to summarize and convey your aspect of the article. Use the slides as prompts to keep moving along, and refer to the notecards only when you must convey details. The oral presentation can earn ten points. Particular attention will be paid to clarity of expression, evidence that you really understand the material, and effective use of the slides. Ineffective slides and reading from the notecards and slides will cost points. |
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